Interview with Svetlana Pironko, Publisher of Betimes Books, in the ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine

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Svetlana Pironko : I chose long-sellers over bestsellers !

After obtaining her Specialized Master’s degree in Management for the Publishing Industry (2001), Svetlana Pironko became a successful literary agent, as well as a publisher. Before recently founding Betimes Books, a not-for-profit literary press. From her office in Dublin, she tells us her motives behind this project, and why the non-profit model could become essential for the future of literature.

Could you introduce yourself? And sum up your career history since graduating from ESCP? When I graduated from ESCP, my dream was to be an editor, but I was already 37 at the time, so it was kind of a late career change. So I took the first job I was offered. It happened to be in a literary agency, Lora Fountain and associates. It was supposed to be a replacement for a few months, but it worked out very well and after 9 months, I became an agent and associate. This was, and still is, an agency specialized in selling translation writers. I was selling Russian, French and Italian translation writers. Then, I was still kind of dreaming of doing more editorial work, if you want, and I started representing some writers directly. I started my own agency called Author Rights Agency in 2006 and when

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ESCP Alumni Magazine numéro 189 ❙ MARS/AVRIL 2020

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I definitely left Lora Fountain agency in 2007, I focused on representing Englishspeaking writers.

How did Betimes Books start?

I started Betimes Books in 2013 while I was still an agent. «Betimes» is an old English word that means «before its time». I started it within an Amazon publishing program for agents called White Glove. I was planning to publish only a few books, some first novels, because it became quite difficult to find publishers for first novels after the recession, which was particularly harsh in Ireland, and of course in America which were my main markets. I also wanted to publish some unpublished novels from established authors and books that I wanted to restore and to print. And I just got hooked and published nearly 30 books by the end of 2018! So now, we have 33 titles available from 16 Irish and American authors, and more coming this year, of course.

and make artifacts available for their intrinsic cultural value, regardless of their commercial value. I must say, it has been, from the start, quite a quixotic venture, but I think only a philistine would ask to explain the importance of art in general and of literature in particular. I think we all want to see a future with books in it.

Also, the current mercantile environment is very dangerous for literature and for literary values. Books and writers are increasingly reduced to their marketplace value where, all too often, profitability trumps artistic worth.

With the non-profit model, we do not have to focus on short-term profit when we decide what to publish.

How are you funded? Do you receive help from sponsors?

It’s been only six months, but we were lucky enough to get a donation from an American sponsor who wishes to

remain anonymous. We’re currently looking for sponsors. We’re also working on a project that I mentioned, the first Betimes title which will be translated from another language. with the help of the French Embassy and the Alliance française in Dublin and hopefully the Centre National du Livre.

I wanted to translate to French because it’s a language and a literature that I love but it’s also the 50th anniversary of the International Organisation of Frenchspeaking countries/ la Francophonie.

When I contacted the French Embassy in Dublin, to talk about my plans to publish translations from French, they said : «Well, that would be great, and it would be good to publish something this year, which was a bit unexpected» I was planning it for next year! But they were so enthusiastic, I had a few writers in mind, and when I suggested Dimitri Bortnikov as one of them, this Russianborn French writer, they thought that it would be brilliant because he’s

And after six years of being an agent by day and a publisher by night, I was encouraged by the success of some of my writers because I sold foreign rights to the books I published in France, Germany, Turkey, Russia, in Mexico, and even in Mongolia!

What is your project with Betimes Books? How does a not-for-profit literary press work?

The choice of the non-profit model was motivated by several successful examples of literary publishing in America. It didn’t exist in Ireland. My philosophy is that the non-profit model allows publishers to act as custodians of great works of literature, in the same way that museums curate, preserve

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« Somebody has to publish books that are not only for fun and games. Not only entertainment. »

somebody who chose France as his adoption country, learned French by himself and started writing in French a few years ago. And he actually won the best novel of the year award in 2017 for his latest novel called Face au Styx. We obviously rely on the help of international cultural organizations and foundations and so on, but it is essential for us to do more in terms of trying to find corporate donations and contributions of individual donators.

Is the non-profit model the future of book publishing?

In truth, nobody knows! Young people today are worried about the extinction of the human kind. Perhaps rightly.

But surely spiritual diminishment is the first step towards the extinction of our civilisation. And I mean «spiritual» in its broader sense of relating to the human spirit or soul as opposed to material things.

I think that commercial publishing will always exist. I think we need all sorts of books. Commercial mass market literature will always find readers. And yet, somebody has to publish books that are not only for fun and games.

Not only entertainment. Not only books that are relevant today, but also books that are future classics. We also sometimes forget that there are no books without authors. and that only very few literary writers who make a living from their craft, without having a day job. Just to give you an idea, less than a thousand fiction writers in America make something of a living and only about 20 in Ireland. There are objective reasons why non-profit

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publishing is necessary because if we want to publish diverse and innovative literary fiction and to champion writers regardless of sales, we need to make sure that we can help writers to create by paying them for their own work, and we need to make sure that these books are permanently protected which is why we also have to be able to spend what’s necessary to find the readership for these books.

Do you think that more than ever, publishers need to be protected?

A b s o l u t e l y. N a t i o n a l o r e v e n international institutions have limited means. In some countries, like America, for example, there are virtually no state institutions who help literature.

There are such institutions in most European countries but their finances are often stretched. It’s great to have their support, and some financial help from some of them but often, they can’t cover the full expenses of publishing books or even translating a book. This is where, I think, corporate and private philanthropy is still essential because I’m sure that there are a lot of people who love books and understand the importance of literature for the future, for their children, for their grandchildren, just for the future of our civilization as we know it. But they do not realize, perhaps, that it’s becoming more and more difficult for publishers, especially publishers who want to protect serious literature and to help literary writers to make a living from their craft. Basically, to carry the torch that has produced great works of arts in the past under «patronage» or similar

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models: from William Shakespeare to James Joyce and many other major literary voices. I think that it’s still relevant, but if people do not know that we need them, they don’t think of offering their help. This is our aim, to talk about cultural philanthropy, the importance of it and to shake up things.

Getting into the publishing industry these days can be seen as a big challenge.

What advice would you give people/students who wish to pursue a career in this field?

Like any passion, it’s unreasonable, and can be unrealistic, but if they love books, they would still go into publishing, no matter what anyone says. Publishing is a very small industry, with, probably, the lowest income compared to the level of qualification. There are many very talented, very well-educated people who go into publishing, not for money, but because they think that it’s important. Despite being so small, it still has a huge impact on the minds and on the general public. It’s a great career, you meet great people from all over the world, you make fabulous friends, you meet great writers, and you learn a lot.

It’s also a little bit like gambling. Every publisher hopes that he will publish the next big name, or the next Nobel prize, I certainly do! I suppose, I would just say : «Go for it! But be prepared to fight all the time for what you believe is right.»

Unless, of course, they chose a career in commercial publishing. But I made the choice of publishing long-sellers over best-sellers! ❙ Propos recueillis par Paul PIQUARD

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