As someone just starting out in publishing one of the key
barriers I have noticed is geography. The publishing industry is very
London-centric, leading to a rather elite network of London or Southern based
professionals and students, with a few others from outside the commuter belt
who are able to afford travel and accommodation costs. Whether it is attending
a conference, a networking event or finding work experience London, it seems,
is the place to go.
Of course, this has a lot to do with the number of
publishers and publishing services based in the South compared to the rest of
the country. London alone is home to 326 publishers, Oxford 32 and Cambridge
14, whilst Edinburgh hosts a meagre 11, Birmingham 7 and Manchester 6 (not
including specialist localised magazines etc.). The number of publishing
services present in UK cities follow suit, with London and Oxford on top.
(publishersglobal.com)
Publishing is therefore a very southern enterprise (as well
as being white and fairly middle-class), a fact that New Writing North’s Claire
Malcolm bemoans, stating in The Bookseller that more diversity is needed.
And why shouldn’t regional diversity be addressed as
strongly as class or ethnic diversity? After all the same argument stands;
people like to read stories they can connect to, and this more often than not
comes from reading books by, and about, those from similar backgrounds.
The Spare Room project, supported by the Publishers
Association, launched earlier this year in an attempt to tackle regional
diversity by helping students and graduates from outside London to find accommodation
in the city. An admirable policy perhaps, but limited. Whilst it undoubtedly
helped some young people in organising work experience by reducing costs, each
placement only lasted one week and was only available in July and August. As a
pilot scheme the project couldn’t really be expected to solve all the problems
overnight, so here’s to hoping it is re-introduced next year with a wider remit.
Enabling more young people to access work experience with
publishers is great, however, it can be argued this only treats the symptoms of
a London-centric industry and not the cause. To really even the playing field
for aspiring publishers in the North and Midlands a broader perspective is
needed. Publishing isn’t the only industry to suffer under the North-South
Divide and in order for publishers, especially the big five, to consider
investing in projects north of the M25, a fair distribution of investment is
needed from all areas.
However, publishers should not look to politicians to help
address regional diversity as the North-South Divide has flummoxed Westminster
for decades, a state of confusion which isn’t likely to change without severe
pressure and perhaps someone with a sharper mind than theirs (and mine) telling
them exactly what to do.
Education could be the way forward. As a publishing student
I recently researched Masters courses offered in the UK and surprise, surprise
most were situated in the south. UCL, Kingston and UAL in London, Brookes in
Oxford, Anglia Ruskin in Cambridge, Bath Spa, and Plymouth. Scotland had
Edinburgh Napier and Stirling whilst the Midlands and the North had Derby and
Central Lancashire (not necessarily a comprehensive list).
(Due to the increased likelihood of work experience
placements I chose Oxford Brookes – Derby was far to close (I grew up down the
road), Edinburgh too far and London too big and city-ish).
The University of Derby’s publishing course will welcome its
first students this month, hopefully opening up the publishing industry to new
students who would not have considered entering the industry before due to the
cost of living in the south (Oxford and London remarkable more expensive than
the Midlands and the North) or distance from home. With programme leader
Alistair Hodge a key proponent of the Spare Room Project his students will be
able to balance out the advantages gained by studying nearer the publishing
heartland.
Although publishing is a London-centric industry, it is
hardly the only one and cannot really be expected to redress regional diversity
on its own. There are bigger economic, political and social divides between the
North and South than even publishing, as a key guardian of social opinion freedom
of speech, can realistically tackle. That’s not to say publishing should not
play a role, we’ll never get anywhere if each industry simply sat back and
waited for someone else to do all the hard work for them.
What we need is more investment in projects which look to
improve diversity; whether through financial, cultural, voluntary or political
investment, any attempt at opening up publishing to new talent can only be beneficial
in the long-term, for individuals and the industry as a whole.
Sources: The Bookseller, The Spectator, The Financial Times, publishersglobal.com, University of Derby, Publishers Association
Sources: The Bookseller, The Spectator, The Financial Times, publishersglobal.com, University of Derby, Publishers Association