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Odyssey Editions - the new digital publishing venture set up by agent Andrew Wylie - has little commercial value, Penguin chief executive John Makinson has said.
Referencing a piece published in the FT last week, which "speculated on the death of publishing in the context of a little local difficulty between Andrew Wylie", Makinson said the argument put forward was that Odyssey could be "the thin end of a large literary wedge" and that other agents could contemplate launching something similar. However, he dismissed the threat, writing that: "No one, not even Mr Wylie, is greatly excited by the commercial prospects of Odyssey.
"The digital rights to almost all books are owned by the publishers themselves and, as a result, Odyssey will make available only those few titles in which the rights have been reserved by the agent," Makinson said. "Penguin has just one title on the Odyssey list, a Saul Bellow novel from 1953. The roof is not falling in on us book publishers just yet."
He added it was "unlikely" agents would bypass publishers more generally, because "the skills and talents that support the publication of physical books are equally relevant in the digital world, and publishers would be doing authors a disservice if they acquired the rights to physical books alone".
The publishing head acknowledged the economic reasons behind the move, which he described as "a fair point". But Makinson also pointed out that many of the economic benefits of digital publishing had "largely been passed onto the consumer already, through lower prices".
Instead of focusing on the economics, he added, the trade should consider the new retail channels and digital technology that has enabled this change.
"All of this will redefine the industry but, so long as we are adept at learning new skills, it will enhance the role of the publisher," he said.
Clarification: We have alterered this piece to make it clearer that John Makinson does not believe that there is a threat that other agents will follow Wylie's lead, and in his FT column was simply outlining the arguments used to express that view.