This has to be the most artful press release I’ve ever seen about a newspaper eliminating their stand-alone book section. Toronto’s Globe and Mail says at the very end of this exuberant announcement that “the Books section will physically join The Globe’s award-winning Focus section on Saturdays, starting January 10.” Editor-in-chief Ed Greenspon gushes, “The Focus section is one of the most high-profile, best-read sections of the paper so the Books content should reach even more readers.” The main focus of the news in on a Books web site the paper is establishing. Former deputy features editor Peter Scowen, is […]
Canada
Ricci Takes GG as Hage Is Shut Out; Costa Gives Barry Second Chance
Nino Ricci won Canada’s Governor General’s award for fiction for his just-published novel ORIGIN OF SPECIES, and journalist Christie Blatchford won the non-fiction award for her book FIFTEEN DAYS: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army. (Both titles were edited by Doubleday Canada Editorial Director Martha Kanya-Forstner.) Rawi Hage’s COCKROACH was the only work of fiction nominated for all three of Canada’s top fiction prizes, but failed to win any of the top honors. Click below for all 14 Governor General winners (with prizes for writing in both English and French).CBC In the UK, […]
Toews Wins Writers' Trust Prize
Miriam Toews has won the Rogers Writers’ Trust prize–one of Canada’s big three awards for fiction–for her fifth novel, THE FLYING TROUTMANS. CBC
Indigo Has An e-Content Play
Canada’s dominant retailer Indigo has plans for a electronic text offering focused on free and paid downloads for mobile devices, Quill and Quire reports. The enterprise will be established as a separately-branded subsidiary of Indigo, serving customers throughout North America (with intentions of going global), and set to launch in early 2009. “The final details won’t be unveiled until December,” the magazine reports, but Indigo cto Michael Serbinis confirms certain detials. Material on offer will range from complete e-books for mobile reading to small chunks (chapters, articles and short stories) and user-generated content. It sounds as if download fees will […]
Woe Canada; Currency Plunge Squeezes Publishers
This time last year Canadian publishers and retailers were grappling with consumer anger over higher Canadian prices for books after the US dollar hit historic lows against the country’s currency. Discounts were applied at all levels (in part to keep sales from crossing the border to US retailers and suppliers) and for 2009 most major publishers repriced their books to be near or equal to US pricing. But it was what you would call a “good problem,” helping Canadian divisions of the big publishing conglomerates to produce another year of strong financial results. But now, in just under a month’s […]
Surprise Giller Nominees
“Gasps of surprise” greeted yesterday’s announcement of the nominees for Canada’s Giller Prize, since many of the nominees are little-known. They are: Anthony De Sa’s debut story collection, Barnacle LoveMary Swan’s first novel, The Boys in the TreesMarina Endicott’s debut Good to a Fault (from new publisher Freehand Books)Joseph Boyden’s Through Black SpruceRawi Hage’s Cockroach National Post