Quill and Quire

by Q&Q Staff

An industry in denial

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In Death and Dying, Elisabeth Kubler Ross documented the emotional responses that people go through when they discover they are dying: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and finally acceptance. The early emotions are so powerful that ... Read More »

September 28, 2007

An indecent proposal

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In 1985, when pitching his Baie Comeau Policy on foreign investment to a skeptical Cabinet, Conservative Minister of Communications Marcel Masse used the following rationale (my words, not his): “Canadians are nervous about the government’s ... Read More »

September 28, 2007

Absolut literature

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Anne of Green Gables runs a comb through her beautiful red hair and thanks Miss Clairol for the fact that only her hairdresser knows she’s actually a brunette. Heathcliff wanders the moors in a dejected ... Read More »

September 28, 2007

A returns-free world

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I remember the day, back in the mid-1980s, when our sales rep told me that New Star’s returns weren’t high enough.We had just hired him to sell our books in central Canada, and were meeting ... Read More »

September 28, 2007

A fine Quebec whine

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I can’t fight it anymore: I’m whining! I’m pointing fingers!J’accuse!Well, not really, but it is true that we purveyors of English-language books and magazines in Quebec are starting to feel a little forgotten, and not ... Read More »

September 28, 2007

Hushion’s growing house

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Bill Hushion is on a roll. Two years after his abrupt departure from McClelland & Stewart, the publishing veteran’s incipient distribution venture, Hushion House Publishing, has signed up more than two dozen lines, including Britain’s ... Read More »

September 28, 2007

Replenishing the purse

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Good news from Gordon Platt at CBA’s Tuesday author breakfast: The Canada Council for the Arts will provide the CBC/Saturday Night Literary Competition with $30,000 in prize money.The money replaces funding lost last year when ... Read More »

September 28, 2007

Vanity fair

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The convention centre briefly became a photographer’s backdrop during this year’s trade show. Editor Stevie Cameron, who appeared at the Macfarlane Walter & Ross booth to promote her forthcoming book, Blue Trust, plans to run ... Read More »

September 28, 2007

Webward bound

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One can forgive Doug and Barb Minnett if they had less time than usual for CBA activities this year: the co-owners of Guelph’s Bookshelf Café were busy preparing for the August 1 launch of their ... Read More »

September 28, 2007