The Canadian Author

A Canadian author sent us her script. In short, we really liked it and wanted to sign her. Being a small press and in the process of finalizing our 2013 lists (finally!), she was apprehensive and had questions. Here is her original email and our reply follows below. Remember that she is in Canada.

I am interested, but as a lawyer I tend to nitpick details! How do you get the book into libraries, etc? Would I be responsible for that? I do believe the industry is undergoing a shift to ePublishing, but a lot of young adults still read books in physical formats and I would like to see my book at libraries and bookstores, at least in Canada. The Catching Santa book is not in the Toronto Public Library system, for example.

Can you send me all the information? 

Sure, no worries. We are very transparent and nitpick too. Okay, our title is on Indigo as an eBook. Just search for Catching Santa in ebooks. As for the print version, that was an executive decision to not sell it in Canada. If you end up working with us your title will be available in Canada through Ingram International and available to consumers to order from:

• Chapters/Indigo
  
• Amazon Canada
  
• Canadian general market segments including wholesalers, chain retailers, Internet stores, independent retailers, library suppliers and university college book stores

A book getting shelf-time in a bookstore is not a given, no matter the publisher. The Indigo buyer makes the decision and they base that on industry buzz. This is why a title isn't announced to the trade until we have created a buzz-- win awards, receive stellar reviews and so on. The book would obviously sell in the US and UK too. You are not responsible for selling your book but it helps to market and get the word out. Our preferred library vendor is Follett Library Resources. They sell to Canadian schools and libraries. We would advertise in their Canadian title wave magazine. Again, Santa is not in the Toronto Library system by choice. It will eventually be available after it gets a new cover.

Being that we are in the children's book business most of our marketing is directed at teachers and librarians. They are book evangelists. We were very successful in selling Santa to US schools and have a repeatable marketing process in place. We are positioned and established with Accelerated Reader. They create tests for our books. Children read the book and take the test for points. Unfortunately many US kids will not read a book unless it's an AR book. Hmm, what else? Fairs! We attend the ALA and the Miami Book Fair. We have attended BEA and other fairs but the two previously mentioned are profitable for us.

Just know that if you go with another press, no one will come close to the beauty and quality of our cover -- unless they are one of the big 6. Covers get the book noticed. The story sells it. We spend hours developing covers. We feel our illustrators are the best. Another thing, we are very of the cuff and as I said, very transparent. There are no secrets with us. We will tell you like it is. An authors success is our success. We are very pro author. We are here to build and protect a brand, start author careers and create long lasting relationships.

Anyway, take your time and definitely see what other offers come your way. I'll have to check with Becca but I think the window for the 2013 Fall list closes August 31, 2012. Keep in touch and let us know if and when we are out of the running. Write anytime.