Why do Ukrainian writers move from big publishers to small ones?

In most parts of the world, an author’s writing career is similar to the career of football players: they start small, the more successful ones move up, and the most successful reach the big leagues with many zeros in the contracts and sales figures. It’s not just about money — big success comes with being famous and popular.

The Ukrainian book market tends to work in the opposite direction. Authors achieve success with large publishers, and once they reach a certain level of popularity, they move to smaller ones. This has been the case for countless Ukrainian authors, including Serhiy Zhadan, Max Kidruk, Andriy Kokotyuha, Artem Chekh, Sofia Andrukhovych, and Kateryna Babkina.

Competition or market norms?

In Germany or France, the trend of authors transitioning from small to large publishers is considered problematic because it suppresses competition and increases market monopolization. However, this is considered the norm in the US and the UK.

A big reason why the Ukrainian book market works differently than long-established Western book markets is that book contracts with large publishers don’t necessarily promise more money.

While some Ukrainian authors do follow the normal trajectory of graduating from small publishers to larger ones, it is worth mentioning that well-known Ukrainian writers who publish with large publishers also choose to collaborate with smaller ones. For example, Yuri Andrukhovych published one of his books with the Ivano-Frankivsk-based publishing house Discursus. Serhiy Zhadan, after several books with Folio and the Family Leisure Club (two of the largest Ukrainian publishers), moved to the Chernivtsi-based Meridian Czernowitz. His art book, created in collaboration with Kharkiv artist Pavlo Makov, was published by the art publisher ist publishing. The new novel “Mom, Do You Remember?” by well-known writer Kateryna Babkina was announced to be released later this year by the small publisher Bilka. Bilka also published “Daughter” by Tamara Duda, winner of the Shevchenko Prize.

The need for new things

Sofia Andrukhovych, whose novels “Amadoka” and “Felix Austria” were published by one of Ukraine’s flagships, Lviv-based Old Lion Publishing House, released her new novel “Catananche” with the small Komubook publisher. Komubook is a niche publishing house known for using crowdfunding. Initially, Komubook published world classics and only began printing contemporary Ukrainian literature this year.

Sofia Andrukhovych became one of Ukraine’s most famous authors after the publication of “Felix Austria” and its subsequent film adaptation. Incidentally, the total print run of “Felix Austria” by the Old Lion Publishing House — 55,000 copies — is quite large for the Ukrainian market, where average print runs range within a few thousand copies. “Amadoka” (an 800-page novel!) currently has a print run of 19,000 copies and is being published in Austria, Denmark, Croatia, and Slovakia. Rights to the novel have been sold in eight additional countries.

Sofia Andrukhovych explains her decision to choose a new publisher through her desire to experiment and gain new experiences, despite satisfactory collaboration with the Old Lion Publishing House.

“I chose Komubook because I admire (the founder of Komubook) Pavlo Shved’s attitude towards his work and every single book he publishes: attentive and delicate. I also like the books and authors that Pavlo publishes.”

As an author, Sofia Andrukhovych has found working with Ukrainian publishers to be on par with foreign publishers.

“It is difficult for me to put ‘foreign publishers’ in one category. Each publishing house is made up of people with their own unique characteristics. We tend to think that the issue lies in the lack of attention during book promotion, but I once had a foreign publisher give so much attention during a short period of time that I barely managed to cope with it both mentally and physically,” notes Andrukhovych.

She also emphasizes the importance of balance and her positive experiences with Old Lion Publishing House (currently the only Ukrainian publisher with which Sofia Andrukhovych has long-term experience).

RELATED: The Inside Story: How Sofia Andrukhovych’s ‘Amadoka’ captured global literary spotlight

More publishers: bigger and smaller

Andriy Kokotyuha, a Ukrainian genre fiction author who has published 100 books with various publishers, worked with large publishers such as Folio and Family Leisure Club for many years. He now collaborates with Urbino Publishing House, which has become his milestone 10th publisher. He has mentioned that he will not be limited to this number.

“I didn’t replace Folio and Family Leisure Club with Urbino. I added this publisher to my list. Now I have 10 publishers, and at the “Book Country” (a new festival that took place from April 25-28 in Kyiv), I had meetings with others who also want to publish my books. Yes, they aren’t big, and definitely smaller than Folio and Family Leisure Club, but they offer good financial conditions. I work for money,” says Kokotyuha.

The writer noted that his experience working with Ukrainian publishers has varied greatly. However, to secure a top author, a publisher has to be patient. According to Kokotyuha, he no longer chooses publishers — they reach out to him and order books themselves.

Kokotyuha had had one major commercial success abroad — “Anomalous Zone,” a “dark” novel and Ukrainian gothic prose. This project was published first in French and then in Arabic.

Looking for friends

Artem Chekh made a strong debut in 2017 with his collection “Absolute Zero” published by the Kharkiv-based Vivat, and further solidified his popularity with “District D” and “Who Are You?” published by Meridian Czernowitz. The film adaptation of his novel, “Rock Paper Grenade” by Iryna Tsilyk became one of the major cinematic events of 2024. Chekh’s new book, a historical adventure novel titled “The Song of the Open Path,” is also coming out with Meridian Czernowitz. 

Chekh explains that the key issue with large publishers is their attitude toward authors — they often care more about sales than about the authors themselves. The sale of rights abroad typically happens only if the publisher can make a profit. Often, this involves minimal or standard royalty rates, a standardized marketing approach (if any), and a lack of genuine interest in the author, which leads to high turnover, according to Chekh.

“For me, Meridian Czernowitz is more than just a publishing house. They are friends, almost family. They wanted to publish me, and I wanted to publish with them. That’s how love was born.”

Chekh adds that he values Meridian Czernowitz for the opportunity to speak on international platforms and endlessly discuss details of the book’s design, editing, and marketing. He also appreciates fair fees and royalties.

RELATED: Destruction of Ukraine’s biggest children’s hospital no longer “big news” for many foreign media, says writer Artem Chekh

Not just a transition — establishing

Ukrainian science fiction and thriller author Max Kidruk worked with Kharkiv-based Family Leisure Club for many years, where he published, among other works, his bestselling novel “Don’t Look Back and Keep Silent.” Currently, the book has a print run of 60,000 copies. 

At the end of 2022, Kidruk and his wife, Tetiana, founded their publishing house, “Borodaty Tamaryn,” and released Kidruk’s novel “Colony” in January 2023. “Colony” is the first book in the science fiction series “New Dark Ages.” 44,000 copies have been printed so far, and it became one of 2023’s bestsellers.

During Nastia Yevdokimova’s conversation with Kidruk, on behalf of “Sens” bookstore, Kidruk said he was accustomed to controlling every step of the book publishing process: from extensive promotion (tours across dozens of cities, including small towns where Kidruk was the only author to ever been there), to editing, typesetting, cover design, and even part of the sales. Therefore, establishing his own publishing house became the logical next step. Kidruk decided not to limit himself to publishing his own books and quickly began publishing works by other authors.

Money can’t buy happiness

Most of the above-mentioned authors do not rely solely on publishers: they actively forge their own paths to readers. As previously mentioned, Max Kidruk is known for his mega tours around Ukraine. Similarly, in June, Sofia Andrukhovych and Artem Chekh held large-scale events with readers, gathering huge audiences in theater and cinema halls. Ukrainian star authors prefer to present themselves to their readers directly rather than waiting for publishers to do it (or not do it) for them. If we return to the football metaphor, Ukrainian writers are not just players; they also take on the role of head coaches.

You, of course, can attribute all this to the underdeveloped, small-scale Ukrainian book market. This is true indeed. However, I would view the Ukrainian publishing anomaly not as a problem but as a distinctive local feature worth appreciating. Ukraine sits among the countries where book authors can gather large audiences.

What’s next?

Recently, the Old Lion Publishing House announced that 100,000 copies of Ilarion Pavlyuk’s book “I See You Are Interested in Darkness” have sold, making it a bestseller of 2023. It seems this success was not the result of an extraordinarily successful advertising campaign. Rather, it was likely due to word of mouth, with enthusiastic readers making recommendations to friends. For the Ukrainian market, 100,000 copies is not just big, but large or perhaps even HUGE. I’m very interested to see where Ilarion Pavlyuk’s next book will be published. We will find out soon.

Translation: Iryna Saviuk

Copy editing: Terra Friedman King