We won’t get people to buy more printed books, even if we destroy the entire audio book system, says publisher Anna-Rikka Carlson

When The four-day rollercoaster of the Helsinki book fair was applauded, Anna-Riikka Carlson felt groggy. The next night the fever rose to close to forty degrees.

It happens so easily when a person devoted to his work finally gives himself permission to breathe.

“It felt like someone had been thrown from side to side in a boxing ring,” Carlson describes a few days later at a cafe table.

Carlson works at WSOY as a publisher of domestic fiction. It is his responsibility to decide what kind of stories Finns read.

Carlson nails the vision. He admits that his own preferences are naturally reflected in publication decisions, but he is still not solely responsible for them.

Carlson’s rule of thumb is that in addition to him, at least one other person must be excited about the script.

“I’m not a dictator.”

Carlson that is, his childhood literally surrounded by books. The parents were hard to read, and there was also a bookshelf in the windward closet of the home.

The enthusiasm also spread to the family’s children. Carlson was an avid diary keeper. The mother tongue was always ten.

“I was quite the nerd. I studied French grammar, among other things.”

Carlson drifted into the book industry as a literature student in his twenties. He started as a publishing editor in WSOY’s corporate publications, from where he moved to Art House for general literature and fiction.

At the beginning of the millennium, Carlson founded a small publishing house called Avain, which he closed in 2010. The same year he started his current job.

“In the madness of my youth, I founded that company,” Carlson says and laughs.

Carlson’s the career path from a literary professional to an important influencer appears outwardly as a logical, even partly fateful series of events.

Carlson says he sees it differently. In his own opinion, he could have been just as satisfied in some other field.

Carlson thinks that he would have had a great time working as a teacher, child psychologist or social worker, for example.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m better with people than texts.”

Today Carlson himself is also a writer. In April, his work, the author, appeared Eva Kilven about life Dear Eeva Kilpi. These parties are still going on (WSOY).

The large project made Carlson look at the profession of a writer with new eyes. He says that nowadays he can identify with the writer’s feelings even better.

“The experience definitely helped me understand how personal writing a book is and how important it is for the author to be noticed and seen.”

Do Carlson think writers are more sensitive than average? Yes they are, he replies.

“Writing requires sensitivity, that you feel things. That is certainly at the core of my work. I don’t think I have ever underestimated the feeling or disappointment experienced by the writer. But it’s not always very easy.”

In October at the beginning, more than a thousand domestic writers and literary professionals signed an open letter demanding that publishing houses and the government act to improve the position of writers and to secure the continuity of Finnish literature.

Audiobook and streaming services were raised as a big problem, which were seen to be selling books at ridiculous prices and eroding the livelihood of authors.

According to an income study commissioned by the Finnish Writers’ Association and the Finnish Writers’ Association, in 2022 the author received about one-fifth of the royalties of a printed book for his latest work sold on streaming services.

Carlson says this evokes many emotions in him. He says that he misses, above all, an open, fair and practical discussion on the issue.

“It feels sad to think that many writers feel that the publishing house doesn’t care about their situation. Of course, I suffered terribly from this,” says Carlson.

“There is clearly a gap here between writers and other actors in the field. Then everyone needs to look in the mirror to see if we have enough compassion and if we would be able to do things differently when it comes to making a living.”

Asia However, in Carlson’s opinion, it is not as black and white as the public has made it clear.

He says there are a number of authors who have no problem with audiobook services. Their voices have been heard less recently.

Carlson says he also finds the claim of underpricing literature unfair.

“We have to trust the streaming services when they say that they have done studies according to which raising the price would drop the number of customers. Then the income would drop even more.”

“We should accept the sad truth that even if we destroyed the entire audiobook system, we wouldn’t get people to buy an awful lot more printed books.”

Do you think that the compensation that authors receive for audio books is sufficient?

“Well, then no. But then consumers should also pay more.”

The most popular audiobook services in Finland cost less than ten euros per month. Many think it’s too cheap.

“Of course, it is very little, and writers are in a very unequal position. I think culture needs all possible support right now.”

What would you tell your 20-year-old self?

“Stop listening to yourself as sensitively as others.”

Correction 7.11. at 7:46 am: Anna-Riikka Carlson sold her Avain publishing house in 2010, not 2012 as was incorrectly written in the text.