What do you say to an author when you’re not quite sure what’s going on?
Back in the Fulbourn office, everyone has been busy dispatching orders and doing their best to save the business. I feel a little guilty being so far away, unable to get my hands dirty with packaging and taking calls.
It seems my author meetings have fallen at a rather awkward time. I want to feel more prepared to answer the inevitable questions – will Salt survive? Is this book still being published? What about my manuscript?………I calm myself into believing that not even Chris or Jen know the answers to these questions. Well, not at least until they have chance to recover from the onslaught of new orders generated by the Buy One Book campaign.
I go into the day thinking of ways to bat away these awkward questions. Nothing comes to mind, so I decide to be honest, and tell people that I haven’t had chance to get in touch with the office, and I know very little about Salt’s immediate plans.
I have an interview with Tom Shapcott at 3.30pm. I’m sitting at the laptop doing some research on ‘one of Australia’s most important poets’, when my phone rings. It’s Michael Farrell. He wants to know if I’m free this afternoon. We agree to meet at Collected Works at 1.30. It’s now 12.50 so I stop my research and walk to the train station. (I wanted to see Kris Hemensley at Collected Works this week anyway, so this is a chance to cross both off the list.)
I’ve not had time to research Michael’s work. I’ve read the sample of Ode Ode on the Salt website, but feel unprepared and in a hurry. The train takes forever, and I arrive at the bookstore five minutes late.
Michael and Kris are talking at the counter. Michael’s just bought a Salt book – his contribution to the campaign. I introduce myself to both of them, tell Kris I will talk with him another time, and head off along Swanston Street with Michael.
It’s a warm day and we sit outside a cafe. I tell him my plans for Melbourne. It seems a little strange to say I’m researching the Melbourne poetry market, when back home Salt is struggling to pull through the year.
But Michael tells me Salt has made a big impact in Australia. ‘When Salt first appeared over here, it was greatly needed.’
We agree that Salt’s confidence in publishing lesser-known poets has prompted a number of small presses in Australia to do the same thing. He writes me a list of publishers to research – some I’ve heard of, others I haven’t.
I ask him about poetry readings, and he says he doesn’t like to perform at public events. He invites me to a private reading he attends. Michael comes across as a reserved man, a little bewildered at the popularity of spoken-word sessions.
We speak for about an hour. In that time, Michael tells me he thinks poetry books could be cheaper, but it’s hard for indie presses to discount and survive. He has an idea that authors should be obliged to buy a significant number of their books to take to readings. An incentive for self promotion, and something that would relieve all parties the last-minute stress of mailing copies to readings.
It’s been a successful meeting. I’ve a lot to take away from what Michael has told me. I want to write things down and unload my brain. But I’ve got Tom to meet in 30 mins. A few scribbles, but the rest will have to wait.
