Alice Munro - Writing Her Lives

the sale of “Red Dress – 1946” to
McCall’s
– which paid in the thousands for the story, more than she had ever received for one story – Munrohad expressed some dissatisfaction over this, saying “that she wasn’t a supermarket kind of writer,” that she wanted to be in the
New Yorker
or in the
Atlantic
. Kiil recalled that as he was trying to place her stories Munro was not especially encouraging.
    This anecdote, amusing now, suggests something about Munro’s own aspirations for her work – she did, as has often been remarked, lampoon supermarket publications aimed at women in
Lives
. But more than that, and more telling, is Kiil’s comment, “I know we can sell whatever you produce.” He had set about doing just that with
Lives
, using it as a property acquired by McGraw-Hill Ryerson to, as he says in the same letter, pressure McGraw-Hill International from Canada. Although it was never a matter of Munro making a conscious decision, Kiil’s position as editor-in-chief of trade books at McGraw-Hill Ryerson in effect made him her agent, for he took charge of convincing McGraw-Hill New York to bring out
Lives, Dance
, and
Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You
in the United States and, through Beverly Loo in McGraw-Hill’s subsidiary rights department in New York, arranged two British editions and sold serial rights to American magazines. Kiil did well enough, since
McCall’s
bought four stories between 1972 and 1974 (two from
Dance
and another two from
Something
before it was published) and another was sold to
Chatelaine
. He knew Munro’s career was rising and, as well, he knew that because of the marriage breakup and her return to Ontario she was largely without income but for her writing. Recalling this years later, he commented that he was a “bit pushy with Alice” – that is, as he told her, he knew he could sell what she was writing. Beyond her work’s evident aesthetic appeal, Kiil saw its commercial possibility; at the time, others in publishing were noticing the same thing.
    Kiil was able to act on Munro’s behalf because the contracts she signed for her books with Ryerson and then McGraw-Hill Ryerson made them, in effect, company property. Clearly she needed guidance and perspective. Once again, the publishing conditions surrounding the forming of the Writers’ Union of Canada are relevant. One of the group’s initiating concerns was the availability of sample contracts. Many writers, happy to have their work appear in print, were willingto accept what publishers offered. Since there were few literary agents working in Canada then, not many writers had any intermediary to help them understand just what was being offered, how it compared to common practice, or what other strategies might be pursued. The union was being formed, in part, to address this need. Munro’s experience was typical in that she dealt with Ryerson and McGraw-Hill Ryerson on her own, just as she had with various magazine editors and other literary types over the years. Robert Weaver had given her advice, but she wrote her own letters. Once
Lives
was accepted and Kiil began pushing McGraw-Hill New York on Munro’s behalf, her business dealings – other editions, paperbacks, serial and other rights, licences – became much more complex. This would have been so anyway, but the breakup of her marriage and the need to secure an income from her writing gave these matters particular urgency.
    While Munro was drawn to Ryerson initially by the people who worked there – she recalls Earle Toppings and Audrey Coffin, especially, as people who were working for her success because they believed in the quality of her writing – she lacked confidence in McGraw-Hill Ryerson throughout her connection with it. This was not only because of the Ryerson takeover, but also because of the nature of the company itself; the fact was that McGraw-Hill Ryerson was not so much interested in quality fiction as it was in textbooks, business books, nonfiction, and reference books. The Toronto executives, Kiil recalled, were hesitant about writers like Munro – since they had her work they had to do something with it, but they did so without much enthusiasm. At the same time, and without questioning anyone’s good faith, having her publisher – really, her publisher’s parent firm – negotiate subsidiary rights and foreign editions was not entirely in her best interest. While the publisher was keen to get her work out, the