Annick Press Recruits Melanie Little for New Series!

Annick Press is extremely pleased to announce that acclaimed writer and fiction editor Melanie Little has signed on as editor-at-large for a ground-breaking teen fiction series entitled Single Voice. Delivered through the authentic voice of a teen narrator, these stories resonate with emotional honesty. The series will be launched in the spring of 2010, when three titles will be released. It has generated rave reviews in France, where it originated with publishing house Actes Sud:

“There’s an urgency to the stories—they read in one go. Like a punch in the stomach. In your head. In your heart.”

—Le Vif / L’Express

“… a shocking series that provides young adults with an original approach to literature that places voice into the heart of reading.”

—Site de topolivres

“Short stories … that feature emotion … rage, and chaos.”

—Voix du Luxembourg

Under Little’s guiding hand, Annick will be originating titles to further build the series. Actes Sud holds the option to publish Annick-originated titles in the French language.

As well, Little will be responsible for acquiring and editing essays for a forthcoming young adult anthology.

Melanie Little is an award-winning author and editor of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry for adults and children. She studied at McGill University, Oxford University, the University of Toronto, and the University of British Columbia, graduating with both a Master of Arts in English and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Of her debut collection of stories, Confidence, the Globe and Mail wrote, “… she might very well become the Alice Munro of our generation.” Confidence was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Award and selected as a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book.

Her 2008 novel-in-verse for young adults, The Apprentice’s Masterpiece, was a Canadian Library Association Honour Book, a gold medalist at the Independent Publisher Book Awards, and a White Raven selection for the International Youth Library in Munich. A paperback edition will be published this fall.

Little recently spent several years in Calgary, Alberta, where she was the Markin-Flanagan Canadian Writer in Residence at the University of Calgary and the founding editor of the nationally acclaimed literary imprint Freehand Books. Under her direction, Freehand was lauded as Publisher of the Year by the Book Publishers’ Association of Alberta and was a finalist for Small Press Publisher of the Year at the Canadian Booksellers’ Association Libris Awards. She was also awarded the BPAA Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence for her work on Marina Endicott’s novel Good to a Fault—a finalist for the Giller Prize and winner of the Canada-Caribbean Commonwealth Award.

Little and her husband, writer Peter Norman, recently moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she will be teaching creative writing at Dalhousie University and completing a novel.

Any inquiries should be directed to Colleen MacMillan, Associate Publisher of Annick Press (604-718-1888 / colleenm[at]annickpress[dot]com) or Melanie Little (mjclittle[at]gmail[dot]com).

Fall 2009 Titles Arriving!

One of the best things about working at a publishing house is watching manuscripts evolve into finished books. When the advance copies from the printers start to roll in, everyone gets pretty excited! I've got to say: our Fall 2009 books are looking good.

Allow me to introduce you to some of the new books on the block, available in September:

Shadow of the Leopard: Set in Mozambique, this is the sequel to Henning Mankell's award-winning Secrets in the Fire, and it's just as haunting and unforgettable. (Fans of crime fiction may know Mankell as the author of the bestselling Inspector Kurt Wallander series.)

Spiked Scorpions and Walking Whales: From Claire Eamer (@ceamer on Twitter!), author of Super Crocs and Monster Wings, comes a fascinating look at land animals that used to live in the sea. For example, did you know that our seas used to be inhabited by scorpions the size of crocodiles? Eek!

Chicken, Pig, Cow On the Move: The first book in this series, Chicken, Pig, Cow, just came out this spring, and author/illustrator Ruth Ohi is working on more for next season! Which is great, because I can't get enough of gutsy Chicken, easy-going Pig, and timid Cow. And who can forget drooly, snorty Dog? These picture books are destined to be classics.

The Chinese Thought of It: Most people know that the Chinese invented gunpowder. But did you know that playing cards and toilet paper are also Chinese inventions? In this latest addition to the We Thought of It series, Ting-xing Ye explores the fascinating origins of many everyday items. Other books in the series are A Native American Thought of It and The Inuit Thought of It.

Adventures on the Ancient Silk Road: This exciting tale takes readers back in time on an action-packed trip along the legendary pathway that brought people, culture, and trade from Asia to the West. Follow Chinese Buddhist Xuanzang, Mongolian warrior Genghis Khan, and Italian merchant Marco Polo as their travels take them to places they had never imagined.

That's all for this week: but stay tuned, as I'll be blogging about more of our Fall 2009 list next week!

Summer of Munsch!

So far, it's shaping up to be the Summer of Munsch! Earlier this week, it was announced that Robert Munsch had donated one of his unpublished stories to 8-year-old Taya Kendall in Guelph, Ontario. She got her classmates to illustrate the book, Braids, and will be selling copies to raise money for AIDS orphans in Kenya. Check out the full story at TheStar.com or GuelphMercury.com, and be sure to visit the Children of Bukati website to find out how you can buy copies of Braids!

But wait, there's more! Today, Munsch received an outstanding birthday present (his birthday is June 11) when he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. The Walk of Fame honors Canadians who have made significant cultural achievements, and the addition of nine new members this year (including Tom Cochrane, Howie Mandel, and Kim Cattrall) brings the total number of inductees to 124. You can search for their stars in the sidewalk east of the Princess of Wales Theatre on King Street West and south along Simcoe Street (or look them up online!). All of us here at Annick Press send our heartfelt congratulations to Robert Munsch and all of the Canadian Walk of Fame inductees!

Finally, to cap off this unofficial Summer of Munsch, we are proud to announce that a board book version of The Paper Bag Princess will be available this fall -- it should arrive in our warehouse at the end of August! Now even the youngest children can cheer for smart, resourceful Elizabeth as she defeats the dragon and discovers that not all princes appreciate being rescued!

BookCamp Toronto 2009: Asking the Right Questions

(photo: Steph Troeth)

Last weekend, my colleague Susan and I spent a sunny Saturday at camp... no, not the kind with marshmallows (although there were Rice Krispie squares at lunch, which was provided by BookNet Canada). We were at BookCamp Toronto, an "unconference" put together after the demise of Book Expo Canada.

BookCamp billed itself as "a conversation about the future of books, writing, publishing, and the book business in the digital age," and what a lively conversation it was (links to participants' notes and write-ups have been posted by both Mark Bertils and David H. Burton). Most attendees were from the publishing industry (participant Miette noted a shortage of "publishing outsiders, renegades, and derelicts"), with a few exceptions here and there.

The first step in answering "how will the publishing industry evolve?" is figuring out the right questions. Should authors and publishers be prepared to give away part or all of a book in the hopes of reaching more potential readers, or will that reduce the perceived value of the author's work? Do we need Digital Rights Management on ebooks to protect the author's right to get paid for their work, or will DRM alienate consumers? How can authors and publishers find and engage with the communities who would love their books? (Quote from Hugh McGuire of LibriVox: "What does someone who loves this book want, and how can we give it to them?")

One of the big questions for me, one that I've been hearing a lot lately, was "what is the publisher's role?" Traditionally, of course, the answer was "to publish," since the money required to create and distribute books was a significant barrier for people seeking publication. However, technological advances have lowered these costs to the point that far more people are able to publish their work by themselves, whether that be through a blog, an ebook, or a print-on-demand book. In the session "What is a publisher for?" Dan Wagstaff of Raincoast Books proposed that publishers can be advocates for books, using their expertise to collaborate with authors and produce the highest quality books possible.

Our director Rick Wilks agrees, and explains:

When we’re asked how one becomes a writer our first response is to recommend “read, read and read some more.” A similar adage applies to publishing: the art of producing a book demands a skill set that is developed over years of experience in editing, design, marketing, and an acute understanding of how a literary work will deeply resonate with the reader. It often surprises people to learn that it takes at least year to bring a book to the point where it is ready for production (and frequently much longer). At Annick we don’t release a book until it’s the best it can possibly be – a process that brings together the skills of a variety of people and involves an intense working relationship with the writer.

It would be a misnomer to believe that publishing is simply about access to an audience. A professionally published book is a unique work of art – one that is appreciated by the reader for its excellence.

I'm already looking forward to next year's BookCamp – I wonder which of this year's questions will have been answered, and what the new questions will be.

CNN Interview with Mariatu Kamara

Our author Mariatu Kamara was recently on CNN talking about her book The Bite of the Mango, which is an account of her war-time experiences in Sierra Leone. Mariatu is an inspiring speaker -- don't miss it! (She appears at 3:59 in the video below.)

BEA Wrap Up!

"Might I interest you in a quality children's book?" (Me at the Annick Press booth)

I just got back from Book Expo America (held in New York this year), where we had a very lively and productive show. Lots of great people stopped by the Annick booth: librarians, teachers, booksellers, bloggers, reviewers, writers, illustrators, printers, and of course my friends from other publishing companies! I had fun recommending books for different ages and interests, and talking about children's books in general. It's so energizing to be surrounded by book lovers!

The NAPPA (National Parenting Publications Awards) staff came by to give us our winning ribbon for A Pocket Can Have a Treasure in It, which we proudly displayed.

Later, Janice Beley from Arsenal Pulp Press (they blog, too!) came by and "yarn bombed" our Munschworks Grand Treasury to promote Arsenal's new book, Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti. I caught her in the act!

There were also some great panels; I learned more about Twitter at a session led by Michael Gruen (@gruen). (Are you following my updates @AnnickPress?)

I especially enjoyed the panel on book blogging, where I was finally able to see the faces behind some of my favorite book review blogs. For details, read the very in-depth recap on Dawn Rennert's blog at She Is Too Fond of Books.

It was a wonderful show and I'm a little sad it's over. For more photos of BEA (including the Espresso book machine and Clifford the Big Red Dog!), head on over to our Flickr set!

Preparing for Book Expo America!

Next week, from May 29-31, is Book Expo America (BEA) in New York, and I will be representing Annick Press at booth 420 -- come by and say hi! We'll have all our spring books on display, along with some of our fall titles, hot off the presses! (And for fall titles that haven't been published yet, we'll have sample pages for you to check out.) We'll also have some free goodies, including posters, bookmarks, and special fortune cookies (first come, first served!).

If you're new to BEA, here are some tasty tidbits to chew on:

• BEA blog entry: why a smaller book expo might work out better
• BEATweetup: party in person with book folk you met on Twitter!
• Preparing for your first BEA: blog post full of helpful tips (from last year but still relevant)
• The best sightseeing in New York and a list of New York attractions: discover the Big Apple!

And of course there's tons of information on the BEA website -- have fun preparing your list of authors to meet, events and seminars to attend, and pavilions to browse! (If you're a bookseller, you can sign up for Speed Dating with Children's Authors... sounds like fun!)

See you there!