John Ballem

Publishing is a family affair and so when I got an email from John Ballem’s assistant Donna this morning I thought it was to let me know that John was taking off on another trip or had written another article.
Sadly, it was to notify us that John had passed away on January 9, 2010.
Authors come [...]

An Artist’s Life

When you are completely immersed in the day to day running of a publishing program you begin to lose sight of how much we need authors talent and experiences to be publishers. I had the luxury of two weeks off which always allows the many management bits to fall away so you can reflect on [...]

A Two Launch Evening

Celebrating the arrival of a new book is always a happy affair. When you are working on a book inside a publishing house you spend a great deal of time crafting the message, getting the look right and preparing the book for the market. For a publisher, or anyone working on that book, the book [...]

goodbye to the Flying Fox

When we signed up the teen book, Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War 2 Pilot Charley Fox, I was excited to know that Charley Fox would be around to talk about this book in person. Nothing is more powerful than to hear the stories directly from the person who lived [...]

the golden bridge

I don’t know whether you have heard of the children that were sent to Canada from the UK from about 1880 to the late 1930’s. They were called home children and came from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland as a result of the industrial revolution when so many families were destitute and flooded into [...]

on trial

The Brenda Martin case is disturbing but perhaps she has something in common with Conrad Black. Even though Black has the resources to fight the U.S. charges against him he still lost the battle (for now). I wonder if being high profile and using the media can be more damaging for a case. Although this [...]

To Timbuktu: the race to save the manuscripts

Ever since we signed the travel memoir To Timbuktu for a Haircut: A Journey Through West Africa by Rick Antonson, I seem to see Timbuktu mentioned everywhere.

I thought this article by Yilmaz Alimoglu in the Toronto Star on January 10, 2008, brought another interesting aspect to this ancient city and the ancient manuscripts that are [...]