In defence of publishers

Following the news that 18 publishers were, apparently, unable to recognise Jane Austen's work, in The Independent, Andrew Franklin, managing director of Profile Books, defends his trade.

If an editor commissions 20 titles a year, which is probably about average, they are being asked to consider around 500 manuscripts a year. That is an awful lot of words. No one can be surprised to learn that not every manuscript gets the careful attention it deserves. It should not come as a shock that many manuscripts are returned unread to the sender. We need to clear our desks in order to look after the authors whom we do sign up, and the unsolicited manuscripts are often a chore to be dealt with at the end of the day by an overworked intern.