Last week, Melbourne-based Text Publishing announced that it had been acquired by Penguin Random House Australia. This is the third acquisition of an Australian independent publisher in less than six months. Affirm Press was acquired by Simon & Schuster, and Pantera Press was purchased by Hardie Grant late last year.
The trilogy of acquisitions represents a stark sea change in Australian publishing. Some in the industry welcome the news of shared resources as print and distribution costs continue to rise, while others fear editorial compromises are inevitable.
In a press release announcing the acquisition, Text Publisher Michael Hayward said that Text would retain complete publishing control of its work. This also appears true for Affirm Press. Former CEO Martin Hughes said that not selling the company would be “mad”. The acquisition allowed the company to “focus on the things that we love, which is publishing great books and delighting readers”.
Still, industry experts say the purchases are bad for the Australian publishing ecology. Dr Ben Eltham, a lecturer in media and communications at Monash University, told the ABC that title homogenisation is inevitable.
“Ultimately, I think it will be bad for readers and Australian literature,” he said. “It’s going to mean a lack of diversity, but it’s also going to mean an industry that’s very focused on blockbusters, on a few big-name authors, rather than … bringing through interesting books, difficult books, creative works of fiction that may not be [otherwise] publishable.”
BookTok’s effect on Australian publishing
Worldwide, publishing is experiencing a wave of volatility. BookTok’s mind-boggling success and influence have affected every corner of the industry. TikTok’s uncertain future with the US and the incoming Australian youth ban has created uncertainty. Ultimately, however, the homogeneity of book marketing on these platforms has silenced Australian authors and publishers.
Penguin Random House publisher Ali Watts says marketing a book in the 2020s has become a new challenge. “I believe it’s mathematically impossible to generate a bestseller, a TikTok phenomenon from Australia,” Watts told the ABC. “Our population here is so much smaller that we just haven’t got the vast numbers of people all reading it at once and making the algorithm spike. So it’s very hard to break into that space.”
The industry agrees on a single factor: Creative Australia’s systematic funding cuts to the literature sector has not helped. In 2021-22, literature saw its federal funding cut to $4.7 million. It is the least funded art form in Australia.
Independent publishers have felt the financial pinch, naturally gravitating towards acquisition by larger companies to help balance their books. Whether this will ultimately save or damn Australian authors is yet to be seen.
