July 15, 2010
Finalists announced for Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) has announced the finalists for the 2010 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse, Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction and Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.

The winners of the English-language awards will be announced at an invitation-only gala event at The Carlu in Toronto on November 9, 2010. The winners of the Prix TD de literature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse will be announced at an invitation-only gala event at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal on November 2, 2010. Overall, $110,000 in prize monies will be awarded.

View the shortlists.


July 7, 2010
Free five-part webinar on online marketing coming to members this month
CBA Members are invited to take part--for free--in a five-part webinar series entitled Online Marketing: Building a Web Presence That Pays. Non-members may also participate by taking advantage of a special introductory membership offer. Dates and topics to be covered are as follows:

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 - Introduction to Internet Marketing: Moving Offline to Online

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 - Building Targeted Traffic: Turning Visitors into Customers

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 - Reaching and Retaining your Customers through E-mail Marketing

Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - Understanding Social Media and Advertising Online

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 - Is E-Commerce Right for your Business?

View detailed Webinar outline.

CBA Member Registration Form.

Non-member Registration Form, including Introductory Membership Offer.

July 7 2010
Mike Bryan appointed President of Penguin Canada
John Makinson, Penguin Chairman and CEO, and David Shanks, CEO of Penguin USA, have nnounced the appointment of Mike Bryan as President of Penguin Canada.   

Mike Bryan is one of the most senior and experienced members of Penguin’s international team, having served as International Sales and Marketing Director for Penguin for both the UK and US and, most recently, as President of Penguin India.  Mike was fundamental to the development of Penguin’s international operations, setting up companies in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.  He also started Penguin Singapore and Malaysia.  He will transfer to Toronto and will take up responsibility in August, reporting to David Shanks. 

In the coming weeks Penguin Canada expects to appoint a Canadian with senior experience in the media and publishing industries to the position of Chairman of a newly formed Penguin Canada Board, which will have responsibility for the company's overall strategy. The Penguin Canada board will include John Makinson, Allan Reynolds (CEO of Pearson Canada) and David Shanks. The new Chairman will work closely with Mike Bryan and the Penguin Canada executive team, and with David Shanks.   

Lisa Rundle will reportedly return to her previous role as Rights and Contracts Director for Penguin Canada in a few weeks’ time. 

John Makinson said: “We have today put in place an organisation at Penguin Canada that underlines our continuing commitment to Canadian publishing.  Mike Bryan will be joining an extremely talented team who, I am certain, will build on the success that the company has enjoyed both creatively and commercially in recent years.”

July 5, 2010
Vancouver welcomes new Independent
Vancouver book-lovers (and all Indie fans) have something to celebrate this summer: a new Independent bookstore. Ria Bleumer, who managed Duthie Books' 4th Avenue store for 16 years (prior to its closure last February), will open Sitka Books & Art on West 4th Ave. in Kitsilano (taking over the space from Book Warehouse) in August.

As the name suggests, the store will carry not only an extensive array of books, but local art and crafts as well. Author readings, special events and cultural community involvement of all kinds are part of the store's mission in generating excitement about books. Bleumer, the shop's co-owner and manager, hopes her store fills the void left by Duthies--which was a victim of rapidly rising rental costs in spite of robust book sales. The demand, in other words, is still there, and the rent apparently a lot more reasonable just a couple blocks east. "I keep getting stopped on the street by former customers, many in tears, bemoaning the closing of Duthie Books," Bleumer said. She added that "Vancouverites are big readers, they appreciate the feel, the smell and the art of a good book and they will support a local, independent bookstore."

Bleumer believes Sitka's knowledgeable, personable staff will give the store a leg up on its chain and online bookseller competition: "Customers are screaming for a personal touch and appreciate experienced, well-informed book-selling staff. Sitka Books will have the best in the business." "We have incredible support from the community and the book industry," Bleumer adds. "They all want us to succeed and with everyone's help, succeed we will. Read local!"

That hope for a long and healthy store life (not to mention its local passion) are expressed in the store name, which had to be spelled out for this Torontonian. Explains Bleumer, "Sitka is a spruce native to the Northwest coast. ... all the way up to Alaska ... a tree that grows quickly to a tall height and has a long lifespan (up to 700 years)."

View the press release...

June 30, 2010
Sunburst finalists revealed
Adult and Young Adult nominees for this year's Sunburst Award, recognizing the finest of Canadian fantastic literature, have been announced.

June 24, 2010
Trillium Book Award winners announced
Winners of Ontario’s foremost prize for literary excellence, the Trillium Book Award, were announced today by the Hon. Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Tourism and Culture, and Karen Thorne-Stone, President and CEO of the Ontario Media Development Corporation at a luncheon held at the Bram and Bluma Appel Salon.

This year’s winner for the Trillium Book Award in English-language is:
Ian Brown, The Boy in the Moon (Random House Canada)

The winner for the Trillium Book Award in French-language is:
Ryad Assani-Razaki, Deux cercles (VLB éditeur)

This year’s English-language for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry is:
Karen Solie, Pigeon (House of Anansi Press)

The winner for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in French-language is:
Michèle Matteau, Passerelles (Les Éditions L’Interligne)

Read more...

June 9, 2010
National Business Book Award winner revealed
Jeff Rubin has won the 2010 National Business Book Award for his book, Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization (Random House Canada).

From the press release: "Rubin analyzes the long-term impacts of high oil costs, and brings his arguments to life through anecdotes and analogies. His ability to communicate complex concepts and technical material in an engaging and insightful way demonstrates his ability as an author."

Read more.

June 3, 2010
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin's The Sun-fish and Karen Solie's Pigeon each win $65,000 for the 2010 Griffin Poetry Prize
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin's The Sun-fish and Karen Solie's Pigeon are the International and Canadian winners of the tenth annual Griffin Poetry Prize.

The awards ceremony, attended by some 400 invited guests, was held in the Fermenting Cellar at the Stone Distillery and hosted by Scott Griffin, founder of the prize, and Trustees Margaret Atwood, Carolyn Forché, Robert Haas, Michael Ondaatje, Robin Robertson and David Young.

June 1, 2010
CBA National Conference: We've survived, now set to thrive
We promised you that the National Conference would be packed with bookseller-tailored programming and events, and it was that. "Intense" is a word several booksellers used to describe the three-day event, but also "inspiring" and "energizing."

Michael Neill's BookManager session on day one opened the eyes of customers new, old and would-be to the new and existing features of his inventory management, ordering and sales software program. The Opening Night reception brought authors and booksellers together in a relaxed setting to nibble on hors d'oeuvres and chat about new books. Sensational keynote speakers, John Torella and Kevin Graff, delivered a shot in the arm and a kick in the pants (not necessarily in that order) to their bookseller audience, and left them empowered with ideas on how to strengthen their customer service and increase their sales.

During the AGM, Members Forum and all throughout the Conference booksellers were able to discuss the issues facing the industry and the goings-on in their individual stores. Overall, the event was informative and encouraging and so much fun.

We would like, once again, to express our great gratitude to our sponsors whose support made this event possible:

GOLD
Chase Paymentech; Penguin Group (Canada)

SILVER
HarperCollins Canada; Scholastic Canada

SPEED-DATING LUNCHEON
Wiley

AUTHORS LUNCHEON
McArthur & Company; Nimbus Publishing; Penguin Group (Canada)

CBA LIBRIS AWARDS
BookNet Canada; CBC Radio One; Chase Paymentechl Random House of Canada Ltd.

You can view all our speed-dating and exhibitor showcase participants, whose attendance we much appreciate, here.

                 


May 29, 2010
Congratulations to the winners of CBA Libris Awards 2010
It was Atlantic Canada’s year, as Newfoundland-born author Linden MacIntyre and Halifax bookstores Bookmark II and Woozles Ltd. found themselves among the big winners at Canadian Booksellers Association’s (CBA's) Libris Awards 2010 Presentation, which took place on May 29, at the Delta Toronto Airport West Hotel during CBA’s National Conference, in a gala event hosted by CBC Radio One’s Shelagh Rogers.

Unique in their commitment to acknowledging the best among the talented professionals who deliver great books to Canadian readers, and nominated and voted on by members of the Canadian bookselling community, CBA Libris Awards honour outstanding achievement by authors and editors, sales reps and distributors, booksellers and publishers.

Linden MacIntyre was the night’s only double-winner. His critically acclaimed The Bishop’s Man won the Fiction Book of the Year Award, and he won Author of the Year honours for his outstanding literary work and his contribution to Canadian culture and support of the bookselling industry. Winning in this year’s revised children’s book categories—Picture Book and Young Readers’ Book of the Year—were When Stella Was Very, Very Small (Marie-Louise Gay, Groundwood Books) and Vanishing Girl: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His Third Case (Shane Peacock, Tundra Books).

View full list of winners.

May 11, 2010
CBA Libris Awards finalists: read more about this year's nominees
We’ve compiled nominee profiles off all of this year’s very deserving candidates for CBA Libris Awards 2010, celebrating the very best of Canadian books from the previous year and all of the people behind their success—including authors and editors, sales reps and distributors, publishers and booksellers.

Read more about his year’s talented finalists…

April 27, 2010
Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award unveils shortlist
The 2010 shortlist for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards (Picture Book and Young Adult/Middle Reader categories) was revealed by the Ontario Arts Council today. The winners of the 2010 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards-- selected by school children--will be announced at Huttonville Public School in Brampton, Ontario on May 26, 2010.

View the nominees...

April 16, 2010
Payments Accountability Council Encouraged By Federal Code Of Conduct For Canada's Debit And Credit Card Markets
The Payments Accountability Council (PAC), led by Retail Council of Canada (RCC), the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors (CCGD) and backed by more than 250,000 Canadian merchants (including CBA and its members), applauds Finance Minister Flaherty and the Government of Canada for today's announcement of a code of conduct for the Canadian debit and credit markets.

"This is a solid victory for merchants across the country and a major step toward addressing imbalances in the Canadian payments system," says Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO, Retail Council of Canada. "Though our members continue to believe a robust regulatory framework is necessary for Canada's debit and credit card markets, the code represents much needed incremental progress."

For more than a year, retailers, grocers and other service sector businesses from coast-to-coast have been advocating for government measures to increase clarity, transparency and choice in a payments system controlled by only a few major players.

Minister Flaherty has committed to regulate the conduct of the credit card companies, banks and processors involved in Canada's payments system if they do not adhere to the voluntary code. Though merchants understand the government's push for voluntary measures as a first step, the PAC advocated for, and supports the inclusion of powers to regulate the market in light of card company practices seen in other countries around the world.

Read more...

April 15, 2010
Linden MacIntyre, Shandi Mitchell, SS Atlantic big winners at 2010 Atlantic Book Awards
Linden MacIntyre, Shandi Mitchell, and the book SS Atlantic took home two awards each when the 2010 Atlantic Book Awards were presented in Darmouth, NS last night.

SS Atlantic: The White Star Line's First Disaster at Sea (Goose Lane Editions) was the first double winner of the night. Co-written by Greg Cochkanoff and Bob Chaulk, this comprehensive account of the deadliest shipwreck of the nineteenth century received the Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing and the Dartmouth Book Award for Non-fiction. Nova Scotia's Shandi Mitchell was arguably the biggest winner of the evening, taking home both the prestigious Margaret and John Savage First Book Award and the 20th anniversary Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize for her debut novel Under This Unbroken Sky (Penguin Canada). Linden MacIntyre's Giller-winning novel, The Bishop's Man was further decorated with both the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction and the Atlantic Independent Booksellers' Choice Award.

View all winners...
 

April 12, 2010
Canadian Heritage approves Amazon.ca fulfilment centre
The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, announced today that Amazon has been granted approval under the Investment Canada Act to establish a fulfilment centre in Canada for Amazon.ca operations.

CBA is disappointed that Minister Moore approved Amazon's application. CBA and its members wrote MPs, government officials and the Prime Minister of Canada to outline our objections and concerns should Amazon be allowed to open up a business in Canada. CBA President Stephen Cribar argued that Amazon's entry into Canada would detrimentally affect the country's independent businesses and cultural industries. Cribar stated that, "letting foreign retail giants into local Canadian markets under the false guise of Canadian partnership would be devastating to an important Canadian industry employing real book lovers in every community across Canada."

Read CBA's statement...
 

April 12, 2010
IMPAC Dublin finalists down to eight
A shortlist of eight titles (culled from 156 library-nominated novels) vying for the International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award has been released. A press release brimming with national pride draws attention to Irish author Joseph O'Neill's finalist status, short-listed for his book, Netherland. Three Brits, along with an author apiece from the US, Germany, France and the Netherlands, round out the list. 

View the shortlist...

April 6, 2010
Donner Prize shortlist revealed
A shortlist of four titles has been announced for this year’s Donner Prize, which awards $35,000 to the best book on Canadian public policy.

In making the shortlist announcement, Allan Gotlieb, Chairman of the Donner Canadian Foundation, commented, "In bestowing this award, the Donner Canadian Foundation seeks to broaden policy debates, increase general awareness of the importance of policy decision making, and make an original and meaningful contribution to policy discourse."

The winner of this year's Donner Prize will be announced at an awards ceremony in Toronto on Wednesday, April 28.

View the shortlist.

April 1, 2010
CBA Libris Awards 2010 Finalists Announced
CBA has unveiled the shortlist of finalists for CBA Libris Awards 2010. Nominated and voted on by members of the Canadian bookselling community, CBA Libris Awards honour outstanding achievement by authors and editors, sales reps and distributors, booksellers and publishers—all the talented professionals whose collaborative efforts deliver great books to Canadian readers.

The winners will be announced on Saturday, May 29 at CBA Libris Awards Dinner & Presentation, which will take place in Toronto as part of CBA’s National Conference. The Ceremony will be emceed by CBC Radio’s Shelagh Rogers, host of The Next Chapter.

View the Shortlist.

March 22, 2010
The 'Wal-Martization' of the book industry?
Roy MacSkimming, author of The Perilous Trade: Publishing Canada's Writers, comments on the potentially devastating effect allowing Amazon to establish a new business in Canada could have on the industry, in The Globe and Mail ("Canada would be renting, not owning, its literary house," March 16).

Read the article in The Globe and Mail.


March 15, 2010
CBA's Vice-President interviewed by Radio Canada International about Amazon
This afternoon Radio Canada International's The Link featured an interview with CBA Vice-President Mark Lefebvre about the Canadian book industry’s concerns over a government plan to allow U.S. giant, Amazon.com, set up a warehouse in Canada.

Listen to the interview.

March 10, 2010
Writers' Trust honours former MP with political writing prize
The Writers’ Trust of Canada announced that John English won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for his biography Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968-2000, published by Knopf Canada.

The prize was awarded at the Politics and the Pen gala in Ottawa.

The $25,000 prize, Canada’s most prestigious literary award for political writing, is sponsored by CTVglobemedia and supported by the Politics and the Pen gala.

 A jury of Andrew Nikiforuk, Erna Paris, and Michael Petrou selected the winner. Their citation said of the winning book:

Drawing upon previously inaccessible materials, John English deepens our understanding of the private, as well as the public, life of Pierre Trudeau. Just Watch Me sets a new literary standard for Canadian political biography.

 John English is a professor of history at the University of Waterloo and a former Member of Parliament for Kitchener, Ontario. His book Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1919-1968 was nominated for this prize in 2006. He also authored an acclaimed two-volume biography of Lester Pearson. He lives in Kitchener, Ontario.

Read more.


March 8, 2010
CBA Urges Canadian Heritage to Reject Amazon.com’s Application to Establish a New Business in Canada
Canadian Booksellers Association (CBA) has written to the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, asking his government to reject Amazon.com’s application to establish a new cultural business in Canada. Copies of CBA’s letter have also been sent to the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada and the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry.

CBA contends that allowing Amazon to operate a business within Canada would contravene the Investment Canada Act which requires that foreign investments in the book publishing and distribution sector be compatible with national cultural policies and be of net benefit to Canada and the Canadian-controlled sector.

CBA President Stephen Cribar argues that Amazon’s entry into Canada would detrimentally affect the country’s independent businesses and cultural industries: “Individual Canadian booksellers have traditionally played a key role in ensuring the promotion of Canadian authors and Canadian culture. These are values that no American dot.com retailer could ever purport to understand or promote.”

CBA urges the Canadian government and the Department of Canadian Heritage to continue its support of our unique cultural perspective by placing reasonable limits on American domination of our book market and rejecting Amazon.com’s current application.

March 2, 2010
Atlantic Book Awards nominees announced
The Atlantic Book Awards Society has unveiled the shortlist of 11 literary awards that make up the 2010 Atlantic Book Awards. Among the 33 authors and illustrators up for awards are several multiple nominees: Linden MacIntyre is nominated for three awards (the Atlantic Independent Booksellers' Choice Award among them) for The Bishop's Man (Random House); Michael Crummey (Galore), Shandi Mitchell (Under This Unbroken Sky), and Bob Chaulk and the late Greg Cochkanoff (SS Atlantic: The White Star Line's First Disaster at Sea) are all nominated for two awards each.

The 2010 Atlantic Book Awards celebration will take place during the week-long Atlantic Book Awards and Festival on Wednesday, April 14 at the Alderney Landing Theatre in Dartmouth, NS. A total of 13 awards will be presented, including the two HRM Mayor's Awards—for Excellence in Book Illustration and for Literary Achievement.

View the shortlist...

February 23, 2010
Commonwealth Writers' Prize reveals regional shortlists
The 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize regional shortlists have been announced. In the Caribbean and Canada field, Best Book nominees are all Canadian:

The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels (Canada)
February by Lisa Moore (Canada)
Euphoria by Connie Gault (Canada)
Goya's Dog by Damian Tarnopolsky (Canada)
Galore by Michael Crummey (Canada)
The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon (Canada)

The shortlisted writers for the Caribbean and Canada Best First Book are:
Under this Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell (Canada)
Daniel O'Thunder by Ian Weir (Canada)
The Island Quintet: Five Stories by Raymond Ramchartiar (Trinidad)
Diary of Interrupted Days by Dragan Todorovic (Canada)
The Briss by Michael Tregebov (Canada)
Amphibian by Carla Gunn (Canada)

The final programme, starting on April 7 in Delhi, India, will bring together the finalists from the different regions of the Commonwealth, and the two overall winners will be announced there on April 12.

View all regional shortlists...

February 16, 2010
CBC Literary Awards longlist unveiled
The CBC Literary Awards have announced longlists in three categories (Creative Nonfiction, Short Story and Poetry) for its 2009 prize, which celebrates original, unpublished works in French and English.

Literary Awards Host Shelagh Rogers will unveil the English-language winners chosen from the 80 finalists on Thursday, March 18 at 11 a.m. EST on CBC Radio One's Q with Jian Ghomeshi. Christiane Charette will announce the French-language winners that same day on La Première Chaîne de Radio- Canada.

View the list of English-language finalists

February 8, 2010
Ian Brown Wins The 2010 Charles Taylor Prize For Literary Non-Fiction
The winner of the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is Ian Brown for The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Search For His Disabled Son, published by Random House Canada. Noreen Taylor, founder of the prize, announced the winner during a gala luncheon held at Downtown Toronto’s Le Meridien King Edward Hotel.

Find out more.

February 1, 2010
Writers’ Trust Reveals Shortlist of 10^th Annual Political Writing Prize

The Writers’ Trust of Canada announced the finalists for the $25,000 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. The prize will be awarded at the sold-out Politics and the Pen Gala on March 10, 2010, in Ottawa.

The five finalists are:

• John English (Kitchener, Ontario) for Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968-2000, published by Knopf Canada
• Terry Gould (Vancouver) for Murder Without Borders: Dying For the Story in the World’s Most Dangerous Places, published by Random House Canada
• Rudyard Griffiths (Toronto) for Who We Are: A Citizen’s Manifesto, published by Douglas & McIntyre
• James Maskalyk (Toronto) for Six Months in Sudan: A Young Doctor in a War-torn Village, published by Doubleday Canada
• Daniel Poliquin (Montreal) for René Lévesque, published by Penguin Canada

For more information about the finalists, and to win a set of this year’s nominated titles, visit writerstrust.com.

January 26, 2010
Duthies to close its doors
At the end of February storied Vancouver Independent Duthies will close the doors of its Fourth Avenue store--the last of what was once an eight-store chain--after 53 years of serving the city's booklovers with carefully selected stock and insightful recommendations.

A press release posted on their website attributes the closure to intense pressure from big-box stores and Amazon who, "ruthless in their drive for market share," have left the store unable to compete, as well as a book industry "in the throes of a technological transformation and book readers undergoing a major demographic shift." Owner Cathy Duthie Legate told the Vancouver Sun that the Christmas sales the store relies on to propel them throughout the year weren't as great as they needed them to be.

Read the store's statement.

January 19, 2010
More Good News than Bad for Independent Booksellers over the Holiday Season
Responses to CBA’s annual Holiday Sales Survey from 71 booksellers from across Canada reveal that for most Independents (65%), holiday sales for 2009 were greater than (47% of respondents) or equal to (18%) those from the same period in 2008. Of course, that still leaves 35% of booksellers experiencing a sales decrease during the season, but the general sentiment expressed in the comments was relief that the fallout from the poor economy did not have as great an impact on holiday buying as feared.

Further breakdown of the numbers shows that most of those booksellers who saw a sales increase were up a slight 2-5%, though a surprising percentage (13% of all respondents) reported an increase of more than 15%.  Meanwhile, most of the “decrease” respondents (13%) were down 2-5%.  October and December were the best months—most experienced better sales in those months than in 2008, while in November, more booksellers were down than up (42% up versus 45% down). One bookseller wisely pointed out that November is prime time for online sales which may be related to the less than stellar bricks-and-mortar sales that month.

Read on to find out about bestselling titles, buying trends and industry concerns...

January 5, 2010
Charles Taylor Prize announces shortlist
This morning in Toronto, finalists for the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction were revealed. Four authors are vying for the $25,000 prize. They are Ian Brown for his book The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search For His Disabled Son, published by Random House Canada; John English for his book Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968 - 2000, published by Knopf Canada; Daniel Poliquin for his book René Lévesque, published by Penguin Canada; and Kenneth Whyte for his book The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst, published by Random House Canada.

The winner will be announced at a gala awards ceremony in Toronto on February 8, 2010.

Read more.

 

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