The fallout of Small Press Distribution's sudden closure

Small Press Distribution, one of the oldest independent book distributors in the United States, suddenly closed up shop on March 28, leaving hundreds of independent publishers in the lurch.

Today on Commotion, Jane Friedman joins host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to unpack what happened, and how the world of small press is struggling in the aftermath.

For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.

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Friedman says she was shocked — but maybe not entirely surprised — to learn that Small Press Distribution shut down effective immediately after 55 years in business.

"When a distributor closes, there's a really long wind-up or dissolution," Friedman says. "People have to get their books to another place. We're talking about 300,000 books that SPD was handling … and so to say today we're stopping, and there has been no notice? Wow.

"I don't think anyone was surprised that it might go away, but I think it was just the suddenness that one day they were shipping out books, literally, and the next day they were like, 'We're done.'"

Friedman says this situation poses an immediate "logistical" problem for small presses because of all the books now left sitting in warehouses with no distributor to move them.

One of the warehouses has even said they'll "recycle" any books previously distributed by SPD that have not been claimed by April 17, giving these presses little time to find a new distributor willing to take the inventory.

"[Small presses] are typically run by volunteers, by people who have day jobs, by people who aren't doing this as something where they're sitting at their desk 24/7, you know? So they have to drop everything," Friedman says.

She also points out that this dissolution could have unexpected financial consequences for the independent presses involved.

"Unless they have a cushion, this impacts their ability to pay off their royalties, to continue printing books, to continue to operate."

As for what might be the reason behind this move, Friedman says there's a variety of factors at play, from structural funding issues affecting the industry at large to the practical matters affecting the organization.

"SPD also just completed this enormous transition of its inventory to a new warehouse, so it was in the process of moving — and as we all know, moving ends up costing more than maybe you anticipated. So it was probably a confluence of factors that led to the abruptness."

Ultimately, the loss of Small Press Distribution will be felt. The smaller publishers they serviced play a crucial role in nurturing new talent, Friedman says, yet "they're not well protected at all."

"We need small presses to take risks. I mean, the big conglomerates are not taking risks on this level. They're also not necessarily looking for emerging voices…. [These presses] really preserve the arts and culture.

"They're fundamental for the arts, for poetry, for literary fiction, for things that are not commercial enough for a big publisher to take on."

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show, plus a panel on whether art criticism is facing an existential crisis, on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Jane Friedman produced by Jane van Koeverden.