Former agent to launch international organization for self-published authors

Just in time for the spring book season, a non-profit organization for self-published authors is getting an international roll-out.

Headed up in London, England, by Orna Nass, an author and former literary agent, The Alliance of Independent Authors will represent the interests of self-published authors in dealings with booksellers, trade publishers, literary agents, and wholesalers. According to Nass, who is quoted by The Bookseller, the purpose of the group is to raise awareness among industry stakeholders of the “creative needs” of writers who take a DIY approach to book publishing.

“It requires a change of attitude both in writers and in other players. In the past, the author was a resource to be mined, but indie authorship is about meeting the publisher as a partner,” Nass says.

The alliance’s website should be live in the coming weeks, and Nass hopes to sign up about 500 members in the organization’s first year. She intends to offer “a biannual conference and monthly meetings for members, as well as providing a helpline, newsletters, and advice on issues such as payment and contracts.”

Though there are some organizations specifically tailored to self-published authors in Canada, they seem few and far between, and their activity levels are anything but regular. (For example, the Independent Authors and Illustrators of Canada, founded in 2008, recently lost its Web domain and has had its site taken down.)

In 2004, the Canadian ISBN Agency estimated 65 per cent of Canada’s publishing output came from self-published authors. Last year, an R.R. Bowker study found that self-published books in the U.S. had grown to more than 764,000 titles, up from more than 285,000 in 2008 and 134,000 in 2007.

University of Alberta researchers track down province’s first publisher

A team at the University of Alberta has traced the province’s first book publishing enterprise to a Catholic missionary and polyglot.

In The Beginning of Print Culture in Athabasca Country (University of Alberta Press, 2010), researchers Patricia Demers, Naomi McIlwraith, and Dorothy Thunder examine the work of Bishop Émile Grouard, owner of the province’s first printing press. Gouard was also the author and translator of its first books: Catholic texts printed in the aboriginal languages of Cree, Dene, Beaver, Hareskin, and Loucheux.

In addition to the remarkable Belgian-made metal fonts in Cree syllabics, the historians, who included a reprint and painstaking translation of Grouard’s 1883 Cree prayer book, were struck by the missionary’s efforts to contextualize catechism to suit his 19^th–century aboriginal audience.

From the Edmonton Journal:

In Grouard’s version, for example, Adam and Eve are expelled from Eden for eating forbidden berries. Because Cree has no word for “descend,” Grouard had to be creative in finding a way to describe Christ’s descent to Earth.

“He has Jesus sledding down from heaven, tobogganing down to Earth,” Demers says, laughing.

In Grouard’s translation, even the Ten Commandments take on a more folksy, conversational tone. “Thou shalt not kill,” for example, comes out as: “Do not kill. Do not even think about how to kill.”

“Cree is entirely different from English,” McIlwraith says. “In English, the syntax is very rigid. Cree is more flexible and more fluid, more melodic.”

“He Cree-ized the Latin liturgy, with the intonation of Cree,” Demers says. “This document is a kind of living testimony to a hallmark of Cree identity. The loss of that language is what this project wanted to address and rectify.”

In 2011, The Beginning of Print Culture took home the Scholarly and Academic Book Award at the Alberta Book Awards.

Novel becomes a bestseller despite author’s anonymity

“During the first weeks of spring 1974, when Jingqiu was still at senior high school, she and three other students were selected to take part in a project to compile a new school textbook.”

So begins the English translation of Under the Hawthorn Tree,  a novel set to be published in Canada by House of Anansi Press. Already a huge success in China, in part due to a 2010 film adaptation by Academy Award–winning director Zhang Yimou, the book began life as a blog by the writer Ai Mi. Perhaps most remarkable about the novel’s international success (it has reportedly sold in 15 countries) is that no one seems to know the real identity of the pseudonymous author.

The novel, a love story, is part of a crop of Chinese works dealing with the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong. In a translator’s introduction to the English-language edition, Anna Holmwood writes:

While political sensitivities have continued to limit full historical and political analysis, novels were for a while – and perhaps even still are – the most fruitful way of coming to terms with this period. They became known as “scar literature” or “literature of the wounded” – a term coined after the publication of Lu Xinhua’s novel The Scar.

According to an article in The Guardian, Lennie Goodings, the editor at Virago who bought the book for the U.K. market, hadn’t even read it in English when she made an offer.

Goodings asked someone from Shanghai who works in Virago’s accounts department to read it: “Her face fell and she said, ‘I’m not interested in the Cultural Revolution. It’s my parents’ generation.’ The next day she was at my shoulder, eyes brimming, saying ‘it’s so wonderful and I cried.’ On the basis of that, I bought it blind.” Although the original blog was serialised on a website that was blocked by the Chinese authorities, an admirer had passed it to one of China’s state-affiliated publishers, which has been overwhelmed by its sales.

Anansi will publish the English version of Ai Mi’s novel in February. There is currently no North American release date for Yimou’s film.

M&S launches non-fiction imprint with new Margaret Atwood title

McClelland & Stewart has long been associated with some of Canada’s leading fiction authors. In an effort to shore up its reputation as a publisher of timely non-fiction, the company announced today the creation of a new non-fiction imprint, known as Signal, that will debut this fall with new titles from Margaret Atwood, Christopher Hitchens, and Munk School of Global Affairs director Janice Gross Stein.

In a press release, the new imprint is described as being “dedicated to the power of ideas and original thinking.” It will publish Canadian and international authors, and focus on topics including politics, religion, culture, history, business, and the environment.

Set to appear in October, Atwood’s In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination collects three unpublished lectures detailing her lifelong relationship with science fiction, as well as previously published reviews and essays. Signal’s inaugural season will be rounded out by: Diplomacy in the Digital Age, edited by Janice Gross Stein; Arguably: Selected Essays by Christopher Hitchens; Damned Nations: Greed, Guns and Aid by Samantha Nutt; and The Anatomy of Israel’s Survival by Hirsh Goodman.

Future Signal authors include Alain de Botton, Ezra Levant, Ronald Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski, Chris Anderson, Mel Hurtig, Conrad Black, and others.

M&S president and publisher Doug Pepper said in a press release, “Our goal with Signal is to publish creative, daring, and intellectually significant works of non-fiction that stir the pot and raise our awareness of the most important issues of the day. As book publishing changes, so must publishers, and with the creation of this new imprint we are establishing a platform to not only publish great books but to extend their reach through digital- and event-based marketing.”

As part of its digital marketing strategy to promote the imprint, M&S has launched SignalBooks.tv, an interactive companion website the company says is “designed to spark debate and continue the engagement with these authors and other critical thinkers.”

In recent months, M&S has ramped up its commitment to non-fiction. Last month, M&S hired former Key Porter Books publisher Jordan Fenn to helm a hockey-themed imprint. In August, M&S announced it had retained New York-based editor Philip Rappaport to acquire and edit non-fiction titles on behalf of the company.

Cormorant Books partners with Thomas Allen & Son: UPDATED

Toronto-based literary publisher Cormorant Books, has entered into an agreement with Thomas Allen & Son that will see Thomas Allen take over Cormorant’s sales and distribution as of July 1. According to a joint press release, Thomas Allen will also become a minority shareholder in Cormorant.

No staffing changes will be made at either company, but the press release says the new arrangement will allow for “intellectual collaboration” between Cormorant and Thomas Allen Publishers, the publishing arm of Thomas Allen & Son, that will result in “significantly increased visibility in the marketplace.”

Marc Côté, the publisher of Cormorant, bought into the company in 2001, when it was part-owned by the now-defunct Stoddart Publishing. Along with John Pugsley, Côté purchased Stoddart’s shares in December 2002. He is quoted in the press release as saying, “I have long admired [Thomas Allen president and CEO] Jim Allen’s business savvy and [Thomas Allen publisher and editor] Patrick Crean’s editorial vision. The future for Cormorant Books appears very bright, thanks to this new partnership.”

For his part, Crean predicts the new arrangement will have a net benefit for both companies. “In a period of transition in book publishing, this timely alliance will enhance both our lists by creating greater intellectual depth editorially, as well as drawing on a wider range of publishing resources.”

Keep watching Q&Q for more details on this story.

This post contains material that has been updated. An earlier version of this post misstated the process by which Marc Côté acquired shares in Cormorant Books. Q&Q regrets the error.

After the H.B. Fenn collapse: an insider’s perspective

Published in the April 2011 issue of Q&Q

A disclosure, to start: I have a vested interest in this story. On Sept. 28, 2010, I watched, devastated, as 11 of my colleagues at Key Porter Books were let go. A few more – myself included – were laid off in mid-December. And February brought more bad news: the bankruptcy of H.B. Fenn and Company, which left 125 employees out of work. Those people were my colleagues, too: H.B. Fenn owned Key Porter and supported its publishing program, both financially and with human resources.

I spent 11 years at Key Porter – a dog’s age in publishing. I joined the company as a junior editor, and worked most recently as editor-in-chief. The place felt like home to me; my authors and colleagues were family. A wacky, dysfunctional family, to be sure, but family nonetheless.

Recently I’ve spent a lot of time worrying about this family. Publishing is highly competitive, but it’s also oddly close-knit. Publishing people talk, a lot. We talk about books and writers. We talk about politics and sports. We gossip. And we support each other – in the office and out. So what happens when that support system vanishes?

Here’s the interesting thing: it doesn’t. If there has been any good news among the piles and piles of bad, it is that it takes more than a few layoffs to destroy a family.

***

“It is unbelievable how the employees of H.B. Fenn/Key Porter have stuck together,” says Phil Clarke, former IT manager for H.B. Fenn. “Within hours, I had offers for letters of reference, recommendations, notes of sympathy. All office politics went out the door and everyone just banded together.”

Former corporate and special sales manager Paula Sloss, who lost her job as part of the Key Porter layoffs last fall, had a similar experience. Key Porter co-founder Anna Porter, who had sold the company to Fenn in 2004, leapt into action on behalf of her former employees. Names and contact information flowed Sloss’s way, and doors that might once have been closed swung open.

At H.B. Fenn, rumours that something big was about to happen were rampant in the weeks leading up to the Feb. 3 mass layoffs. “After seeing the layoffs with the loss of Hachette [in 2009] and Key Porter, I knew it would be hard to reach people down the road,” Clarke says. On the morning of Feb. 3, he spent half an hour writing his personal contact information onto the back of his business cards. “I wrote it down on 50 cards in total,” he recalls, “and when I left I had 16 remaining in my pocket.”

Katherine Wilson, senior marketing and publicity associate, was also worried about staying in touch. “We all knew that we might not have access to our e-mail,” she says. As she was trying to figure out what to do, Marco Castro, a member of the IT team, came by. “Marco was going around the office, helping people export their contacts onto disc.”

By noon, the news was official. After clearing out his office, Clarke went home and started a Facebook support group called “Those affected by H.B. Fenn’s bankruptcy.” It was live by 2 p.m.

“I invited some key people, and they invited their people, and it just spiralled,” Clarke says. By Thursday evening, there were 20 or so members. By midday Friday, that number had doubled. At the time of writing, there were 68 – more than half the people who were let go.

Not surprisingly, the earliest posts were about how to cope. Employees in a bankruptcy situation do not receive severance or termination pay; they can, however, apply for assistance through the Wage Earners’ Protection Program and E.I. Thanks to the Facebook group, and a few industrious ex-employees, a step-by-step process emerged. Contacts at various government agencies were uncovered, phone numbers and links shared.

As people got a handle on how to proceed, the focus of the group changed. These days, you can find job-hunting tips, “good luck” wishes for those heading off to interviews, and the odd bit of venting. It’s as if, in the absence of a physical office, a virtual one has formed.

Sitting in a downtown coffee shop less than a week after the layoffs, Clarke, Wilson, and former sales manager Brad Kalbfleisch agree the outpouring of support has been the one bright spot in an otherwise dark period. “When you work with people, they don’t usually take the time to tell you that they appreciate you, that you’re doing a good job,” Wilson says. “When you get laid off, they tell you. It’s very nice.”

Clarke agrees. “I now realize how great the people I worked with are.” He picks up his iPhone and checks for messages. “I’m waiting for someone in the group to announce that they’ve got a job,” he says. “That will be the next big thing.”

Random House Canada acquires new Linden MacIntyre novel

Random House Canada has acquired a new novel by Scotiabank Giller Prize–winner Linden MacIntyre.

Why Men Lie is the third book in MacIntyre’s Cape Breton trilogy, following the lives of the Gillis clan. Its main character, Effie Gillis, first appeared in his 1999 novel, The Long Stretch (HarperCollins Canada). She is also the middle-aged sister of the troubled priest at the centre of The Bishop’s Man, which won the 2009 Giller Prize. After winning the Giller, MacIntyre told reporters that he was already plotting Effie’s story: “I’m interested in the woman’s point of view as she watches the men around her getting older and stupider,” he said.

Knopf Random Publishing Group publisher Anne Collins — MacIntyre’s editor for The Bishop’s Man — will work with the author again on Why Men Lie. In a press release she says, “I was a goner from the title page, really. I know how wonderfully Linden can parse the contours of troubled conscience from working with him on The Bishop’s Man, but I was completely unprepared for the way he captures Effie, a woman in mid-life who knows what she’s worth yet still can’t help but feel the diminishment of age.”

Why Men Lie will be released in April 2012.

Jordan Fenn to helm M&S hockey imprint

McClelland & Stewart today announced the formation of a new hockey-themed imprint to be helmed by Jordan Fenn, the publisher of Fenn Publishing and Key Porter Books. Effective immediately, Fenn joins M&S as publisher of the newly created Fenn/McClelland & Stewart imprint.

M&S publisher and president Doug Pepper was not available for comment on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if the move coincides with the acquisition of the similarly hockey-focused Fenn Publishing, which has been on hiatus since last month’s bankruptcy of parent H.B. Fenn and Company. According to a press release sent out by M&S, “[The new] imprint will publish the established and bestselling hockey book program Jordan Fenn is renowned for publishing with such great success.”

Prolific hockey author Andrew Podnieks, who has published several titles with Fenn Publishing, says he had been in touch with Jordan Fenn following H.B. Fenn’s collapse and wasn’t surprised by today’s news. “I think Jordan has always wanted to stay in publishing,” Podnieks said. “This is a great opportunity for him.”

Still, Podnieks remained in the dark about the status of Fenn Publishing. “My sense from what I’ve heard from Jordan … is that what he’s bringing to the table is his expertise in hockey publishing and his connections with hockey organizations,” he said.

Fenn Publishing was founded in 1982 by H.B. Fenn president Harold Fenn, Jordan’s father. Jordan Fenn took over as publisher in 1997.

Over the years, the company has published many successful hockey titles, including Over the Boards by Ron Ellis, Centre Ice by Tom Smythe, All that Glitters by Joseé Chouinard, A Fan for All Seasons by Tom Gaston, and Brian McFarlane’s Mitchell Brothers YA series. Fenn also has long-standing relationships with hockey organizations such as the NHL, NHLPA, IIHF, Hockey Canada, and Hockey Night in Canada.

Last year, Fenn Publishing lost a major contract with the Hockey Hall of Fame to Firefly Books.

The first title to appear under the new Fenn/M&S imprint is a 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Championship book scheduled for June, with more to follow this fall and in 2012.

Pepper said in a statement, “McClelland & Stewart is enthusiastic about the opportunity to help ensure the ongoing publication of, and grow the readership for, this successful hockey book program in Canada and the U.S.”

Jordan Fenn commented, “I am truly looking forward to this unique and exciting opportunity, and sincerely thank M&S for their enthusiasm and commitment to this new imprint and relationship.”

– With files from Zoe Whittall

[Note: An earlier version of this story suggested that M&S may have acquired Fenn Publishing's backlist, but Q&Q was unable to confirm this detail by Wednesday evening. Keep reading Q&Q for more coverage.]

Stephen King takes on the Kennedy assassination

For over 40 years, Stephen King has been chronicling America’s fears and collective nightmares. In his new book, he is set to take on one of the most nightmarish incidents in 20th-century American history. According to King’s website, his new novel, 11/22/63, is about Jake Epping, an English teacher in Maine who gets a chance to travel back in time and perhaps prevent the assassination of JFK.

From King’s site:

Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane – and insanely possible – mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life – a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

Alternative histories are nothing new: Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America imagines a world in which Charles Lindbergh is elected president and embarks on a campaign of appeasement toward Hitler’s Nazi government, and Robert Harris’s Fatherland is a thriller set in the years after the Nazis won the Second World War. Still, the Kennedy assassination remains an open wound in the American psyche; King is either very brave to choose this as the focus of his new novel, or else very foolish.

UPDATED: Oldest gay and lesbian publisher goes all-digital

Publishers Weekly is reporting that Alyson Books, unable to find a buyer, will be ceasing its print program and will produce only digital texts, even though it has never published an e-book before. Parent company Here Media decided on this restructuring after months of financial difficulty at the press. In August, publisher Don Weiss was trying to purchase the company, but has since decided to step down. From PW:

John Knoebel, v-p of consumer marketing at Here Media, has been named interim publisher until a new digital publisher can be found. Knoebel said he doesn’t expect Alyson to begin publishing e-books for nine to 12 months. “We want to develop a strategy that makes sense,” he said, adding that Here Media would like to have the new publisher on board and involved with creating the new business model. The recruitment of a digital publisher “could take some time,” Knoebel said.

“I worked for months to get a deal done—not just for myself, but especially for the many authors whose work has defined Alyson for the past 30 years. After shopping the press around to several publishers, it became clear that the only way to preserve Alyson was for me to assemble financing to purchase the company myself. But even after offering a price that I believe to be twice the fair market value, we were unable to come to an agreement.”