Why multinational takeovers of indie publishers are ‘bad for readers’
Independent Melbourne-based publisher Text Publishing — the home of high-profile authors including Helen Garner, Michelle de Kretser and JM Coetzee — has been acquired by Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia.Text publisher Michael Heyward says Text will operate independently under its new owners with no planned job losses.”Everything that people identify with Text Publishing … we will continue to do,” he tells ABC Arts.But the move has caused alarm among some in the industry, who say the consolidation of the Australian publishing industry will further harm a literary scene already embattled by underfunding and falling national reading rates.Heyward says the cost of printing in some formats has increased more than 50 per cent.Text Publishing has had a range of owners since it was founded by Diana Gribble and Eric Beecher in 1990. Current equity holders Maureen and Tony Wheeler, founders of Lonely Planet, acquired the share of UK publisher Canongate Books in 2011.Heyward, who is 65 and joined the company in 1992, says publishing in Australia has become more challenging due to increasing costs and the rise of Amazon.But he says the decision to sell was motivated by a desire to preserve Text Publishing’s legacy and safeguard its future.Listen to ABC RN’s The Book ShowYour favourite fiction authors share the story behind their latest books.The acquisition is the latest in a spate of takeovers of small and independent publishers by larger firms.In 2024, Simon & Schuster — one of the global ‘Big 5’ publishers, alongside Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan — acquired local indie publisher Affirm Press.A month later, Hardie Grant, a mid-tier local independent publisher, bought fellow indie Pantera Press.Heyward is upbeat about the sale of Text to PRH, arguing it will provide more “muscle” to acquire and market books.The role of small publishersSmall and independent publishers are a critical component of Australia’s publishing landscape, says Dr Ben Eltham, a lecturer in media and communications at Monash University.”They play a disproportionate role … in nurturing young talent and bringing through independent authors and new voices into our literary scene.”Dr Millicent Weber, a lecturer in English at the Australian National University, says small presses have dominated literary prize shortlists and book review pages in recent years.The value of indie presses for larger publishers lies in “their reputation and existing relationships within the industry and with readers; their assets, specifically the titles for which they hold copyright; and the staff and operational assets that make up the organisation”, she explains.Literary legend Helen Garner takes on local under-16s footyThe acclaimed author of Monkey Grip and The Children’s Bach is back: this time she turns her razor-sharp writer’s eye to her 16-year-old grandson’s footy team.Text Publishing, for example, comes with a roster featuring winners of the Booker Prize, the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize.It also has the rights to an extensive catalogue of classic Australian literature — launched in 2012 as Text Classics — which Eltham says hands its new owner valuable “long-tail” content that sells over a long period.He believes the recent indie takeovers will result in fewer opportunities for authors to be published.”Ultimately, I think it will be bad for readers and Australian literature,” he says.”It’s going to mean a lack of diversity, but it’s also going to mean an industry that’s very focused on blockbusters, on a few big-name authors, rather than … bringing through interesting books, difficult books, creative works of fiction that may not be [otherwise] publishable.”Penguin Random House is one of the ‘Big 5’ global book publishers.
