Jan Erola (b. 1969) has been diagnosed with severe bibliophilia. He is the publisher of Helsinki Books Ltd (Helsinki-kirjat).
Between 2004 and 2009, Erola was the publishing manager of Ajatus Kirjat, a non-fiction imprint of Gummerus Publishers.
Previously, he has worked as a journalist for various magazines, newspapers, radio and television.
The Ice Age is Coming!
According to some Polish climate researchers, the coming winter will be the coldest in a millennium. That would be bad news for mammoths, if they still were any around – at least if you believe in the plot of the movie, Ice Age. I do.
Actually, there are still some mammoths around in Finnish publishing. I also believe that there will be some pretty chilly times in the Finnish publishing world. And soon. No, not because of the e-book revolution. The e-book will only open new markets for publishers and authors. In some marginal categories, the e-book may indeed kill the printed version, but in general, it’s not a threat. Electronic books have just been a sorry excuse for outsourcing and major layoffs for the four biggest publishing houses here in Finland. The real reason for a climate change in the book business is that too many top executives have lost their touch and passion – if they ever had any – with and for the core of the whole business: good literature and genuinely interesting non-fiction.
In the last three years, all the four major Finnish publishing houses have fallen into some sort of chaos. It was exactly three years ago when all of them had hired outsider CEOs, lawyers, and economists, without any openly expressed passion for books. I’m not saying that publishing shouldn’t be run by business professionals or that it shouldn’t be a profitable business. Of course it should. How else can we publish ambitious books and take risks, if we can’t pay bills, wages, and dividends to owners to keep them happy?
My point is this: the calculator obsessed bosses should not run the whole show. Publishing is all about people and interesting content. If you cannot give at least the illusion that authors and their wonderful books are most important thing in publishing, all is in vain. Without ambitious authors, publishers have nothing. And the best way to get rid of ambitious writers is to treat them only as money-producing milk cows. Or call Finnish book publishing “small potatoes,” as did Jacques Eijkens, the CEO of Sanoma Learning and Literature, the mother company of Finland’s biggest publisher, WSOY. Sometimes it would be wiser not to say what you think. This may have been one of those moments.
When you have bosses who themselves read only books on golf or business, the only way to get, e.g., poems published, is to explain to these calculator-hearted people that publishing poems is actually brand investing. The most interesting fiction and non-fiction authors would rather work for a publisher who treasures cultural values as well as generating profits. Some of the most brilliant and best-selling Finnish novel writers started as poets or wrote non-commercial short stories. For instance, Jari Tervo and Kari Hotakainen.
So, when it comes publishing, I believe that the time of the mammoths is on the decline. A decade ago, the same thing happened in the Hollywood film industry. The mighty lost their hegemony, and many newer, smaller, talent-oriented companies took over. Some of these publishing mammoths may evolve into elephants, but some biggies will soon became extinct. There are quite a few new and promising publishing companies now in Finland. The day is coming when some of them will break through to the major leagues. Just wait and see. And remember to take you pullover and blanket with you, ’cause it’s going to be freezing for a while.
Jan Erola
Publisher
Helsinki Books Ltd
Thank you Jan, for an insightful take on today’s Finnish publishing industry!
My next blog will feature guest Pulitzer prize-nominated author Angus Morrison. He’ll discuss his fascinating debut novel, a thriller entitled, Bandwidth. Take a look in advance at the book, his five star customer reviews at amazon and order. Check out his Bandwidth website to learn more.
What a refreshing post!
It isn’t just Finland, though.
Someone, years ago, said this to me about a certain publisher in the United States:
“He’s got it all wrong. The purpose of publishing is no more to earn profit than the purpose of life is to eat. Eating is a necessity of life.”
And it’s gotten worse since then.
So many publishers have lost their sense of purpose.
In Finland, I’m very happy to be published by one who hasn’t.
His name is Jan Erola.
I have mostly come to the same conclusion as Jan. My viewpoint is based on looking at the future:
With e-books coming and this leading to all manuscripts being “published”, it is inevitable that pricing will be under pressure. E-books will be cheaper than is hoped for.
In guess partly to prepare for this scenario, big publishers have started to outsource their employees. But their “dead end problem” is that with modern technology just about EVERYTHING can be outsourced. Just like the authors have been outsourced since day one.
Just about everything can be outsourced? Except for the management, directors and the buildings downtown.
When prices decline, something has to be saved in the process – again. Some of the profit-wasting must be cut out.
Will it be the authors? Will it be the editors? Of course not!
This is why I believe that the mammoths don’t have a great future. They’re too top-heavy to survive with their current DNA.
Like Jan says, talent-oriented companies are the future. Content really is king. Who takes care of the rest of the business process is trivial. That slice of the cake will be smaller. Of course the best professionals should survive.
As far as Finland is concerned, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a network model rising. (Maybe it’s because I’ve been thinking about it myself for awhile
) That is, a group of people with expertise from different areas will produce the services needed. It would be like a virtual publishing company.
When (the Finnish publisher) Teos needed a new sales manager, their md called me, too, for advice. I recommended someone, but asked would they really need someone whole time? Why not try retired legend Sakari Korhonen, who sells Siltala and Nemo part-time? That’s what they ended with. The same could be done for most jobs in publishing. Content, no. (Mind you, Jan, your business partner Eetu is of course another very respected sales pro in the business.) I believe Katri Wanner is considering her own PR agency. There are loads of excellent graphic designers out there, but they can’t be reached from one number – why not? Heck, maybe even I could start making print ads and TV commercials for books again…