06
THE LEAD STORY PUBLISHING AND POLITICS
10.02.17
www.thebookseller.com
that, as big publishers working across all areas, an awful lot of people who buy our books disagree with us on these issues. As an industry we have to maintain an open approach; our readers are diverse in their viewpoints and we have to reflect that.” Asked if he would consider publishing Milo Yiannopoulos, the right-wing commentator whose book deal with Simon & Schuster in the US has prompted a backlash from authors, Trevathan said: “You have to consider it because that’s your job. I’m not saying we would publish him. Each publisher will have to take a view, but I absolutely think we should all be about free speech. Books should be published and people should be able to comment on them.” Iain Dale, m.d. of right-leaning publisher Biteback, also warned of a lack of balance in the industry. He said: “Because book publishers are liberal and left-wing, nothing is being published which is pro-Trump or even fair to Trump. We published Anne Coulter’s In Trump We Trust: How He Outsmarted the Politicans, the Elite and the Media in August, which was a bit of a punt. She’s well known in the US but less so here. We took it thinking that Trump wouldn’t get in but then he did and the sales went mad.” Dale said publishers needed to
take “books that enabled people to take a balanced view. There are a lot of things at the moment comparing
Trump to Thatcher and fascists. The fact that the books are all anti-Trump, I think, does a disservice to the book- buying public.” Belinda Rasmussen, m.d. of
Macmillan Children’s Books, added her perspective: “What recent events have shown us is that there can be a big difference between what one part of a country thinks versus the other. I think many of us have been surprised about how wide this divide is and how unaware we have been, and therefore how limited our reach as publishers may be. Our task is to reach as many children as possible and to convert non-readers into readers with mind-boggling content, so they have the tools to understand the world and ask the right questions.” Meanwhile a question mark has emerged over the level of international contact between the UK, Europe and America. Alessandro Gallenzi of Alma Books confirmed he had recently postponed “a couple of opportunities” for trips to the US. “The hassle of immigration was bad enough a few years ago—I can’t imagine what it is like now,” he said. “I think it will affect both ways [to and from the US] and I think that Brexit is affecting travel already. It’s partly fear of terrorist attacks, but also the feeling that foreigners are not as welcome here as before. It does have an effect.” Gallenzi, who is Italian, added that he and his partner Elisabetta
‘‘
You don’t
abandon your friends when their house is burgled or repossessed— they need you more
MICHAEL SCHMIDT MANAGING DIRECTOR CARCANET
Minervini had had two experiences of abuse in the UK in the past three or four months. “We’ve been living here for 20 years and we’ve never experienced anything like that before.” Sarah Goff of independent Tramp
Press said: “We had been planning to go to New York in May to attend a sales conference, and while on the one hand missing this opportunity feels like an overreaction, on the other, swanning in and out of the country when so many others are being refused entry poses a moral question.” Agent Lorella Belli said: “I have
heard from other agents that they are wondering whether to go to BookExpo America this year. Not because they are scared, but BEA has always been more American than global, and would it be the best fair to go to at this particular time?” But Trevathan countered: “If you shut things off, how do you persuade people? You don’t really move things forward.” Meanwhile Michael Schmidt, m.d. of
Carcanet, commented: “Unless authors decide to boycott the US, which I think would be very foolish of them because they have huge readerships there, I think continued communication with the cultural organs in the States is particularly important now. You don’t abandon your friends when their house is burgled or repossessed— they need you more. For the same reason you hope the Europeans will have the same idea [about LBF]”
UPCOMING BOOKS THAT REFLECT OUR TIMES
The Golden House by Salman Rushdie (Vintage) September 2017
A modern-day thriller about a young American filmmaker, set against a backdrop of American culture and politics including the backlash
against political correctness and “the insurgence of a ruthlessly ambitious, narcissistic, media-savvy villain sporting make-up and coloured hair”.
Splinter by Mike Thomas (Bonnier Zaffre) August 2017
A thriller from an ex-police officer exploring an act of domestic terrorism in Cardiff by a group of people who feel alienated from
their communities.
Game of Thorns: The Inside Story of Hillary Clinton’s Failed Campaign and Donald Trump’s Winning Strategy by Doug Wead (Biteback) February 2017
The first account of the precipitous fall of Hillary Clinton and the rise of Donald Trump, with details of his plan to “make America great again”. Wead is one
of was a regular TV commentator throughout the election campaign of Donald Trump.
Pussy by Howard Jacobson (Jonathan Cape) April 2017
A “ferociously funny” fairytale for grown-ups, telling the story of how a boastful dunce becomes the leader of the free world.
The Truth Spectrum by Hector Macdonald (Transworld) spring 2018
Showing readers how to navigate a world of conflicting truths, drawing on an array of timely examples, from Trump, to the disingenuous use of statistics in politics and misleading advertising.
American War by Omar El Akkad (Picador) September 2017
A début novel envisaging a second American Civil War and a devastating plague, asking what might happen if the US were to turn
its most devastating policies and deadly weapons on itself.
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