From theology to film deals: how Mercier made its fortune at book fairs abroad

Mercier’s long-standing love affair with the Frankfurt Book Fair began in the 1950s, when Seán Feehan, an Irish Army captain who started Mercier in 1944 and who had a strong interest in theology, planned his campaign to secure the English-language rights to the works of the new wave of theologians, mainly from Germany, the Netherlands and France, who were coming to prominence in post-war Europe.

A firm believer in meticulous planning, he perfected his German language skills and a few weeks before the Fair he set off to visit bookshops in German cities. There he would engage with the staff in the religious departments and get details of that year’s best sellers. Armed with this research, he would seek out the publishers of these titles at the Fair and return to Ireland with options on the world English-language rights.

Arrangements were made with freelance translators and soon Feehan was ready to sell on editions to American, UK and Australian publishers. In addition, a significant business was built up in selling the copies of the Mercier edition to the countries where there were Catholic missionary priests, nuns and teachers.

Then in 1955 Mercier took the plunge and booked a stand at Frankfurt. Now the full range of Mercier titles was on show and further development of the business ensued.

For almost a decade Mercier enjoyed a virtual monopoly on this business, but in due course the American, UK and other publishers to whom Feehan had been selling the translations began coming to the Fair and outbidding Mercier to acquire these rights. This stiff competition coincided with the Second Vatican Council, which led to a radical change of approach in Catholic thinking and had a profound effect on religious publishing. The old certainties were under attack and it would be many years before some semblance of stability returned.

Feehan realised that these changes had serious implications for Mercier and the business he had built up through the Frankfurt Fair. He saw that religious publishing was under threat and that a new publishing strategy was necessary. He reduced the number of religious titles and expanded the range of Irish-interest paperback titles that he had been developing. Despite the declining number of titles with rights sales potential being published by Mercier, Feehan continued to exhibit at Frankfurt, with a new emphasis on promoting the Irish-interest titles. In due course other Irish publishers attended, and a joint Irish stand was organised with financial and practical help from Córas Tráchtála, the Irish Export Board.

So, 60 years on, Mercier are still enthusiastic Frankfurters, a testament to the fact that our post-mortems after each year’s Fair still show positive results. Along the way the London Book Fair came on stream, providing Irish publishers with the opportunity to meet the many retailers, wholesalers and remainder dealers who attend it. London is now a fully fledged rights fair, second only to Frankfurt.

My introduction to trade fairs came in 1966 (I remember that the blowing up of Nelson’s Pillar made TV news while we were there), when I accompanied Feehan to the National Catholic Education Association Convention in Chicago. It was an overwhelming experience, with everything from nuns’ underwear to school buses on display, and of course a substantial book section. With all the Irish and Irish-American clergy there, the Mercier stand was probably the busiest.

Mercier and other Irish publishers attended the American Booksellers Association trade show sporadically. It was always interesting and educational to meet many smaller American publishers who never went to Frankfurt, but the emphasis was always on the retail trade, with thousands of booksellers clogging up the aisles with their wheelie-bags, collecting the free samples of books. Doing rights business was difficult and no Irish publishers exhibit there now. Nevertheless, one great deal for Mercier resulted when John B. Keane’s novel Durango was picked up by a scout at the fair and later Hallmark Films paid $225,000 for the film rights.

I began going to Frankfurt in the early 1970s and have not missed a year-yet! So, what has changed over the years? There have been developments in technology-who remembers linotype machines and galley proofs? And the way we communicate has changed greatly-manuscripts and proofs used to be sent by letter and parcel post, and overseas phone calls had to be booked in advance.

But the raison d’être of Frankfurt has not changed. It’s the place you go to showcase your titles, to sell rights, perhaps to buy rights and to meet other publishing professionals, all in the interest of growing your business. It’s where you can learn from seminars and lectures and gain inspiration from seeing how other publishers do things. It gives us the opportunity to meet face to face the people with whom we do business, forging friendships, sharing insights and advice. The social side should not be underestimated. The Irish stand party must be one of the most popular at the Fair-you might find yourself chatting over a pint of Guinness with an acquisitions editor whom you have been trying (and failing) to meet for years.

This article was first published in Books Ireland magazine, September/October 2016