A tale of two publishers

On outrage, Booktok and the worst of times

Two new publishing endeavours have recently been set up. They have starkly contrasting approaches to literature - and have been greeted in correspondingly different ways.

One

One is an imprint of a bigger publisher that has been founded in association with a huge multi-national company. This company is affiliated with (and effectively run by) a genocidal authoritarian regime that is currently waging a not particularly covert war against Western democracies. It runs a social platform dedicated to misinformation. This platform has helped bring Donald Trump back to power, runs propaganda for the Nazi thugs in the AfD in Germany, and has recently been helping Putin foist a fascist onto the Romanian electorate.

This company is called TikTok¹ and their new endeavour is 8th Note Press (an imprint of Zando) which announced in November it will be producing print books to go alongside its already existing digital line.

A spokesperson for this press told the New York Times that it aims to have “focused publicity and influencer outreach”. Another explained: “We’re thinking first, what do people like reading, who is reading these books, how are people talking about these books, how are these conversations happening online, and where?”

My interpretation of that is that they hope to squeeze the algorithm in the most cynical way imaginable to foist prose-by-numbers dreck onto readers they seem to regard as mugs.

Two

The other publisher was set up by a guy called Jude Cook, a thoughtful (and excellent) critic and a lover of literature. He has not so far (and so far as I know) got blood on his hands or done anything to promote fascism.

Last month he announced he was starting a fully independent publisher called Conduit Books.

Jude Cook told the Bookseller that he wants to redress what he sees as “a situation where stories by new male authors are often overlooked, with a perception that the male voice is problematic.” He added: “We believe there is ambitious, funny, political and cerebral fiction by men that is being passed by, not only by the Big Five publishing houses but by some independent presses too. Conduit Books seeks, in a modest way, to right this imbalance, though not in any militant sense – publishing is and should remain a broad church, which is why it’s always been a fertile environment for nurturing new literary talent, as well as supporting established names.”

My interpretation of that is he is hoping to put out some interesting and worthwhile books that might not otherwise have been published.

The terror

Guess which one of those two was subject to the most opprobrium?

On the way to the guillotine…

You can see the difference even in the announcements about the two companies in the UK trade magazine The Bookseller.

There are no comments under the piece about 8th Note.

Conduit, however, is described in the comments as “ridiculous”. Someone also writes: “LMAO”.

Meanwhile, over on Bluesky (supposedly the nice place) the abuse went on for several days. It is perhaps best summed up by the commenter who wrote under one of Conduit Books’ first messages: “Oh you're leaving replies open? Haha ok well have fun with that.”

And then there’s this article on Lithub whose author declares: “I want to imagine Cook is acting in good faith” just a few sentences before actually imagining that Cook must have a gross rightwing “political agenda or fetish for being quote-tweeted.”

The caveats

8th Note is set up for the US market. It’s possible there’s been more bite back over there and I haven’t seen it from my small window into the publishing world here in the UK.

That small window, meanwhile, does have a good view of our local independent publishers. I should, in fact, come clean and say that I’ve corresponded with Jude Cook. I’ve always thought he’s decent – and so naturally I notice when he’s under attack.

I also notice the opposite - and it’s important to note that the launch of Conduit Press has been received with some more thoughtful analysis.

Ella Creamer wrote a balanced piece in The Guardian quoting a few industry insiders who had warmer things to say about Conduit, as well as people expressing reasonable doubts. The UK literary agent Emma Shercliff also talks very thoughtfully about males in publishing on this BBC Radio 4 programme (around the 24 minute mark) and says there is “perhaps something” in Jude Cook’s worry that male writers can be seen within the industry as (dread word) “problematic.”

I share this worry - but I should also admit that I don’t quite know what to think of Conduit Books. The fury with which it has been greeted in some quarters proves that it’s a brave endeavour. For that alone, I want to give it a chance. But I also have a few doubts. Is focussing on men in this way really a good idea? Even without the broader implications of thinking of men as special cases, in this world, of all worlds, is the best way to solve the divisions caused by identitarianism to introduce yet more identitarianism?².

Still. I respect Jude Cook and hope something good will come of what strikes me as a sincere effort to do something useful. I hope he will prove my doubts wrong. I also hope he will publish some good books.

The thing that matters

I’m more clear about what I think about TikTok:

It’s toilet. It’s toxic effluent. It’s evil.

I don’t use that last word lightly. It has done terrible things to our society and I have an uneasy feeling that it’s only just getting started.

The fact that there are also some funny videos on there does nothing to repair this damage. Even though, yes, I’m aware that some good things have come from its literary appendage, BookTok. It’s helped some publishers and authors earn a living. I’m a fan of The Secret History too. I love the way it made Madeline Miller’s Song Of Achilles into a such a huge bestseller.

But even without the brain rot, the data mining and the actual fascism, I would still have concerns about publishing’s increasing reliance on a single social media platform.

8th Note Press is actually just a small side note when it comes to the publishing industry’s slavish devotion to the TikTok algorithm. Where every big five publisher has seemingly given entire wings of their plate glass buildings over to TikTok favourites. Where BookTok tables dominate every bookshop. Where we’ve even reached the point where an entire new genre has recently been declared, apprently to cater to TikTok influencers ageing out of their teens and into: “new adult fiction”³.

Have publishers learned nothing from the way every social media platform eventually goes arsewards⁴? It’s only a year or so since we all had to abandon Twitter. This newer basket is going to break too.

But let’s go back to the actual evil. Because the other thing that stinks about publishing’s involvement with TikTok is that it lends it legitimacy. BookTok makes it look more benevolent. Literature gives it a sheen that it wouldn’t have if it were only stupid dances, ice-bucket challenges, and videos mocking Kamala Harris. And so publishers are giving the good name of our industry to the worst of things. They are aiding and abetting the collapse and ruin of the very freedoms that make publishing possible and worthwhile.

Not the best, in other words.

Other notes

• A new literary magazine has set up here in the UK with a mission to “nurture, publish and promote the best new working-class writing by new and established working-class writers and visual artists.” Sounds worthwhile. It’s called The Bee and here’s hoping they put out some good stuff. (It’s based in Newcastle too, which is already a point in its favour.)

• I watched the 1975 film of Three Men In A Boat and heartily recommend it. It’s lovely and very funny. (Someone tipped me off about it after my article last week. I’m grateful. It’s here on YouTube. Michael Palin on fine form, as usual.)

• I’ve just completed the first round of edits on the next Mark Bowles book. If you enjoyed All My Precious Madness, well, hold onto your heart… It’s special.

• I’ve just read Erasure by Percival Everett in preparation for the next Galley Beggar critical reading course. Outstanding novel. There was so much the publishing world could have learned from it too, more than 20-years-ago. Oh well.

• I’ve also been reading A Tale of Two Cities. Can you tell?

1. Okay, Bytedance, if you want to get technical.

2. Honestly, I’m uncertain about men too. One of the things that keeps occurring to me as I’ve been thinking about this issue over the past few weeks is the absurdity of the complaint that there might now be a disproportionate number of new books by women in the shops. For obvious political and historical reasons. But also for anyone who loves literature. So many of these books are wonderful. I mean. What could be better than more Lucy Ellmann, more Selby Wynn Schwartz, more Noémi Kiss-Deáki? Or, to be less partisan to my own publisher, who wouldn’t want more Sally Rooney, more Chimamanda Adichie, Claire Louise-Bennett? Come on! Who actually needs men?

3. Here’s the explanation in The Bookseller: “Young readers grow out of YA when the characters are no longer relatable, but they don’t necessarily want to jump into stories about middle-aged characters with settled lives. They want books that reflect the complex nature of their 20s, the heartbreak, freedom, financial instability, career confusion and self-discovery.” Apparently, we are also told this genre straddles the line between YA and… It’s here I break down. What the fuck? Aren’t most books written about complex adults in their 20s? Is the Great Gatsby part of this genre? Is Sally Rooney not relevant? (I wanted to write a whole article about this ‘new’ genre but realised that I would just come across as a grumpy old git. Which is why I’m hiding my shame in this footnote. And also drawing things to a close right now.)

4. Yes, I know, I’m writing on a social media platform. For now…