Norwich novel success shows small publishers finding ways to thrive

BBC News - 15 June 2014 

Eimear McBride wrote her winning novel at 27 and spent many years trying to have it published

Independent publishers are facing more competition than ever before, so how are they surviving in a digital world dominated by giant corporations?

When author Eimear McBride won the £30,000 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction with her debut novel, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, it was not only a success for her but also for the independent publisher Galley Beggar Press.

The small firm, which has its headquarters in a terraced house in Norwich, was willing to take the risk when other mainstream publishers had passed.

Ms McBride said: "I couldn't be happier about the success of A Girl is a Half-formed Thing. Galley Beggar Press took a huge risk in publishing it and deserve nothing but praise for their courage, vision and good old-fashioned hard work."

 Galley Beggar Press's latest book Randall by Jonathan Gibbs is a satire on the 1990s art world

Sam Jordison, co-director of Galley Beggar Press, said: "I heard one editor (at a publishers) loved it, but somewhere along the line the marketing man did not like it."

He said the reason they backed the novel was that "we believed in our readers much more than other book publishers".
More