Faber CEO speaks out after winning indie trade publisher of the year | Books | The Guardian

The publishing house has benefited from top listings in many of the literary prizes - as well as Barry's overall Costa win, Faber debut novelist Francis Spufford scooped the first novel award. Prizes, however, did not necessarily translate into sales, the CEO said, and Faber had therefore engaged in alternative ways to market its authors. Ten thousand people had signed up to its members' club, while its creative writing academy had grown in prestige thanks to premium advances for graduates including novelists SJ Watson (Before I Go To Sleep), Rachel Joyce (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry) and Laline Paull (The Bees).

None of the academy graduates has yet been published by Faber. Asked if this would change, Page said: "Would I have liked to have published some of these writers? Of course, but it's a creative writing school not a pipeline." He added that it would be cynical to use the courses to find authors to fill its lists.

Asked if it was cynical to use aspiring authors as an income strand, he replied: "I don't understand that argument at all. Serious people choose to come on [the courses] and a lot of people have succeeded with it."