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Face. is an international design agency with a global perspective and a focus on branding. Founded in 2006, Face. has already created some impressive designs that showcase their modernist flair. Although many of their pieces are done in a straightforward style, they keep it fresh with fun color palettes and intriguing typography. Having already created multiple offices across North America in their short life span, keep an eye on Face. for their next move.
My family and I each made photo collages for my Dad's funeral. I had a little fun with mine, adding some good, funny memories. I'll let this speak for itself....
You may have to right click and open in a new window in order to see it clearly. I would also recommend enlarging it in your browser a bit.
2 Comments on Funny memories with my Dad., last added: 5/3/2013
As regular readers may remember, last year I was on the committee for the Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. In addition to our winners and finalists, the committee also publishes a list of vetted nominations (what I like to call the "long list.") I'm in the process of highlighting these titles during Nonfiction Monday.
In December 1917, war was raging in Europe. In Halifax Harbor, two ships were on their way to the action, one on it's way to pick up relief supplies, the other full of munitions. The two ships collided, causing a fire. As the munitions ship drifted, fire on its deck, it crashed into the pier and exploded, leveling most of of the harbor area and creating a shockwave that blew out almost every window in Halifax proper. 2000 people died, 9000 more were injured. Rescue and relief efforts were further dampened when a blizzard blew in the next day and dumped over a foot of snow on the area.
Until the advent of nuclear weapons, the Halifax explosion was the largest man-made explosion ever.
Walker tells this story (one that's very well known in Canada, but not so much in the US) through the eyes of children who lived around the harbor at the time. Children getting ready for school, running errands, and going about their day. She weaves these daily accounts in with the context of shipping lanes and traffic, and what was happening in the Harbor. Walker also covers the communities on the other side of the Harbor who were affected by the explosion, resulting shock wave, and tsunami. The book is also very good at detailing what happened after the explosion to everyone.
Fun fact: The Halifax coroner's office had a tested system in place to deal with a mass casualty event like this. It had been developed 2 years earlier, when they brought in the bodies from the Titanic.
Book Provided by... the publisher, for award consideration
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
2 Comments on Nonfiction Monday: Blizzard of Glass, last added: 4/10/2013
I love books about the Halifax explosion but I have never read one about children's experiences. This sounds fascinating. Scary though- can you imagine?
The Legend of Sarila (La légende de Sarila) is the first 3D CGI film produced entirely in Quebec. Drawing on Inuit culture and tradition, Sarila was directed by Nancy Florence Savard,= and animated in Montreal at Modus FX. Production companies involved were 10th Ave Productions and CarpeDiem Film & TV. Budget was $8.5 million (CAN).
Sarila opened last weekend in Quebec province on 32 screens, grossing a modest $64,622 and landing in 10th place at the Quebec box office. The film has been sold to 20 countries.
THE SELECTED JOURNALS OF LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY, VOLUME I (1889-1910)
It is will great excitement I welcome you to the LMM Journals Read Along! Picking up this first book has, in many ways, felt like coming home. If you are an Anne fan, you will be delighted to see phrases and circumstances that feel very Anne-ish. If you're an Emily fan, you'll see parallels between Maud's upbringing and Emily's.
Here you'll find school girl spats, small-town social events, a year with her beloved father (and ill-humored stepmother), a proposal from her former teacher (!), many, many heart-broken suitors, teaching, writing, an engagement, loneliness, the sale of ANNE.
Lucy Maud Montgomery was born November 30, 1874 in Clifton (now New London), Prince Edward Island, Canada. "Thirty-four years later, in 1908, her first novel, ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, put Prince Edward Island on the literary map of the world. When she died in 1942 Montgomery had published over twenty books, hundreds of short stories and poems, and her name was known far beyond the English-speaking world." Before her second birthday, Maud, as she liked to be called, lost her mother. Her father quickly left for the mainland, remarrying and leaving Maud to be raised by her mother's parents. She began journaling as "a tot of nine" but destroyed those early copies. "Surviving are ten handwritten volumes that were begun when she was fourteen and date from 1889 to 1942." This first volume includes the first two of those ten journals, covering her PEI years "from ages 14 to 36" (including a year with her father in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan).
Without siblings, raised by older relatives, and intellectually ahead of her class, Maud often felt isolated and different from those around her. She "viewed her journals as a 'personal confidant in whom I can repose absolute trust'." "Because the journals are so full and frank and cover such a long period, and because they are the work of a successful professional writer, they provide a degree of information, anecdote, and personal history that makes them unique in Canadian letters. The interest attached to the autobiographical content is obvious. What may not appear so obvious in this first volume is that the complete journals of L. M. Montgomery provide a fund of engrossing social history covering more than half a century and draw the reader surprisingly far into the depths of one woman's life."*
As I read, I'll share favorite quotes on Twitter, using the hashtag #lmmjournals. Make notes as you read or just enjoy. And please consider returning Monday, 25 February to join the discussion of Volume I.
Be sure to keep a second bookmark at the notes section at the back of the book. Extra details are given here.
Happy reading!
*All quotes taken from the introduction of the first volume
6 Comments on LMM Journals Read Along: Volume I, last added: 2/3/2013
I'm looking forward to this, Caroline. My book is waiting for me at the New York Public Library. It had to be taken out of reserve and delivered to the fancy building on 42nd st. It made me feel, already, as if, ooh, what a special book this is!
Melissa, so happy you found a copy! I'm hoping with the every-other month schedule, there will be time to search for copies, and readers and take things at a leisurely pace.
Actually, the Anne inspiration came from a newspaper clipping about a family who'd expected to adopt a boy and ended up with a girl instead. Though there are very many Anne-ish observations of nature, school girl stunts, etc. She claimed to be most like Emily, a series I absolutely MUST re-read. Maybe along with the journals?
Cattle Call (2008) offers a fascinating glimpse into a world that is completely foreign to me. It made a strong impression when I saw it a few years back in Ottawa and I’m delighted to report that it’s every bit as exhilarating to watch again now that it’s been posted online.
Directed by Matt Rankin and Mike Maryniuk, the film uncovers the inherent art within livestock auctioneering, which filmmaker Werner Herzog once described as “the last poetry possible, the poetry of capitalism.”
Filmmakers Rankin and Maryniuk capture the madcap energy of their subject matter by deploying a rapid-fire assortment of techniques, including stop-motion, cut-outs, open-exposures, hole-punching and rubbing Letraset directly on the celluloid. They manage to turn this experimental grabbag into a mightily entertaining film—a testament to their skills as animation filmmakers. Their unconventional approach also shows that the documentary format in animation offers a range of nonliteral and non-narrative possibilities that extends beyond the formal limitations of live-action documentary.
0 Comments on “Cattle Call” by Matt Rankin and Mike Maryniuk as of 1/31/2013 3:02:00 PM
The weekend is upon us and tomorrow, Sunday, is Family Literacy Day in Canada! Created by ABC Life Literacy Canada in 1999 and held annually on January 27, Family Literacy Day raises awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. Taking time every day to read or do a learning activity with children is crucial to a child’s development. Even just 15 minutes a day can improve a child’s literacy skills dramatically, and can help a parent improve their skills as well.
Even if you are not Canadian you can still participate in Family Literacy Day! Check out these 15-minute activites to get started and here The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has put together a list of books that share in the joys (and struggles) of families of all sizes and combinations. To see the list of events taking place across Canada on Family Literacy Day click here.
0 Comments on Family Literacy Day ~ January 27th, Canada as of 1/26/2013 5:04:00 AM
Young Canadian writers are invited to send in a sample of their best writing (stories and/or poems, fiction or non-fiction) not to exceed 1,500 words. Judging is done by noted writers from across Canada and the winner from each grade will receive a $250 gift certificate for the bookstore of his or her choice. Two honourable mentions from each grade category will also receive $50 gift certificates.
Contest details and entry forms can be found here.
To learn more about The Canadian Children’s Book Centre and the wonderful work they do, be sure to read Holly’s Guest Blogger posts that she wrote for us in August 2012.
0 Comments on The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Book Week Writing Contest for Kids & Teens as of 1/15/2013 4:34:00 PM
There has rarely been a more interesting time to study secession. It is not just that the number of separatist movements appears to be growing, particularly in Europe, it is the fact that the international debate on the rights of people to determine their future, and pursue independence, seems to be on the verge of a many change. The calm debate over Scotland’s future, which builds on Canada’s approach towards Quebec, is a testament to the fact that a peaceful and democratic debate over separatism is possible. It may yet be the case that other European governments choose to adopt a similar approach; the most obvious cases being Spain and Belgium towards Catalonia and Flanders.
However, for the meanwhile, the British and Canadian examples remain very much the exception rather than the rule. In most cases, states still do everything possible to prevent parts of their territory from breaking away, often using force if necessary.
It is hardly surprising that most states have a deep aversion to secession. In part, this is driven by a sense of geographical and symbolic identity. A state has an image of itself, and the geographic boundaries of the state are seared onto the consciousness of the citizenry. For example, from an early age school pupils draw maps of their country. But the quest to preserve the borders of a country is rooted in a range of other factors. In some cases, the territory seeking to break away may hold mineral wealth, or historical and cultural riches. Sometimes secession is opposed because of fears that if one area is allowed to go its own way, other will follow.
For the most part, states are aided in their campaign to tackle separatism by international law and norms of international politics. While much has been made of the right to self-determination, the reality is that its application is extremely limited. Outside the context of decolonisation, this idea has almost always taken a backseat to the principle of the territorial integrity of states. This gives a country fighting a secessionist movement a massive advantage. Other countries rarely want to be seen to break ranks and recognise a state that has unilaterally seceded.
When a decision is taken to recognise unilateral declarations of independence, it is usually done by a state with close ethnic, political or strategic ties to the breakaway territory.Turkey’s recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Russia’s recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are obvious examples. Even when other factors shape the decision, as happened in the case of Kosovo, which has been recognised by the United States and most of the European Union, considerable effort has been made by recognising states to present this as a unique case that should be seen as sitting outside of the accepted boundaries of established practice.
However, states facing a secessionist challenge cannot afford to be complacent. While there is a deep aversion to secession, there is always the danger that the passage of time will lead to the gradual acceptance of the situation on the ground. It is therefore important to wage a concerted campaign to reinforce a claim to sovereignty over the territory and prevent countries from recognising – or merely even unofficially engaging with – the breakaway territory.
At the same time, international organisations are also crucial battlegrounds. Membership of the United Nations, for example, has come to be seen as the ultimate proof that a state has been accepted by the wider international community. To a lesser extent, participation in other international and regional bodies, and even in sporting and cultural activities, can send the same message concerning international acceptance.
The British government’s decision to accept a referendum over Scotland’s future is still a rather unusual approach to the question of secession. Governments rarely accept the democratic right of a group of people living within its borders to pursue the creation of a new state. In most cases, the central authority seeks to keep the state together; and in doing so choosing to fight what can often be a prolonged campaign to prevent recognition or legitimisation by the wider international community.
Every year at this time I find myself jealous of the people in the vicinity of Kitchener-Waterloo in Northern Ontario, Canada. No, not because of the weather, but for The Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema. I’m thankful, however, this event is happening anywhere in North America as it’s the only annual festival devoted to “showcasing the latest unreleased international animated feature films”. The festival just announced the first 12 films (several more to be announced shortly) of the 12th edition of the Festival – and it looks like an incredible program with a strong set of productions from Japan and Europe. The films confirmed so far include:
A LETTER TO MOMO • Director: Okiura Hiroyuki (Japan, 2011)
ANIME MIRAI • Directors: Kawamata, Miyashita, Kaiya and Tomonaga (Japan, 2012) A compilation of “four delightful films that point to the future of anime”
WOLF CHILDREN • Director: Hosoda Mamoru (Japan, 2012)
The 12th Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema runs November 15th to 18th, 2012. All screenings will be held at The Chrysalids Theatre, 137 Ontario Street North in Kitchener. For more information on each film and how to obtain festival passes click here.
0 Comments on Waterloo Festival For Animated Cinema Announces Feature Film lineup as of 10/13/2012 4:09:00 AM
I’ll admit my mind is blown knowing there are over 10, 000Emotion Thesaurus books out there in the world. Becca and I are thrilled, and so appreciative to all the writers and teachers who took a chance on it. As aspiring novelists, we know just how hard it is to write and the perseverance it takes to create a book. Providing a tool to help other writers with emotion is nothing short of an honor (sappy, I know, but true. Writers rule and we love you guys!)
In that same spirit of wanting to contribute, we thought it might be beneficial to share our focus as we sent The Emotion Thesaurus into the world. We realize this is a non-fiction book, not fiction. Novels are a harder sell--instead of dealing primarily with what a audience NEEDS like NF, it is more about what they WANT, and personal reading tastes are unpredictable. However, much of the strategy we used with the ET can be adapted for fiction, so hopefully novelists will find value here regardless.
A Bit of History...
As many of you know, The Emotion Thesaurus started on the blog as a 'set' of lists focusing on how to show a character’s feelings. Becca and I struggled with emotion, and when we could not find a good resource to help us, we created one. As it grew in popularity, readers asked us to turn it into an enhanced book version.
We chose self publishing for a few reasons, the most important being TIME. It can take years for a book to find a publisher and then be available to purchase, and writers and teachers needed it NOW. We also discovered someone pirating our content for profit, so waiting any longer to create the book would be foolhardy. We launched The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expressionon May 14th, 2012.
What We Had Going For Us
PLATFORM. Becca and I have worked since 2008 to build a place within the Writing Community, providing resources through this blog and forging genuine relationships with our audience. Our attitude has always been to contribute and do what we can to add value. It was our hope that our readers would be willing to help raise awareness for The Emotion Thesaurus book.
NICHE. Our book tackled a topic that writers struggle with, yet few resources were available to help. As writers, we knew exactly what type of tool was needed to help with emotion and body language.
What Stood Against Us
LACK OF CREDIBILITY. Becca and I were not authors (yet), nor accredited editors, and certainly not psychologists or experts on emotion. We had a platform, but no ‘book world’ clout. How could we possibly compete with the biggies in the Writing Resource field, names like Donald Maass, James Scott Bell, James N. Frey, The Plot Whisperer, or the dozens of other incredible, best-selling authors/experts?
SELF PUBLISHING. While the stigma is lessening, we all know bias remains. In some ways, creating a how-to writing resource and then choosing self publishing over traditional acted as a strike against us, meaning we would have to really prove ourselves with readers.
CONFIDENCE. This business is often a murky pool of feeling not worthy, not good enough. Without a book deal in place for our fiction to give us credibility or a degree/subject-specific education to hold up, we felt naked. Putting ourselves out there and donning the hat of authority that comes with writing any sort of how-to guide was terrifying.
The Scale Tipper
PASSION, BELIEF & TEAMWORK. As writers, we knew people needed this book. Heck, we needed it! We decided to create the best brainstorming tool we could and put all our effort into making it discoverable to those who might benefit from it. Working as a team allowed us to play off each others' strengths and aided in decision-making.
Outsourced formatting to a HTML goddess because the book is full of links and redirects
Test-marketed it with a select group of writers & used feedback to strengthen
MISTAKE: choosing a launch date and under-estimating the time it would take for setting up the business (two authors in different countries is a pain), uploading, formatting challenges, fixing last minute typos (again, our formatter Heather is worth her weight in gold!) This created lots of down-to-the-wire stress. Test marketing the book (while super valuable) also meant enabling changes late in the game.
First Hurdle: Launching A Book Without Feeling Like A Timeshare Salesman
For two writers who hate promoting, this was a massive challenge. Look at me! I have a book! Buy it!<---our personal nightmare. We needed a way to let people know about the ET but not be eye-bulging, book-waving maniacs about it. After many facetimes, we realized that to do this in a way that felt right, we needed to return to our AUTHOR BRAND: writers helping & supporting other writers.
“Random Acts of Kindness for Writers” became our secret plan: instead of making our release date about us, we would do something to celebrate & thank writers. This was risky in the sense that to do it authentically, we had to steer attention AWAY from our book’s release. However, we felt the reward was twofold--traffic to our site, and it allowed us a way to pour our flag-waving passion into celebrating people who really deserve recognition and yet rarely get it. This event aligned perfectly with our pay-it-forward beliefs, driving us to do all we could to make it a success.
For brevity's sake, I won’t get into the nuts and bolts of how we set up the RAOK Blitz (but if enough people wish it, I can expand on this in a future post). Suffice to say it drew thousands of visitors and hundreds of writers participated, becoming a huge ‘feel good’ week for everyone that showcased the generous spirits of our Writing Community. :)
Marketing Boost: Becca and I gave away a free PDF called ‘Emotion Amplifiers’ as our RAOK gift to writers. This PDF booklet is a companion to The Emotion Thesaurus and has a similar layout. Our hope was that if a writer found it helpful, they might check the ET as well. (It’s still in our sidebar if you want a copy and helps with describing conditions like pain, exhaustion, stress, inebriation, etc.)
Second Hurdle: Reviews
A self-published book that is also non-fiction? Rough. Many professional reviewers will not take on SP books, and those that do usually only read fiction. So, instead of seeking out review sites, we put out a call out to Bookshelf Muse readers and asked if any of them were interested in reviewing the book. After all, the ET is BY writers FOR writers. Who better to review it? :)
We could not accommodate all the requests that came in, so we chose some reviewers strategically for their audience reach, and others through a random draw.
MISTAKE: We should have arranged for reviews much sooner. Due to not leaving ourselves enough time to get the book ready to go, we were unable to get a decent version out to reviewers until close to launch or after.
LUCK! Many people, after buying and using the ET, were so happy with it they wrote reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
MORE LUCK! These reviews swayed even MORE people to take a chance on the book, and they in turn became avid word-of-mouth spreaders, telling writing friends and critique partners all about The Emotion Thesaurus. This led to better sales, top 20 ranking in several (paid) writing categories for print & kindle, a strong Amazon Best Sellers Rank, and placement on the Top Rated, Best Selling & Most Wished For lists (writing).
Marketing Tactics - Swag
We chose to invest in a postcard-sized bookmark that doubles as a Revision Tool. Many bookmarks lie forgotten in a drawer, or they end up being recycled. We wanted ours to stay right beside the computer during revisions, so we printed a ‘Crutch Word List’ on one side--words we commonly overuse and need to weed out. Our hope was that by making our swag useful, writers would hang onto it!
Spreading the word about a book can be difficult, so we put out a call (again utilizing our blog readers) and asked if people would be willing to take our bookmarks and hand them out to critique groups, or give them out at conferences and workshops. This allowed us to reach out beyond our own circle and hopefully reach new readers.
MISTAKE (?) This was a bit pricey considering the postage involved (some were sent worldwide), and took time to get addresses and mail out. We had no way to track the effectiveness. And while I have heard from people who said they saw them at conferences or were given one by another writer, we are not sure if the ‘mail out’ idea brought a significant return. But, the postcards are super handy to have at events where Becca and I are presenting, and we can pass them out afterward to keep the ET in people’s minds. So overall, this swag was worth it!
Marketing Tactics - Discoverability
The bulk of our marketing energy went into discoverability. Because we have such an amazingly supportive audience at The Bookshelf Muse, we chose a 'grassroots' approach rather than solicit big bloggers/sites for exposure. In our initial blog post asking for assistance from readers, we utilized a sign up form so the people who wanted to help us could, and in a manner that most appealed to them. The results of this was amazing--so many people offered to help get the word out!
One of our biggest needs was bloggers willing to host us for a visit. We were overwhelmed with gratitude to see how many people were willing to do this (have I mentioned how great you all are?) and we actually had to change how our form was worded to include offering book excerpts and reblogging previous TBM posts to accommodate the response. We ended up with over 115 hosts all told.
Attempting so many guest posts caused panic attacks, obsessive chocolate binging, feelings of inadequacy *coughs* was daunting. But Becca organized everything (SHE IS AMAZING!) and put us on an aggressive schedule that would allow us to finish them all within a 4 month window. We created a master list of topics, most centered directly on content that would tie into Emotion & Body Language, so that each post was a planned, quality post. The best thank you to those who offered to help us was to write content that would bring them strong traffic, not just exposure for us.
GUEST POST TIP: We did our best to thank personally every person who hosted and helped. We also shared all links on our social networks to bring new people to their blogs. We truly appreciated their time and energy, and their desire to see us succeed.
MISTAKE #1: biting off more than we could chew. This was an enormous amount of guest posts (with more requests coming in as a result of this visibility) and so it meant we were both unable to write anything but blog content for a good 4 months. We managed to get them done and we have no regrets because of the great exposure, but it also meant other things slipped. There were a few blogging relationships and opportunities we were unable to stay on top of because we were so busy posting elsewhere. We also had a tough time commenting on blogs and getting email written. With such a strict timeline to adhere to, I worried about messing up and forgetting something vital, letting a host down.
MISTAKE #2: not thinking enough about how to keep up with our own blog AND everyone else’s. Luckily as we met new people at different blogs, we found folks who wanted to guest post for us. We were able to give them exposure in return and bring some good content to the blog (LUCK!)So while we made a mistake about over committing, it worked out.
MORE LUCK! These ‘seed’ guest posts led to some writing communities and bigger organizations contacting us. This resulted in book reviews and giveaways that were included in newsletters and offered exposure with bigger audiences. The Discoverability Tour worked!
Marketing Tactics: Giveaways
We utilized giveaways to generate interest in our book and bring attention to some of the blogs we visited. We purposefully did not host book giveaways during the month of May to encourage people to buy, not wait to win. We had a few giveaways in June and then more in July, August and September. Some were bigger exposure opportunities like being featured in a banner at the Writer’s Knowledge Base and as a prize at Ink Pageant (thanks guys--you rock!) We tried to go where our readers would be, and took advantage of opportunities that allowed us to reach beyond the Kidlit & YA writer’s network we know best in order to create inroads with Christian and other Adult genres who might not know us or The Bookshelf Muse.
Marketing Tactics: Distribution Channels
Becca and I talked about going KDP Select but neither of us could see the benefit to doing so right out the gate. In our minds, we wanted to ask a fair price for the books and have it available across as many channels as possible to reach readers where they are, not where we ‘chose’ to be. We distributed widely and included a PDF option for those who did not have ereaders or who felt more comfortable with PDF format. For those who like numbers, here’s the breakdown to 10,000 which we hit in September:
SW
iTunes
CS-Amazon.com
(PRINT)
B&N
Kindle (Amazon.com)
Kindle
(Amazon Euro)
Kobo
PDF
Total
May
17
10
243
62
412
25
102
871
June
13
19
503
66
905
50
89
1645
July
13
22
887
78
1334
77
76
2487
August
13
33
893
56
1297
103
60
2455
September
10
32
1036
53
1282
151
21*
47
2632
Total:
66
116
3562
315
5230
406
21
374
10090
*Prior to September, Kobo sales were bundled with Smashwords. Once Kobo created their own distribution, we uploaded direct. Sony sales are under the Smashwords umbrella.
You will notice that Print is quite strong. We believe this is partly because many writers like 'craft' books in paperback. We also have had feedback that some original digital buyers were so pleased with the ET, they later decided to invest in a print version, too.
Pricing: We chose the 4.99 price point for digital, and 14.99 for print. We have not changed the price nor offered the book for free. In the future we may change our pricing, but for now it works well with Extended Distribution, which we sell enough through to make it important to keep.
MISTAKE: not enabling Extended Distribution right from the start. Originally we didn’t think it would do us much good, until we realized without it, we could not get onto Amazon.ca. Seeing as I live in Canada, it is important that the people I meet at events or at my workshops have a way to get the book. Not doing this before May meant a six week lag of fielding emails from Canadians unable to buy the book.
Marketing Tactics: Paid Advertizing
We opted to not invest in any paid advertising. I think this was the right decision for us, but do see us choosing a few select ads in the future.
Where We Got Extra Lucky
Winning Top 20 Best Blogs For Writers with Write To Done a few months before The Emotion Thesaurus released. This raised our profile significantly, and at a critical time.
Once sales started climbing, Amazon would send out mailers to people who purchased writing related books, and sometimes The Emotion Thesaurus was listed as a ‘Those that purchased X might also like’ pick.
A price war between B & N and Amazon. For the last week of September, the two duked it out, lowering the book’s price daily until the discount put it under 10 bucks. Average sales nearly doubled for print (although sales dipped that week for Kindle).
A Few Extraneous Mistakes
Not soliciting endorsements. We didn’t do this in advance of publishing the ET because we were worried about being turned down, worried about getting the cold shoulder because we were newcomers and new authors. Now more than ever we are seeing an acceptance of SP, and of Traditional authors making the leap. Endorsements probably would have helped us greatly and so moving forward we’ll be seeking them out.
Not believing in ourselves enough at the start. I think we wasted a lot of energy on doubt because we hadn’t published before (except in magazines) and we were afraid that while we felt The Emotion Thesaurus added value, others would not. The response to The Emotion Thesaurus has been nothing short of phenomenal and knowing that Illinois State University is using it in their Creative Writing curriculum makes us incredibly proud. A self published book going to University...who would have thought?
Thoughts to Leave You With
Looking back, I believe we did two things right that led to everything else:
First, we created a book that readers are very happy with, and it fulfills a need in a way that they are excited to share it with people they know. (We are so, so, SO grateful to this word-of-mouth. Thank you all for doing this!)
Second, we live our brand: writers who help and support other writers. This is who we are! We love writers and have forged genuine relationships with our readers. When we needed help to spread the word, people responded, and more than that, became our advocates. There are not enough thank yous in the world for me to say what this means to us.
If I can encourage writers planning to publish to do one thing beyond the above, it’s to be authentic in whatever you do. When you build your platform, start in advance and think very hard about what your brand will be. Be yourself, be likable, do what feels right and resonates with who you are. Understand your audience, their likes and dislikes, and search them out. Use keywords to find blogs, forum discussions and hashtags that will help you discover people who might be interested in a book like yours. Interact, be genuine and think about how you can add value, not how you can market to them. Focus on giving, not getting. Trust that the rest will come. :)
Do you have any questions about what we did or why? Becca and I are happy to answer if we are able. And again, the biggest, squishiest, bacon-filled thank you for all your support of us and the ET. Your word-of-mouth has allowed writers and teachers everywhere to discover this book!
38 Comments on The Path To 10K In Sales: Strategy, Luck & Mistakes, last added: 10/17/2012
Congrats!! I was part of RAOK and it was just awesome. I loved the attention to detail you gave with your posts. It was fool proof. Made it easier to post. I also loved getting personalized thank yous. You guys rock!
Seriously, none of this would have happened without our amazing supporters. Becca and I are so blessed to know so many great folks! We hope that future books in this series become just as helpful to writers as The Emotion Thesaurus!
Whew. What a wild ride this has been! But so incredibly rewarding. We really were so clueless when we started; that's one of the reasons we wanted to share this post, to get a little more information out there about the process, so maybe it's not so intimidating for someone else.
Thanks, everyone, for your support and encouragement!
10,000 copies! That's absolutely incredible--congratulations! You ladies deserve all the success you've had and more. Best of luck in the coming months!
I love the book. I even recommended it to my local writers group, and I know several of those writers purchased it. And like you said, some of them preferred the print version and didn't have any problems paying an extra $10 for it. Keep up the good work!
Absolutely Awesome!! Loved RAOK and have linked to your website over the last few years on my weekly round up blog for writers here in NZ, highlighting ET and RAOK. I will be sharing this post as well...the journey is a good one to tell because all the way through it your integrity to the project and to each other and the huge impact on writers just shines through! I am proud to own a copy of ET! You deserve every success!
Probably the best post on this moving and difficult target that I have seen. Damn I nearly bought the book- I have never been any good at expressing emotions anyway! As Arnie said- I'll be back!
Wow. This is extensive. This walk through will definitely help a few people.
(By the way, I was concerned about the profit you two were getting from the books, but after doing the math and calculating the loyalties, you two will probably be set. Yet again, we writers shouldn't be worrying about money too much.)
I knew about a lot of this, but you two still amaze me with all the work you put into the release of what is positively the best craft book available. :D
Thank you for sharing your experience through the whole process and what worked and what didn't. You two are truly amazing. All those guest posts! Oh my! You must have been living on adrenalin for those 4 months. I just can't fathom doing that. You two must have super powers! My little blog launch yesterday wiped me out. I'm spent, but the support was so uplifting. Thank you for the shout out, Angela.
I love a success story, and yours is a wonderful one. All that hard worked paid off. I love how you thought outside the box and how it worked for you, how word of your awesome book spread and led to another and then another opportunity for you. You covered to much in this post, and I can't respond to it all, except to say thank you for sharing this with us. Cheers to many more sales milestones and other books to come!
Thanks so much for this great post. Awesome, awesome information in here. You guys are amazing :) I'm SO happy for you that the Emotion Thesaurus has done so well. Great job :)
Excellent post, Angela! And a huge thanks to you and Becca for being so generous with your time and information to help the rest of us budding indie authors.
All these tips are extremely useful, but the most important factor for your success is that you and Becca worked long and hard to produce a quality product filled with valuable info for fiction writers! And laid out in a very accessible way. It's an excellent resource that I recommend to all my fiction-writer clients! And I use it myself to offer suggestions for when they're stuck for character reactions to circumstances.
Thanks for sharing this. I use my Emotion Thesaurus everyday I write. No lie! It has truly made me a better writer. Just as this blog has. Thanks you two! From the bottom of my heart.
You're both so gracious to share your experiences with us. Congrat's on sales and also as important is that you both put out a QUALITY product- I refer to ET frequently (In hindsight I should have bought a print version, bought the K). Thanks.
Ahh, you guys!! This comment stream is stuffed with so many nice words I feel like it is Christmas. Again, you guys are the reason why we keep up this blog and write our books. Thank you for all you do, and for being so generous and fabulous. Each day we see how writers pull together to support and help each other out, and it is great. We are happy to contribute however we can. :)
Happy writing, everyone and have a fantastic weekend. :)
The RAOK campaign was fantastic! I hope you'll do it again soon. It shows how much the writing community really does give back. You all are the benchmark for writers helping writers. Best of luck to you and may it be another 10k in sales.
I was awed every time you guys did a post on an emotion, let alone compiling an entire book and launching it. You've contributed so much, been so kind to others, that it doesn't suprise me you've hit 10k already. I expect those numbers to keep right on growing. Congratulations and thank you.
My good friend and author Sudè Khanian is hosting a giveaway to celebrate the holiday. She asked me to join the celebration and I had to say yes!
For my part, I am contributing the first story from the One series. Meant To Be introduces the series, but also tells the story of a small miracle in my life.
But wait, there's more!
Ellen C. Maze's best-selling story of a devoted priest cursed for all eternity.
Raymond Biesinger, who was one of the first editorial illustrators that I learned about when I got out of college, has some lovely new work on his freshly updated website. One of my personal favorites, Raymond seems to take the most simple of concepts to an entirely new level by creating intricate, complex worlds by using minimal color palettes and impressive line work. You can see Raymond’s influence on many current editorial illustrators, which makes him an important part of the industry’s foundation. He also has several great side projects, including his band, The Famines, & a book which comes out in November called Black & White Illustrations.
You gotta love a book that references Leonard Cohen on the second page. With a big ol' picture of him, too.
Tim's a student who sees the woman of his dreams. He doesn't know her, but her address falls out of her bag, so he takes a risk and emails her. Only... it wasn't her email address. Amelie is NOT the girl of Tim's dreams, but her reply charms him, so he writes back and writes back, until she caves. It's a very sweet relationship the develops as Amelia tries to figure out what to do about her new feelings for Tim and some negative feelings with her very serious long-distance boyfriend.
Format wise, this one's much closer to Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf as we get a much better visual on the notes, flowers that are also sent, phones used in text messages (you actually tell the who's texting who because their phones are different.)
Interestingly, even though this is a German book, it takes place in Canada.
It's a short, sweet read that's a great use of the stuff format.
Book Provided by... my wallet
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0 Comments on An Order of Amelie, Hold the Fries as of 10/5/2012 9:58:00 AM
Cheryl Foggo, illustrated by Qin Leng,
Dear Baobab Second Story Press, 2011.
Ages 7-11
Following the death of his parents, seven-year-old Maiko has had to leave all that was familiar, encapsulated in his memory of the ancient baobab tree in his village, to come and live with his aunt and uncle in their red brick house in a Western city. Maiko forms a special bond with a small fir tree growing outside the house. He listens to its whisperings, and confides his feelings and anxieties to it: his homesickness; and how Leonard, a boy at school, laughs at his ears. When his aunt and uncle decide that the tree needs to be cut down, Maiko tries to protect it by hiding the tools. Only when the inevitable day arrives, do his aunt and uncle realise the tree’s importance to Maiko, and an alternative solution is found.
The story is straightforward enough to appeal to young readers. They will appreciate the way his love of his two special trees helps him to emerge with confidence from the unsettling changes in his life. In addition, there is a subtle depth to the narrative that will make it appealing to older readers. When Maiko hides the tools, for example, his aunt berates his uncle for leaving them out to be stolen. The situation is not then tidily resolved – Maiko does not confess – and readers therefore find themselves asking questions that have no single straightforward answer. The same is true of Leonard. Something has certainly happened behind the scenes between Maiko’s telling his uncle about how he is being teased at school and our next encounter with Leonard. It is enough to hear explicitly that while Maiko is playing with his friend Li, “They saw Leonard. He did not laugh at Maiko’s ears.” Older readers will probably pick up on this and ponder it. The illustrations emphasise these key moments too. They convey Maiko’s emotions throughout the story: his sadness , worry and guilt, but also his happiness playing in the snow, for example, or his exuberant play with Li when dressed up as a baobab for his first Halloween.
Dear Baobab is a gentle story about settling into a new home and a new culture. It opens up many questions for young readers, who will be touched by its universally relevant themes of bullying and belonging.
Marjorie Coughlan
September 2012
0 Comments on Week-end Book Review: Dear Baobab by Cheryl Foggo, illustrated by Qin Leng as of 9/16/2012 8:22:00 PM
First staged in 1976, the Ottawa International Animation Festival is no spring chicken. Only the animation festivals in Annecy (France) and Zagreb (Croatia) can claim to be older. Despite its age though, Ottawa is more eclectic and surprising than at any point in its history.
For the past decade-and-a-half, under the artistic direction of Chris Robinson, the Ottawa Animation Festival has burnished its reputation for challenging and unconventional fare. It has also managed to piss off its fair share of filmmakers, including Sylvain Chomet and Aleksandr Petrov — controversies that Robinson has addressed in his writing.
The North American animation festival scene has become much more crowded in recent years, but at the end of the day, Ottawa remains the gold standard with its trifecta of provocative competition selections, intelligent film/lecture programming, and diverse attendees from the global animation community. It continues to grow too — while the festival has always been a hub for the East Coast animation community, it has recently made a concerted effort to invite more guests from the West Coast animation scene. Below, Chris Robinson talks with Cartoon Brew about the continuing evolution of the Ottawa festival and what we can expect at this year’s edition, which begins next Wednesday, September 19.
Cartoon Brew: How much has the Ottawa animation festival changed since you became its artistic director in the mid-90s?
Chris Robinson: Identity. Stability. Fluidity. Community. Foundation.
The biggest change is the OIAF has a pretty solid foundation in place and it has become very communal and team orientated.
Some of the seeding began when I came aboard in 1995. Having no animation background (outside of working for the OIAF since 1992), I couldn’t help but bring a different perspective to both the programming and identity of the OIAF. It was not always pretty or smooth, but it a starting point. The real turning point was in 2000 when Kelly Neall came aboard as Managing Director. We have very different personalities, almost opposites in some ways, and that yin-yang combination was perfect for the OIAF.
Kelly played a central role in giving the OIAF some sense of stability. Through Kelly, we’ve expanded and managed to put together a solid team of people. When I took over in 1995, I was the only regular employee really until about 2000 when Kelly came aboard. Today, we have about 5 full time, 1 part time along with a steady stream of contract staff through a government program. More importantly, people past and present like Maral Mohammadian, Andre Coutu, Jerrett Zaroski, Azarin Sohrabkhani and Dominique Forget play(ed) essential parts in helping shape and re-shape the OIAF structure, identity, programming, and vision.
Cartoon Brew: When I first started attending a decade ago, I don’t recall there being so many commercial/mainstream guests. This year’s line-up includes Hotel Transylvania director Genndy Tartakovsky, ParaNorman co-director Chris Butler, and Fairly OddParents creator Butch Hartman. Is this a good thing?
Chris Robinson: Why wouldn’t it be?
Cartoon Brew: Because Ottawa has always been about promoting unheralded independent filmmakers and industry iconoclasts. I wonder whether this commercial presence shifts the focus away from the creative filmmaking that is the reason many of us attend in the first place. How do you balance it and keep the festival from becoming too commercial?
Chris Robinson: I think the indie/commercial issue is a bit overstated. There’s more mainstream in some areas for those people who want that, but there’s the same amount of indie/experimental events for folks who don’t care about industry/commercial. It’s all perspective. You’ve pulled out a few events that fall into the commercial realm (no more than any other year), but what about the special screenings: Barry Purves, Karen Aqua, Run Wrake, Ralph Bakshi, 3 other thematic programmes (Intersections, Stand-Up Comedians, YouTube) about as removed from commercial as you can get.
Oh… and there are the competition screenings. Would anyone consider Chris Sullivan, Leah Shore, Hisko Hulsing, Theo Ushev, Michaela Pavlatova, Purves, Paul Bush, Michael Langan, Pierre Hebert, Don Hertzfeldt, PES, Steve Subotnick etc… to be icons of the commercial/mainstream? Kinda doubt it. On our post-festival surveys, we’ll get 10% who say programming is fine, 40% who say we’re too arty, 40% who say we’re too commercial. I’d say we’re doing just fine.
Cartoon Brew: You curated a Ralph Bakshi retrospective this year. His work often feels very much of a time and place. Why is he relevant today?
Chris Robinson: I’m not smitten with all of his work, but what I respect is his punk attitude. He does what he wants, the way he wants. He had some quote saying “animation is whatever the fuck you want it to be.” That should be a mantra for every animator.
Bakshi’s work is flawed, raw, genuine, intense, shortsighted, naive, sloppy, arrogant, ugly, poetic, pretentious, uncomfortable, disjointed, violent and urgent. Just the way life is. Just the way we are. His films deal with issues (sex, race, class, identity) in ways that make people uncomfortable – even today. He showed us the sides of society many of us don’t want to see or acknowledge because they might force us to confront some complexities in ourselves.
When I started working on the retrospective part of my goal was to show what animation was missing today… that we don’t have a shitdisturber like Bakshi…. who did all this craziness in a commercial setting. I still believe that ..but an interesting thing happened during the process. I started noticing that we have a chunk of films this years that carry the Bakshi torch in different ways: Chris Sullivan’s Consuming Spirits, Ian Miller’s Cheap Joke, Leah Shore’s amazing film, Old Man (about Charles Manson), Hisko Hulsing’s Junkyard.
Personally, I’ve found that a lot of Bakshi’s words and ideas (however flawed) were really not all that far from what we try to do at the OIAF — especially this notion that animation is whatever the fuck it wants to be. That idea of challenging people’s perceptions and thinking about animation is very close to the spirit of the OIAF.
Cartoon Brew: Tell us about the programs you’re excited about at this year’s festival?
Chris Robinson: That never changes. The competition screenings are always the one I’m most excited about. We make these decisions in relative isolation and in less than ideal situations (ie. choosing 100 films or so out of almost 2400 entries)… so it’s always interesting to see how an audience reacts… and even how you react as a programmer to the film in a cinema context.
There are really a lot of great screenings this year that will appeal to everyone. Barry Purves, Run Wrake, Karen Aqua along with some unique special screenings featuring stand-up comedians, YouTube creations etc… but, yeah, I’m pretty excited about the Bakshi screenings especially the One on One event we’re having with Ralph. Could be some fireworks!
Hell, I’m excited to see what Frenzer and Foreman are going to do this year at the closing ceremonies. Hard to top an improvised Mandarin rap performance.
Cartoon Brew: For an artist reading this, either pro or student, how would you answer the question, Why attend an animation festival, especially when I can see so much animation online nowadays?
Chris Robinson: That’s like saying why have sex when I can jerk off anytime I want to.
0 Comments on A Chat With Ottawa Animation Festival Director Chris Robinson as of 9/11/2012 1:44:00 PM
The Typewriter: A Graphic History of the Beloved Machine is the latest project from UPPERCASE magazine founder and editor Janine Vangool. This richly illustrated book will feature never-before published typewriter memorabilia, intriguing historical documents and entertaining anecdotes. To help raise the $25,000 needed for printing costs, freight and transaction fees Janine is currently holding a kickstarter-style funding campaign. If you would like to contribute either monetarily or by donating ephemera to be used in the book, please check out the UPPERCASE website for more info.
If you are a regular devotee of the kidlitosphere, you have no doubt come across Debbie Ridpath Ohi‘s inspiring writing and cartoons, whether on Inkygirl or another of her various and varied blogs, or indeed her website. We are delighted to welcome Debbie to our online Gallery, with a selection of artwork that includes the first page spread from her short story for the Tomo anthology, our current Book of the Month; illustrations from her imminent picture book I’m Bored (written by Michael Ian Black and published by Simon & Schuster on 4 September…); and a selection of personal pieces.
Here’s a taster from our Q&A, in which Debbie’s excitement about illustrating I’m Bored is infectious:
So hard to choose just one part! The most exciting in terms of specific moments:
My meetings with Justin Chanda (editor/publisher) and art director Laurent Linn at the Simon & Schuster offices in NYC. I remember that for the first few minutes, all I could think was OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH I’M AT SIMON & SCHUSTER!!! To talk about a book that *I* was illustrating!! But then I realized that I needed to focus, so forcibly dragged my thoughts out of gush nirvana and back to the meeting.
Seriously, though, I learned so much from Justin and Laurent, and it was incredibly exciting to see I’m Bored progress from early sketches to the final proofs.
Another highlight for me: the first time I read Michael Ian Black’s manuscript. I laughed out loud and was so delighted….and then it hit home. *I* was going to be illustrating this story.
Yeay! And we are excited that Debbie has two more books with Simon & Schuster in the offing. So head on over to Debbie’s PaperTigers Gallery now – and keep an eye out at your local bookstore on 4 September – we’re sure you won’t be bored and you may never be able to look a potato in the eye in quite the same way again!
0 Comments on New on PaperTigers: Debbie Ridpath Ohi Gallery Feature as of 1/1/1900
The Canada Council for the Arts supports the publication of most literary forms, including graphic novels, but not cartooning and cartoon books. It currently supports Canadian novelists and their novels, short fiction writers and their collections, poets and their poetry, essayists and their essays etc. Such work is eligible for funding both for the artist and for the publishers of the work, and it is also eligible for prizes such as the Governor General’s Literary Awards (which are administered by the Canada Council). Such work – a previously published poem, say – is eligible even when it has already appeared in magazines, newspapers and other publications.
Cartoonists are currently excluded from these grants and honours. Publishers interested in publishing the work of Canadian cartoonists cannot apply for funding to defray some of the costs of doing so. Should a publisher choose nonetheless to publish a book of cartoons, the book cannot even be considered in an assessment of the publisher’s eligibility for funding or block funding, nor are such books eligible for the Governor General’s Literary Awards. Graphic novelists are also excluded from these awards.
Given the artistic quality of Canadian cartooning, it’s cultural importance, its centrality to an understanding of Canadian society and history, and its appeal to readers of all ages, a strong argument can and should be made that the Canada Council should support the work of Cartoonists and that of publishers interested in publishing their work. The Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists is ideally positioned to lobby for such a change in Canada Council policy.
And we do know that ACEC members are good at getting their point across.
Terry Mosher (Aislin), OC
Past President
Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists
The petition letter:
Make cartoonists and their publishers eligible for grants and honours.
Greetings,
I just signed the following petition addressed to: The Canada Council for the Arts..
—————-
Make cartoonists and their publishers eligible for grants and honours.
The Canada Council for the Arts supports the publication of most literary forms, including graphic novels, but not cartooning and cartoon books. It currently supports Canadian novelists and their novels, short fiction writers and their collections, poets and their poetry, essayists and their essays etc. Such work is eligible for funding both for the artist and for the publishers of the work, and it is also eligible for prizes such as the Governor General’s Literary Awards (which are administered by the Canada Council). Such work – a previously published poem, say – is eligible even when it has already appeared in magazines, newspapers and other publications.
Cartoonists are currently excluded from these grants and honours. Publishers interested in publishing the work of Canadian cartoonists cannot apply for funding to defray some of the costs of doing so. Should a publisher choose nonetheless to publish a book of cartoons, the book cannot even be considered in an assessment of the publisher’s eligibility for funding or block funding, nor are such books eligible for the Governor Gen
5 Comments on Canadian Cartoonists Petition Canadian Government for Funding Equality, last added: 7/15/2012
Considering the Conservative Government has made large across the board cuts to arts funding in general, I pretty much guarantee they won’t give a damn about this petition.
Jason A. Quest said, on 7/13/2012 8:01:00 PM
If only my mother was still a Canadian citizen when I was born. :(
Dave said, on 7/13/2012 9:12:00 PM
I agree Pablo, but the petition might put the issue on the NDP or Liberal radar, and Harper won’t be in power forever.
David Bird said, on 7/14/2012 12:35:00 PM
No matter is too little or too great that it can’t be used to take a shot at Harper’s government. Cartoonists weren’t eligible before his election either.
They should be, of course.
Jaylat said, on 7/15/2012 5:41:00 PM
Canada’s border patrol has a nasty habit of arresting comic book readers, tossing them in jail and forcing them to cough up $75,000 in legal fees to defend themselves.
Last Saturday I bought the novel ‘Canada’ by Richard Ford. I’d seen the book around, read a couple of reviews, happened to be going to Canada myself in the autumn – a country I’d never visited and knew nothing about – and thought I’d give it a go.
There’s something, isn’t there, about discovering a new author, especially one for the ‘Favourites’ list. People talk about remembering where they were when Kennedy died, or men landed on the moon or the first airplane ploughed into the twin towers. But it’s the first time I realized a particular book or author was wonderful that I remember.
Like A. A. Milne, at the age of nine, and Alan Garner’s ‘Weirdstone’ scaring me senseless. Then Tolkien, read beneath the bedcovers at night, and Emily Bronte [who I’d have given anything to be, in order to have written ‘Wuthering Heights’].
Then, later, there was Graham Greene, whose writing seemed so effortless, followed by Ella Maillart, crossing China with Peter Fleming, brother [of sorts] of James Bond. Then, in no particular order, Annie Dillard, Flannery O’Connor, Ray Carver, Marilyn Robinson, Richard McFarlane, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and on and on until only last month I read my first short story by the American writer, Linda McCulloch Moore, and got so excited because it was good.
Electric. That’s what these moments of discovery are.And it’s not only [in fact rarely] the sorts of books and authors making media waves that have this effect on me. It’s the ones I stumble across all by myself, blundering from book to book in pursuit of something precious and mysterious, which is impossible to explain.
Having said all that, it’s not authors I want to write about this month.It’s not even Richard Ford or his novel ‘Canada’. It’s Canada itself.
The country, I mean.
6 Comments on CANADA MINUS FIFTY-FOUR DAYS: Pauline Fisk on Canada [the country] and ‘Canada’ [the book], last added: 7/22/2012
Well I envy you if you can go to Nova Scotia! If it were me, I think I'd approach Canada via the historical angle. The Viking site at L'Anse aux Meadows, and the history of the Native Americans, and the French arrivals and then the Scottish - and the various alliances and battles.
I agree it's a huge country, and difficult to make sense of from a distance - but I'd love to go to Quebec and Montreal... I've been to Toronto several times as my sister used to live there. There's a lovely board walk along the shore, and it feels different from an American city - the French influence is quite obvious, and of course all the signs are dual language, and all the distances are in kilometres...
So I hope you have fun! I'll look forward to your blog! :)
As a Torontonian now living in Germany, I found this a fascinating post.
It is hard to get one's head around "Canada" even for a Canadian. I think that's why most seem to identify strongly with the region they come from. The fact that most Canadians are relatively new to that land also affects the essence of what it means to be Canadian: it's a slightly amorphous thing, not like what it means to be British or German or just about anything else. And it's forever changing in the cities as the ethnic mix is in constant flux - making for a fascinating, dynamic identity, but a not-quite graspable one in its constant shape-shifting nature.
Don't be put off by those pictures of the Toronto skyline - one hardly ever sees the city like that, and then only from the islands - the city itself is made up of numerous neighbourhoods - each with its own very distinct character: Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown where the signs are in English and the languages of the inhabitants and the food is incredible; The Annex with its Victorian Mansions and funky mix of university students and professors, artists and writers; Queen St. West with loads of art galleries and interesting pubs and restaurants...
British Columbia is gorgeous! The culture of the First Nations People is very strong there which I found fascinating and wish I could have spent more time there.
I'm with Katherine - envious if you get out East! I never made it to the East coast, but it's also supposed to be stunning with a fascinating regional culture and history.
I hadn't meant to go on like this - sorry! I do hope you have a good trip - full of adventure and discoveries. I look forward to reading more on your blog!
Thank you, Katherine and Lynn. You've both given me things to think about. Canadian history is something I know little about. I must remedy that. And as most of my time will be spent in the east, your bits about fascinating regional culture and history, not to say anything of stunning landscape, are most encouraging.
I'm sure there will be a blog. I can't bear the idea of travelling without writing it all down. I'll probably do the same as with my Belize travels and have a Canada blog button on my website, so do look out for it. I'm not going until September but as and when I find things that are interesting, I'll probably throw them all in.
A post like this makes one want to start packing. So happy to hear you are off on another travel adventure. I'll look foward to your blog.
I wasn't in Canada long but one of my most magical memories is of swimming in a lake in the summer with all the mountains around. That, and all the warnings about bears the Canadians enjoy giving you. You'll have great time.
One thing I found odd was the pattern of place names. Here the language patterns of the names often indicate the local history - Viking names in the north etc. However, in Canada you see UK place names scattered almost randomly across the map - though presumably where settlers settled. Takes some getting used to.
Penny - lake swimming sounds good to me. Just back from Pembrokeshire [see this coming Saturday's Authors Electric] where swimming definitely wasn't the order of the day - though it has been every other year, and I'm definitely missing it.
Lynn - thanks for your comments on the essence of being Canadian. It's just this sort of thing I want to hear. From now onwards, and throughout the trip, I'll be trying to get a better understanding of what 'being Canadian' is all about.
When I first moved to Shropshire, I arrived without roots. I was born in London and grew up there, but I never felt as if I belonged. Maybe my mother's alienation rubbed off on me - a Guernsey girl fleeing Hitler's army during the Second World War, she never felt at home in London, or indeed anywhere else. But thirty-five years after my arrival here, I now feel like a proud Salopian. It's living and breathing a place over time, I guess, that makes it yours - if you want it to of course And, as you're experiencing as a Torontonian in Germany, once you've got that it remains with you wherever you go.
I'm a Canadian living in the UK. I love both countries, both are beautiful and dear to me in different ways. Those vast roads you talk about, they are long, and journeying through the praries on the trans-canada highway is dangerous. It will feel like driving through a day and half of the same flat open space, it is hard not to fall asleep. Also, it is difficult even when you are a local resident to know when and where the next petrol (gas) station is. The signs in rural Canada are non existent. If they were ever put up in the first place, a snow plow probably knocked them down. That said, have an amazing time. The country is beautiful, the bears are not nearly so mean, the people will welcome you with open arms, and there is lots to do. Do please visit BC. Everyone goes to Toronto, but don't by pass Vancouver, or better still go to Victoria! (Perhaps my west coast roots are showing.) I've lived in five different provinces, and each have something worth seeing. I am sure you will be happy to be home, as I am, when I return to the UK. There is so much unsung about the wonderfulness that is living here! Canadians love breakfast, it's a thing, so make sure to hit an IHOP, or TimHorton's while you are out there. There is many quick, but tasty breakfasts that I do miss. I could ramble all day, but if you want any local info, just email me. Places like Cultus lake, Whistler, or Harrison rarely get a mention in travel books, but are well wroth the journey.
BY JEN VAUGHN – From solid cartoonist, Sophie Yanow, a mini-comics TOUR is happening in TWO different countries. Deets below:
MONTREAL COMIC ARTISTS – August West Coast Book Tour
MONTREAL, QC, JULY 30, 2012 — August 17-25, members of Canadian independent comic book collective Colosse tour from San Francisco to Vancouver BC with multimedia readings of their acclaimed and edgy works, followed by book signings. Authors include Sophie Yanow (In Situ, a graphically daring, poetic journal strip) and Francois Samson-Dunlop and Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau (Pinkerton, an indie-rock rom com about getting over a truly 90s breakup in a post-90s world). Don’t miss this rare West Coast appearance!
Friday, Aug. 17 • Mission: Comics and Art, San Francisco, CA
Saturday, Aug. 18 • The Escapist Comic Bookstore, Berkeley, CA
Tuesday, Aug. 21 • Spine and Crown Books, Seattle, WA
Thursday, Aug. 23 • Lucky’s Comics, Vancouver, BC
Friday, Aug. 24, • The Waypost, Portland, OR
Saturday, Aug. 25 • Floating World Comics, Portland, OR
In Situ by Sophie Yanow
“This is an innovative, clever diary strip book that is strongly influenced by the poetic abstraction of John Porcellino… a beautiful first major work by an artist who is quite clearly concerned about how she affects the world, in terms of both art and politics.” – Rob Clough, THE COMICS JOURNAL
In Situ is Sophie Yanow’s poetic and humorous treatment of daily life, begun in Oakland in her native California, and continued throughout her residency at La Maison de la Bande Dessinée in Montreal. As the political climate in Oakland heats up, Yanow captures the tension between excitement for a new place, and the loss and longing for old homes and loves. Shifting through visual styles as often as philosophies, In Situ recounts a life in transition.
Yanow’s decision to stay in Montreal is reflected in In Situ no. 2, and finds the author sleeping on couches, bewildered at doom metal shows, and settling into a queer new city. A graphically daring, artistically ambitious endeavour as well as a revealing glance into the daily travails & hurdles of a politically aware cartoonist far from home.
Sometimes funny, sometimes touching, always quotidian.
Sophie Yanow’s work has appeared online in places like Top Shelf Comix and The Rumpus. She grew up in the woods just north of San Francisco, and in Fall 2011 moved to Montreal, Quebec for an artist residency at La Maison de la Bande Dessinée. Here she began her more experimental journal comics, published under the title In Situ, a nod to site-specificity in her creative process. She lives in Montreal.
IN SITU
Journal comics by Sophie Yanow
$11.00 Softcover • 40 pages black and white
ISBN 978-2-924001-17-2
Publication Date: November 26, 2011<
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The Canadian Children’s Book Centre presents: TD Canadian Children’s Book Week ~ by Holly Kent, Sales and Marketing Manager, The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre runs several programs that promote the reading, writing, illustrating and publishing of quality Canadian children’s books in Canada. TD Canadian Children’s Book Week is one of our most ambitious programs, and the results are overwhelming.
Each year, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre sends dozens of authors, illustrators, and storytellers on a whirlwind of tours in every Canadian province. The first Book Week took place in 1977. Eleven authors set out on the first Children’s Book Festival tour sponsored by the one-year-old Children’s Book Centre. Today, close to 35,000 children, teens and adults participate in activities held in every province and territory across the country. In 2012, 29 touring creators gave 396 readings in schools, public libraries, bookstores and community centres host events as part of this major literary festival.
The best thing, in my opinion, about TD Canadian Children’s Book Week is that so many communities who wouldn’t normally be included in an author tour are able host readings and presentations. Aside from the fact that authors are touring less and less, Canada is big – really big. Travel to less populated cities and towns can be prohibitively expensive. TD Canadian Children’s Book Week is sometimes a child’s first encounter with an author, and often their first experience getting excited about reading.
Willow Dawson, an author/illustratorfrom Ontario read atEliot River Elementary School in Cornwall, PEI during TD Book Week 2012: “After the session, a bunch of kids stayed behind for autographs. Thankfully, I didn’t have to rush off to the next event so there was a little time to draw each of them a small picture. The next day I received a really beautiful email from a mother thanking me for inspiring her son to read for the first time in his life. He was one of the kids who stayed after for a picture! Her message really made me choke up.”
Each year, TD Book Week celebrates a specific theme for which books are chosen and classroom materials are created. The 2012 theme was Read a Book, Share a Story, selected in part to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lillian H. Smith becoming the first trained children’s librarian in Canada, and in the British Empire. The twenty-nine authors, illustrators, and storytellers who toured Canada were the very embodiment of this theme.
The 2013 TD Canadian Children’s Book will be held May 4 – 11 and we are excited to announce the authors, illustrators and storytellers who will be touring. Visit the TD Book Week site in September to find out what province/territory
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Napatsi Folger, illustrated by Ann Kronheimer, Joy of Apex
Inhabit Media, 2011.
Ages: 9-12
Napatsi Folger’s first novel, Joy of Apex, explores a marital breakup through the first person account of 10-year-old Joy, the middle child in her family. Joy is a multicultural kid. Her mother is Inuit, surrounded by a large family of origin; her father grew up in Brooklyn, New York,of Norwegian and Scottish ancestry. Joy’s older brother, Alex, is nervously about to begin middle school. Her sister, Allashua, is an impish, Malaprop-ridden first grader.
Apex is a “suburb” of the town of Iqaluit in Nunavut, the northeast Canadian Arctic territory formed in 1999 (previously part of the Northwest Territory); it’s unreachable by road from the rest of North America. Apex is the sort of place where computer savvy kids know it’s back-to-school time when the dog poo freezes. Joy’s account covers four months–during which her mother moves out and the family begins adjusting to their new family reality–in chapters about returning to school, a birthday party, Halloween, Allashua’s medical emergency, and Christmas holidays. Ann Kronheimer’s simple line drawings and evocative cover help create the mood of this sad, but also funny and joyful, story.
Folger gives Joy an appealing voice and good skill at reported conversations, but the story could use more emotional cohesion. We never learn how Joy’s parents met or what they are fighting about. Her mother comes across as rather heartlessly preoccupied with finding herself, although Joy doesn’t express this directly. Her father is a kindly story-telling mensch, but how does he earn a living? Folger seems to want to present Joy’s family as normal middle-class people, and apart from one mention of eating bloody frozen caribou for dinner, nothing distinct about Inuit culture is discussed. It’s not clear whether Folger’s intended readers are Inuit kids, and her goal is to provide context for family breakups, or if she is writing to introduce Nunavut life to non-Inuit children.
Despite these questions, Folger has made a promising beginning to her literary career. As she continues to hone her narrative skills and clarify her intended audience, she may play an important role both in articulating Nunavut culture to outsiders and in helping Nunavut youth adjust to the kind of stresses Joy so poignantly reports.
Charlotte Richardson
August 2012
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Every writer, without exception, is forced to confront their own insecurity. An internal fear that takes the form of a single debilitating statement: I’m not good enough. Like poison, these four words creep up every time you put pen to paper and make you question the merit of your words. If not dealt with, insecurity can not only sap your confidence but also kill your creativity. So, what do you do? You silence it.
Be warned that this does not happen overnight. Instead, you have to tackle it each and every day. The method you use is entirely up to you. Some writers like to read a quote, others write a phrase and, still others, like myself, recite a statement. The key here is repetition because the more you do this the stronger your belief will become. Slowly the fear will lose its strength leaving you with just your words. Yes, reaching this place of belief is difficult but once you do you’ll have conquered the greatest obstacle of all: Yourself.
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The Canadian Children’s Book Centre Presents: The Art of the Picture Book Exhibition ~ by Holly Kent, Sales and Marketing Manager, The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
(Part 3 of 3. Read Part 1 “The Canadian Children’s Book Centre Presents TD Canadian Children’s Book Week” here and Part 2 “The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s TD Grade One Book Giveaway Program” here.)
Over 80 original illustrations from Canadian picture books will be on exhibit at the world-famous Montreal Museum of Fine Art in fall 2012. Some of the most stunning images from Canadian picture books will be part of the exhibition celebrating Canadian children’s book illustrations. The exhibit will run from September 11 to October 14.
The kicker (for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre) is that each piece has been graciously donated by leading Canadian illustrators and the sale of these pieces will raise funds to support our programs, publications, and operating costs.
Works have been donated by renowned artists including Rebecca Bender (image on left), Geneviève Côté, Barbara Reid, Michael Martchenko, Mélanie Watt, and many more.
The month-long exhibit will be followed by Take Home an Original, an auction of the original art, on the evening of October 16, 2012.
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) is a national, not-for-profit organization founded in 1976. We are dedicated to encouraging, promoting and supporting the reading, writing, illustrating and publishing of Canadian books for young readers. Our programs, publications, and resources help teachers, librarians, booksellers and parents select the very best for young readers.
At the heart of our work at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre is our love for the books that get published in Canada each year, and our commitment to raising awareness of the quality and variety of Canadian books for young readers.
Our programs, such as TD Canadian Children’s Book Week and the TD Grade One Book Giveaway, are designed to introduce young Canadian readers not only to the books all around them, but to the authors and illustrators that create them. Our quarterly magazine Canadian Children’s Book News and the annual Best Books for Kids & Teens selection guide are designed to help parents, librarians and educators discover the world of Canadian books and to help them to select the best reading material for young readers.
We are thrilled to have The Canadian Children’s Book Centre join us as PaperTigers’ Global Voices Guest Blogger for the month of August. Part 1 of the series “The Canadian Children’s Book Centre Presents TD Canadian Children’s Book Week” was posted here. Part 2 “The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s TD Grade One Book Giveaway Program” was posted here.
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To learn more about The Canadian Children’s Book Centre and the wonderful work they do, be sure to read Holly’s 
Cheryl Foggo, illustrated by Qin Leng,
If you are a regular devotee of the kidlitosphere, you have no doubt come across Debbie Ridpath Ohi‘s inspiring writing and cartoons, whether on 
So hard to choose just one part! The most exciting in terms of specific moments:
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The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
normally be included in an author tour are able host readings and presentations. Aside from the fact that authors are touring less and less, Canada is big – really big. Travel to less populated cities and towns can be prohibitively expensive. TD Canadian Children’s Book Week is sometimes a child’s first encounter with an author, and often their first experience getting excited about reading.
classroom materials are created. The 2012 theme was Read a Book, Share a Story, selected in part to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lillian H. Smith becoming the first trained children’s librarian in Canada, and in the British Empire. The twenty-nine authors, illustrators, and storytellers who toured Canada were the very embodiment of this theme.
Napatsi Folger, illustrated by Ann Kronheimer,
It is through the support of generous sponsors, donations, and our members and subscribers that the 
Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC)
What a sweet memorial - I'm very sorry for your loss.
Thank you, Tony.