The Invite
On the eve of American Thanksgiving, we are reminded of a wonderful Art Buchwald column, written during his days in Paris with the Herald Tribune and often reprinted, in which he tries to explain Thanksgiving to the French. "One of the most important holidays is Thanksgiving Day, known in France as le Jour de Merci Donnant." see Tribune Story
That brings us to the principal topic this week. No matter how clever the writer, s/he will languish in anonymity without a PUBLISHER. Many Wednesday Nighters are writers, most of whom, fortunately for them and for us, have publishers.
Therefore, this Wednesday, we celebrate publishers and authors as we welcome Philip J. Cercone, Executive Director McGill Queen's University Press along with a number of our favorite Wednesday Night writers and Dr. Linda Leith who has done more with Blue Met to publicize books and authors than most publishers will ever do.
Philip has previously expressed his views on the plight of the publishers, at the mercy of an ever-shrinking number of booksellers, and we can expect an up-date on this question, as well as other insights into the mysterious world of writing and publishing.
If you have ever written a book, or even thought that your name should be on the cover of a publication, this is the Wednesday Night for you! And if you have never done either, you will still enjoy the discussion.
Please join us.
David and Diana Nicholson
Hi Diana,
You just may have flushed me out of the suburban undergrowth with this
week's topic. I think I will suit up and slip over to enjoy your company
tommorrow evening. Thank you for the invitation.
I don't expect any miraculous revelations in a single evening's
discussion, but I am researching this mysterious business of book publishing
(and no, I have absolutely nothing intelligible to say on the topic yet) and
I am sure I can take home a couple of nuggets on the topic.
Maybe Mr. Cercone or Ms. Leith can address a couple of points contained
in a May 14, 2001 MacLean's article called "Writing Up a Storm", namely that
250 English-language Canadian novels were published in 2000, thanks in large
part to government grants to Canadian publishers. The article says that
Canadian publishers, "... have found it to be in their interest to publish
as many Canadian writers as possible." This sounds like a good thing, no? Or
do publishers believe there is a dark side to this impressive news?
Carroll McCormack
May 14, 2001 Writing up a Storm  ![[Version en français]](images/fr.gif)
By: JOHN BEMROSE
Summary:Forget ice wine. Forget communications technology and women's hockey teams. The quintessential Canadian growth industry is literary fiction. New novels and short-story collections are popping up faster than conspiracy theories in the Canadian Alliance. Back in 1970, only about 25 Canadian-authored English-language novels were published. Last year, the total was closer to 250, not counting short-story collections. If this was oil, we could pay down the debt. ..... So what to do? The best solution would be for publishers to pull their socks up, voluntarily. Put out fewer books. Make publication a rarer prize than it is. ....The alternative is a market awash in mediocrity. That's bad for our culture. And for Canadian-owned publishing, it could be dangerous. Governments with a bias against investing in the arts would be only too happy to seize on the bad books as a way to justify eradicating grants and subsidies altogether. And that, given what we've built up in the past 30 years, would be a tragedy.
Wednesday-Night #1028 Books
21 November 21
David Nicholson started this evening on authors and the publishing industry by showing some video footage of the book launch of Holly Higgins-Jonas at the Double Hook on Greene Avenue. Holly then introduced Philip Cercone of the McGill-Queens Press. Philip started his life in Italy, then came to Canada where he obtained a degree from the University of Western Ontario. In 1985 he started the McGill-Queens Press with two employees from each university. The Press has now grown to some 30 employees and is publishing 150 volumes per year. Holly pointed out that Philip has served the publishing industry well, and has been a mentor for university presses at UBC and Calgary. His wife, Coleen Gray is an author, poet and editor. She has a Ph.D. from McGill in 17th and 18th century history.
Other authors introduced were Linda Leith of the Blue Metropolis, Glen Patterson, Simon Dardick, and Bryan Barchinski, the book editor of the Gazette. There was strong negative criticism of the Gazette web site, and the difficulty people were having in navigating it. One person described at as a hodge-podge. One solution is to get on the Gazette Email list, which supplied the headlines in a clickable form. It was pointed out that newspapers in general have sites that are hard to navigate in order to encourage readers to buy the paper!
Dr. Margo Sommerville introduced Katherine K. Young and Paul Nathanson. Katherine is a professor in Religious Studies at McGill specializing in Hinduish, Bioethics and women in world religions. Paul also has a Ph.D. in religious studies. He is interested in pop culture – from the Wizard Oz to Princess Diana – and its influence on the America psyche.
Philip commented that the small good publishers would survive, but he is concerned with the near monopoly of the Indigo/Chapters Empire that now represents some 90% of the Canadian book market. Heather Riesman of Indigo/Chapters is paying her bills, but the Chapter division has too many stores, and some will be sold off. Also Amazon is now filling orders in Washington State and shipping directly into Canada. This too is making it harder for the smaller bookstores to stay in business. However, Duffies, in BC, one of the better independent stores, is surviving so far.
Gerald Ratzer asked about the publishing industry and why the royalties to authors are so low. In the case of his Computer Science textbooks the royalties are in the 10% to 15% range on a textbook that sells for $70. Because the retail price is so high many students are going to the local copy services, where they can get a Xerox copy for $25. Clearly the printing costs, even for a small run of a few thousand copies, are under $20, so there are considerable markups being made by the time a book is sold at retail.
Guy Stanley addressed the problem of copyright infringement, and the definition of “fair use”. Margo Sommerville said that the definition of IP – Intellectual Property – was too broad. In the US patents are being issued for tangible items such as cancer tests. Not only has Myriad patented the test procedure, but also the DNA cancer gene. There is a French challenge to this type of patent, and the Ontario government is also joining the challenge, as they estimate that the diagnosis using this test would cost $4,000 each.
Margo spoke some more on her current book The Ethical Canary, which is about the essence of life and against human cloning. Her next book is called Death Talk. This is based on some 400 articles, and addresses how to accommodate death in one’s life. In previous centuries death was discussed in the context of religion. With the decline of church attendance, most people do now not have a forum for this discussion. While many people are terrified of death, there has been a 2,000-year discussion of euthanasia. Now we have better palliative care, but people still want to control the time, the place and how they will die.
Comrade Harry, now well over ninety, is writing a new book to be entitled The Way to Go. It is about elegant ways of being buried!! Margo continued this theme, by saying she wants to be buried in the Australian outback under a gum tree!
The topic then turned to Harry Potter and the success of the new film, which has been breaking all box office records with grossing $100 million in three days. Philip pointed out that Time/Warner/AOL controls 89% of the US media industry and knows how to control the merchandizing of a concept. They control the authors, publishing and distribution channels and know how to choose the winners. He continued by saying that the Canada Council and other granting agencies do support Canadian writers, and without that support, it would be difficult for a Canadian author to break into the US market. A strong Canadian publishing industry will lead to a strong culture.
Katherine Young spoke about their book that deals with how men are being marginalized and how over the last couple of decades there is a move to a more gyno-centric culture. While ideological feminism is not problem, applying the feminism model to men is a concern. Pay equity is one example of this. Equal pay for equal work is fine, but equal pay for equivalent work is a much fuzzier concept. Is the work of a nurse, a policeman or a garbage collector equivalent?
Boys are being “diagnosed” with Attention Deficiency syndrome and fed Ritalin. Is this part of a female plot to emasculate males? Why are suicides up some 15%? Why are most of the school shootings done by male teenagers?
Linda Massarella was introduced as a writer for the New York Post and the New York Times.
Dr. Des Morton said he was grateful to his publishers including the McGill-Queens Press. They have taken risks in publishing more esoteric titles, and yet have been successful.
Carroll McCormack asked whether he should publish in Canada or the US? Since he earns his living by writing, he needed the best possible income to survive. Philip replied by saying that he stood a better chance of being published in Canada. In the States – publishers like Random House will return an unsolicited manuscript. Authors supported by the Canada Council stand an excellent chance of being published in Canada, and Canadian publishers are now working harder on selling rights to their titles overseas.
[Diana – I had to leave – can you add any more?]
Notes by Professor Gerald Ratzer
Book Publishing Night
Thanks to Holly Jonas we will have
Executive Director McGill Queen's University Press (514) 398-3750 McTAVISH 3430 philipc@mqup.mcgill.ca
February 8, 2001 Troubles aren't over yet for publishers, says Cercone  McGill Reporter: Know comment:
- Now that Chapters has been bought, what does the future hold for publishers?
www.mcgill.ca/public/reporter/33/10/comment/
Philip Cercone: After a long,10-month nightmare for publishers because Chapters hasn't been paying for their books, things will, hopefully, be better. Some publishers are concerned that Indigo may end up being an even bigger chain than Chapters -- once they close the 10 to 15 unprofitable Chapters stores -- and Indigo could be just as hard on publishers as its former nemesis. But it remains to be seen whether the federal government will allow the merger. We'll also have to wait to know what rules will be set regarding an even bigger monopoly like Indigo/Trilogy.
The real problem now for publishers and authors is that Chapters is returning books by the truckful. In the shortrun, the situation will only worsen as some stores are closed. Since last October, many publishers have had more returns than sales with Chapters and hundreds are teetering on the brink. Furthermore, many of the returned books can't be resold because they're too damaged thanks, in part, to all the lingering and coffee-drinking while potential buyers peruse their books.
...the series began when McGill-Queen's director Philip Cercone found himself wading through boxes filled with writings and correspondence from the late Hugh MacLennan -- a McGill professor and one of Canada's best-loved novelists. ...There is enough money in place to put out at least nine books, Cercone says. The duration of the series will be tied to the royalties McGill receives from future sales of MacLennan's works. "I see the royalties increasing, rather than decreasing," says Cercone, who is currently negotiating with three different companies for the movie rights to MacLennan's Barometer Rising.
McGill-Queen's might also publish some new collections of MacLennan's own work. "If we look at his writings on Canada and Quebec, for example, he published pieces in all sorts of different newspapers and journals. We could reprint them together. It's remarkable how relevant these articles are today."
To see a list of those Wednesday-Night.com Book People Pages-Menu. Many will be with us ths week.
Dardick: Jump in book returns worries him.
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"It's a little worrisome to me," said Simon Dardick, publisher at Montreal's Vehicule Press for the last 27 years. "In 1999, my book returns averaged about 24 per cent. Chapters was about half a per cent below that, so they were very good. But in the first four or five months of this year, it jumped up to 65 per cent over-all, of which Chapters in one month was 98 per cent and in another was 101 per cent! I imagine they went back to their stockrooms across the country and reduced their stock."
A Chapters spokesman recently admitted that after averaging between 28- and 32- per-cent returns over the last five years, returns this year "have been slightly higher than average," in part as a result of a new inventory policy - providing stores with more titles but fewer copies per title. Chapters, whose initial investment in Pegasus was $50 million, is hoping that Pegasus will reduce both the turnaround time for book orders and the amount of returns.
Bryan Demchinsky is Books, Visual Arts, and Architecture Editor of the Montreal Gazette. He is the author editor of Montreal Then and Now: The Photographic Record of a Changing City (1985) and the editor of Grassroots, Greystones and Glass Towers: Montreal Urban Issues and Architecture (1989). Elaine Kalman Naves is a literary columnist for the Gazette and an authority on the city’s literary history. She is the prize-winning author of Journey to Vaja (1996) and of The Writers of Montreal (1993) and Putting Down Roots: Montreal’s Immigrant Writers (1998).
"HOW ARCHITECTURE SPEAKS" has been published in French by Robert Davies
under the title "L'ARCHITECTURE QUI NOUS PARLE". It is meant only for
such discriminating readers as may be found at Wednesday Nights and can
be found, no doubt, at all the better bookshops and bistros. (A
pornographic version for those of your habitués who have difficulty
reading is projected)
 Order Harry Mayerovitch's HOW ARCHITECTURE SPEAKS in English Today!
The Ethical Canary: Science, Society and the Human Spirit ...As society continues to scientifically and technologically advance, many questions begin to arise of a moral and ethical scope. In The Ethical Canary: Science, Society and the Human Spirit, leading international authority on medicine, ethics and law, Margaret Somerville, presents a challenging examination of the various ethical concerns human society is currently facing at the dawn of the 21st century. Addressing everything from cloning to genetically modified foods, the mapping of a human chromosome and the use of animal organs for human transplants, this highly anticipated volume illuminates some of the most controversial and pressing issues of our time. "The book will bring Margo as many enemies as friends!"
Margaret Somerville New Book
Death Talk : The Case Against Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide (1 août 2001)
de Margaret A. Somerville -- Relié
A paraître Relié - 464 pages (1 août 2001) / 1st Notre prix : 627,75 FF / EUR 95,70
Published By McGill-Queen's University Press | Published 2002
Hardcover | Not yet available - PreOrder Today
Our Price: $65.00 or $29.95 Trade Paperback
Founding Director of the Centre For Medicine, Ethics and Law at McGill University in Montreal where she holds the Samuel Gale Chair in the Faculty of Law and is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine
Professor Katherine Young
Professor Young has several areas of expertise. In addition to a constant production of research in South Indian religion, she also searches out new scholarship on women and religion. This material has been published in the series of volumes on Women and World Religions and in the Annual Review of Women in World Religions which she coedits with Prof. Sharma. In addition, she is also a member of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law, has recently published a major study of euthanasia and sits on national advisory bodies on issues dealing with research and ethics.
Awards/grants:
1990 $2700 seed grant from McGill Humanities Research Grants sub-committee for "Reproduction and Religion in India"
1988-90 Donner Foundation, $500,000, "New Reproductive Technologies and the Family", principal investigator with M. Somerville and P. Nathanson in connection with the development of a Family and Law Program (McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics, and Law)
Major research area:
Hinduism and Buddhism in India; Tamil Vaisnavism (6th-14th century C.E.); Gender and Religion; Comparative Ethics
Spreading Misandry : The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture
Price: $29.95
Published By Mcgill-queen's University | Published 2002
Hardcover | Our Price: $39.95
Perhaps it was inevitable that equal time should have been granted to those who claim that modern popular culture is biased against men. Nathanson (Over the Rainbow: The Wizard of Oz as a Secular Myth) and Young (religious studies, McGill Univ.) use an extensive appendix of antimale bias in film, television, and even greeting cards to show that in the past ten years, the pendulum has swung too far. Equally challenging is their notion that academic elites (i.e., feminist idealogs) are to blame. The problem with their approach is twofold. The potential examples of both misogyny and misandry probably run nearly neck and neck in film, television, and music today. Moreover, it is in the very nature of these media to describe conflict, especially gender conflict, as their core subject matter. The entertainment beast is such that somebody has to be the bad guy excuse me person, and hence the authors' sincerest wish that Hollywood end the war between the sexes is not likely to be fulfilled. Academic libraries may want to add this title to balance their collections in the interest of rigorous academic fairness. Jeff Ingram, Newport P.L., Newport, OR Not so, misandry. It is perfectly acceptable -- indeed, common -- to portray men in misandric terms as violent, vulgar, insensitive boors, argue Paul Nathanson and Katherine Young in their provocative new book, Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture (McGill-Queen's University Press).
Their research, which will eventually fill three volumes, is the result of 15 years of discussions between them about gender and its complex role in society and inter-sexual relations.
other books
A second edition of "Sam Steele, Lion of the Frontier" by
Robert Sewart has been issued to coincide with the recreation of the RCMP March West on the 125th anniversary of the March. Bob was in Regina on June 6th for the launch of the new edition. We are proud to own a copy of this marvelous account of one of the first members of the (then) North-West Mounted Police, and we understand that not only is it the official book of the RCMP March West, but it must have been approved by Mickey and Minnie!
e-mail your interest here.
Margaret Lefebvre
June 1999
Click to See & hear John play a piano in the “Merry Millennium”, the Centaur Theater December show. A video made by DTN.
"The 10th anniversary of the Oka Crisis is
fast approaching and this week, the Federal Government has, after 10 years,
settled the matter in a manner which, had it been done in 1990, could have
avoided the entire issue.
Those friends fortunate enough to have had
the opportunity of reading the manuscript of former M.N.A. John Ciaccia's
on the Mohawk crisis and his role as negotiator,
describe it as a fascinating revelation of the real issues and of the inner
soul of the author. In Rick Schultz's opinion, THE OKA CRISIS, A
MIRROR OF THE SOUL is one of the most important - and readable -
political memoirs to be published."
jciaccia@total.net (John Ciaccia)
Eric Hamovitch was congratulated
on the publication of the new book he has just completed on "Chile". see also by Eric and friends "The Internet raises questions of identity and community" NB SEX
And a lot of books by
Eric Ilamovitch
History at a factual level is very exciting but can prove embarrassing. None of the people alive today were there in the distant past. What is passed on to us is based on perception. Perceptions change and… enter the revisionists. History must be considered in the context of the accepted standards and mores of the time when events occurred, not in the contemporary context. (The contradictions in Thomas Jefferson's behaviour and thought regarding Liberty, miscegenation and slavery are prime examples, much debated currently.) See Des Morton latest stories | Books on W-N
Birds of Passage by Linda Leith
Wed 1011 July 18th HOLLY JONAS - PUBLISHED AUTHOR! and great note to W-N.. then Dr. Judith Patterson water CLIMATE CHANGE AND SALE OF WATER Sell icebergs Susan Eyton-Jones Education! Gerald Ratzer introduced 4th cousin Gabi Ratzer ...Dr. Nobby Gilmore on trip to Europe;... MENINGITIS AND QUÉBEC $4 million to saved one Dr. David Mitchell, Harry Mayrovich .. Stem Cell research must not stop!
Webshots
Photos of Holly's book launch
Getting Started is a wonderful memoir, a collection of extraordinary letters, and a brilliant recreation of a time when Canadian writers were set to make their mark in the world for the first time.
William Weintraub weaves together his own memories of the 1950s with letters both to and from his literary colleagues: Mordecai Richler, Mavis Gallant, and Brian Moore. The letters and his recollections are always fascinating, often hilarious, and provide intimate insight into the lives and work of some of Canada's finest contemporary writers. see his W-N page
Notes for #1029
Wednesday 8:30 a.m. Retail Sales for October. Expected: 1.7%. Sept.: - 2.4%
Friday:8:30 a.m.
Consumer Price Index for October. Expected: -0.1%. Sept.: 0.4% 9:15 a.m. Industrial Production for October. Expected: - 0.6%. Sept.: -1.0%
see Wed901culture night
Wednesday-Night.com & ..westweb/ on books
Monday Nov 26, 2001 A novel idea? Wannabe authors strive to write a book in 30 days
TORONTO (CP) - It takes some people years to write a novel, but a group of would-be authors hope to close the book on the task in just 30 days. They're participating in National Novel Writing Month, a creative blitz designed to get aspiring authors to crank out 50,000 words during the month of November.
Tuesday Nov 27, 2001 Scientists in Massachusetts claim early success in cloning early human embryo and Bush Denounces Cloning and Calls for Ban
Tuesday, November 20, 2001 Indigo books operating profit but $31.3M net loss, $2.49 a share, expects 'challenging' Xmas
Revenue rose by 1.2 per cent, to $155.9 million from $154.1 million.
Monday, November 19, 2001 Atwood, Ondaatje on long list for 2002 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
Margaret Atwood's book The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize, and Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje are among the 124 eligible titles for the book award, the world's richest literary prize for a single piece of fiction in the English language. The award was won last year by Alistair MacLeod of Windsor, Ont., for his first novel, No Great Mischief.
The IMPAC Award is in its seventh year. The winner gets 100,000 euros (about $139,000 Cdn.)
Saturday, November 17, 2001 Bin Laden has left Afghanistan, Taliban says; whereabouts unknown "Osama has left Afghanistan with his children and his wives, and we have no idea where he has gone," the envoy, Abdul Salam Zaeef, told The Associated Press at the Chaman border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan as he was returning to this country. The claim could not be independently confirmed, and Zaeef later told other journalists he meant only that bin Laden was outside areas under Taliban control.
November 16, 2001 Days of War and Wonder in Afghanistan  A scene in "Holy War, Inc.," which will be shown Sunday on MSNBC.
When Saira Shah and her film crew sneaked across the border from Pakistan to Afghanistan last month, they kept the cameras rolling. In haunting black-and-white night vision, they are seen driving along a smugglers' road while Afghan men herd goats the other way, illegally heading to market. The journalists spot a Pakistani border patrol and abandon their truck, traipsing on foot for hours after their guide gets lost, wading across a river in 14-degree weather.
November 15, 2001 'TIGHTENING NOOSE' AROUND TALIBAN: U.S.
The collapse of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban is imminent, according to
the United States military. But the Islamic extremists are vowing a
fight to the death in their remaining strongholds
14/Sep/2001 MEDICAL JOURNALS AGREE TO NEW PUBLICATION RULES
New rules governing how the world's top medical journals publish
pharmaceutical research are winning praise from doctors and scientists.
cbc.ca/cgi-bin/view?/news/2001/09/10/journals010910 on Oct 21, 2001
Next Wed 1030
Diana and David:
I have just been informed by my publisher that I will
be in Montreal Wed. Nov. 28 to do some promotion for
the Bombardier book. I might be exhausted by the
evening, but I am hoping to pay a visit to the Wed
Night Salon. Regards, Larry Macdonald [mccolumn@yahoo.com]
PS I am off to Toronto now and will be back in Ottawa
on Friday.
 Wed1028
 Wed1030
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