As you already know, besides musical production, I also write short novels. Willing to see my works published, I sent a manuscript to variuos book publishers.
Medimond from Bologna (Menduzzi publisher) was the first to answer me. Medimont has a section specifically dedicated to raising talents who want to publish their first work, GME.
We fixed a meeting on friday afternoon with Ms. Magnani, Medimont artistic director. I arrived to Bologna station at 13:00, just in time to take a look at commemorative headstone of terrorist bombing happened on August 2nd 1980.
Medimont main offices are situated in Maserati Street 5 in the industrial part of the city, just ten minutes by taxi from station.
I was nicely hosted in waiting room. While I was sitting there looking around my attention was focused on the amount of scientific publications placed in the bookshelf on my right. In fact, the main brand of Medimond are proceedings from various conferences around the world, expecially on Medical and Surgery.
Shortly I was called to Ms. Magnani office. She is a very nice person and she immediately let me see that she was really impressed from my short novels. I was told about the long and complicated selection procedure which my book was subject to. It was read by a number of Medimont external collaborators including some full professors in Literature. “Well, if I’ve arrived until this point I’ve passed the most diffucult part”, I thought.
But this was not the case. First of all Ms. Magnani make me note that my novels aren’t certainly devoted to a large public, being very different from a commercial product. As a matter of fact, my book would more likely be addressed to a restricted audience made of intellectuals. Anyway, I was conscious of this fact from the very beginning of my adventure, so I wasn’t disappointed from what Ms. Magnani were saying.
The thing that really disturbed me was the edition contract proposed to me. Ms. Magnani has frankly cleared that for a first work of an emerging author is very difficult to balance the initial investment with selling incomes. In order to avoid a certain loss, every book publisher ask the author to buy a number of copies of the book in order to cover the investment.
Apart from the fact of being able to afford the expense required (this is not the place suitable to discuss it), it is clear that earning perspectives are pratically null. The only feasible target is covering up all the initial investment, that is a very discouraging fact.
This makes me think about the very sad situation of culture here in Italy. People read very little. Often the only books read are commercial best-sellers of poor qualitative level (I don’t give names to avoid legal actions…). Alternatively, the big classics of the past often remains the only safety anchor for a little number of “hard-readers” belonging to the higher classes of society that prefer the safe path rather than a risky one. So, how much space remains for emerging talents ? Very little I sadly have to tell you. The shorter is the space the more unconventional is the book, as mine is.
I make a plea to all my readers: let’s try to create a mass movement intending to rebel against the poor level of culture in our country and make pressure on the autorithies in order to promote and sustain new initiatives from emerging talents. Don’t let our dreams die.
Great intellectual works are the only things that remain from the past. The rest is just dust. Let something of us will stay alive in the future.
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