60 years old | Years ago, Aleksi Siltala left his well-paying job with his brother and founded his own publishing house: “There was something crazy about it.”

The national writer on the name day exactly 60 years ago, a boy was born in Helsinki, who was named Aleksi.

Where did the letter s disappear after that?

“Probably in the opinion of my phenomanic parents, Aleksis would have run away from a foreign language too much”, publisher Aleksi Siltala tumii. “And I haven’t really missed that letter either.”

Then the news hits even those who have known Siltala for a long time. His official name is Kimmo Markus Aleksi.

“I hated Kimmo more than anything. It took an embarrassingly long time after I started school to make it clear that it was not to be used. The parents systematically used the name Aleksi. If they wanted to tease in the family, they said Kimmo.”

There were five children, of which the hero of the day was the second youngest, so you can be sure of the occasional fussing.

Sibling series first-born, May, was for a long time in central positions in the WSOY publishing house, just like Aleksik. Fifteen years ago, they left their well-paid jobs and founded their own Siltala publishing house. With a bank loan, own apartments as collateral.

The crazy ones.

“The industry is slowly reaching the salary level during the WSOY”, says Aleksi Siltala.

“Now you can say afterwards that there was something crazy about it. But the publishing house no longer has any debt.”

Financially, the years of my own company have varied a lot, because Kari Hotakainen of the work Unknown Kimi Räikkönen (2018) are rare.

“The idea was definitely not that we would get rich. But the fact that two men are now making some sort of living from this activity.”

In a large company, the days were filled with meetings. It didn’t feel like the life of a book publisher. Siltala meets once a week for an hour and a half.

“No one is upset.”

Hotakainen in addition, writers changed from WSOY to the brothers’ publishing house Pirkko Saisio, Leena Lander and Hannu Raittila. The first two of them are still publishing diligently.

In the early days, Siltala’s activities were focused on fiction. And since Touko had handled the affairs of the authors in question already in the old company, the little brother called the national author became part of the non-fiction works in particular.

“It was immediately in mind that we also wanted to invest in history, non-fiction books and commissioned works.”

That line has continued to this day.

“It is important for us to be able to credibly publish art prose, such as, for example Maria Matinmikkoaand at the same time a French bestseller Guillaume Musso – in such a way that it does not look strange but natural.”

There must be commercial literature, otherwise the activity will stop.

“And there is nothing wrong with works of that kind,” emphasizes the publisher.

Looking from the side Siltala seems like an exceptionally literary publishing house in Finnish terms. Its image also appeals to writers who have already established their position. Most recently, the one who published in Otava moved to Siltala Sirpa Kähkönen.

“Perhaps there is something even safe about us as a writer, because here we are all working in one space”, the daily hero thinks. “A writer who comes here to Suvilahdenkatu in Sörnäis will surely know each of us, which makes dealings easier.”

“That certainly has an effect, that our list is not hugely long and full of different stuff, so it’s also easier for everyone to breathe.”

There would always be more potential arrivals than Siltala can take. Aleksi Siltala talks about questioning one’s own sense of duty. That is:

“It’s good to ask ourselves what we can do for this person and his work.”

Last year, Siltala published a record number of books, about 60 titles. Packages seemed to come out of the press too often.

“This year we will publish forty. It is at least theoretically possible that everyone from our own people reads every one of them.”

The leaves and book publishers have the same challenge: they have to get young readers or soon there won’t be any at all.

And what did Aleksi Siltala do when a few years ago it started to seem that Matti Klinge not publish diaries and memoirs endlessly? Rejuvenate your lists Erkki Tuomiojan from the diary series Tamme.

“Thank you for this attention.”

“After all, we have here for this autumn, for example, a young author of narrative non-fiction Sonja Saarikoski and historian Sakari Bridge [Toukon poika] and the one in his forties Aleksi Mainio next year. So, yes, a young generation is coming. But yes, other emeritus, such as Seppo Hentilä and René Nybergwrite diligently, and exactly the kind of books we want to publish.”

The question is civil work.

“It might sound pompous, but: when I look at our list, it feels like we’ve done something right. It is a different matter whether we have always done the right thing, for example, in terms of the finances of the publishing house.”

Poet Jouni from Inkala the brothers have published no less than twenty collections, this autumn’s extensive work even in hard covers.

When making a publishing decision, don’t you ever think about whether the sales will cover the costs?

“At least for a poet of Joun’s caliber, I don’t think so.”

“On the other hand, in the case of a translation book, when absolutely nothing happens, then it feels discouraging. But not all books can be perfect matches.”