Galley Beggar Press, the tiny literary publisher behind acclaimed novels including the Booker-shortlisted Ducks, Newburyport and women’s prize for fiction winner A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing, has been forced to make a public appeal for support after the Book People’s fall into administration left it with a £40,000 hole in its finances.
Millar, Galley Beggar’s co-director, Millar, opted for crowdfunding to ask for urgent help from readers as it faces “the biggest crisis in its seven-year history”.
The publisher entered into a partnership with the discount retailer earlier this year when Lucy Ellmann’s novel was shortlisted for the Booker. Galley Beggar produced 8,000 special editions of the novel, costing it around £40,000.
Millar said Galley Beggar would “never normally take the risk of having someone owe us £40,000”, but it had been “made to understand that everyone on the shortlist would need to supply an edition.”
Galley Beggar was due to be paid after Christmas, but it was told by Book People it would not be paid in the immediate future, with all payments to suppliers understood to be frozen.
After the fundraiser launch, Galley Beggar raised more than the £15,000 it initially asked for, before raising the goal to £40,000, and raising above £30,000.
The Book People, which was founded in 1988 and offers cheap deals on a wide range of books, was placed in administration on Tuesday, putting almost 400 jobs at risk.
Source: The Guardian
