Letters to the Editor: Catapult Books’ fall is sad but not surprising in a tough publishing industry
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To the editor: It is sad to see Catapult Books go, but completely understandable (“Catapult Books is being sold; authors mourn a major loss to L.A.’s literary scene,” Oct. 23). I have made my living as a novelist for 40 years, working for the Big Five publishers before going indie.
The union’s goal of better pay and job stability is great in theory, but it is seldom viable in the publishing industry. We all work and thrive — or not — on the whims of readers, the economy that sometimes restricts disposable income, and an ever-changing landscape of entertainment options that chop that disposable income into pieces.
It’s likely that Catapult could not, in good faith, meet the union’s demands. Neither, I assume, can the entity that bought Catapult, and that’s probably why 20 people are now jobless. My heart is with the 16 authors in limbo and the owners of what once was a jewel in L.A.’s entertainment crown.
Rebecca Forster, Los Angeles
