CANADIAN PUBLISHING 2017

New Concepts, New Ideas

P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY . C O M
 Publishing Great Books
All Year Long

Rene Denfeld Doug Gilmour Gilly Macmillan Paul Covello

David Yaffe P.J. Naworynski Bernard Cornwell Jon McGregor

jean e. pendziwol Emma Donoghue Janie Chang Mark Manson

 Canadian Publishing
CELEBRATING THE
STORY OF CANADA
Publishers continue to shape the countrys identity,
at home and abroad
By Ed Nawotka
E
arlier this year, Canada celebrated its sesquicentennial,
the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Canadian
Confederation, an event promoted with celebrations
across the country. The anniversary made for a big year
for books, of various shapes and sizes, based on Canadian
topics. HarperCollins enlisted its in-house designer,
Paul Covello, to produce what has become a wildly popular alphabet
board book, ABC Canada. It begins, A is for Arctic, B is for
Beaver and culminates, naturally, with Z is for Zamboni. The
book has sold some 80,000 copies so far this year. Covello, who also
designed the cover for PWs Canadian publishing supplement this
year, previously published Toronto ABC, which had sold 30,000
copies; his new board book, Canada 123, was just published in
September and went out with a print run of 45,000 copies.
Paul Corvello has had several
bestselling titles this year for
HarperCollins Canada.
COVER ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL COVELLO
W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M
At childrens publisher Owlkids
Books, My Canada: An Illustrated
Almanac, has sold more than 46,000
copies so far this year. It appeals to any
reader in Canadathe book travels from
Charlottetown in the east to Yellow
Knife in the north to Victoria in the
west, says Karen Boersma, publisher of
Owlkids Books. Dundurn Press, on the
other hand, opted for a book looking
south of the border to commemorate the
anniversary: a C$75 slipcased hardcover
called With Faith and Goodwill, 150 Years
of CanadaU.S. Friendship. The book,
edited by Arthur Milnes, was published
in collaboration with the Canadian
American Business Council. Even some
niche gift books have sold particularly
well, such as Second Story Presss 150
Fascinating Facts About Canadian Women,
which has made an impact at point of sale
at retailers.
Still, November is when one of the
most eagerly awaited titles commemo-
rating the anniversary comes out, Whats
Your Story, a dual-language yearbook that
collects profiles and portraits from across
the country. A partnership between
Mosaic Press and the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation/Radio Canada,
The book is planned as the culmination
of a year of Canada 150 celebrations and
reflections, says Matt Goody, managing
director of Mosaic Press. The publica-
tion in November will be our biggest of
the year and have a big marketing cam-
3
 Canadian Publishing

LISTENING FOR JUPITER paign behind it. Were partnering with Canadas largest book
Magical realism with a modern, retailer, Chapters-Indigo, so they can be the exclusive brick and
existential twist mortar retailer of the book.
For its part, Indigo Books, which has some 25% of the
Canadian book market, even jumped into the publishing game,
By Pierre-Luc Landry putting out its own coffee-table book entitled The World Needs
(tr. Arielle Aaronson, Madeleine Stratford) More Canada by Indigo CEO Heather Reismana slogan often
seen in the companys bookstoreswhich brought together
commentary and photography from more than 100 cultural
personalities and celebrities. The chain bookseller also pro-
moted its own list of the Top 10 Canadian Books of All Time.
The top five are published by Penguin Random House Canada
I NEVER TALK ABOUT IT and offered in a special, Indigo-branded slip-cased edition; they
are some of the classic Canadian titles promoted and reprinted
Fun, provocative, heart-wrenching in new editions for the occasion by PRH.
short stories
Reading the Story of Canada
By Vronique Ct and Steve Gagnon BookNet Canadathe government-sponsored organization
(37 different translators - one for each story!) responsible for tracking book sales and statisticsconducted a
study, Canadians Reading Canadians. which shares book
buyers attitudes about Canadian authors, as well as their
reading habits.
New voices. New translators. New perspectives. The report, updating a similar effort conducted in 2012,
qcfiction.com found that in the past year 44% of Canadian book buyers read
a book by a Canadian author. This is up from 24% of respon-
dents who said they had in 2012. Furthermore, 41% of book
Spring 2018 Rights Available buyers had read at least one book on a Canadian subject, nearly
double the 22% who said they had in 2012.
The survey also revealed that Canadians are still apt to buy
PATRIOTS, TRAITORS books, with 82% of readers acquiring books by purchasing
AND EMPIRES them. Receiving books as a gift (43%), borrowing from friends
The Story of Koreas Struggle and family (43%), buying used books (42%), and borrowing
for Freedom
Stephen Gowans
We live in a very multi-
Author of cultural country.... Our
Washingtons Long War on Syria
writers tap into the
global zeitgeist. Rick Wilks
THE EINSTEIN FILE from the library (41%) were also significant ways in which
The FBIs Secret War Against the readers acquired books.
Worlds Most Famous Scientist A more recent survey from BookNet, one that looks at how
Canadians spend their leisure time, found that 82% of respon-
Fred Jerome dents said they had read or listened to a book in the last year;
New Updated Edition among all respondents, 38% said their reading had increased
this past year.
(From J. Edgar Hoover All this would seem to be good news for publishers, retailers
to Donald Trump) and others associated with the industry. However, from January
to June this year Canadians bought C$398 million worth of
English-language print trade books, down 2.7% from the same
barakabooks.com | info@barakabooks.com
period last year, according to BNC SalesData. Where the rev-

6 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
 Canadian Publishing

enue is rising is in digital publishing, with Canadians expressing

entertainment.
a slight increase in interest in e-books, with purchases up 3%
over last year. According to the most recent data available,
e-books represent 20% of the market, behind paperbacks at
culture.
51% and hardcovers at 23%.
Furthermore, online sales were up 2% from the same period
last year, and have so far accounted for 52% of books sales this
writing.
year. Chain bookstores, represented primarily by Indigo, have
25% of the market.
From growing up gay in
Defining the Story of Canada small-town Ontario to
For us, being a Canadian publisher means that we present becoming an unintentional
Canadian voices, says Rick Wilks, director of Victoria-based spokesperson for redheads,
Annick Press. The themes that Canadians want to write about no subject is off-limits for
comedian Shawn Hitchins in
are universal. We live in a very this collection of essays.
multicultural country, so our
writers have global experience 9781770413269
with all kinds of engaging $14.95 U.S. $19.95 CDN
topics. This allows them to tap paperback memoir/humor
into a global zeitgeist that
resonates internationally. The
sentiment was echoed by
A l a n a Wi l c o x , e d i t o r i a l Around the world, more
director, of Torontos Coach laws are being passed
House Books: Being a recognizing that ecosystems
have legally enforceable
Canadian publisher means rights. And if nature has
that we prioritize working rights, then humans have
Rick Wilks, director of Annick with Canadian authors and responsibilities.
Press publishing books for Canadian
readers. More than that, it means making sure that Canadian 9781770412392
$15.95 U.S. $19.95 CDN
books are a part of the international literary conversation. paperback nature & politics
Publishers have played a key role in shaping the story of
Canada through the choices in books they have made. Before
WWII, publishing in Canada was primarily driven by the coun-
trys relationship with the United Kingdom. A shift toward the
U.S. happened during the postwar years, when the publishing What if you went to heaven
industry made a concerted effort to define a distinctive Canadian and no one there believed
in Earth? This satirical
identity. Such authors as Margaret Atwood, Mavis Gallant, post-mortem adventure
Farley Mowat, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje, and Mordecai novel is perfect for fans of
Richler became international CanLit celebrities and defined Douglas Adams.
a body of literature that was distinct from those of other Anglo
cultures. They became international celebrities. A second wave 9781770413177
$15.95 U.S. $19.95 CDN
followed in the 1980s and 90s, which included authors Anne
paperback fantasy
Carson, Barbara Gowdy, Ann Marie MacDonald, Anne Michaels,
and Carol Shields.
By then, the term CanLit had come under fire. Douglas
Coupland, for one, wrote causticallyand most would say mis-
guidedlyabout it for the New York Times in 2006: CanLit is an Ontario government agency
an Ontario
un organisme governmentde
du gouvernement agency
lOntario
un organisme du gouvernement de lOntario

when the Canadian government pays you money to write about

life in small towns and/or the immigration experience.
As for CanLit, the question of whether it is still a viable
moniker is all but moot. The fact is the 150th anniversary of ecwpress.com
Canada is an arbitrary date, considering the lands there have

W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M 7
 Canadian Publishing

been occupied for 14,000 wrote a nonfiction piece in English about trying to avoid using
years, says Rosalind Porter, the Acadian dialect in her novels, she says. Or Falen Johnson,
deputy editor of the U.K. lit- an indigenous writer whos written a wonderful short play for
erary magazine Granta, who us. They were eye-openers.
has overseen the editing and Porters conclusion after reading through more than 1,000
forthcoming publication of an submissions from all corners of the country: Maybe its time to
issue specially dedicated to redefine or do away with the term CanLit altogether.
Canada. Porter, who hails from Couplandwho contributed a photo essay to the Canada issue
Toronto but has lived in of Grantawould surely concur.
London for 25 years, observes
that there is no discernible Financing the Story of Canada
third wave of CanLit authors: One remnant of the CanLit legacy that remains largely intact is
The CanLit label is quite lim- the governments support for publishing Canadian books, some-
iting, and literary fiction likes A Canadian expat living in the thing even Coupland would agree is worthwhile. (I think the
to experiment, to not stay in U.K., Rosalind Porter is deputy Canadian government ought to be hurling 10 times as much
its own literary bubble. editor of Granta magazine. cash at literary arts in general, CanLit as much as anything else,
The Canada issue of Granta, Porter notes, was a challenge to he wrote in his Times essay).
put together, not least because of issues of language and inclu- Indeed, the government continues to take care of publishing
sion: Canada has two official languagesEnglish and French quite well. The Canada Book Fund, administered by the
as well as Inuktitut being an official language in Nunavut and Department of Canadian Heritage, has a budget of C$39.1 mil-
the Northwest Territories and more than 60 other indigenous lion with C$30.5 million allocated to the Support for Publishers
languages and dialects. It was fascinating to read so many programalthough, notes Kate Edwards, executive director of
writers from so many cultures in Canada that I had never heard the Association of Canadian Publishers, the budget has
from before, such as France Daigle, an Acadian writer, who remained static since 2001. Edwards, whose organization pro-

NEW from FERNWOOD PUBLISHING

Chocolate Under Her Skin Inuit Policing Black Lives

Cherry Chai
Taslim Burkowicz
Burkowicz cleverly weaves together
haunting life stories across time and
space, told by, of, and to women, of
fleeting romance, enduring hardship
and heartache, powerful and yet at
times powerless mother-child bond,
warmth, and cruelty.
Huamei Han
Stephen Law
A compassionate and thoughtful
novel, shot-through with moments of
breathtaking writing.
Semi Challas, writer on Mad Men
Laws richly-peopled Halifax is
infused with detail that brings this
story to life.
Stephanie Domet, Fallsy Downsies
Qaujimajatuqangit Robyn Maynard
Joe Karetak, Frank Tester, Shirley
Maynards meticulously-
Tagalik researched and compelling analysis
of state violence challenges
This book functions as a way of preserving
prevailing narratives of Canadian
important Inuit knowledge and traditon, multiculturalism and inclusion
and contextualizing that knowledge with
by examining how structures of
Canadas colonial legacy.
racism and ideologies of gender are
complexly anchored in global histories
of colonization and slavery.
Angela Davis

available at www.fernwoodpublishing.ca/roseway available at www.fernwoodpublishing.ca

8 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
 Canadian Publishing
vides support for 115 small and midsize publishers, has lobbied
to see that amount raised and is currently asking for an increase
to C$54 million.
Another organization, the Canada Council for the Arts, offers
as much as C$250,000 to book publishers in support per year.
But drawing funds from that group can be tricky, and the
Council reserves support until a publisher has released 16 titles,
which can be a difficult milestone to reach. Also, the Canada
Council caused much consternation this year when it replaced
140 grant categories with six broad ones, covering such areas as
projects, organizations, professional development, and travel.
Many publishers, already discontented with the new application
process, were also thwarted by outages that seemed to prevent
forms from being filed.
This year, to mark the 150th anniversary, the Canada Council
added a special grant program to provide one-time funding of
between C$50,000 and C$500,000 to individuals or organiza-
tions with projects that will encourage public engagement in
the arts and will promote outreach locally, nationally, and inter-
nationally. The idea is to spread the word about Canadian lit-
erature and publishing abroad and thousands of applications
have been filed for the grants.
For publishers in Ontario, the province-level Ontario Media
Development Corp. (OMDC) also offers substantial grant sup-
port. The organization is an agency of the Ontario Ministry of
Tourism, Culture and Sport, which facilitates economic devel-
opment for Ontarios cultural media industries, including book
and magazine publishing, film and television, music, and inter-
active digital media industries. Successful applicants are eligible
to receive up to C$150,000 depending on eligible sales revenue,
capped at 75% of the total project budget. Among the organiza-
tions most important roles has been administering the Trillium
Awards, given in the categories of English-language books,
French-language books, poetry, and childrens books.
In June, OMDC hosted the 30th Trillium Book Awards,
says Erin Creasey, manager for industry initiatives at the OMDC.
English-language winners included Melanie Mah for the
Trillium Book Awards [The Sweetest One, Cormorant Books] and
Meaghan Strimas for the poetry category [Yes or Nope, Mansfield
Press]. It was a wonderful celebration of decades of the award,
with many of Canadas biggest writers as winners in
attendance.
The OMDC has also been instrumental in helping to foster
books-to film projects in Ontario. Each year the OMDC hosts
a page-to-screen matchmaking event for Ontario publishers and
filmmakers. One of our recent successes in helping a book get
translated is The Breadwinner, Creasey says. Published by
Groundwood Books, the option was bought by Aircraft Pictures
A Wicked TAle of WiTchcrAfT,
Bullying, revenge,
And A MysTerious BoWler hAT
Written and illustrated by
singer-songwriter ron sexsmith
#deerlife
@dundurnpress
dundurn.com
 Canadian Publishing

after meeting with Groundwood at the event. Subsequently, the

film became an international coproduction with Ireland and
Luxembourg, and Angelina Jolie came on as executive producer.
The film itself, just released at the Toronto International Film
Festival, was supported by OMDCs Film Fund. Groundwood
Books is busy promoting a movie-tie-in edition and is also
producing a graphic novel adaptation.

Exporting the Story of Canada

Some of the most heavily supported projects for government
initiatives have been those focusing on topics that emphasize
diversity, inclusion, and tolerance, many of which might never
get published without government support. Sarah MacLachlan,
president and publisher of Torontos House of Anansi Press,
says, The way we work with the Canada Arts Council and
OMDC allows us to publish books without solely having the
bottom line in mind, and because of the kind of funding we can
get, we can take a risk on books that are important and may not
appear to be commercially viable.
The upside is that, often, they prove to be commercial indeed.
Matt Williams, Anansis v-p of operations and past president of
the Association of Canadian Publishers, says: There has been
renewed attention on indigenous people and publishing with
more respectful attention to those cultures. We have found, with
a handful of writers from those backgrounds, those books are
going beyond Canada.
One title Anansi has its sights on exporting is The Break by
Katherena Vermette, which has already sold 50,000 copies in
Canada. The novel is about a community of people of mixed
indigenous and settler descent north of Winnipeg dealing with
the fallout from a shocking crime. We sold it all over the world,
except for [the U.S.]. Unfortunately, we could interest editors

INDIGOS
TOP 10 CANADIAN
NOVELS OF ALL TIME:
1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
2. Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
3. The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
4. Barneys Version by Mordecai Richler
5. The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
6. The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
7. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
8. Shake Hands with the Devil by Romo Dallaire
9. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
10. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
 WINNER
TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD
PUBLISHED BY
CORMORANT BOOKS
THE SWEETEST ONE MELANIE MAH

WINNER
TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD
PUBLISHED BY
MANSFIELD PRESS
MEGHAN STRIMAS YES OR NOPE

LAURAT | PRIX
LITTRAIRE TRILLIUM
PUBLISHED BY
DITIONS
PRISE DE PAROLE
JEAN BOISJOILI LA MESURE DU TEMPS

LAURAT | PRIX DU LIVRE

DENFANT TRILLIUM
PUBLISHED BY
DITIONS DAVID
SKI, BLANCHE ET AVALANCHE PIERRE-LUC BLANGER

Congratulations 2017 Trillium Book Award Winners

Ontario book publishers and authors create books the whole world reads.
OMDC is proud to present and support this years winners of the Trillium Book Award.
 Canadian Publishing
in it, but they couldnt get it past their sales and marketing
teams, Williams says. Anansi, which derives 20% of its revenue
from U.S. sales, is releasing the book in the States in March
2018.
Coach House Books, distributed in the United States by
Ingram Publisher Services, has signed up with Cursor, a new
services company to handle publicity and marketing in the U.S.
Right now, about a third of our book sales are to the United
States, says editorial director Alana Wilcox. Were hoping
that [Cursors] better access to American media and bookstores
will help us grow our sales there. Two titles she says might
resonate with U.S. readers are Curry: Eating, Reading, and Race
by Naben Ruthnum, an extended essay on everything brown
people eat, read, and do, and If Clara by Martha Baillie, a novel
about a woman who receives a mysterious manuscript about a
Syrian refugee and is asked to pose as its author.
U.S. authors do still sell in Canada. Vancouvers Arsenal
Pulp books has had successes from U.S.-authored titles
including Conflict Is Not Abuse, a nonfiction book by Sarah
Schulman, now in its fifth printing in less than a year, and the
cookbook Chowgirls Killer Party Food by Heidi Andermack and
Amy Lynn Brown, says Brian Lam, publisher of Arsenal Pulp.
The company now calculates that as much as 65% of its busi-
ness is in the U.S.
12 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
At Torontos Second Story Press, publisher Margie Wolfe
reports sales to the U.S. are up 25% this year and now account
for 34% of overall sales, resulting from what might be called a
Trump bump. An emboldened anti-immigrant policy,
racism, and general intolerance within the United States and
elsewhere, and a refugee crisis impacting a broad spectrum of
countries, has led to a deepening interest into the kind of social
justice and women-focused books that we do, Wolfe says.
Similarly, a heightened awareness of indigenous struggles and
There has been a
renewed attention on
books about indigenous
people 
Matt Williams
history has had a dramatic positive impact on sales.
Wolfe pointed to books such as I Am Not a Number by Jenny
Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer and three books that have come
directly out of the companys Indigenous Writing Contest: The
Mask That Sang by Susan Currie, published in 2016; Stolen Words
by Melanie Florence; and The Water Walker by Joanne Robertson.
 Canadian Publishing

The books benefited from
online promotion through
the hashtag #ownvoices,
which aims to draw atten-
tion to authentic indige-
nous voices.
It would be the
misperception that some
still have that a Canadian
publishers books wont
appeal to readers in the
U.S., Wolfe says. But
this has been changing,
and weve heard more and
more how Canadian books
are being sought out by
Kate Edwards, executive director of the U.S. trade buyers in par-
Association of Canadian Publishers
ticular. They appreciate
our perspective, and the fact that so many Canadian publishers
have been making diversity, own voices, and social justice a
central part of their mandate. That we are a relatively small
country, made up of a very diverse population, means that we
are often looking outward as much as inward, which opens up
your mind.
Still, its not all positive news for Canadian publishing when
it comes to Trump. Particularly troubling are Trumps repeated
threats to alter NAFTA, which maintains a cultural exception
that includes books. Despite export sales to the U.S. accounting
for a significant percentage for some Canadian publishers
annual revenues, the balance of trade in books between the two
countries is strongly in favor of the U.S. Books imported to
Canada from the U.S. contribute to a trade deficit with the U.S.
book industry of approximately C$375 million each year. For
us, the independent Canadian publishers, the cultural exception
in the existing trade agreement has been critical to the growth
and development of the domestic industry, given our relatively
small market size, says Kate Edwards of the ACP.
While the government of Canada is not on record supporting
the cultural exception, it does sponsor Ottawa-based Livres
Canada Books, a nonprofit organization to support the export
of English and French Canadian books abroad. Franois Charette,
executive director of the organization, is tirelessly promoting
Canadian efforts abroad and has led trade missions to several
countries, including Colombia, earlier this year. In February,
Canada was the Guest of Honor at the Havana International
Book Fair and a delegation of 45 authors and publishers traveled
to the island; in 2020 Canada will be the Guest of Honor at the
Frankfurt Book Fair.

BOOKS THAT MOVE

Bringing Canadian words to the world

DISCOVER CANADAS COLLECTIVE RIGHTS CATALOGUE

RIGHTS CANADA - NOW AVAILABLE ON THE CANADA STAND

VISIT THE CANADA STAND JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GET YOUR COPY

Hall 6.0 | B 65 bit.ly/Rights_Mailing bit.ly/RightsCanada_2017-2018

www.facebook.com/LivresCanadaBooks @livrescabooks www.livrescanadabooks.com

W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M 13
 Canadian Publishing
Canadaversaries!
Tundra and House of Anansi turn 50, Dundurn turns 45
By Ed Nawotka
Tundra: Canadas Oldest Childrens
Book Publisher
Founded in 1967 by May Cutler, Tundra Books is synonymous
with Canadian childrens book publishing. Random House
acquired the company in 2012 and continues to foster its tradi-
tion of producing top-quality childrens books.
To mark the 50th anniversary, Tundra revealed a new logoa
pair of abstract antlers, designed by illustrator Frank Viva, who
is also the author of two
books from the publisher,
Sea Change and Outstanding
in the Rain. I like that you
can see it both as antlers and
as, maybe, a whales fluke,
says Tara Walker, publisher,
Penguin Random House
Canada Young Readers, and vice-president, Penguin Random
House Canada. Its playful, clever, and Canadianall of which
represent us perfectly.
To further mark the occasion, the company has also launched
a Tundra Books Emerging Artist of the Year prize. This years
winner is British Columbia artist Madeline Kloepper, for her
work on Little Blue Chair, a picture book written by Cary Fagan.
At Tundra, we have a reputation for producing beautiful
books, Walker says. Above all, that is what we do, so it is
important to recognize the people who make that happen
Tundra, along with Puffin and Penguin Teen, produce about
80 titles a year for Penguin Random House Canada, with an
editorial staff of six.
This past year has been very successful for the imprint. A
highlight has been The Darkest Dark by astronaut Chris
Hadfield. Copublished with Little, Brown, it sold more than
60,000 copies in Canada. But the bestseller for the press has
been Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton, which has
90,000 copies in print. Our sales are up 41% in the U.S. this
past year, Walker says. We attribute this to Narwhal. The
sequel, Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt was published this past
summer; the third volume, Peanut Butter and Jelly, will be pub-
lished in April 2018.
Other recent books of note are Miss Moon: Wise Words from a
14 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
Dog Governess by Janet Hill and How to Make Friends with a Ghost
by Rebecca Green. Green is a Nashville-based author/illus-
trator, Walker says. I came across her work in Flow magazine.
We have sourced a lot of our illustrators that way. She has over
100,000 followers on Instagram, and, I think, the way the book
is doneas a how-to guide to friendshipand with its sophis-
tication, there is a lot of crossover appeal. Tundra has published
an initial print-run of 10,000 copies for Greens book.
Forthcoming titles Walker is excited about include The Bad
Mood and the Stick by Lemony Snickett, The Barnabus Project by
the Fan Brothers, coming in 2019, and numerous board books
and picture books inspired by L.M. Montgomerys Anne of Green
Gables.
Anne has been really good to us in this anniversary yearshe
has been a cornerstone of Canada 150 celebrations, Walker
says. Under the Penguin Teen imprint, PRH Canada published
Maud, a fictionalized version of the teen years of L.M.
Montgomery, by Melanie Fishbane. The book has been doing
really well in the U.S. as well, Walker adds. We really would
like to become the go-to publisher for Anne books.
Anansi Memorializes Milestone with
Beer and Books
In 2016, House of Anansi moved its offices from downtown
Toronto to the hip Junction Triangle neighborhood, next door
to the Henderson Brewing Co. and the eventual new home of
the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. This year, the
publishing house is celebrating its 50th
year with an anniversary beer. Our pub-
lishing house was born in 1967 over a
couple of bottles of beer, says Sarah
MacLachlan, president and publisher of
House of Anansi. It was a couple of
writers, Dennis Lee and David Godfrey,
who sat down over a beer to sketch out
an idea for a Canadian publishing com-
pany to publish contemporary Canadian
voices. Since then, the company has
gone on to publish a wide range of top
writers, including Margaret Atwood,
 Canadian Publishing
Roch Carrier, Lynn Crosbie,
Rawi Hage, Sheila Heti,
Michael Ondaatje, Lisa Moore,
Al Purdy, and Zoe Whittall;
several of them have had their
book covers appear on one of
31 labels for commemorative
beer produced by the brewery.
Weve repackaged 30 of
our classic titles and called Sarah MacLachlan pours one popular field rep at a number of places and, as a sales person, he brings
them the A-list, MacLachlan of the companys signature
anniversary brews.
says. We get 20% of our sales
in the United States. And one title that
we thought was perfect to reprint this
year is A Manual for Draft Age Immigrants
to Canada. The author, Mark Satin, origi-
nally wrote this in 1968 as a handbook
for Americans who refused to serve as
draftees in the Vietnam War and were
considering immigrating to Canada. His
afterward has some really amazing reso-
nances given the time we are living in
right now. The company has also pro-
duced a special edition of the poetry of
company founder Dennis Lee.
For the fall, MacLachlan anticipates
strong sales for a trio of titles: The
Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler, trans. by
Charlotte Collins, which MacLachlan
presented at the American Bookseller
Associations Winter Institute last
January in Minneapolis.
In 2018, Anansi is looking to Kathryn
Kemp-Griffins Paris Undressed, a guide
to wearing lingerie, and Ian Hamiltons
Imam of Tawi-Tawi to generate sales.
Dundurn Celebrates Its
Sapphire Anniversary
Kirk Howard founded Dundurn Press,
named after Dundurn Castle in Howards
hometown of Hamilton, in 1972. Over
four decades, the company has evolved
into the most prolific and largest inde-
pendent publisher in Canada, publishing
a wide range of fiction, crime, transla-
tions, history, biography, young adult
books, and more.
One of the real strengths that
Dundurn has demonstrated over the
years is that we are process oriented, says
Margaret Bryant, director of sales and
marketing. We recently completed workflow mapping, from acqui-
sition to postpublication, and we ensure that each book gets max-
imum attention at every step we have tracked. We have an exit survey
that authors get postpublication, and we keep them informed. It is
a wonderful feeling knowing that we are doing such consistent work.
The end result is that we are seen in the marketplace as a reliable and
dependable partner.
Among several of the changes over the past year at Dundurn has
been the addition of Scott Fraser as an acquiring editor. He was a
a different thought process to the type of acquisitions we are doing,
which are proving a little more commercial, Bryant says.
She notes that many of Dundurns titles are finding customers abroad, including the
Great Mistake Mystery series, about middle-grade boys with light anxiety, whose
mistakes help them solve local mysteries. Another popular title has been A Daughters
Deadly Deception by Jeremy Grimaldi, a true-crime story about a woman who hired
contract killers to murder her parents, the hit only partially successful. We are looking
at our week-after-week sales, and the e-book is selling all over the world, Bryant says.
Dundurn publishes 100 books per year and offers plenty of selection to book buyers.
Among its highlights in the coming months are musician Ron Sexsmiths childrens
picture book Deer Life: A Fairy Tale and Warren Kinsellas Recipe for Hate, a YA novel
about a group of punk rock kids defeating a violent gang of neo-Nazis. We think this
will resonate with readers, particularly after the events in Charlottesville, Va., earlier
this year, Bryant says.
A STUNNING GRAPHIC NOVEL FROM THE AWARD-
WINNING CREATORS OF JANE, THE FOX AND ME
beautifully
composed.
Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
[a] quirky,
beautiful story.
School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
[A] quiet, probing
graphic novel.
Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
GROUNDWOODBOOKS.COM
 Canadian Publishing

opening meditation studios in Indigo

Canadas Most locations.
How important is Reisman as a reader?

Influential Reader Publishers know enough not to go on the

record by name and risk upsetting
Reisman, which should tell you just how
Indigos CEO has a Midas touch powerful she is. Lets just say that we
have had books that seemed like obvious
bestsellers to us, and it wasnt until she
By Ed Nawotka gave them her imprimatur that they

H
really took offand have stayed best-
eather Reisman, the founder and CEO of Indigo Books & Music, may be sellers, says one publisher who requested
Canadas most important reader. Since 1998, Reisman has read and recom- to remain anonymous
mended books to customers, a kind of hand-selling from the top. These Can Reisman bring her Midas touch to
Heathers Picks, now nearing 300 books in all, are given prime place- the United States? We may very well find
ment in the stores, which, more often then not, results in them becoming out: Indigo is expected to expand opera-
bestsellers at Indigo. tions to the U.S. sometime in 2018,
These are not staff pickschosen by the staff of individual stores. Heathers Picks according to several high-level execu-
are highly-personal, idiosyncratic books that reflect Reismans passions and interests tives at publishing houses in Canada and
and are highlighted front and center at every Indigo location. They range from con- the U.S. Speculation is that a first store
sensus favorites like The Girl on a Train and All the Light You Cannot See to books like is being planned for New Jersey. Heather
Hemingway in Love by A.E. Hotchner, the art book The Idea of North: The Paintings of has many close relationships in New
Lawren Harris, and the mediation guide Unplug by Suze Yalof Schwartz, in whose Jersey and knows the area well, says one
company Reisman and Indigo made an investment earlier this year, with an eye toward executive.
As of July 1, Indigo operated 89 super-
stores under the Indigo and Chapters
brand names. It also ran 122 small-
format stores under the names Coles,

Think globally print locally.

Indigospirit, SmithBooks, and the Book
Company. All of the chains stores are
located in Canada.
Throughout 2017, Indigos revenue
has been on the rise. For the fiscal year
ended April 17, the company reported
total revenue of C$1.02 billion ($950
million), the chains highest revenue
mark to date. The numbers represent an
increase of 2.6%, or C$26 million ($20.6
million), over the same period last year.
Some of the companys recent success
has been attributed to the launch of a
new bookstore concept in 2016, which
places as equal emphasis on sales of non-
If you distribute your books book items, such as stationery and home
goods, in addition to books, and dubbed
in North America a cultural department store.

We can print them for you in Canada! CURRENT FEATURED

HEATHERS PICKS
1. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

See us in Frankfurt. Hall 6.0 B38

2. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
3. Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips
4. Sons and Soldiers by Bruce Henderson
5. Bear Town by Frederik Backman

marquisbook.com | 1 855-566-1937
Our Home and Native Land
new
All YA collections will want this.
School Library Journal, *starred review
A moving and powerful collection.
Publishers Weekly
Ages 14+
978-1-55451-957-6 paper / 978-1-55451-958-3 hardcover
Re-issue
A unique glimpse of childhood in the Arctic
by an acclaimed Inuit storyteller.
Ages 711
978-1-55451-928-6 paper
annick press | www.annickpress.com | distributed by PGW 1-800-788-3123
new
Likely to inspire respect, pride,
and a desire to learn more.
Kirkus Reviews
Ages 11+
978-1-55451-943-9 paper / 978-1-55451-944-6 hardcover
 18 Awards and Honors
Original and accessible, both an exuberant work
of art and a uniquely valuable resource.
Kirkus Reviews, *starred review
Ages 12+
978-1-55451-686-5 paper / 978-1-55451-687-2 hardcover
 Canadian Publishing
Audiobook Publishing
And Sales Take Off
Up North
Audible and Kobo launched audiobook platforms in Canada,
and publishers are getting into the game, too
By Ed Nawotka
J
ust as in the United States, Canadians
have increasingly taken to audio-
books. According to an August
survey by BookNet Canada, 26% of
people who said they had read a book ECW copublisher David Caron has spear-
in the past year said they had lis- headed the production of audiobooks in Canada. ment-funded program to produce 100
tened to an audiobook. Its a slight rise over
the previous year overall. What may be most sur-
prising is that among readers between the ages of
18 and 44, more had listened to an audiobook in
the past year than had read either a print or an
e-book.
Its such a growing industry that in September,
Amazons Audible subsidiary launched a Canada
site, audible.ca, which will showcase Canadian con-
tent. Earlier in the month Toronto-based Rakuten Kobo
also started offering audiobooks. The latter offers audiobooks
via its iOS and Android e-book apps, and serves them up la
18 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
carte or via a C$12.95 per month sub-
scription service that gives you one book
per month (with a free trial for 30 days).
And Ontario-based Audiobooks.com has
gotten audiobooks into nontraditional
venues, partnering with the likes of
Android Auto, CarPlay, TVOS, and select
GM, Jaguar, and Land Rover infotain-
ment systems to stream audiobooks.
(Audio books.com was acquired by
Maryland-based RBmedia in April.)
Until last year, audiobook distributors
largely offered content from the U.S.
Today, there is plenty of content being
produced by Canadas own publishing
community. In 2016, David Caron at
ECW and Alana Wilcox of Coach House
Books spearheaded an Ontario govern-
titles from Canadian publishers. It has
been the most notable thing for us this year, Caron
says. Were working with 22 Canadian pub-
lishers, including House of Anansi, Dundurn,
Kids Can, Orca, and more. All of the 100 books
we set out to do in 18 months are underway,
with almost a third on sale now, and another
third recorded, with another third still to be
recorded.
Caron notes that while it is still early to tally signifi-
cant sales results, there have been some standout titles. Fifteen
Dogs by Andr Alexis (Coach House), winner of the 2016 Giller
 Canadian Publishing

Prize and 2017 Canada Reads contest, was the first title pro- Mona Awads Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, as well as
duced by the collaboration and has been the top-selling title; a pair of books published in August: Linden MacIntyres novel
The Alchemists Council by Cynthea Masson (ECW), the first in The Only Caf and Pauline Dakins memoir, Run, Hide, Repeat.
a fantasy trilogy, is the second top-selling audiobook. In gen- The company anticipates simultaneous publication of print and
eral, genre fiction has fared better, Caron says, but our book audio for numerous titles going forward. Several modern
on walking, Born to Walk, is #3. I am imagining people out for Canadian classics are also getting the audiobook treatment,
a long walk, listening to this audiobook. including Life of Pi by Yann Martel and A Complicated Kindness
For their part in the program, Dundurn has six bookstwo by Miriam Toews.
each in three different mystery series
coming out this fall in audio. At House
of Anansi, publisher Sarah MacLachlan
says it has been exciting to have added T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L B E S T S E L L E R
the audiobooks channel to the list of
things that we doand we are busy.
HoA is releasing its first three audio-
books next month: Teva Harrisons In
T H E TO B AC C O N I S T
Between Days, a memoir about her bat-
tling breast cancer; the horror novel The
Substitute by Nicole Lundrigan; and the
From Man Booker
multiaward-winning novel The Break by International Prize Finalist
Katherena Vermette, about several gen- RobertSeethaler
erations of family in Winnipeg. We
dont sell or license our rights, we keep
them, and are distributing these in the Told with humor and pity,
United States as well, MacLachlan says. the novel expertly depicts how
Penguin Random House Canada has easy it is to find, and lose, ones
also made significant investments in place in the world.
audiobooks and hired Ann Jansen, who Shelf Awareness
previously directed much of the CBCs starred review
book programming, as producer. Anns
expertise in all aspects of audiobook pro-
duction makes her the perfect person to Seethaler blends tragedy and
lead this program, says deputy pub- whimsy to create a bittersweet
lisher Marion Garner, who is running the picture of youthful ideals getting
audiobooks project. Among the first 17 clobbered by external forces.
titles released in September are record- Guardian
ings of Gary Barwins Yiddish for Pirates,

50 YEARS OF PUBLISHING VERY GOOD BOOKS WWW.HOUSEOFANANSI.COM

1967
 Canadian Publishing

Canadian Voices,
Global Bestsellers
Rupi Kaur and Lilly Singh are superstars
around the world
By Ed Nawotka

A
uthor Rupi Kaurs book
Milk and Honey can only be
described as a global phe-
nomenon. The illustrated
book of poetry began as a
series of Tumblr posts,
which migrated to Instagram, and were
then self-published as a book in 2015,
when the author was 23 years old. The
rights were picked up by
and abroad. Lilly Singh got her start on
YouTube, posting under the name
IISuperwomanII, where shes attracted
more than 12 million followers. Her
book, How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to
Conquering Life, was published in March
and hit #1 on the New York Times best-
seller list for advice, how-to, and miscel-
laneous books. In Canada the book has
sold 60,000 copies.
BALJIT SINGH
Lilly Singh staged a daylong take over of
the Penguin Store at PRHs downtown
headquarters.
the book, too.
Singhs audience is about to grow even
further as a result of her first major acting
role, as a vlogger in HBOs adaptation of
R a y B r a d b u r y s d y s t o p i a n n o v e l
Fahrenheit 451.
That Kaur and Singh are both best-
selling authors from the South Asian

Andrews McMeel in the Initially, it was perceived community in Canada may be more a
United States, and it was as a YouTube book, which coincidence than anything. But others
republished. With more than tend to go big and go home, from the community are making their
one million copies in print, says Brad Martin, CEO of mark in literary circles. Scaachi Kouls
the illustrated poetry book Penguin Random House One Day We Will All Be Dead and None of
continues to be a bestseller in Canada. But this book has This Will Matter was published earlier
Canada, Australia, India, not been transitory. It con- this year by Random House Canada.
New Zealand, the U.K., and tinues to sell. It ticks over Koul, who together with Kaur is repped
the U.S. Foreign rights have and over and over and over. by Torontos the Cooke Agency, sold the
been sold to China, Germany, Why? I think it has an book to Random House Canada while
Italy, South Korea, and important message to tell, she was working at the company, writes
S p a i n , a m o n g o t h e r Rupi Kaur is one of the says Kristin Cochrane, presi- poignant and humorous essays about the
countries. bestselling authors in dent and publisher, Penguin challenges of being the daughter of first-
Kaur, now 25, was born in North America this year. Random House Canada. Its generation immigrants to Canada from
India, but her family emigrated to not just about celebrity, its about India. The work has traveled, having sold
Canada when she was four. She lives in empowerment, and building confidence in 10 territories around the world,
Toronto and is prepping her next book, and self-esteem. The message is you will including India.
The Sun and Her Flowers, which is also to accomplish more by working hard than The biggest challenge we face in pub-
be published also by Andrews McMeel. sitting home bingeing on Netflix. lishing is globalization, so it is important
The Canadian rights have been pur- Singhs media savvy has helped to pro- that we can find books that resonate with
chased by Simon & Schuster in Canada. mote the book, according to Cochrane readers here in Canada, as well as abroad,
We are printing 100,000 copies and We let her take over the Penguin S&Ss Hanson notes. Because the
fully expect this to be just as popular as Random House bookstore downstairs in Canadian story is itself still evolving, and
the previous book, says Kevin Hanson, our building and it was a phenomenon. our country has been so open to immi-
president and publisher, Simon & We also took her back to her high school gration and new voices, I think we as a
Schuster Canada. in Scarborough [outside Toronto] for an country and a publishing culture are in
Kaur isnt the only Canadian author of event, and the room was packed with the best position of anyone to provide
South Asian descent to hit it big at home girls and their mothers who are reading that to the market.

20 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
U.S. and Canada Relations Growing Stronger
Canadian author Claudette McGowan & U.S. illustrator
Tyrus Goshay are set to release their 2nd collaboration.
Claudette Tyrus
McGowan Goshay

I N T R O D U C I N G T R I PL E T H R E AT

A story abo
ut
overcoming
obstacles a
nd
achieving
dreams.

eD ate
Releas
Dec71
201

An accomplishment for most people is being really good at one thing.

For Savannah McDougall, being able to master ONLY one thing... was a sign of failure.
Join Savannah on her journey to stardom as she discovers that amazing things can happen...
even when life DOESNT go your way.

AVA I L A B L E O N :
Amazon, First Book Marketplace, Excelovate.com and Select Book Stores

www.excelovate.com info@excelovate.com
 Honouring High Places
The Mountain Life of Junko Tabei Canadian Publishing
Junko Tabei and Helen Y. Rolfe
TRanslaTed bY Yumiko HiRaki
and Rieko HolTved

Publisher
Personal stories and reflections
based on the memoirs of Junko
Tabei, the first woman to climb
Everest and the Seven Summits.

Spotlights
isbn 9781771602167
hardcover | $32

Think outside.
Biography, environment, photography and more. Since 1979.
and
The Hard Work of Hope
Climate Change in the Age of Trump
RobeRT William sandfoRd
and Jon oRioRdan
Highlights
Effective solutions to the growing
urgency for global action on climate Publishers, big and small,
change in this post-truth world.
isbn 9781771602228
hardcover | $16
discuss their best work
Available from
By Ed Nawotka
Publishers Group West

Annick Press
Rick Wilks, director of Annick Press, is passionate about get-

Confused by
ting contemporary trade books into the classroom. I feel this
is the best way to build a generation of readers, demonstrate the
joy of reading and get around the fact that I was able to give the

your canine? books I read in high school many decades ago to my kidsnot
that they are bad books, but we have to move on, he says.
Through the Annick part-
Take it from a top nership with Pearson Canada,
trainerthe secret the company has placed many
to connecting with Annick collections in class-
your dog is your rooms, which has built sales.
own frame of mind. Our most popular collections
Use this book of
dealt with issues of diversity
daily reflections
to help build solid and indigenous themes,
communication Wilks says.
between you and Wilks notes that while 60%
your pooch. of the presss revenue comes
from sales in the United States
Available from
Publishers Group West and 40% from Canada, the growth is on
in December the international side. We have entered
paperback into an agreement to have our English-
ISBN 9781771512374 language titles distributed internation-
$18 ally, he says. We still very actively sell
translation rights, but in recognition of
the international interest in English-
language books for youth, we have
made efforts to expand our marketing.
As a result, sales are up this year, likely
in the range of 5% overall.

22 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
 Canadian Publishing
New from
University of Toronto Press
Among titles attracting some of the most attention this year
have been #Not Your Princess by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth
Leatherdale; Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees by Mary
Beth Leatherdale, which has shipped 5,000 copies; and I Love Its Not Complicated
My Purse by Belle DeMont, illus. by Sonja WimmerIts a The Art and Science of Complexity in
Business
fun, spunky story about a boy who doesnt feel its always neces-
sary to conform to societal norms, especially with respect to by Rick Nason
gender, Wilks says. Its Not Complicated offers a
Central to Annicks publishing program has been the work paradigm shift for business
of perennial bestseller Robert Munsch; the press has several professionals looking for simplified
solutions to complex problems
projects underway this year with the childrens book author, and presents actionable models to
starting with the republication of Munschs From Far Away, identify, understand, and deal with
with new illustrations by Rebecca Green. Originally published complexity in business.
in 1995, the book describes the life of a girl who immigrated
to Canada from Lebanon, and her attempts to fit in at a new
school. Its become a huge book for us, reprinting as soon as it
was published, Wilks says. This title very much reflects the
current Canadian storyour commitment to refugees and what Gentrifier
the coming-to-North America experience is like for a young
by John Joe Schlichtman, Jason
person. Annick is repackaging much of Munschs backlist, Patch, and Marc Lamont Hill
with new covers and a slightly revamped interior design on 22
This book helps us shelve what
of his titles, to be released at the rate of five per season; it will we thought we knew about
also begin selling bundles of Munsch titles as e-books, in col- gentrification, and gives us instead
laboration with Open Road Integrated Media in New York. a brutally honest reckoning with
The latter is among several new licensing and digital initia- the ills, conveniences and virtues of
tives, which includes a project to develop an enhanced e-book gentrification.
Michael Eric Dyson, author of
of The Dance of the Violin. The picture book by Kathy Stinson
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon
and illustrated by Duan Petricic stars real-life celebrity vio- to White America
linist Joshua Bell. It follows on the popularity of the first book
The Man with the Violin, which Bell himself turned into a special
multimedia concert; it premiered at the Kennedy Center in
Washington, D.C., in February, and Bell will present it again
at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in December.
Canadas Odyssey
A Country Based on Incomplete
Conquests
Aguacene Publishing by Peter H. Russell
Aguacene is a new publisher with a mission focused on water
In Canadas Odyssey, renowned
stewardship. As the founder of an eco-publishing company scholar Peter H. Russell provides
native to a country which is steward to 20% of the planets fresh an expansive, accessible account
water, I see myself as an agent of change for a cleaner and more of Canadian history from the
sustainable industry, says founder Karen Lefave. The publisher pre-Confederation period to the
present day.
is thus far focused on releasing a single book series. Dubbed
Nemecene, the series will have a total of 10 books to be pub-
lished over several years.
The first two titles are a science fiction fantasy tale by Karen
Lafave, Nemecene: The Epoch of Redress and Nemecene: The Gadlin
Conspiracy, and are now on sale, and the third title in the series,
Nemecene: Through Fire And Ice, will be in stores March 6, 2018.
NBN distributes the series in the United States.
With Aguacene Publishingaguacene means the epoch of
waterenvironmentally conscious authors have a place to share
their works with a solid fan base, in a sustainable print format,
and help fund critical work in the water space simply by doing
what they do best: writing great stories, Lefave says. utppublishing.com

W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M 23
 Canadian Publishing

Arsenal Pulp Saigon Calling by Marcelino Truong, and Body Music by Julie
The Vancouver publishing house has had its two strongest years Maroh, whose first book, Blue Is the Warmest Color, was a New
to date. We had successes from U.S.-authored titles including York Times bestseller and has sold 70,000 copies. We also have
Conflict Is Not Abuse, a nonfiction book by Sarah Schulman, now a new childrens picture book, From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish
in its fifth printing in less than a year, and the cookbook in the Sea, about a gender-variant child, written by Kai Cheng
Chowgirls Killer Party Food by Heidi Andermack and Amy Lynn Thom, who won the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Writers
Brown, says Brian Lam, publisher. But Canadian titles were from the Writers Trust of Canada this year, Lam adds.
also strong sellers for us, including two by Vivek Shraya: the
poetry book even this page is white, now in its fourth printing in Baraka Books
just over a year, and The Boy & the Bindi, our very first childrens The Montreal press has broken new ground with its QC imprint,
picture book. which focuses on finding and publishing new voices, new trans-
This fall, Arsenal Pulp is launching a new humor imprint, lators, and new approaches, headed by literary translator Peter
Robins Egg Books, selected by comedian and writer Charles McCambridge. One of its first books, published this year, is,
Demers, and will focus on books by comedians. The first title Robin Philpot, publisher of Baraka, says, I Never Talk About It,
is What I Think Happened, which recasts historiography from a 37 short stories by two authors, translated by 37 different trans-
feminist perspective, by Toronto comedian Evany Rosen. And lators, beautifully disputes the idea that there is a single way to
in 2018 VS Books is launching, an imprint and mentorship interpret an authors voice and [illustrates] that translation is an
program that will publish books by writers of color, edited by act of creation in its own right. The book has literally jumped
Vivek Shraya. out of the starting blocks.
This year we are finishing with an unexpectedly strong Challenging received ideas and ways of doing things is sat-
debut novel by Catherine Hernandez, Scarborough, which has isfying intellectually, but it also makes good business sense,
been shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award and is a bestseller, Philpot says. He cites two other examples: Songs Upon the Rivers,
Lam says. The company is also expecting good things from the by Robert Foxcurran, Michel Bouchard, and Sebastien Malette
cookbook Dutch Feast by Emily Wight, and the graphic novels challenges the Anglo-American narrative of how the West was
won and concerns buried history of the
French-speaking voyageurs and Mtis
Brave and Wondrous Novels across the United States and Canada, and
Washingtons Long War on Syria by Stephen
Anima Gowans turns the tired story of that ter-
WAJDI MOUAWAD rible war on its head and puts blame
translated by Linda Gaboriau where it belongs. Both books sold out
This award-winning novel by playwright Wajdi Mouawad their first printings and have been
is a thriller and a road novel written in the North African reprinted.
storytelling tradition in which events unfold from multiple
animal points of view.
For the fall, Philpot is setting his
978-1-77201-003-9 $16.95 368 pages Fiction
hopes on Wintersong, the third volume of
Mick Lowes Nickel Range trilogy, about
In Search of New Babylon a labor strike in the 1970s. The dark
DOMINIQUE SCALI
horse for the holiday season is Montreal,
translated by W. Donald Wilson City of Secrets: Confederate Operations in
In this atmospheric, postCormac McCarthy western novel, Montreal During the American Civil War
four disparate characters criss-cross the desert in pursuit of an by Barry Sheehy, which is being pub-
impossible ideal. These wily characters captivate and intrigue as
they seek the American dream in a lawless town in the 1860s.
lished in October, Philpot says. It has
978-1-77201-121-4 $16.95 336 pages Fiction
been widely lauded by Lincoln and Civil
War specialists on both sides of the
border, first for the hitherto unknown
Zora
information it reveals, and second for the
A Cruel Tale
treasure trove of original photos of
PHILIPPE ARSENEAULT
Confederate operatives in Montreal by
translated by Fred A. Reed & David Homel
Arseneaults Rabelaisian fantasy is a gothic tale of the macabre
the famous photographer William
and the bizarre, of black magicians and alchemists, and of the life Notman.
and times of Zora Marjanna Lavanko, the daughter of a brutish QC Fiction editor Peter McCambridge
tripe-dresser who dies for love.
is touting Songs for the Cold of Heart (July
978-1-77201-175-3 $16.95 392 pages Fiction Talonbooks
2018), the English-language translation

24 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
 Canadian Publishing

of Eric Duponts La Fiance amricaine, a runaway bestseller in HarperCollins

Quebec and France, which has sold more than 70,000 copies. The Canada 150 celebrations have been good to HarperCollins
Its the kind of novel that sums up what QC Fiction is all Canada, and the company has had several top-selling success
about, McCambridge says. It has great writing with plenty of stories, including several coloring books and the bestselling
plot to keep readers entertained. One Quebec reviewer wrote board book, Canada ABC by Paul Covello. But it was the com-
about the book, If the Americans have John Irving and the panys local program, with two Giller Prize shortlisted books in
Colombians Gabriel Garca Mrquez, we have Eric Dupont. 2016, The Wonder by Emma Donoghue and Daydreams of Angels
And hes every bit as good as them. by Heather ONeill, as well as 89-year-old Holocaust survivor
Max Eisens memoir, By Chance Aloneshortlisted
ECW Press for the RBC Taylor Prizethat made the company
I still think we as Canadian publishers have an proud.
opportunity to make more of an impression on The softening of the e-book market was a chal-
New York City book buyers, David Caron, copub- lenge for us, but has not been as impactful, as print
lisher of ECW, says, citing the phenomenal success sales have been strong, Cory Beatty, senior
of the musical Come from Away, about people director, marketing, says. Books such as The Subtle
stranded in Newfoundland after the September 11 Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson, which
terrorist attacks. We distribute and sell our books has been phenomenally popular in Canada, and
in the United States and publish more American The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas proved substan-
authors than any other Canadian press. tial hits in both nonfiction and YA, and look to
Last year, the company had an Indie Next pick, have continued success through the holiday
selected by the American Booksellers Association. That book, period. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn is one of the years most
The Clay Girl, a novel by Heather Tucker, sold 5,000 copies, successful novels, chosen as both a Heathers Pick [at Indigo &
3,000 in the United States. Unfortunately, while our sales Chapters] and by Reese Witherspoon for her book club.
around the world are up by roughly 25%, including Canada, The Ripple Effect by Greg Wells, a health guide, remained a
were down in the U.S. by some 15%,
Caron says. People say that Americans
are focused on the crazy news from
Washington that pops up every day and
the various natural disasters.
As for whats selling this year, ECWs
new wrestling titlesNXT: The Future
Is Now by Jon Robinson and Sisterhood of
the Squared Circle by Pat Laprade and Dan
Murphyhave done best, along with
Careergasm: Find Your Way to Feel-Good
Work by Sarah Vermunt, and Beer Drinkers
and Hell Raisers: The Rise of Motrhead by
Martin Popoff.
As for whats coming this fall, our big
books will be Fast Ice, about rising SAIGON CALLING body music WHAT I THINK
hockey superstars, and Jesse Finks book, Marcelino Truong Julie Maroh HAPPENED
Bon: The Last Highway, about the leg- A graphic memoir on A new graphic novel by Evany Rosen
growing up Vietnamese in the author of the New If this blurb has the
endary AC/DC frontman, Bon Scott, swinging London while the York Times bestseller power to make you do one
Caron says. Just as big will be some Vietnam war intensifies. Blue Is the Warmest Color : thing today, may I politely
interesting new directions for us, An excellent combination a beautiful meditation suggest that you read
of personal insight and on love in all its What I Think Happened ?
including The Science of Orphan Blackan historical sweep. manifestations. Samantha Bee
official book about the science within the Kirkus Reviews (starred)
popular TV show, published in license
from Boat Rockerand the debut of a
YA fantasy series, S.M. Beikos Scion of the

ARSENAL PULP PRESS

Fox. We have another YA fantasy series
debuting in the spring, Call of the Rift by
Jae Waller.
arsenalpulp.com
Distributed in the US by Consortium | Distributed in Canada by UTP
 Canadian Publishing

bestseller for several months. A debut novel, The Lightkeepers
Daughters by Jean E. Pendziwol, from Thunder Bay, Ontario,
and the second book from Vancouver novelist Janie Chang,
Dragon Springs Road, were national hits for the publisher.
Beatty expects the ice hockey memoir Killer by former Maple
Leafs star Doug Gilmour to be the biggest nonfiction book of
the year. A massive 30-city tour is planned. Reckless Daughter: A
Portrait of Joni Mitchell by David Yaffe, who had unprecedented
access to the Canadian singer/songwriter and her circle, is
another likely bestseller. Rounding out the fall,
Jamie Olivers Five Ingredients and the novel Odd
Child Out by Gilly Macmillan are poised to be
Harpers breakout titles through the holiday
season. And 2018 begins with a book already
receiving significant buzz worldwide with pub-
lication confirmed in over 30 languages: The
Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn, which will
publish on January 2. We will likely start the
year with a winner, too, says Beatty.
Kids Can Press
It was a year of momentum for Kids Can Press, Lisa Lyons,
president, says. Maybe our proudest achievement is that we
were awarded the prestigious Bologna Prize, Childrens
978-1-988130-22-4
Publishers of the Year, North America, at the Bologna Childrens
Book Fair this past March.
The company also saw a series of new partnerships, including
one with McDonalds Canada to place Kids Can Press books into
Happy Meals. The program started in May 2017 and will con-
tinue for a year, with titles changing every two months. Some
of those featured are Scaredy Squirrel by Mlanie Watt; Franklin
the Turtle by Paulette Bourgeois, illus. by Brenda Clark; Life in
the Wild by Nicholas Oldland; and Dragon Safety by Jean E.
Pendziwol, illus. by Martine Gourboult.
Another new partner is Nelson Educational.
We are going to combine our resources to
develop classroom library collections that will
focus on important topics, such as diversity and
well-being, says Lyons. Here, our Citizen Kid
line of books is likely to be an important
contribution.
Kids Cans switch to Hachette for distribu-
tion is starting to pay dividends for the com-
pany, which is reporting stronger sales in the United States,
particularly at independent stores and special sales. We are now
able to get our books into a wider range of stores, says Lyons.
Last year, Kids Can announced its first foray into YA pub-
lishing with the KCP Loft imprint. The first titles went on sale
this year, and the series celebrated its
launch with a party in Los Angeles spon-
sored by the Ontario Media Development
Corporation. There were more than 80
film and television executives there,

978-1-988130-51-4

Lyons says. Shes particularly excited by

WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
A play by Mavis Gallant
Introduction by Linda Leith
978-1-988130-47-7
DR. BETHUNES CHILDREN
A novel by Xue Yiwei
Translated by Darryl Sterk
978-1-988130-55-2
Kiss Me in New York (fall 2018) by
Catherine Rider (the pen name for a pair
of screenwriters): Its like a combination
of the movies An Affair to Remember and
Before Sunrise. Another KCP Loft title
expected to do well next year is Lost
Causes by Alussa Emberee Schwartz and
Jessica Koosed Etting, about a group of
neer-do-wells pulled into a murder
investigation by the FBI. KCP Loft has

also signed a deal for a novel based on the

THE CARPENTER
FROM MONTREAL
Noir by George Fetherling
Canadian Sales:
Canadian Manda Group | mandagroup.com
United States Sales:
Small Press Distribution | spdbooks.org
life story of Carley Allison, a singer and
figure skater who died young and whose
biopic, Kiss and Cry, was released in early
2017; another deal will see a YA book
adaptation of the award-winning
NAN GOLDIN Canadian web series Carmilla, which has
the warrior medusa been viewed more than 69 million times.
An essay by Martine Delvaux
Translated by David Homel
The company also continues to develop
highly appealing preschool and picture
LINDA LEITH books, including Goodnight, Hockey Fans
by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Jacqui Lee,
PUBLISHING which is being positioned to sell during
www.lindaleith.com

26 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
 Canadian Publishing

the holiday season. Another, Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Star by Chris
Tougas, needs no explanation.
Linda Leith Editions
We are that rare bird, a Canadian publisher who works in both
English and Frenchyou can thank Montreal for that, says
Linda Leith, publisher of her eponymous house launched in
2012. Now, five years later, the publisher has attracted attention
for a pair of English-language translations of Xue Yiwei, who is
a bestselling writer in China who lives in Montreal. The first
book, Shenzheners, was published in 2016 and won the Blue
Metropolis Literary Diversity Prize; it is now in its third
printing. This was followed with the novel Dr. Bethunes Children,
just published in September, which garnered 800 advance
orders. Thats a high number for a literary translation in
Canada, Leith says.
Other books getting advance notice are The Apocalypse of
Morgan Turner by Jennifer Quist, coming next spring, and The
Vetala by Phillip Ernest, a Sanskrit vampire novel set in India,
also out next year. A high rate of return from Canadian pub-
lishers has prompted Leith, who is distributed by SPD in the
United States, to pursue more sales abroad. Were an uppity
Montreal press testing the international waters and on the
move, Leith says.
bookshop, Mabel Murples Book Shoppe and Dreamery, in River
John, across the Bay of Fundy from Digby, Nova Scotia, where
Lewis lived and painted. Another title the publisher brought
back into print: After Many Years, a book of long-lost stories
by Prince Edward Island author L.M. Montgomery, of the classic
Anne of Green Gables series.
Pajama Press
A few highlights for Pajama Press this year have been the acqui-
sition of Wendy Orrs fantasy novel Dragonfly Song and Suzanne
Del Rizzos My Beautiful Birds, a Syrian refugee story that was
reviewed and featured in the New York Times. The picture book
Not Friends by Rebecca Bender has taken off, as has Marie-Louise
Gays early reader Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent.
Our 2017 sales, year to date, are much healthier than 2016,
and we are publishing 18 titles this year as opposed to 20 last
year, says Gail Winskill, publisher. Our Canadian sales are up
29% over last year with some considerable billing yet to come
over the next few months to our calendar and fiscal yearend. In
the U.S., we are up 33.2% year-to-date over our 2016 sales year-
to-date. Still, Canadian sales are approximately 33% of our
overall sales this year. Our U.S. sales are approximately 61%,
and our international sales are currently at about 6% of our
overall sales.

Nimbus Publishing and

Vagrant Press
The Nova Scotia publishing house was
named by PW one of North Americas
fast-growing independent publishers in
2017. Between 2014 and 2016, the pub-
lisher doubled its production, going
from approximately 30 new titles a year
to close to 50, and saw revenue growth
of 31%. Weve seen massive success
with our 2017 titles, with Canadian
bestsellers in everything from adult non-
fiction, like The Sea Was in Their Blood by
Quentin Casey, which sold 4,000 copies,
to childrens picture books, with The
Land Beyond the Wall, written and illus-
trated by Veronika Martenova, says
Karen McMullin, national publicist.
The book Canada 150 Panoramas, sold
6,000 copies, and After Many Years sold
4,000.
One surprise was sales of The Illuminated
Life of Maud Lewis by Sheree Fitch. The
book, originally published in 1996, has
had two reprints already, most likely
because of the release this summer of
Maudie, a feature film about Lewis, and
because Fitch has opened a seasonal

W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M 27
 Canadian Publishing

Penguin Random House Canada

On November 18, Penguin Random House Canada will be hosting a public
forum at the University of Toronto to instigate dialogue among Canadians about
the future of their country. Dubbed The Courage to Lead, the daylong event
will focus on Canadas role in the world and the challenges the country faces
ahead. Among those speaking is Naomi Klein, whose book No Is Not Enough:
Resisting the New Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need was published
earlier this year by Knopf Canada and became an instant bestseller. There have
been weeks when we had both Atwood [A Handmaids Tale] toward the top of
various bestsellers lists in the U.S. and Klein on the nonfiction listsso it has
been an exciting year for us so far, says Kristin Cochrane, president and pub-
lisher of PRH Canada.
Kleins book is among many successful titles for the
company so far this year. Torontonian Shari LaPenas
novel The Couple Next Door, spent much of last year on
the bestseller list and sold nearly 150,000 copies. Her
new novel, Stranger in the House, is already on the lists.
Just as bracing is the news that the publisher had five
works of fiction land on the longlist for the 2017
Scotiabank Giller Prize, including Zoey Leigh Petersons
Next Year, for Sure (Doubleday Canada), Michael
Redhills Bellevue Square (Doubleday Canada), Eden
Robinsons Son of a Trickster (Knopf Canada), and
Deborah Williss The Dark and Other Love Stories (Hamish
Hamilton). David Chariandy, for his long-awaited
second novel, Brother, published by McClelland & PRH Canadas Kristin Cochrane
Stewart, also made the list.
Speaking of M&S, Brad Martin, CEO of Penguin Random House Canada,
notes: This year there was some confusion over M&S and our intentions for the
imprint. Our intention is to keep it separate as a business division within PRH,
and our actions show what we intend to do. When Doug Pepper ran the imprint,
we signed Sapiens [by Yuval Noah Harari], and we are still publishing all the
authors we did before and after. We hired esteemed editor Jared Bland to run
the division last year and it is working out extremely well. Among the high-
lights coming next year is a new novel by Michael Ondaatje, Warlight (May
2018).
Like many publishers in Canada, PRH is concerned with issues of diversity
and inclusion. We have worked with our colleagues in the U.K. to come up
with an approach to tackling this issue, says Robert Wheaton, PRHs COO.
The approach covers two areas, staffing and the list. When it comes to staffing,
we talk about hiring diversity, because it is the most obvious and easiest thing
to do, but the real challenge is creating an environment that is inclusive and an
expression of their ideas and who they are, a place that is authentic in their own
terms.
As for the listwhich Cochrane says has been fairly diverse for yearsthe
challenge is how to reach, and thus include, a broader audience. We do tend to
publish books for the same socioeconomic or education background, Cochrane
says. With a Canadian writer of South Asian descent, we dont necessarily go
after the South Asian reader, while with a mystery writer, we tend to only go
after the mystery market. That has to change.
More than half the time, Canadian readers are discovering books online. With
the gradual waning of the gatekeepers, this offers a broader access to readers.
The books we publish need to be even more reflective of Canada itself, Cochrane
Nalvana goes on a quest A quick-witted lemming With help from her imagination,
to discover her outwits an owl in this cheeky Akilak turns a long journey into
superpower. tale. an adventure.
ISBN: 978-1-77227-140-9 ISBN: 978-1-77227-120-1 ISBN: 978-1-77227-123-2

A young shaman must Huuq discovers a strange An Inuit hero fights for his
use his powers to egg that unleashes a life against terrifying
escape the spirit world. monstrous evil. mermaids.
ISBN: 978-1-77227-121-8 ISBN: 978-1-77227-141-6 ISBN: 978-1-77227-082-2

www.inhabitmedia.com
 Canadian Publishing

says. With each acquisition, we need to ask, What audience is this for? How
related are we to them? How can we get into a dialogue with those readers?
That is, ultimately, the mission of publishing.

Rocky Mountain Books

After almost 40 years in business, Rocky Mountain
Books continues to evolve and sales continue to
grow. The company, headquartered in Victoria,
British Columbia, is seeing an increase in the
number of submissions from outside of its tradi-
tional Western Canadian author base. These may
be childrens books, works of photography, or travel
writing, as well as the companys cornerstone
regional guidebooks on hiking, climbing, skiing,
and snowshoeing.
These types of books for the travel and tourism markets have done very well
in Western Canada, says Don Gorman, publisher. Hes especially encouraged
by the success of five new photography books by Paul Zizka and Meghan J.
Ward, along with two board books for kids by Jocey Asnong (Rocky Mountain
123s and Rocky Mountain ABCs). A photography book, On the Road with Mike
Drew: Collected Photographs and Stories from Central and Southern Alberta, is another
strong seller, and Bernadette McDonalds new book, Art of Freedom: The Life and
Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka is picking up momentum.
Gorman mused, I think that most industry-types in Canada think that we
are a small, utilitarian guidebook company that publishes a couple of books a
year for a niche audience. The reality is that we publish 2040 new titles every
year and sell our books through a variety of traditional and non-traditional chan-
nels, as well as online.
Looking forward to the fall, Gorman highlighted several titles including
Honouring High Places: The Mountain Life of Junko Tabei (Dec.), a mountaineering
book; Natural Reflections by Mike Grandmaison (Dec.), a collection of photo-
graphs; and Discovering Animals: EnglishFrenchCree, a First Nations board book.
For spring 2018, we have 17 books planned, he added. Many of them are new
editions of our bestselling guidebooks, along with West Coast ABCs, new board
book by Jocey Asnong; Northern Stone: Canadas Best Rock Climbs by Brandon
Pullan and David Chaundy-Smart; and a new series of guidebooks for families,
Family Walks and Hikes, which will start with Vancouver Island in the spring of
2018 and Canadian Rockies, available in 2019.

Simon & Schuster Canada

Simon & Schuster Canada has a new lead nonfiction title on a topic few might
expect to see: the possibility of a Donald Trump-like populist movement
emerging in Canada. The book, Could It Happen Here?, is from Canadian pollster
Michael Adams. The book really questions our Canadian exceptionalism, says
Kevin Hanson, president and publisher of S&S Canada. Adams unsurprisingly
concludes that since as many as one-third of Canadians are unionized, they are
not likely to blow up the government. You dont do that when the government
takes care of you.
The nonfiction list also features Chris Turners The Patch: The People, Pipelines,
and Politics of the Oil Sands, a hard-hitting expos on the Alberta oil sands, a
region that is one of the most important economic and political forces in
Canadian life. Former Canadian army sniper Jody Mitic follows up his best-
selling memoir, Unflinching, with Everyday Heroes, a collection of first-person
 Canadian Publishing

accounts from soldiers in the Canadian armed forces. Robert

Batemans Canada is the publishers contribution to the years
series of books commemorating the 150th anniversary in the
form of a deluxe, over-size art book of Canadian landscape
paintings.
Leading the companys homegrown fiction list is the new
novel by Giller Prizewinner Will Ferguson, The Shoe on the Roof,
which recounts what happens when a psychologist tries to cure
a trio of homeless men of the delusion that each is a messiah sent
to save the world. For debut novels, the publisher has confidence
that Tyrell Johnsons The Wolves of Winter will attract a broad
readership. Its a cross between Station Eleven and The Hunger
Games, but set in the Yukon after society collapses, Hanson

BOOKS
says. We think it has real break-out potential.
For import titles, S&S has had a #1 bestseller in Canada with
Hillary Clintons memoir What Happened? and another best-
seller with The Lying Game, the latest suspense novel by global
bestseller Ruth Ware. These types of hot imports continue to
bring us new readers and bolster the bottom line, Hanson says.

HAVE THE POWER TO

CHANGE
Talonbooks
In its 50th-anniversary year, the com-
pany is seeing a 20% bump in sales to
the U.S., says Spencer Williams,

A CHILDS LIFE
director of sales and marketing. We
have put a lot of energy into developing
better relationships with American
buyers. That said, we are proud to be
Canadian.
The publisher is anticipating strong
sales for Bev Sellarss Price Paid: The
Fight for First Nations Survival. Her
first book, They Called Me Number One,
spent the entire year on the British Columbia bestseller list and
has sold 30,000 copies, Williams adds. The company also
thinks there is strong potential for Tomson Highwayss From Oral
to Written, a survey of indigenous literature from 1980 to 2010
that profiles the work of 112 authors. Nearly 500 people came
out for the launch of the book at the Drum Festival this July.
The publisher also has a trio of translations from French-
Canadian to English: In Search of New Babylon by Dominique
Thanks to the generous donations Scali, a dark western set in the 1860s; the novel, Zora, a Cruel
from our publishing partners,
Tale by Philippe Arseneault, our first fantasy novel in 50 years,
Williams says; and Anima by Wajdi Mouawad, a thriller told in
First Book Canada is celebrating the voices of more than 50 animals, birds, and insects. By way
distributing SIX MILLION brand of explanation for the emphasis on translations, Williams says:
new books to children in need
We hired a new French editor named Charles DeMarque and
we are extremely happy to have him join us from Montreal. It
across Canada is as if he was also meant to be working at Talon.

Help us to keep changing lives University of Regina Press

with millions more books. Publisher Bruce Walsh likes to call the University of Regina
Join us today at firstbookcanada.org Press an upstart, or the little publisher on the prairie. But

32 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
FirstBookHalfPage.indd 1 9/25/17 9:44 AM
 NEW YORK RIGHTS FAIR
The International Adult & Childrens Content &
Licensing Marketplace

May 30 -June 1

2018
Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W. 18th Street, New York City

BUY, SELL & SHOWCASE AT THE

NEW YORK RIGHTS FAIR
This global event is the first U.S.-based fair dedicated exclusively to international rights and the distribution
and licensing of content. This one-stop marketplace is the new hub for rights sales negotiation and distribution
of content, both adult and childrens, across all formats, including print, digital, audio, film, and television.

Who youll meet:

Acquiring agents and co-agents Publishers IP companies
Rights managers Licensees Content professionals
Scouts Film production houses

What youll find:

Not only will there be booths, exhibits, information, and representatives from all segments of the content world,
but look for these unique features:
Dedicated kiosks for content and titles Global rights showcase
Agent tables Translation center
Seminars to enrich international negotiation

The deals are waiting for you!

www.newyorkrightsfair.com

Presented by
 Spice up your fall
reading!
No two curries are ever
the same. So why is one
dish supposed to represent
everything all brown
people eat, read, and do?
An Exploded Views book.
STORIES OF
IDENTITY
Her exceptional prose
reveals how much there is to
discover in the everyday.
Publishers Weekly
A BIRD ON EVERY TREE
CAROL BRUNEAU
$19.95 | 978-177108-502-1
Short Stories | March 2018
For US orders, contact NBN:
1-301-459-3366
For Canadian orders call:
1-800-646-2879
Order online at nimbus.ca
@nimbuspub
34 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 1 7
Canadian Publishing
those terms undersell what the press is setting out to do. Currently about 10%
of its sales are in the U.S., but thats expected that to increase substantially,
according to Walsh. A big part of our mission is to give voice to people who
are often marginalized in our society, he says. Books with indigenous voices
have been popular. Firewater by Harold Johnson, about the destructive impact
alcohol has had on indigenous communities, has sold 10,000 copies, and Speaking
in Cod Tongues, which looks at Canadas multicultural culinary heritage, has sold
25,000 copies. As of the spring, sales for the press overall had increased 53%
from the previous year.
More recently, Walsh says, the press is developing an international list that
focuses on forces of migration and resettlement that are likely to become more
urgent in the wake of climate change and political instability. Among the
upcoming releases are Mansoor Mahdas Memoirs of a Muhindi, on the exile of
Ismaili Muslims from East Africa in the 1970s; Being Kurdish in a Hostile World
by Ayub Nuri, a memoir of a Canadian-Kurdish journalist who grew up in Iraqi
Kurdistan during the Iran-Iraq War; and On Forgiveness and Revenge by Ramin
Jahanbegloo, in which a Canadian-Iranian philosopher reflects on his unjust
imprisonment.
Looking forward to the rest of the year, Walsh says he is feeling bullish: We
ended last year with a big surplus and have our fingers crossed for a repeat. Our
goal is to increase the list from 20 to 30 books a year. We launched Canadas first
Black Studies list in the spring, so we are branching out in a big way, while also
fulfilling our longstanding commitments to publishing indigenous and regional
titles, which we have been successfully exporting to audiences far beyond
Saskatchewan.
University of Toronto Press
We had the best year in nine years, says Brian MacDonald,
UTPs sales and marketing manager. The Slow Professor:
Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy by Maggie Berg and
Barbara Seeber, about the corporatization of universities, has been
one of our bestselling titles of all time and sold 50,000 copies.
MacDonald notes that the press has repackaged 30 titles into
the Canada 150 Collection series, many of which focus on divisive
issues in Canadas history and strive to show the breadth of schol-
arship on these issues. But the press isnt merely mining its
archives. Its now publishing its first graphic novel. We think
this is something new for scholarly publishing, MacDonald says. The book,
which publishes in November, is called Lissa by Sherine Hamdy and Coleman
Nye, with art by Sarula Bao and Caroline Brewer. It is the fictional account of
the friendship between an American girl with breast cancer and an Egyptian girl
who has a sick father, set against the backdrop of the Arab Spring in Cairo. Two
other titles are planned in the series: one on sex tourism in Brazil and another
about Muslim friendship.
The publisher has also recently launched an imprint with the Munk Center
for Global Studies, whose first title, Making a Global City: How One Toronto School
Embraced Diversity by Robert Vipond, just hit bookstores. The publishers Insight
series, which offers short, accessible books on current affairs topics, is also
attracting readers. The latest in that series is Growing a Sustainable City?: The
Question of Urban Agriculture by Christina D. Rosan and Hamil Pearsall.
We do publish a lot of important, niche books that wouldnt get published
by a trade press, MacDonald says. Our goal going forward is to reposition uni-
versity presses to make these books even more accessible to general readers.
 Seeing Canada
in a whole new way

simonschustercanada.ca