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'A work of fiction which loses money'

19 March 2007

'Apparently (a literary book) is a work of fiction which loses money. It seemed rather an odd definition, and I tried to argue that publishing companies tend to do a better job when they are solvent. In addition, I'm not quite sure why literary publishing should deserve more support than, say, educational publishing in Zimbabwe. Of course we are committed to literary publishing and to the continued growth of Picador in all its markets... but I should not want to leave future publishers at Macmillan with an inheritance of loss, whatever the definition of literature.'

Richard Charkin, ceo of Macmillan, in his sparky and opinionated blog http://charkinblog.macmillan.com