Madam, - Diarmaid Ferriter is, of course, perfectly entitled to publish his new book, The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000, with Profile Books of London and I wish him every success with it.
However, I must take issue with his letter (October 22nd), explaining why he chose to do this, rather than publish in Ireland.
He implies that all "Irish academic publishers" are less "sophisticated" than their English counterparts, who "market their books more effectively. . .can do larger print runs and charge less expensive prices".
I can only speak for Cork University Press, but in doing so I reject that characterisation most emphatically. I believe it is recognised, both here and abroad, that our books meet the highest international standards. Our authors have the benefit of detailed reports from expert readers and of professional editing and design.
Furthermore, as the turnaround in our financial position over the past year has shown, we can market Irish scholarly publications as well as anyone, and at competitive prices. Diarmaid Ferriter also implies that Profile Books are "academic publishers", but a glance at their online catalogue shows that they are better described as commercial publishers, who publish relatively few academic titles, and then only those of a crossover or general interest type.
As they expand on the back of their runaway success with Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves, they are clearly exploring the market for Irish books, but they have only published three Irish titles and it remains to be seen how well they market them, or how long they will retain an interest in this area.
Certainly, they are unlikely to do the range of publications that is the mark of the true academic publisher, who, effectively, subsidises very specialised, low-sale titles with the income from more successful ones.
Academic publishing here, as elsewhere, finds it increasingly difficult to thrive in the kind of environment that Profile Books typifies. As someone also involved in promoting the expansion of the Irish university press sector, I will be following up on Damien Arrigan's suggestion (October 27th) that Enterprise Ireland might be interested in supporting our endeavours. It is no help, however, to have an Irish academic denigrate what we do, and indeed, if all high-profile authors and potentially profitable books go to commercial publishers abroad, it will be even harder for Irish academic publishing to thrive. - Yours, etc.,
TOM DUNNE, Managing Editor, Cork University Press, Togher, Cork.