So what? Tons of publishers are doing this and yet Quillblog feels the need to write about Coach House’s step forward as if it’s news. Other publishers are even doing it better than Coach House (gasp!), so let’s for once emerge from our CH cloud and find actual publisher news, shall we?

ROTFLMAO! Stick it to those hippies! They didn’t publish MY book of sad-sack free verse either.

Nic, that’s because your book of free verse is an indisputable work of genius, way ahead of our time. A veritable blinding light of pure expression written in the language of the future. It will probably be found by alien astronauts at some point and will seem to them like some kind of prophesy.

That’s why Coach House didn’t publish your book. At least, that’s what they told me the other night.

Oh right… and by the way…

Anonymous critical comments are so gutless and shallow.

To the first poster in this comments section: you’re a punk.

If you had any integrity you’d print your name beside your vapid commentary about Coach House and the Quill.

So when you’re looking yourself in the mirror and reciting your well-worn opinions to yourself over and over again until they acquire something like the ring of authenticity ask yourself this question: what kind of person can’t stand beside the things that they say in a public space and why should anyone else care?

To be fair, may I point out (with all due respect to my friends at CHB) that the current e-offerings are a tad underwhelming, considering that the Coach House was pioneering online & even interactive literature on the web a whole decade ago. Selling PDFs of existing books may not, indeed, be all that newsworthy.

Fair enough, John.

You’re absolutely right… that’s not really what concerned me, tho.

The anonymous commentary is just lame. That’s all.

The anonymous commenter may indeed be right.

It’s not that I don’t stand by what I say. It’s that I work in the very small world of literary publishing, and I would prefer to remain anonymous (which is my right, by the way). I personally have nothing against CH; in fact, I quite like the books they publish. However, I am VERY sick of the fact that they continue to receive media coverage when they’re just doing what every other publisher in the country is currently doing. Wow, so they took advantage of ACP funding to digitize some of their books. So did most LPG members.

My point stands, however anonymous it may be: this is NOT newsworthy–especially when it contains such inane quotes about their e-books being priced lower because of a lack of printing costs. Can I get a, “DUH!”

Well if we’re being fair, name three news stories in Canadian Publishing on Friday. It’s a blog, they’re posting everyday.

Lots of publishers have taken advantage of the ACP’s program, but many of them still haven’t started doing anything with their e-books. What’s wrong with showing one example of how it can be done? This is a blog, not a newspaper.

The books will still be unreadable, but at least they won’t be printed on that awful champagne linen stock.