With the Malta Book Festival opening this week, Iggy Fenech sits down with two Maltese publishing heavyweights to discover how local literature is faring.

Over the last few years, the publishing industry in Malta has blossomed. Everything from fiction to how-to, and cookery to history and photography, is now being written and published here.

Popularity has also soared, and many are very happy to fork out money for a local novel or a collectible Melitensia book.

But where is the industry heading? And how do publishers feel about the current state of affairs?

As the Malta Book Festival returns on Wednesday, I asked two people who, through the publishing houses they run, are helping shape local literature.

Chris GruppettaChris Gruppetta

Chris Gruppetta

Publisher and editor at Merlin Publishers

“I was born into books,” says Chris, who has been working full-time in publishing for the past 16 years, and whose education in the field includes reading for a Masters in Publishing Studies in Aberdeen, for which he researched the science of book cover selection.

Now at Merlin, Chris selects manuscripts and scouts for new writing and illustrating talent, works with and edit a core number of his authors, and project manages the publication process and marketing.

“If there’s one thing that hopefully distinguishes Merlin, this is its quality control. When it comes to the manuscript selection process, the lengthy editing stage, our book design’s attention to detail... The Merlin logo on a book is a stamp of quality in content and design — and that is an accolade I’m hugely proud of,” he adds.

Chris believes that publishing houses should have a healthy and diverse list of works in their portfolio and he is adamant about his belief that ‘popular’ should not, and does not, signify inferior.

“Respecting authors and their intellectual property has always been at the heart of our ethos,” he continues. “We work closely with our authors, involving them in every stage of the publication process. We also – uniquely to the Maltese publishing scene – offer our stable of authors an ongoing pre-editing consultancy, with our editors being constantly at authors’ disposal to discuss, research and revise works-in-progress.

“In fact, we’ve always strived to do things differently. Over the years we have reinvented the concept of the book launch in Malta; we were pioneers in introducing different marketing ideas to the industry; and our aim remains to reach out beyond the established circles of Maltese literature readers.”

When asked about the current Maltese literary scene, Chris said that “it is certainly more diverse than it’s been for a while. And, while competition is undeniably tough, on a personal level it is gratifying to see concepts that we have introduced locally, adopted by others”.

Nevertheless, he feels that the lack of quality assessment has opened the floodgates to publications of varying level of professionalism.

Moreover, he adds, access to book layout software and a clipart collection does not constitute professional publishing.

He also added that many authors are not given the service they deserve, and that material being published can sometimes be substandard or even unedited.

“I place part of this blame firmly on the authorities,” he says. “While it is, of course, a free market, I strongly believe that there should be differentiation – at least at official levels – between professional publications and shoddy material.

“Various book and education authorities, from the Book Council all the way to the Education Ministry, continue to allow undifferentiated recognition and financial support to publishers who exploit authors by denying them royalties, or who function as glorified vanity publishers.”

Various book authorities continue to allow undifferentiated recognition to publishers who exploit authors by denying them royalties, or who function as glorified vanity publishers

Has the Malta Book Festival helped the local market in terms of bringing local literature in both Maltese and English to masses.

“I have always been a critic of festival as simply a bazaar. Book sales are important of course, but far more interesting to me is the festival as a meeting point for all the players in the industry, and a showcase of all that is new and exciting.

“Credit must be given to the festival’s organisers who have, in recent years, diversified and expanded its remit and activities. But there is still plenty to be done to put cutting-edge publishing at the heart of the event, making it a centre for excellence.

“I would like to see more activities, more readings, more meet-the-author events and a relaxation of stifling regulations.”

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t visit the festival, however. In fact, Chris explains why you should go.

“For starters, to see all the amazing new books that Merlin has been publishing,” he jokes.

“But, no, seriously, it’s a fantastic opportunity to check out all the best that has been published over the past 12 months, to meet authors, and to generally spend a few hours in the world of books, talking about reading and discovering some new literary gem,” he concludes.

David Bezzina

Managing director at Horizons

As part of Outlook, David and his team have been publishing books for over 20 years. But, it was some three years ago that they decided to buy publishing house Horizons and produce books under their own brand.

Since 2012, Horizons has published over 90 books and won numerous national book prizes for its work.

One of the things that has made Horizons stand out is their simple, yet clear, ethos, which aims to give the general public quality books at affordable prices.

Poetry, for example, pretty much always ends up making a loss, as do specialised topics

“Moreover, we take great care in the book production process and to offer the possibility to many new authors to kickstart their writing career by publishing their very first book,” David explains.

“We try to keep an open genre policy as much as possible, so that we do not only offer the Maltese audience novels and short stories, but a varied library comprising poetry, drama, Melitensia, research and academic books.”

The current literary scene, according to David, is developing well and both content and production quality have improved. Now, he argues, Maltese books can compare well with foreign productions and – also thanks to initiatives taken by the Ministry of Education, the National Book Council and local publishers – the ‘Maltese Book’ has become more visible than ever before.

“Even so, much more needs to be done. The novel and short story and, perhaps, Melitensia, remain the most popular genres,” he says, when asked about what really sells in Malta. “We follow similar trends as our foreign counterparts in the scene. Poetry, for example, pretty much always ends up making a loss, as do specialised topics.”

A book-signing session organised by Horizons last year.A book-signing session organised by Horizons last year.

The Malta Book Festival, however, “is the showcase for the local literary scene, one that the Maltese look forward to and turn out in masses for,” he says.

Clare Azzopardi during a reading at least year’s festival.Clare Azzopardi during a reading at least year’s festival.

David believes that people should visit the festival in order to continue supporting the local literary scene.

Numbers at the festival do matter; after all, if more people show enthusiasm about this, more investment pours in it from both the government and private investors.

“The festival is a good venue for awareness and sales. There are fresh ideas being introduced every year by both the National Book Council and individual publishers but, naturally, more investment is needed, as marketing costs money.

“Unfortunately, however, the ratio costs in terms of the small local market is against such an investment, so who knows what will happen?” he concludes.

The Malta Book Festival runs between Wednesday and Sunday at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta.

www.ktieb.org.mt

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