Quillcast video: book designer Michel Vrana reveals one of his all-time favourite covers

Quillcast is a podcast and video series from Quill & Quire featuring behind-the-scenes conversations with authors and publishing insiders.

In the third video of the series, freelance book designer Michel Vrana discusses the creative process behind one of his favourite covers, Sarah Selecky’s short-story collection, This Cake Is for the Party (Thomas Allen Publishers).

Vrana, who moved to Toronto from Montreal a year ago, has focused on book design since 2009, creating memorable covers for award-winning titles such as Tamas Dobozy’s Siege 13 (illustration by Allan Kausch) and Esi Edugyan’s Half-Blood Blues.

Quillcast is produced with media partners The Walrus, Open Book: Ontario, and Open Book: Toronto, with support from Toronto Life. This project is generously supported by the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund.

Quillcast video: designer David Gee reveals one of his all-time favourite covers

Quillcast is a podcast and video series from Quill & Quire featuring behind-the-scenes conversations with authors and publishing insiders.

In the second video of the series, freelance book designer David Gee discusses the creative process behind one of his favourite covers, Corey Redekop’s debut novel Shelf Monkey (ECW Press).

Gee, who works full-time as director of creative services at the Toronto International Film Festival, designs books for a variety of clients, including HarperCollins Canada, Penguin Canada, and ECW.

Quillcast video: Ingrid Paulson on designing Emily Schultz’s Heaven is Small

Quillcast is a podcast and video series from Quill & Quire featuring behind-the-scenes conversations with authors and publishing insiders.

In the first video of the series, freelance book designer Ingrid Paulson chats about the creative process behind one of her favourite covers, Emily Schultz’s 2009 novel Heaven is Small (House of Anansi Press).

Paulson, who has designed books for most of the country’s major publishers, has been honoured by the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Alcuin Society for her work.

Quillcast is produced with media partners The Walrus, Open Book: Ontario, and Open Book: Toronto, with support from Toronto Life. This project has been generously supported by the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund.

Quillcast episode 12: crime writer Giles Blunt

Quillcast is a podcast series from Quill & Quire featuring behind-the-scenes conversations with authors and publishing insiders.

(photo: Matthew Plexman)

In this episode, Q&Q web editor Sue Carter Flinn speaks to Toronto crime writer Giles Blunt about his new novel, Until the Night (Vintage Canada), the sixth title in his John Cardinal crime series. The debut Cardinal book, Forty Words for Sorrow, won the British Crime Writers’ Macallan Silver Dagger, and the second book in the series, 2003′s The Delicate Storm, won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel. Blunt has been longlisted twice for the Dublin IMPAC award.

Quillcast is produced with media partners The Walrus, Open Book: Ontario, and Open Book: Toronto, with support from Toronto Life. This project has been generously supported by the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund.

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Quillcast episode 11: Mike Shatzkin and publishing into the flood

Quillcast is a podcast series from Quill & Quire featuring behind-the-scenes conversations with authors and publishing insiders.

In this episode, U.S. publishing consultant Mike Shatzkin takes stock of the industry’s current environment.

Shatzkin is founder and CEO of the Idea Logical Company and author of the ebook The Shatzkin Files. He delivered this talk, “Publishing into the Flood,” at Book Summit, presented in partnership by Humber College and the Book and Periodical Council, and held at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre on June 21.

Quillcast is produced with media partners The Walrus, Open Book: Ontario, and Open Book: Toronto, with support from Toronto Life. This project has been generously supported by the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund.

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Quillcast episode 10: Tanis Rideout and the lure of Mount Everest

Quillcast is a podcast series from Quill & Quire featuring behind-the-scenes conversations with authors and publishing insiders.

In this episode, Q&Q web editor Sue Carter Flinn discusses the lure of Mount Everest with Toronto author and poet Tanis Rideout, whose debut novel Above All Things (McClelland & Stewart) recounts the ill-fated final expedition of adventurer George Mallory, intertwined with a day in the life of Mallory’s wife, Ruth.

Quillcast is produced with media partners The Walrus, Open Book: Ontario, and Open Book: Toronto, with support from Toronto Life. This project has been generously supported by the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund.

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Quillcast episode nine: Will Ferguson on teaching humour

Quillcast is a podcast series from Quill & Quire featuring behind-the-scenes conversations with authors and publishing insiders.

In this episode, author Will Ferguson discusses the origins of humour in creative writing.

Ferguson is the author of more than a dozen books, most recently of the thriller 419. He delivered this keynote address at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre on May 11, 2012, as part of the Canadian Creative Writers and Writing Programs conference.

Quillcast is produced with media partners The Walrus, Open Book: Ontario, and Open Book: Toronto, with support from Toronto Life. This project has been generously supported by the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund.

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Quillcast episode eight: Jacob McArthur Mooney and Dennis Lee

Quillcast is a podcast series from Quill & Quire featuring behind-the-scenes conversations with authors and publishing insiders.

In this episode, Jacob McArthur Mooney chats with Dennis Lee about his most recent poetry collection, Testament (House of Anansi Press), the final book in a decade-long trilogy exploring the dilemma of contemporary existence.

Lee is the author of more than 20 books, including Civil Elegies, which won the Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry in 1972, and the beloved children’s classic Alligator Pie.

McArthur Mooney is the author of two books of poetry. His second collection, Folk (McClelland & Stewart), was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize.

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Quillcast is produced with media partners The Walrus, Open Book: Ontario, and Open Book: Toronto, with support from Toronto Life. This project has been generously supported by the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund.

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Quillcast episode seven: celebrating the 10th anniversary of Hana’s Suitcase

Quillcast is a podcast series from Quill & Quire featuring behind-the-scenes conversations with authors and publishing insiders.

In this episode, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hana’s Suitcase (Second Story Press), the story of a Japanese teacher and her quest to discover the history behind a child’s suitcase found at the Auschwitz death camp. To mark the milestone, Q&Q Web editor Sue Carter Flinn sat down with author Karen Levine and Margie Wolfe, founder of Second Story.

Hana’s Suitcase began its life as a radio documentary for the CBC before being published as a children’s book. Since it was released in 2002, the book has been published in 40 countries and 29 languages, and inspired the 2009 documentary, Inside Hana’s Suitcase.

Click on the thumbnails to view images from Hana’s Suitcase Anniversary Album, which features over 60 pages of letters, photos, essays, and children’s art that reflect on the importance of Hana’s story.

Quillcast is produced with media partners The Walrus, Open Book: Ontario, and Open Book: Toronto, with support from Toronto Life. This project has been generously supported by the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

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Quillcast episode six: Steve Rubin on publishing by instinct, Rob Lowe, and the art of creating bestsellers

Quillcast is a podcast series from Quill & Quire featuring behind-the-scenes conversations with authors and publishing insiders.

In this episode, U.S. publishing executive Steve Rubin discusses the art of creating bestsellers in an industry in flux.

Rubin started his book-publishing career in 1984 as an executive editor at Bantam Books. In 1990, he was appointed president and publisher of Doubleday, and by 1995 was based in London as chairman and CEO of Bantam Doubleday Dell International. In 2009, he joined Henry Holt & Company as president and publisher. The authors he has published include John Grisham (The Firm), Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), and Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall).

Rubin was in Toronto last year as a guest of the International Visitors Programme, which runs in conjunction with Toronto’s International Festival of Authors. He delivered this keynote to a packed house of industry professionals from Canada and around the world.

Quillcast is produced with media partners The Walrus, Open Book: Ontario, and Open Book: Toronto, with support from Toronto Life. This project has been generously supported by the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

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