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Small publishers should specialise to thrive and do not need the protection of state aid, the chairman of Pluto Press has said.
Roger van Zwanenberg was speaking in response to a profile">http://www.thebookseller.com/books/author-profiles/132806-long-live-the-... of New Press founder Andrew Schriffin in The Bookseller last week. Schriffin argued that publishers needed help from the public sector or would be obliged to go not-for-profit in order to survive.
He said: "If you look at somewhere like France, they have a huge number of independent bookshops, particularly compared to London. There's a lot of state aid there for the trade, not just national but regional, in keeping bookshops fresh and helping them stay afloat. Publishers have agreed to give a small amount of turnover to help every bookshop in the country. In these days of Cameron, this is probably a more realistic road to follow than state aid."
However, in letter sent to The Bookseller, van Zwanenberg argued smaller publishers were nimble enough to survive. He said: "Small houses, that specialise, and face the head winds of the multiple crises of our world and publish into these forces will provide answers that the rest of the bunch cannot even begin to grapple with."
Van Zwanenberg said: "The neo-liberal framework destroys the small, unless you are specialised and then the juggernauts will not touch you." And added: "We don't need well wishers as a necessity, although we welcome those that come to our door. We don't ask for government subsides, as that won't happen. We learn the tricks and movements of capital and technology, so we can move with the best of them."