With the ghost of a smile on his face

The literary publishing industry is in a difficult spot: a Porter’s analysis should not be required for either explanation or justification. E-reader sales are heating up, the general public appears to be spending an ever-decreasing portion of their time reading, and the notion of personal libraries packed with expensive hardcovers appears, for my generation at least, to be an archaic form of interior design.

With his recent self-publication of The Best Laid Plans, Terry Fallis has shed light on another difficulty facing the industry: the increasing ability of writers to interact directly with their potential audience. After experiencing difficulty securing a publishing contract Terry decided to distribute his satirical commentary of the Canadian political scene virally: via a self-narrated podcast. Since then the novel has won ‘The Stephen Leacock Award for Humour’ as well as the ‘Canada Reads 2011 Selection’.

This dissemination strategy may be a sign of things to come: Terry Fallis could be doing for the literary publishing industry what The Arcade Fire accomplished in the music industry: utilizing the internet to circumvent the powers that be and forge direct relationships with audiences. It is important to note that both Terry Fallis and The Arcade Fire have signed traditional contracts; however this ‘pull strategy’ is an aberration to say the least. Normally a writer (a previously unpublished one at least) will produce an unsolicited manuscript, try to get it picked up by a literary publishing house, which will then push it on to audiences.

Terry Fallis’ novel not only ‘deftly explores the Machiavellian machinations of Ottawa’s political culture’ but also new avenues for successful, award-winning content distribution and literary marketing.