(ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/01)

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Howard Campbell

KINGSTON, Jan 7 1997 (IPS) - With loads of new titles planned and an optimistic outlook that belies the reality of a difficult local market, two energetic firms are riding the crest of a publishing wave in Jamaica.

“We’re just beginning to grow, 1996 was our heaviest publishing year,” says Mike Henry of Kingston Publishers Limited, which has been in the business for 25 years. “This year we hope to do 48 titles which would triple the amount we did last year.”

And Ian Randle Publishers Limited (IRP), which is only five years old, is seeking to broaden its marketing base from Jamaica to Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

Both publishers base their optimistic forecasts for 1997 on strong growth in the overseas market. Jamaicans have a reputation for being book-shy and in any case with only two million people, the market is comparatively small.

“If you depend purely on Jamaica and the Caribbean you will get hurt. In our case, if things fall flat here we can fall back on export,” says Ian Randle of IRP.

Limited for decades to regional literature and educational material, the activities of IRP and Kingston Publishers indicate a more adventurous approach by local publishers. Their titles are being pushed in Europe and even in Africa.

IRP published 20 titles in 1996 including ‘Drumblair’, memoirs of the activities of the political and artistic Manley family and their circle of friends and acquaintances during the early part of this century when the anti-colonial movement was festering. Critically acclaimed, the book was written by Rachel Manley, a daughter of former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Michael Manley.

Randle says reaction to the Manley tome in the eastern Caribbean was excellent. “It got rave reviews at the launch in Barbados. We sold 100 copies in just two hours.”

The historical “Barbados: Thirty years of Independence” was also published by IRP last year, and has done well.

And Kingston Publishers has earned a lot of money from ‘Marley and Me’ (published overseas as ‘So Much Things to Say’), an account by Don Taylor of his life as manager of late reggae superstar Bob Marley. The controversial tell-all book has sold more than 40,000 copies in three languages — English, Spanish and Japanese.

Kingston Publishers also produced Emily Adams’ folkloric “Understanding Jamaican Patois” which has done well internationally.

While the high cost of printing and manufacturing printed matter still places the business of publishing in the high-risk column, the two publishers say business could not be better.

Randle recently visited Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago to promote the company’s latest projects. He points to IRP’s marketing of academic titles as a significant boost for the current surge in his company’s stocks. The company will break new ground this year with the release of the entire regional legal manuscripts on compact disc.

“We have gone for niche markets, the higher level educational books which are popular overseas,” he explains, adding that the diversification of IRP’s catalogue has seen them spreading their wings as far as Southern Africa.

Kingston Publishers is 25-years-old this year. Its owner believes this will be its most successful yet.

“We plan to print seven books in one month which has never been done in Jamaica,” says Henry. “There’s also a major project called “Ajure” which we are trying to get into the mass markets of the United States. We are targeting black readers which are he fastest growing reading market in the world.”

Ajure will be a series of Romance stories about people in the Caribbean. To be published monthly, it will be geared towards the Black American market.

Like Randle, Henry has strong overseas links, stretching as far as the Orient.

But what about the other local publishers?

They are not doing so well. Packer Evans and Associates (PEA) which is 10 years old and West Indies Publishing Limited (WIPL) which celebrates its fourth anniversary in February complain of being impeded in their operations by the same factors about which other companies complain.

“There are encouraging prospects but the high cost of printing and the cost of financing prevents us from being aggressive,” says Dr. Omri Evans of PEA whose catalogue has a strong textbook bias.

“We have done well with them but carrying costs are high which has prevented us from going further,” says Evans.

He scoffs at fiction. “With textbooks the repeat business is there, with novels it’s a hit and miss situation.” The “touch and go” nature of fiction has forced PEA to stay away from that genre. Textbooks were more likely to earn money.

WIPL’s roster is also dominated by educational material, although the company has distributed non-textbook works, including Michael Manley’s massive “History of West Indies Cricket”.

The Manley book fared well overseas where it was distributed jointly with foreign companies. According to WIPL’s Andrew Rousseau, the company’s distribution base does not go beyond regional boundaries.

“We would like to (expand internationally) but that’s very difficult to do. Selling right is what allows you to distribute overseas,” says Rousseau.

As optimistic as Henry and Randle are about business at present, both admit that the publishing business is not a bed of roses. They both use the term “capital intensive” in describing their business, claiming that the unpredictability of sales has forced them to trod with care.

For instance they give preference to first-time authors in order to keep advance payments to a minimum. For all the headaches, KPL and IRP will be going full steam ahead this year with a sophisticated line of products.

In addition to an autobiographical work by the country’s best- known businessman, hotel magnate Gordon “Butch” Stewart and Caribbean economist, William Demas, both firms plan to release high profile projects on compact disc and CD Rom.

“We are extremely bullish about the future. It costs a lot of money to get your product around the world, but you have to spend money to make money,” says Randle.