WordWorks 2021 Volume II

WORDWORKS BRITISH COLUMBIA’S MAGAZINE FOR WRITERS The Publishing Issue

2021 Volume II Free in Selected Markets

REGISTER NOW bcwriters.ca

MAY 15 to MAY 21

JESSICA BRODY KEYNOTE SPEAKER

ANNOUNCING

CATEGORIES

CONTESTS OPEN

- POETRY - FLASH FICTION CREATIVE NON-FICTION - SHORT FICTION -

June 1ST , 2021

ENTRY DEADLINE TH August 15 , 2021

CONTEST CEREMONY Fall 2021

ENTRIES

$15 Each For Members $25 Each for Non-Members

$350 1 Place Prize ST

for Each Category

2 WORDWORKS ︱ 2021 Volume II

LITERARY CONTESTS .

2021

1ST PLACE WRITERS in each category will be featured in WordWorks Magazine ENTIRE SHORT LIST will be published in the 1ST Federation of BC Writers Contest Anthology

WORDWORKS BRITISH COLUMBIA’S MAGAZINE FOR WRITERS

2021 VOLUME II THE PUBLISHING ISSUE

20 Shirley Martin: Who Do You Think You Are? Jess Wesley: Wattpad & Publishing: 9 Opportunities for Emerging Writers Suzanne Anderson: Where is Self-Publishing 10 Going in 2021? and Amazon Is Not the Only Place to Publish E-Books Christina Myers: Open the Door to Anthologies 12 Lesley Taylor: The Audiobook Publishing Boom 13 Canadian Chapbook Publishers for Poets 14 Janine Cross: Writing a Compelling Query Pitch 16 and How to Succeed at a Pitch Session Bill Arnott: I’ve Finished My Manuscript! 18 What Happens Now?

21 Marie-Claude Arnott: Work in (Endless) Progress 22 Joanna Streetly: Softening the Blow Poets Talk About Rejection 23 Aja Egglestone: How to Move Forward after Rejection 24 Humour: Why Poems Get Rejected 4 Faces 6 Ask Barb 26 Contributors 28 Launched

Lily Quan: Finding an Agent during Covid 19

Illustrations from “Launched”: Courage to Speak: Honouring Ancestor Voices by Sharon E Syrette and Siyamtelot Shirley Leon and The List of Last Chances by Christina Myers 2021 Volume II ︱ WORDWORKS 1

Farewell from the Managing Editor This will be my last issue serving as managing editor of WordWorks. I am retiring, a couple three four years late, and it’s time. I am giddy, thinking about the days to come. I know that when I close the last file, approve the last proofs and clear my desk I’ll be overcome with sorrow. But what better way to put to bed a publishing career of thirty-one years than with the WW publishing issue?

And it’s a great one. Something special happened while gathering articles this time. All of a sudden writers opened up about what we don’t usually talk about: despair, rejection, doldrums, exhaustion.

Joanna Streetly asked me if I didn’t think it odd writers were advised to submit submit submit and to paper their offices with rejection letters—without a thought to the psychological consequences of repeated rejection. Shirley Martin told me about her struggles with insecurity and her inner critic. Lily Quan wrote that after finally signing with an agent she hardly told anyone and she “wanted to crawl into bed and forget about writing and publishing.” Marie-Claude Arnott regretted time wasted when she hired an editor too soon. And she confessed that “after four consuming years” she got stuck in the “doldrums of doubt” for another year. Reminders, all, about how we can support one another.

I’m proud of this issue, as I have been of them all. Ann Graham Walker promised me that I would love this work, and she was right. Sharing creative space with so many writers has been intimate, unforgettable. Thank you for your stories, thank you for trusting me with your words.

Thank you also to Adelia, Barbara, Christine, Chelsea and Caitlin of the editorial committee for your skills and your ideas and advice. Thank you Chris for patience and wizardry. To Mario for saving me many a time, and to Bryan, Jess and Angela, my fellow “staffers” and companions holding our far flung offices together.

And me? I have at least two books in me yet—one almost ready to submit to a publisher. I have one more special project in mind for Leaf Press too. The tide chart will be my only day book. And always I’ll be a volunteer and advocate for the Fed. See you at the Summit later this month.

Ursula FBCW BOARD OF DIRECTORS: greg blee, Megan Cole, Barb Drozdowich, Ruth Lloyd, Kamal Parmar, Katherine Wagner.

WordWorks is published by THE FEDERATION OF BC WRITERS PO Box 3503 Courtenay, BC V9N 6Z8 970 View Avenue Courtenay V9N 5R2 www.bcwriters.ca | hello@bcwriters.ca wordworks@bcwriters.ca Copyrights remain with original copyright holders.

All other work © 2021 The Federation of BC Writers. All Rights Reserved.

ISSN: 0843-1329 WordWorks is provided free three times a year to FBCW members and to selected markets. It is available on our website and in BC libraries, schools, and historical societies.

FBCW Annual Membership Rates: Regular: $80 | Senior: $45 | Youth: $25

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FBCW ADVISORY COMMITTEE: JJ. Lee, Steven Price, Esi Edugyan, Alan Twigg, Gail Anderson Dargatz, Anne Tenning, Betsy Warland, Darrel McLeod.

WORDWORKS STAFF: Jessica Cole: WordWorks Digital Curator and Ad Sales Manager; Angela Douglas: Director of Communications; Bryan Mortensen: Executive Director; Ursula Vaira: WordWorks Managing Editor.

EDITORIAL: Chelsea Comeau, Barbara Pelman, Caitlin Hicks, Adelia MacWilliam, Christine Lowther, Cover Design: Chris Hancock Donaldson. Graphic Design and Typesetting: Ursula Vaira.

UPCOMING THEME 2021 Vol III: Marketing and Promotion. Pitch article ideas and cover art by June 15, 2021, to wordworks@bcwriters.ca.

ADVERTISING: WordWorks advertises services and products of interest to writers. adsales@bcwriters.ca.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The Federation of BC Writers acknowledges that Indigenous writers have not been able to take their deserved place in the literary culture due to wounding by colonization, by racism, and by the failure of the gatekeepers to recognize a rich culture of storytelling, to nurture Indigenous writers, and to share opportunities to be heard and honoured.

WE WELCOME ALL WRITERS and their stories; we want to read, to listen, include, support, and recommend.

The FBCW gratefully acknowledges the support of the Province of BC, the BC Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts, and the Magazine Association of BC.

A Letter from Angela Douglas, Director of Communications Spring is finally here, and what ISN’T new at the Fed?! We send this issue to your mailbox along with optimism and anticipation. The virus that shall not be named is hopefully less of a focus in our lives, and joy is in the air. Here at the FBCW, we have so much exciting news to share; I can hardly fit it all in.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am the new Director of Communications. I have been working here since last August and have enjoyed every minute. My background is comprised of marketing communications and writing for various industries. I have recently left my career in real estate to focus on this role and to take more time to write.

This year is the Federation of BC Writers 45th anniversary, and we have just crossed the threshold of more than 1,000 writers! We want to extend a warm welcome to our new members. We are ecstatic with the continued growth, and plan to keep up the momentum. I look forward to connecting with many of you in the near future.

The BC Writers’ Summit, formerly known as the Spring Writes Conference, will be upon us soon, running from May 15th to the 21st. We have many incredible speakers and workshops; it will be an event to remember. We tried to make sure we carried on the Spring Writes tradition of great programming for all skill levels, with a cross-genre twist for folks thinking about trying out new styles.

Our keynote speaker this year is Jessica Brody, best-selling author of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel.

We have workshops about writing crime, giving form to narrative voice in memoir, world-building, writing queerly, lyric writing, and so much more. There are eighteen sessions throughout the week.

We hope that you can join us. As a newer writer myself, I am thrilled to take part in it all.

Have you ever thought about trying your hand at podcasting but didn’t want to invest in the equipment first? Or would you like to turn your book into an audiobook without the fixed costs for a one-time use? As a member of the Federation of BC Writers, you can participate in our brand new Lending Program. We have purchased the equipment as part of the BC Arts Council’s Arts Infrastructure program, and it’s on its way to us, as I write. Soon you will be able to borrow for a limited duration and get that book or podcast recorded. More details to follow in the coming weeks.

Other important information that you have been patiently waiting for involves our annual writing contests. This year we have decided to run them simultaneously.

If you have already written your submission(s), pull them out and dust them off. You will have from June 1 to August 15 to enter Poetry, Flash Fiction, Short Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction Contests. Guidelines and further information will be posted on our website after the Summit.

One final update to squeeze in is about programming. Besides our regular and upcoming live programming schedule, we are working hard at creating content for our Teachable platform. We currently have nine courses available from our past webinars and will be adding more content throughout the summer. We want to make sure to offer what you need in a way that works with your schedule, knowing not everyone can attend planned events. Be sure to check it out, and check back for new content.

Lastly, if you have suggestions or questions, please reach out to our fantastic team. We love hearing from our members and are always looking for ways to enhance membership benefits.

2021 Volume II ︱ WORDWORKS 3

Faces FBCW members out and about (and in)

Send your photographs of Fed members performing, writing, reading, teaching, celebrating, thinking, cocooning. Include permissions, names, and a caption if you like.

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Send to wordworks@bcwriters.ca Clockwise from top of this page: Claire Finlayson with a few of the books she read about autism—and the one she wrote.

(Caitlin Press, 2020) Susan McCaslin “Immersed in the Bubble of Rosie’s Dream” Ursula Vaira is retiring and taking down her beloved old yellowed sign from her office door Bill Arnott gone totally Viking

Mark Haddock photo

Wiley Ho: “Chuffed”

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Question - What is a “royalty”?

The word “royalty” or “royalties” refers to the money an author receives from the sale of a book. Many people claim that the word “royalty” only refers to money earned from traditional publishers, but in my experience, the word is used to refer to the money an author earns from sales of their book, regardless of how it is published.

Question - How much will I get?

This is a more complicated question. The short answer is, “It depends.” Let’s take the “It depends” answer and talk about what that means—here are the factors that control how much an author will earn from the sale of a book.

• • • • • •

Traditional vs self/independent publication The price of the book Middlemen in the payment pathway Place of sale File size—e-book The country of sale/payment fees

• Let’s start with traditionally published. Most traditional publishers negotiate a contract with an author.

This contract will outline all the various aspects of the publishing relationship between the author and the publisher, including the royalty amount. Like all businesses, each publisher will run their business their way. Speaking in general terms, the author can anticipate receiving about 10–12 percent of the sales of their (paperback) book. (E-books, audiobooks and hardcover books often garner a different percentage.)

That number may be higher or lower, but it is generally a number that is negotiated.

Self/independently published authors either publish their own book or hire a company to do the publishing. If a company is hired, then the amount the author is paid is typically part of the publishing agreement.

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It is often much higher than 10–12 percent but many self-publishing companies charge a bookkeeping type of fee to transfer the funds to the author.

If a self/independent-published author publishes directly with various retailers, they will receive whatever royalties each retailer will offer.

• The price of the book may influence how much in royalties an author earns. This price is generally only important when talking about e-books. Most retailers offer a different percentage of the sale price as a royalty for cheaper books than for more expensive ones. For example, Amazon pays 35 percent royalties for e-books priced less than $2.99 but 70 percent for books priced over $2.99.

• Depending on how a book is published, there are frequently “middlemen” in the payment pathway between the publisher and the author. Traditional publishers often pay for warehousing, salespeople, or distributors.

The author may have an agent that needs to be paid.

Self/independent publishers may face bookkeeping fees or distribution fees. Even bookstores will expect a discount and the ability to independently price a book.

For self/independent publishers, these fees are not usually high. At most, these authors may have to pay 10 percent of the sale price to a distributor upon sale of their book, or a PayPal or bank fee upon receipt of their royalties.

• Each place of sale or retailer will offer an author a different amount of royalty. Since this topic can get quite complicated, let’s do some generalizing and some ballparking. The royalties for e-books are determined by price and delivery fee (we’ll discuss the delivery fee in the next point). The price point tends to revolve around a sale price of $2.99—lower and the author will receive less royalty and higher the author will receive more. Most retailers will offer percentages that are comparable to what Amazon offers.

Paperback books have a different calculation.

If the advance is not “paid back” or “earned back” it does not need to be returned, however …

Generally speaking, the self-published author receives 60 percent of the sale price minus printing costs. If this book is sold in a bookstore, the royalties are calculated differently, as it will depend on the discount the bookstore is offered.

If a book is sold in person by the author—let’s say at a reader festival or a conference or even a book signing, the royalty is the difference between what the author charges for the book and the cost of printing.

rights to their book. Not all authors will be offered an advance from their publisher, and the amount of the advance is typically something that is negotiated.

The advance needs to be paid back via book sales before the author receives any more money from the publisher. If the advance is not “paid back” or “earned back” it does not need to be returned, however, the publisher may be unwilling to accept another book from that author.

• Many authors are unaware that most retailers charge a delivery fee for e-books. This fee is based on the size of the file used to create the e-book. For many books this fee amounts to only a few cents. For a larger than usual book files, the delivery fee will be more.

Question - Does being published online count as being “previously published”? How about the work appearing in a podcast? Video poem?

• The country of sale and various payment fees influence the amount an author receives as well. Most books are sold in local currency for the country of the purchaser. The royalties are usually paid to the authors in the author’s local currency. Although this tends to have me cross-eyed, all these exchange rates can result in significant differences—especially if you are talking about larger sums of money. During times of exchange rate fluctuations, money can be easily lost or gained between the time of the sale and the time of the payout of royalties.

In addition to exchange rates, authors—especially self/independently published authors, can be faced with banking type fees. One of the retailers who sells my books pays me via a PayPal deposit. PayPal charges a fee for this money transfer. Authors may have to pay a wire transfer fee or a cheque fee as well—depending on where the sale originates. There are active discussions on line amongst budget conscious authors as to the best money transfer services and so on.

Question - What is an advance? Do I have to pay back an advance if my book doesn’t sell?

An advance is a lump-sum payment that a traditional publisher will offer an author upon purchase of the

The definition of “previously published” is a fluid one.

Generally speaking, it means a work has been made available to the public. An article destined for a paper magazine can be considered “previously published” if it was made available as a blog post. A poem could be considered “previously published” if a recorded version of the author reading it was published on YouTube.

Since the definition can be fluid it is best to ask for more details when you are submitting work that may be ineligible.

Question - How would I start the process of creating an audiobook?

I am assuming that the person who asked this question is a self/independently published author, as most traditional publishers have their own contacts for audiobooks. Authors generally use one of two starting points for the creation of an audiobook—ACX (an arm of Amazon) or FindAway Voices. Both services allow an author to create a professionally narrated audiobook that is available to purchasers in most countries of the world. In my experience, authors are moving more towards FindAway Voices, as this service will allow the author to set the purchase price—ACX does not. Because of the equipment requirements, most authors do not narrate their own audiobooks unless they have applicable experience.

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Self-Publish Like a Professional Craig Shemilt It has taken more than twenty years to make selfpublishing highly marketable. It is now the fastest growing area of the book market.

When self-publishing you will run into many unforeseen costs. Writers should start by creating a budget. Services from various professionals like editors or proofreaders, book designers and book printers will also be needed. There may be additional expenses for advertising, marketing, web design, e-books, and events such as a book launch or book signings. Keep all receipts, you may need them for tax purposes.

We advise writers to get an editor! I know this is an expense that most writers do not want to pay for, but an editor will get your book to read correctly. They make sure there are no typing errors, misspellings, grammar errors, paragraphs out of order, or context not flowing correctly.

Editors will make sure your book is of a professional quality. Bookstores will not accept a book that has not been edited. If a book has mistakes in it, the reader will blame the store for selling it and this will discredit the author. Make sure you get a good editor, check their credentials, ask for a two- or three-page sample.

Make sure the editor knows the genre of your book.

You can find good editors from places like the Editors Canada, which has a BC branch, and PEAVI—the Professional Editors Association of Vancouver Island.

When the editor is finished, make sure you proof-read everything.

Book design and formatting are a highly technical aspects of the book. If you are going to market your book, we recommend you hire a professional designer.

They will make the difference between an amateurand a professional-looking book.

Yes, readers do judge a book by its cover. You only get fifteen seconds to catch a reader’s attention. First is the spine: make sure the title is easy to read with clean clear text. Next is the front cover, make it exciting or give it visual impact! The last and most important is the first sentence or paragraph on the rear cover. It must drive the reader into the book to want more.

You must make sure that the inside text is in a font and size easy to read. Do not use unlicensed fonts— 8 WORDWORKS ︱ 2021 Volume II

some writers download these fonts for free, but they will not work in the printing process.

You want to have good margins on the top, bottom, outside edge and gutter edge. Watch for the placement of headers, footers, and page numbers. Photos or images that go to outside edges of the page must have extra bleed. Watch for chapter settings or page breaks.

These can force sentences to extend over to the following pages. Covers must be joined all together, rear/ spine/front. You must have a copyright page and an ISBN (it is free to apply) in the book. Photos or images should be a resolution of 300 dpi.

If you decide to do the layout and formatting by yourself, you can find all the information at: www. islandblue.com. Click on: Book Printing/Preparation/ Design and Layout.

Book printers will be happy to give you a quote estimate before printing. Make sure to get a full proof copy of your book. Do not bypass this process, it will show you exactly what your finished book will look like. Check it thoroughly, cover to cover, it allows any changes before the final printing.

Errors are not the responsibility of the printer. Talk to your printer about how many books to print. Do not overprint. You can keep going back for reprints. Make sure the printer has file storage for reprinting your book. We advise all writers to keep a separate flash drive of their PDF files securely stored away.

We recommend you compile a list of names such as family, friends, associates, and organizations. An email list is best. You will want to let everyone possible know when your book is completed, and ready to sell.

Believe In Yourself You are the best person to market your book Island Blue Print is a family owned company, 109 years old.

Craig Shemilt has been managing the book printing division for twenty years. He has been giving self publishing lectures at events for more than fifteen years assisting thousands of writers to get their books printed. His motto is “I will make sure you are looked after” and he follows through with it.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Wattpad & Publishing: Opportunities for Emerging Writers Jess Wesley As one born in the early eighties, I didn’t grow up using a computer—unless you count time spent at school playing Oregon Trail. In fact, I am a late adopter of most technology; I held off on getting the Internet at home for years, and I balked at joining TikTok. But I did create an account on Wattpad in 2014, and it was a moment that would later shape the course of my writing career.

Available as a mobile app or on the web, Wattpad is a “social storytelling” platform. Writers can upload their works chapter by chapter, and readers can then vote or leave comments. The audience is enormous: ninety million users spend an average of fifty-two minutes per day on the app.

Writing contests abound, from the platform’s largest yearly writing awards, The Wattys, to smaller, user-led initiatives. A sense of community pervades the online writing experience. I have met incredibly generous, talented writers on Wattpad. For me, it is equal parts social media platform, publishing channel, and critique group.

Some would hesitate to give away original content for free, but when I uploaded my first novella to Wattpad in 2017, I was just trying to finish my story.

I hoped serializing it online would create a sense of urgency. (It did.)

To my surprise, Wattpad chose to feature my work, and I watched the reads—you can think of them as page views— grow from the hundreds to the tens of thousands over the next year.

In 2018, I uploaded Girl Under Construction, a romantic comedy loosely

inspired by my experience as a woman working in trades. Serializing the novel took several months.

At the same time, I became obsessed with all things Wattpad. I volunteered on the site and even flew to New York City to attend WattCon, a three-day writing conference in Times Square. In 2019, I became a Wattpad Star, which is a sort of influencer program for Wattpad writers. To me, online publishing seemed like the way of the future. I wasn’t sure it would ever make me any money, but I loved the community that had grown up around the big orange W, and I was constantly improving my craft based on the feedback I received. Meanwhile, my stories continued to find a readership.

In 2020, I received an email from Wattpad HQ. They were interested in adding Girl Under Construction to their Paid Stories catalogue, a program that allows readers to pay to unlock chapters. I accepted the invitation and received coaching on how to edit my work. The marketing team created a gorgeous illustrated cover, and I got to give feedback during the process.

When I received my first royalty payment, I felt like a legitimate writer. To my amazement, Girl Under Construction has garnered more than 325,000 reads to date.

Over the years, Wattpad has grown from a social storytelling site to a “global multi-platform entertainment company” with new opportunities arising often.

Some stories’ read counts number into the millions. In 2019, the company debuted a new traditional publishing division, Wattpad Books. A number of writers have even found their works adapted for film or television.

You may remember Netflix’s smash teen comedy, The Kissing Booth. The original story was written and posted to Wattpad by Beth Reekles when she was a teenager.

I am constantly amazed by the talent, skill, and generosity of Wattpadders, who are a diverse group hailing from all parts of the globe. Their bravery in sharing their work encourages me to experiment with genre and voice, and I have learned a lot about pacing and hooking a reader’s attention as a result. The real-time reader feedback is instrumental to my growth, and I continue to post new content. At its heart, Wattpad is a community, and I count myself lucky to be a part of it.

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Where Is Self-Publishing Going in 2021?

Suzanne Anderson When I self-published my first book in 1997, it was because I had no other choice. My manuscript had been rejected many times and if I wanted to see it in print, I was forced to publish it myself. At that time there was a stigma around publishing your own book.

Self-published books were considered inferior. Many booksellers would not even carry them. Fortunately things have changed.

Self-publishing is now such an accepted part of the publishing industry that some of the big trade publishing houses even have a self-publishing branch.

There are writers who choose to self-publish in order to maintain control of their project and get it to their readers more quickly. They know their market and do not want to wait for a trade publisher’s timeline of one to two years. An increasing number of authors are now publishing widely across a variety of platforms, formats, and territories. Self-publishing platforms today distribute indie authors and their books to 190 countries. Let’s look at what to expect in 2021.

E-books Several best sellers such as the Shades of Grey series and The Martian by Andy Weir started out as e-books and grew into the print market. We find that more people are reading e-books because they no longer have to purchase a special reader. They can download all the popular readers onto their device, be it smartphone or tablet, and have books with them wherever they go. Young readers are especially embracing e-books, so expect them to stick around. In Japan, e-books are the way that the majority of young people read; they do not even consider print. And the joy of e-books is that they cost little or nothing to produce.

It is easy to e-publish, and your books get worldwide distribution, which is why it is so popular.

Audiobooks are the biggest book industry trend right now and it is growing substantially. They have opened up a whole new group of readers. The main platform is Audible, which is run by Amazon, but Findaway Voices offers several markets for audiobooks.

Professional writers’ associations in Canada are recognizing that there are well-written and well-designed self-published books being sold in this country and 10 WORDWORKS ︱ 2021 Volume II

worldwide. Both the Canadian Authors Association and The Writers’ Union of Canada now allow self-published authors to be full voting members. Of course they have a standard, but independent authors are meeting that level of quality. The League of Canadian Poets allows full membership if you have at least one self-published book of poetry professionally marketed and distributed, as determined by the membership committee. Being a member of an association gives self-published authors the professional respectability that many deserve, and can help them market books.

Grants are more limiting as to who can apply, and it is not really good news. Self-published authors are not eligible for Canada Council Arts grants because they must be published by a publisher who does at least four trade books a year and pays royalties. They are also not eligible for the federal Canada Book Fund grant unless they are financially viable and paying out royalties to other authors. On the upside, British Columbia self-published writers who are accepted as members of the Writers’ Union of Canada or as full members of the League of Canadian Poets may apply for a BC Arts Council Creative Writer’s grant.

While there are still some roadblocks to self-publishing your book, there are many more opportunities. Today indies are more able to compete with the big trade publishers for a share of the market.

As indie authors continue to produce well-written and well-designed books, they are constantly knocking down the brick walls that have kept their books from becoming accepted in the past.

The upcoming year looks very good for self-publishers.

Amazon Is Not The Only Place to Publish Your E-book Suzanne Anderson It seems like everyone is publishing e-books these days and the most commonly talked-about platform is Amazon. But there are other platforms that can get your book out to millions more potential customers worldwide. While Amazon is probably the largest digital book platform, it is a proprietary company and they use their own unique file format, which can limit sales. Let’s explore who is out there to help you get your e-book into the devices of readers Amazon The largest online marketplace on the planet, it can make your book available on sites such as Amazon.ca (Canada), Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom), and Amazon.com.au (Australia) as well as Amazon.com in the USA. Their marketplace is in nineteen countries. They turn your book into a MOBI file, which is their property and they are the only ones to use it. So, the reader has to have Kindle in their device.

To make it more enticing for customers, Kindle is free and can be downloaded into any device such as smartphone, tablet or laptop. You upload your Word document file (either .doc or .docx) to the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) site and they convert it into an e-book. KDP includes the former CreateSpace.

Apple Books If you are a Mac user, you can make your book in Pages and save it to iCloud. You upload it from there to Apple Books. It will be available for readers who use an iPhone or iPad. When you create the book in Pages, it will be converted to an EPUB file, which is the most commonly used file for readers in the world. Then you upload the EPUB to Apple Books. If you do not have a Mac, you can have your books made available to Apple Books through IngramSpark or Smashwords. That way you will not have to convert them to EPUB files yourself.

Barnes & Noble They are an American firm, so that gets your book into any American bookstore that carries e-books for the NOOK reader. You simply upload your Word document (either .doc or .docx) and they convert it into an e-book and distribute it. NOOK is free to download to any device.

IngramSpark They are the only company that requires a set-up fee, and for digital books it is $25 USD. They do not convert Word documents, so you have to have your book converted into an EPUB file before uploading it. But IngramSpark has twenty-one global online distribution partners including Kobo, Amazon, and Apple Books. If you already have your book on Amazon, IngramSpark will not publish it for twelve months, and if you have books on Apple Books you will have to remove them. If you plan to use IngramSpark, upload your book there first.

Kobo Canada’s online digital bookstore was started

by Indigo/Chapters who sold it to Rakuten in 2012.

Often overlooked, Kobo has 10,000 retail points and 100 million customers in 190 countries. You upload your Word document and they convert it into an EPUB. They also have marketing tools for their authors. The KOBO reader is free to download to any device.

Smashwords If you want your e-books to be available from the library then you need to have them on Smashwords. They are an e-book distribution service, but they will convert your Word document (.doc only) into a book.

While Smashwords will put your e-book on Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo, they also make books available to OverDrive, which is the world’s largest library e-book platform serving 20,000+ libraries and includes Vancouver Island Regional Library.

They do not distribute to Amazon until your e-book has seen sales of $2,000 or more.

Amazon, IngramSpark, and Barnes & Noble are also Print-On-Demand (POD) and can make print books for you to both sell locally and on their websites.

As you can see, there are several options to look at when you plan to publish an e-book.

Some industrious authors that I know use several platforms to make their books accessible to a large audience of potential readers. Decide what is best for you.

2021 Volume II ︱ WORDWORKS 11

Open the Door to Anthologies I’ve often thought of anthologies as doorways: to open one as a reader is to enter a building with many different rooms, each one unique, yet all contained under a single roof. Whether it’s poetry, sci-fi stories, non-fiction essays, or some other combination altogether, anthologies often break new ground and explore controversial themes—or re-examine familiar ideas from unexpected angles.

For writers (particularly new and emerging writers), anthologies are a doorway of another kind: a chance to see one’s work in book form, to work with an editor, and to be part of a collective publishing experience.

For an early-career writer, an acceptance in an anthology can be the confidence booster needed to continue on to bigger, more independent book projects.

It’s possible I’m a little bit biased: having been part of a number of anthology collections, both as a contributing author and as an editor and creator, I’m more than a little partial to the form. If it were up to me, I’d encourage every writer to open this particular doorway. Here are a few ideas on how to do just that: Be unique, but stay on topic: Most anthologies have a particular theme or common thread running through the project. It may be about trees, or women’s bodies, or the environment, or an alien invasion. Keep to the concept in your submission but find a unique angle or expression for that theme. The editor will be looking for work that will help create a full, rounded collection—and your new, different take may be exactly what they need.

Find your niche, but be open to something new: If you write speculative fiction, you may be tuned in to online communities where you’ll see calls for those kinds of books. But widen your networks and don’t rule out other genres and categories without reading the submission call in full. Maybe there’s a way that your work will align well with a project that falls under a different banner. Many anthologies seek work 12 WORDWORKS ︱ 2021 Volume II

that is intentionally pushing at the borders and boundaries of a genre.

Read the instructions and follow them: Imagine being an editor with an inbox full of submissions to sift through, but each of those submissions has filed in different formats, or without contact information, or overshot the word limit. Not keeping to the requested guidelines is an easy path to the rejection file. So read the instructions (more than once) and then make sure you’ve followed them appropriately. If the submission call asks for a maximum of 3,000 words, don’t send 4,000. If the instructions tell you to put the text in the body of the email, or to save the document in PDF, do that. If the publisher has asked for a brief bio to be attached to the submission, be sure to include it. And most important of all? Meet the deadline and make sure your copy is clean.

Don’t hold yourself back. Spotted a call for an anthology that is right up your alley, but you’re still a new writer with very little (or nothing) under your publishing belt? Don’t let that stop you. In fact, publishing your work in an anthology can be a great boost for your CV—and your confidence. Most editors want to find the best work to create a diversity in tone, style, and content, and it simply won’t matter to them if you’ve published a hundred times, or none.

Being part of an anthology is often a rare opportunity to connect with other writers, editors, and publishers, not just in its creation but also during its launch and promotion.

Your anthology “family” may lead to new friendships, new professional connections and new writing opportunities.

Best of all: your words will find their way to readers all around the world.

TwinLens Photography

Christina Myers

The Audiobook Publishing Boom Lesley Taylor

Audiobooks may have experienced a worldwide boom during the pandemic, but I fell in love with them years ago. They are great travelling companions and make it more enjoyable to do boring things like housework!

Audiobooks are not new, in fact, the first audiobook was recorded by Thomas Edison in 1877.

The current audiobook boom is a blessing for authors as there are still fewer audiobooks than print and e-books, making it easier for us to get our books discovered.

Here’s what you need to know in order to make the most of this publishing boom.

The good news is that the majority of large publishing houses and some smaller publishers now have their own “in-house” audiobook producers, so if you have a traditional publishing contract your publisher may recommend turning your print book into an audiobook.

But according to Heidi Waechtler, executive director of the Association of Book Publishers of BC, the not-so-good news is that, like print and e-books, not all traditional publishers will jump at the opportunity to turn your book into an audiobook if they can’t see a market for it.

If you find that your publisher is unwilling to take the leap, or if you are independently published, you can do it yourself, or pay someone to create your audiobook, also known as “A-Z” services.

Choosing option #1 will probably save you some money, especially if you narrate the book yourself. If you go this route you will need to purchase equipment such as a high-quality USB microphone, a pop filter shield, an external hard drive, and an audio recorder.

Good equipment is key as you must ensure that your audio recording meets industry standards or you won’t be able to distribute the book you’ve created.

The single largest expense in creating an audiobook is hiring a narrator and this applies to “do it yourself ” as well as A-Z. Option #2, using an A-Z service, may cost more money, but in the end you will have a professional product in a shorter period of time.

Post Hypnotic Press can produce an audiobook in three to six weeks according to co-owner Carlyn Craig.

Here are four companies that provide audiobook publishing services: Post Hypnotic Press, www.posthypnoticpress.com, is the only audiobook production company in BC; it has studios in Mt. Pleasant and in New Westminster. Post Hypnotic Press has been in business since 2010, publishing audiobooks by bestselling authors such as Gabor Maté, bell hooks, and Gail Bowen. This company can provide A-Z services or produce your finished audio.

Author’s Republic, www.authorsrepublic.com, an audiobook distributor, provides a short list of A-Z services on its website as well as limited information for authors who want to produce their own audiobooks.

ACX www.acx.com is Audible’s (owned by Amazon) full-service audiobook production and distribution business. Jerena Tobiasen, author of The Prophecy Saga, told me that “ACX has a simple process” and when I asked her how long it took to produce one audiobook she said, “If I was telling anyone I would say allow yourself two months.” eBookIt, www.ebookit.com, has expanded its focus from e-books to audiobooks. The website provides a very detailed step-by-step guide for recording your own audiobook plus information about how to calculate the cost of paying for a narrator.

All of these companies distribute to Audible, Amazon and iTunes. In addition, Post Hypnotic Press, Author’s Republic, and eBookIt distribute to Canadian libraries through Hoopla and Overdrive.

If you don’t feel confident narrating your own book but the cost of hiring a narrator seems prohibitive here are a couple of options to consider: Pick a narrator in your price range. Narrators charge from $150.00 to $450.00 and up per finished hour.

Choose a payment method that works for you: e.g., pay the narrator outright and keep all the royalties or split the royalties with the narrator until their bill is paid.

There are lots of reasons to create an audiobook.

According to Jerena Tobiasen, “Seeing your book in print for the first time is a thrill, but hearing someone else tell the story raises the experience to another level.”

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Canadian Chapbook Publishers

C

for Poets

hapbooks are typically limited edition, short works of poetry. Often handbound, they may contain a series of poems or one long poem in the range of 20-40 pages, though the exact length varies by publisher. Their small print runs and handcrafted nature make them cherished works of art for poetry lovers.

There are a number of small presses and micropresses across Canada publishing chapbooks. Here, we’ve collected a few publishers—though not all—who are either accepting submissions from BC poets or holding contests at the time of this writing.

§ British Columbia Frog Hollow

froghollowpress.com Victoria-based Frog Hollow Press is published

by Caryl Wyse Peters and edited by Shane Neilson. Frog Hollow has produced a variety of chapbooks by Canadian poets. Currently, the press is accepting submissions for their Dis/Ability Series. Submissions should have a “meaningful and significant” connection to dis/ability.

The Alfred Gustav Press d-zieroth.squarespace.com/the-alfred-gustav-press The Alfred Gustav Press, by publisher David Zieroth, publishes chapbooks by Canadian poets.

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Submissions to the press could be a series of poems or a long poem. For details on how to submit and how to format your pages, see the website. The Alfred Gustav Press is located in North Vancouver.

Greenboathouse Press greenboathouse.com

Award-winning Greenboathouse Press, located in the Okanagan Valley, is a small publisher of handbound, letterpress chapbooks. Publisher Jason Dewinetz occasionally announces brief open calls for submissions on the Greenboathouse website, so check back often.

Raven Chapbooks

dianahayes.ca/about-raven-chapbooks With an emphasis on poets from Vancouver Island and the Salish Sea, Saltspring Island-based Raven Chapbooks is an independent press founded by poet and photographer Diana Hayes. Watch for their Annual Poetry Chapbook Contest in Fall 2021. The deadline is November 30.

§ Alberta No Press

derekbeaulieu.wordpress.com/no-press Since 2005, No Press has published more than 350 publications out of Calgary and, more recently,

Banff. Derek Beaulieu, publisher, is the former Poet Laureate of Calgary.

§ Saskatchewan Jack Pine Press jackpinepress.com

A non-profit publisher of limited edition chapbooks

by Canadian authors, Jack Pine Press is located in Saskatoon. Poets can submit their works along with a chapbook prototype or design proposal.

§ Ontario

above/ground press

yearly contest, The Vallum Chapbook Award. The deadline for this year’s award is April 30, 2021. Prize includes publication.

§ Nova Scotia Collusion Books

longconmag.com/collusionbooks Collusion Books, by Andy Verboom, publishes chapbooks out of Halifax, or K’jipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki.

Collusion’s focus is on collaborative works of poetry.

Its Tafseer imprint publishes chapbooks translated into English by BIPOC & racialized translators.

Submissions are open.

abovegroundpress.blogspot.com

Gaspereau Press

Ottawa-based above/ground press is edited, published, and curated by rob mclennan, poet and former writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta. To inquire about publishing opportunities, visit the above/ground blog, though the publisher recommends querying first.

Kentville, Nova Scotia’s Gaspereau Press occasionally publishes chapbooks by Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Note that Gaspereau Press accepts paper submissions only.

Puddles of Sky Press puddlesofskypress.com

gaspereau.com

§ More Chapbook Publishers

The above list is not exhaustive; there are many more micro-presses and organizations publishing A publisher of chapbooks, postcards, and chapbooks in Canada. Some accept submissions ephemera out of Kingston, Ontario, Michael e. by invitation only, such as Windsor’s Wrinkle Casteels’ Puddles of Sky Press is currently open Press while others, like Vancouver’s Rahlia’s to submissions for its Off-Cuts and Loose-Ends project. Check the website for details on this limited Ghost Press, Toronto’s Anstruther Press, or Ottawa’s Apt. 9 Press are simply closed to run, minimalist poetry project. submissions at this time. Other presses include bpNichol Chapbook Award§ Quebec winners such as London’s Baseline Vallum Chapbooks Press and the University of Alberta’s Glass Buffalo. vallummag.com/chapbookrules.html Based in Montreal on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory, while Vallum Chapbooks does not accept chapbook submissions at this time, they do hold a

We recommend checking these presses’ websites often for open submission calls.

2021 Volume II ︱ WORDWORKS 15

Writing a Compelling Query Pitch Janine Cross You’ve completed the manuscript of your novel to the best of your abilities, and now you want a publisher to buy it. Your next step?

A query letter—sometimes called a query package or query pitch—is a sales tool, usually sent by email, which a writer uses to entice an agent or editor into requesting a manuscript.

It’s typically accompanied by a writing sample, often the first ten pages or first chapter of your manuscript (follow online submission instructions closely, as guidelines differ from agent to editor), and a novel synopsis (a one-page summary revealing the ending). Each query letter should be addressed to a specific person, not Dear Sir/Madam, and shouldn’t be longer than one page, single-spaced.

There are four essential elements to a query letter: • • •

•

Your pitch: a compelling description of your novel (100–300 words); Your facts: genre, word count, title; Your credentials: previous writing sales, significant awards, relevant education/profession/subject-matter expertise (50–100 words); A closing thank you.

If you met the agent/editor at an event and your material was requested, mention this in your opening line. If there is a reason why you’ve chosen to send your material to this particular agent/editor, personalize your query by mentioning it in the opening, e.g.,

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In a recent interview in Publishers Weekly, you said you are looking for historical romances with a speculative twist, and I believe my Victorian time-travel novel may be a good fit for you.

There are two other common methods of beginning a query: leading with fact and leading with story. Leading with fact is when you start with a straightforward statement: “(Title) is an 85,000-word psychological thriller…” This allows you to either segue into your pitch or mention comparable titles with a phrase like, “which will appeal to fans of Stephen King’s Misery and Tana French’s The Searcher.” Comparative titles inform the agent/editor that you know your market while providing a snapshot of your premise, especially if you are combining genres in a unique way, e.g., Little Women meets American Psycho.

Leading with story, on the other hand, grabs the attention of your reader up front with your compelling pitch, also called a hook, and begins immediately after your salutation. In the case of most speculative fiction, this usually involves establishing the setting/time period, like in Isabel Ibanez Davis’s opening sentence in her query for her novel Sea of Rivals: “The year is 1715, the dawn of the golden age of pirates.”

A good pitch incorporates character and plot and gives the reader an idea of why we care about the protagonist and the engaging problem(s) faced. I always start by stating who my character is, what it is they want, and

what obstacle they face in trying to get it. I mention the pivotal consequences from choices the protagonist makes and include any dramatic twists.

Here are three formulas to help you start crafting your pitch.

Option 1—open with a compelling one-sentence summary of: character name/description; the conflict they’re going through; the choices they have to make.

Option 2—open with what your character wants, why they want it, and what’s preventing them from getting it.

Option 3—open with a factual sentence: I have completed a (word count)(genre) titled (title) about (protagonist name + small description) who (conflict).

Crafting a clean, compelling query letter is a necessary step in selling your work to a traditional publishing house, and with practice, creating them gets easier.

How to Succeed at a Pitch Session Janine Cross A pitch session is a face-to-face meeting between a writer and an agent or editor, where the writer succinctly summarizes their story with the ultimate goal of achieving representation and a manuscript sale. Commonly, a writer must pay a premium at a conference to pitch to an agent or editor, whether the meeting takes place via Zoom or in person. The sessions are typically scheduled, time-limited, and, if they are in person, they take place in a large room where other hopeful writers are pitching their work to chosen agents and editors.

I’ve attended many pitch sessions over the years, and the atmosphere at every one is always electric. The hope of every writer towers over the outcome of each intense five- to fifteen-minute interview like a thunderhead. As an emerging writer at such events, I believed my only goal was to persuade an agent or editor to request my manuscript.

But by having that as my sole objective, I inadvertently created a “do-or-die” situation for myself. The outcome of a meeting was either success (a request) or failure (no request). This polarized mindset prevented me from seeing the biggest benefit of a pitch session: to receive instant feedback on my project during a business conversation with an industry professional.

Limiting the delivery of a pitch to about ninety seconds opens the avenue for such a conversation. The agent/editor then has the opportunity to ask questions and comment on the marketability of your storyline, the appeal of characters, and the originality of your title. This assessment

of both your project and your pitch is a fantastic opportunity for vital “course corrections.” The comments often zero in on plot flaws that we as writers are unaware of because we know our story so intimately that our mind fills in gaps. This conversation is an invaluable tool in the process of making a story, and the inevitable query letter that will accompany it, as engaging and saleable as possible.

Establishing a rapport with the agent/editor during this conversation is another commonly overlooked benefit of a pitch interview. Chatting about books similar to your own and enthusing about authors you mutually enjoy not only provides you with additional comparison titles for your work, but gives you insight into what flavours of books they are most passionate about. At one conference, I formed a connection with a New York editor that proved pivotal. Although another company eventually outbid her publishing house on my second manuscript, her encouragement and thoughtful critique of my first manuscript—which ultimately went nowhere—provided invaluable insight into creating my next unique story premise.

So how does one begin this business conversation? I’ve always loosely used this formula: “I’ve a completed a (word count)(genre) titled (title) about (protagonist description) who (conflict).”

I fold my hands to prevent wild gesticulations, and I don’t open with how nervous I am. My short preplanned opening prevents me from speed-talking and rambling. The less I talk, the more the agent or editor talks, and with receiving feedback as

my primary aim, there is no way I can fail at a pitch session.

I also come prepared to compare my book to others: My book is a mash-up of Madeline Miller’s Circe meets Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers.

This gives my listener an idea of the uniqueness of my work and shows that I know the market. Beforehand, I practise my conversation opening with family and work colleagues until it comes out naturally, with pauses for dramatic effect and interruptions.

During this conversation, be prepared to answer the following common questions: •

•

•

•

Tell me about yourself (mention blogs, awards, subject-matter expertise, prior publications, etc.); Tell me about your future writing projects (display your long-term dedication to your writing career by succinctly sharing one or two other project ideas); Where does your book fit in the market? (know your genre, comparable titles, comparable movies/shows); and Sum up your story for me in one line (go to the New York Times Bestseller list for ideas on how to write one).

A pitch session is not a make-or-break situation. It’s a business conversation that, despite what nerves say, is not an emotional, personal process.

Reframing the primary purpose of the meeting as an opportunity to receive instant feedback not only helps you achieve necessary perspective, it also ensures that every pitch is a success, regardless if a manuscript is requested.

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I’ve Finished My Manuscript! What Happens Now? Bill Arnott I’ve had fun, for the most part, splitting my author time between indie and traditional publishing. Like most things, both sides of the coin have pros and cons.

I know successful writers who turn down traditional deals to pursue indie endeavours, loving the freedom to write and sell what they want, how they want, when they want. I admit, it’s a nice feeling passing someone a copy of your book in exchange for a twenty. (Yes, I claim that on my taxes.) Meanwhile, other writers want nothing more than to sign a traditional publishing deal.

Obviously, I’ll be giving you an exhaustive analysis of the process in the next 500 words or so, he said mirthfully. But seriously, think of this as a carefully thought-out but concise overview. If you’re one of the majority that would like to publish your (brilliant) manuscript traditionally, please do the following: get it as close to flawless as possible—spelling, grammar, punctuation and layout. You already know how to change hats between creative and editorial. Hone this skill—the ability to change roles. You’ll need to develop this expertise further as you shift focus from creating your book to marketing it.

But I don’t want the word “product” associated with my art, you might think. Sorry, that ship sailed the moment you chose to share your book with strangers or you expect compensation for your effort. If you only cared about the art, you’d write your book and set it with pride on a shelf. But if you’re reading this, your work is commercial. Yes, it’s art. And it’s product.

No matter how you publish—indie or traditional—the marketing (i.e. your commercial success) is entirely up to you.

That’s not to say a traditional publishing team won’t be there to help, guide, and coach. They will.

But you marketing your work is part of the deal. In fact it’s probably the most significant part of the 18 WORDWORKS ︱ 2021 Volume II

equation. We all know great books that don’t sell, and crap books that sell like gangbusters. It doesn’t warrant analysis. It is what it is. Which I find empowering. Write your very best work. Then rewrite it many, many more times.

And know that bestsellers don’t get written, they get made. Any book can be a bestseller with sufficient commitment and a great deal of ongoing effort. The formula’s simple. Not easy, but simple.

Back when pithy expressions of empowerment were de rigueur, we’d say “plan the work and work the plan.”

Know this. Apply it. It works. If you intend—not hope or wish—but intend to make your work a commercial success, commit to it. Plan it. State it (to yourself; no one wants to hear your grandiose aspirations). Then go to work. This is, after all, a career. A wonderfully sustainable one. And because of its endless rewards (connections, friends, support) it has to come with challenges.

And let’s not forget fit. Seek out a publisher that’s right for you. Yes, it’s overwhelming, mind-numbing work, but so is (was) writing, rewriting and editing your (still brilliant) manuscript. Start with your network.

Ask around. I chose a small geographical base to begin with, which helped organize my planning, then worked outward from there—city, province, etc.

The Association of Book Publishers of BC has a handy list of (BC’s) traditional publishers. Look through each publisher’s catalogue. Find genres or styles comparable to your own. (But my work’s utterly unique. No it’s not. And that’s good.) Then get out there and introduce yourself. Queries are important (and imperative) but a preliminary conversation—some fact-finding Q&A— can go a long way in determining fit and often quicken response times.

There’s a joke I like: “When you write a bestseller, people actually reply to your emails. But if you haven’t (yet) written a bestseller, you actually have time to write!” Point being, as I like to say, there’s no right or wrong, only what’s right for you. And if finding a well-suited traditional publisher to help take your book to the next level is your objective, then know that it’s in your wheelhouse. Write your best work, plan your prospective publisher short list, systematically approach your target publishers, and never, ever stop until you’ve accomplished what’s truly important to you.

Finding an Agent during COVID Lily Quan This January, I finally received an offer from a literary agent who wanted to champion my manuscript. “This book will change lives!” she said emphatically.

It was the highlight of my writing career and a goal I had worked towards for years. I spoke at length with one of her authors, who gave her a thumbs-up. I was good to go. But once I signed, I told hardly anyone. I just wanted to crawl into bed and forget about writing and publishing. I was burned out. It’s always been hard to find an agent; finding one in a pandemic had been brutal.

My manuscript is a Middle Grade novel about a Chinese-Canadian adolescent whose mother gets cancer. The manuscript has already attracted attention.

It won a national children’s writing competition, and last year I was awarded a mentorship with a New York Times bestselling author. Moreover “diversity” is currently hot, and agents high and low claim that they’re looking for #ownvoices novels.

When I had finished revising in early fall, I started querying. With high hopes, I contacted agents who had been interested in the novel, and I waited to hear back. And kept on waiting. For weeks. I began to think something was wrong with my email account. Finally I got some responses. One agent who had been interested before now backed away. The narrator’s voice (the novel’s strong suit) was no longer compelling enough for her. When asked if she liked the latest version, she admitted she hadn’t read it: she had sixty-five manuscripts from potential authors to review as well as four from existing clients.

On it went. Agents who had been keen before now politely declined. Freshly queried ones turned it down too. It didn’t take much. One agent didn’t like that the novel began with a first-person prologue. Another didn’t like the 1980s setting. My mentor and I were shocked. We thought the manuscript was in great shape and someone would take it sooner rather than later. One agent did finally want to represent me. A few weeks later, she rescinded her offer. She was swamped.

The reason for the about-face is the pandemic,

of course. The publishing industry has been hit hard. Book launches have been cancelled, schedules upended. Many publishers in Canada predicted a drop in revenue of about 40 percent. In lean times, publishers become risk-adverse. They only take on books that are sure to sell. Agents follow suit.

A querying writer vented on Twitter. She pretended to be a newbie agent and posted a tweet along these lines: “Hi writers! Query me! I want books that are exactly like the ones that sold last year. Gay-but-nottoo-gay and 30 percent diverse without addressing systemic issues.” Some folks criticized it. I thought it rang true.

The rejections kept coming. More agents turned me down. The thought that my novel wouldn’t see the light of day made me anxious. I had trouble sleeping.

Then in late November, I got two rejections on the full manuscript on the same day.

I felt sucker punched. That week, I put a stop to it: I emailed agents and withdrew my query, I told my mentor I needed space.

Maybe I’d try again later, I thought, or maybe I’d try for a small press or self-publish eventually. Whatever. I needed to look out for my mental health first.

In the end, I did find an agent. Jennifer was one of ones who had received the revised draft in the fall.

Over the holidays, she read it and fell in love with it. But I signed with a fair amount of trepidation. I just didn’t trust the industry. I still don’t. Maybe I’ll be able to when the pandemic is over and COVID has faded into memory.

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Who Do You Think You Are? Shirley Martin The night before my first book launch, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. My inner critic, in full-blown attack mode, taunted: Who do you think you are, writing a book?

Why are you having a “launch”?

Do you actually think anyone will come?

Or buy your book? Who do you think you are!?!

Well, that first launch was a success. Around seventy people showed up and applauded my presentation, and sales were brisk. The launch a fait accompli—I worked to get the book out there. Bookstores and shops were happy to sell my books.

Except for one. One bookstore owner adamantly declined, adding that if he accepted my books, he would have to give them away. He didn’t actually voice the word “pathetic,” but the implication hovered in the air. That book has now sold several thousand copies, and received many positive reviews and comments.

Why then does his implied label stay with me?

Writing is one thing. Putting it out into the world is another. The writing entails huge blocks of time, and (cliché alert) blood, sweat, and tears. The act of publishing is a sharing of oneself, an act of vulnerability.

It is a leap of faith. Once the work is out there, there is no going back. Response then colours how we perceive our chosen path.

When I started marketing my first book, a big-box bookstore employee asked me for my website.

“Ummm…website?” I stammered. She explained that if I wanted to be taken seriously, if I wanted to sell books, I would need an author website.

Well, of course I wanted to sell my books! Of course I wanted to be taken seriously!

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Coached by a computer techy, I set up my website.

The dilemma arose when I had to choose a domain name. “You’re an author,” said a friend. “Just call it shirleymartinauthor.” Am I, though? I thought. AM I an author?

It turned out that shirleymartinauthor belonged to a prolific romance author from south of the border.

“So, call it shirleymartinwriter,” said my friend. My inner critic stoked the bonfire of self-doubt. Did I dare put it out there, present myself as a writer? The naysayer won. I settled on shirleymartinwrites, because, well, that’s what I do.

Now, four books later, I still struggle with the insecurity that goes hand-in-hand with my chosen passion.

The books are selling. I get positive responses. Does this make me a bona fide writer?

Occasionally someone will ask how my “hobby” is going, “you know, the writing thing,” and my inner core bristles. My writing is more than a hobby, more than a pastime. It is…dare I say it…a vocation. And a challenging one, at that.

Thus far my books have all been self-published, a mode which once had a bad rap but is now more widely accepted. Still, I seek the validation that comes with being traditionally published. In that realm, I have published a handful of magazine and newspaper articles. The acceptance of those pieces was thrilling. I strive for more.

Pursuing publication has gifted me with a stack of rejection letters buried in my den. It’s time to shine light on them, to display those letters with pride… maybe I can acquire more, enough to wallpaper a small room.

Those letters do not say I failed; they say I tried.

They urge me to try harder.

It takes courage to put ourselves out there, to open ourselves to criticism or to indifference. Why do we keep doing it?

I write because I have stories inside me. These stories want to be told. And there is nothing so gratifying as having your work read by someone who appreciates it, who gets it. To hear a child (or an adult) say, “I liked that story. I want to read the next one,” is all the motivation I need. I write, therefore I am…a writer.

Work in (Endless) Progress Marie-Claude Arnott “Thirty drafts? In how many years did you say?” It was my reaction more than my questions to a memoir instructor. After five years, I, too, have completed many drafts, not as quantifiable as those of the instructor since I write digitally and not longhand.

Today, my 80,000-word manuscript is as firmly grounded on the page as it is in my mind—pending future agents’ assessments. And yet doubts are hindering me from moving forward.

So, what happened during those years?

Two years after I completed the first draft, I hired an editor only to discover later that it had been too early for that.

Of course, I benefited from copy-editing and other syntax alerts and pertinent questions, but my manuscript wasn’t ready for a line-by-line edit. Much was still unclear even to me. I should have asked for an evaluation, a manuscript critique, or at least development guidance first.

A year later, my manuscript was again as ready as my skills allowed, so I contacted (Canadian) agents.

The guidelines of the first one required a fifty-page book proposal, leading to a six-week-long, full-days and late-nights project. The rejection led to literary agencies with less challenging guidelines. More than that, each new query exposed the weaknesses of the previous one. Eight queries yielded four formal rejections and four implicit ones, plus months of waiting.

Even now-famous authors admit that rejections by the dozens aren’t that unusual. As an inspiring author, I was hoping nothing short of a miracle.

Discouraged by the process, I stopped querying but kept working. It became obvious that I hadn’t gained a full perspective on my memoir. A personal story can’t be rushed. And so, over two more years, my narrative improved in ways that weren’t obvious earlier.

Editing led to deleting (the hardest part) as well as developing, tweaking, copying/pasting, splitting chapters, and other fact-checking. The text got sharper—unclear thoughts and blurry transitions couldn’t hide in verbiage anymore.

Unlike autobiography, a memoir doesn’t have to be chronological, but my flashbacks needed smooth and logical triggering, and the dramatic backbone of my narrative called for some breathing space. Dynamic descriptions—as in show, don’t tell—gave it depth and substance. Reading excerpts at a conference returned encouraging critiques. What’s more, it pointed to tongue-tied traps and lack of musicality in sentences— hence the need to practise.

Still, a troubling little voice kept telling me something was missing.

At a loss to identify what it was, my manuscript joined earlier drafts in my digital folder. Until I read two quotes that shuffled my mind like a deck of cards—the epiphany revealed itself. I then played solitaire until the parts of my story found their rightful place.

It was now time for more advance readers—five friends since my first draft.

Their comments were always useful, but I knew their evaluation couldn’t be objective. I, too, had read someone’s manuscript, deemed a total rewrite by an editor—it read as the writer talked, and with a punctuation protocol of her own making. It was engaging and funny, but despite creative imagery and a rich vocabulary, it was indeed only the first draft. I had nevertheless binge-read this page-turner because I knew the writer, and I was curious for more.

I hope to give my fellow writers, those who are perhaps stuck in the doldrums of doubt, a sense of kinship in the gruelling process of writing a book, especially a memoir.

You are not alone to feel that way!

Meanwhile, I hope that the power of accountability will push me forward. I have more work to do, of a different type of writing. I know the pros and cons of seeking an agent versus going straight to a publisher; either way, I should seek endorsements—advance praise, or blurb—to lend credibility to my story. And I need a “platform.” Are you saying I need a blog too?

Worst of all, for peace of mind, shouldn’t I turn my memoir into a novel?

Oh my…

2021 Volume II ︱ WORDWORKS 21

Softening the Blow: Poets Talk About Rejection Joanna Streetly

Nurture For Tina Biello, nurturing the hurt means going outside, gardening, walking in nature. “I take my partner’s words to heart, ‘every no is a step toward a yes.’ I must think this way otherwise I would feel forever doomed.” Lowther reminds herself of her successes. And while she seeks the reassurance of publication, “the composition is the joy. Acceptance is just icing.” For Yvonne Blomer it means doing what makes her happiest: writing. “The most free I feel is being 22 WORDWORKS ︱ 2021 Volume II

lost in the writing, and not thinking about what is next, except the next line or image. Not worrying if anyone else will like it, but having my hands immersed in the muck of making.”

Reassess “There are many kinds of rejections,” says Marilyn Bowering. “Some when you know you have submitted too soon; others when you have to take a hard look, dig in and improve what you can, but keep to your vision (otherwise acceptance becomes meaningless). Understanding where you are in terms of the current Zeitgeist can help.”

“I chew through the poem again,” says Blomer. “Sometimes I don’t send it out again. Some I just keep sending out.”

“Rejection is an opportunity to learn,” states Shepersky.

“I have had the benefit of some thoughtful, specific rejection letters. Every time an editor has bothered to write a personal note, it’s been valuable, and I’ve taken it to heart.”

Reach Out Create positivity by nurturing other writers and letting them nurture you. “For me, the world of poetry is so much larger than publication and acceptance,” says Barbara Pelman. “It’s about the community of poets, the conversations I have with them about things that matter to me— learning more about the power of language, how to find the best words in the best order, taking classes, offering classes, reading poems, sharing poems, editing poems. It is a way of living that is rich in itself.”

Joanna Streetly photo by Janis McDougall

Much is written about the rejections that even famous writers experience—how if you’re not getting x number of rejections per month you’re not sending out enough work. But how does rejection alter the way you see your own work or your own sense of self-worth? Constant rejection goes against every accepted strategy for encouraging people to be the best they can be. It’s obviously subjective, yet you can’t always control how it affects you. The more rejections, the more readers the work has failed to move, so the erosion of self-belief can be cumulative.

“I’m the type of person who starts to think maybe the reviewer is right. Maybe the book sucks,” writes John McNally in his essay “The Shame, the Necessity, the Discouragement and the Freedom: Rejection, Failure and the Bigger Picture.”

“It wasn’t a very good poem anyway,” Barbara Pelman’s inner voice gloats at her when work is rejected and her belief in it evaporates. “Not edgy enough, not experimental enough, too ordinary, too nostalgic. Rejection feeds into old demons. The imposter syndrome, the see-you’re-notreally-a-poet burn.”

For Christine Lowther rejection brings dark thoughts, like, “I’m embarrassing the memory of my mother,” the late Pat Lowther. “Sometimes it gets even darker.”

“My first reaction is usually defensiveness,” says Tara K. Shepersky. “Which is healthy—it’s good to have confidence in your work—and then quickly unhealthy if you don’t catch it.”

Most poets agree that the first step on the road back to self-belief is to nurture the hurt feelings. Next, re-assess the work. Last, reach out to other writers to give and receive support.

How to Move Forward after Rejection Aja Egglestone Allow Do not suppress the hurt. This doesn’t mean feed a negative emotional spiral, but allow the emotions to be felt and validated. It can help to even say “I am hurt” out loud. This is how to process feelings, grow from the experience and move forward unburdened by rejection.

Practise self-compassion Talk to someone you trust, share how you feel. Don’t bottle it up. Give yourself time and be gentle to yourself.

Find humour—Laughter is great medicine!

Redirect In a sense, rejection is redirection. Be curious, be open. What other doors

are opening? Is there something you want to change about your work?

Rejection can be an opportunity for something you can’t yet conceive.

Reframe Rejection reflects the courage to be vulnerable and take risks. Reframe the rejection as something creating resilience and character.

Return Most importantly, come back to the heart of the work. Reconnecting with the writing can dilute the importance of external acceptance or rejection, allowing you to cultivate inner acceptance and validation of your own self, including the words you write. Who did you write it for? What was the intention? How does it make you feel?

Celebrate your own expression.

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cascadiaauthorservices.com 2021 Volume II ︱ WORDWORKS 23

Why Poems Get Rejected A take on the fraught relationship between poet and editor

1

4

The poem mentions a man “laying in the shade under a tree” and the acquisitions editor suddenly remembers how much she hates eggs—any kind of eggs.

Some days a memory like this is all itThe takes for an reject editor haseditor sworntothat if a poem. she reads another

The editor has sworn that if another clichéridden poem lands on her desk she will quit and apply at Walmart. Unhappy at having had her bluff called so quickly, she rejects the poem.

2 3

The cover letter begins “Dear Sir or Madame” or there is no cover letter or the cover letter states that the poet does not read poems, nor do they study the craft of poetry because they don’t want to lose their originality.

8

The poem’s central metaphor, that passion is a freight train bursting through a tunnel at night, is derailed when that same passion, in the second stanza, starts galloping along.

m 9 5

poem which The editormentions is thrilledthe to full open an envelope moon sheand will find an erotic quit poem. her job and Unfortunately,work unless forthey Walmart. take it home, Unhappy it will endatuphaving in the shredder. had The her publisher’ s bluff called, guidelines very sheclearly rejectsstate the poem. a preference for children’s literature.

b

The editor’s delight at receiving a poem using magic realism turns to dismay when she realizes the poet has simply been careless with verb tense.

6 7

The poem clunks along in rhyme, tripping all over its metrical feet.

The beautiful poem, typed on scented pink paper, ends up on the desk of an editor with chemical sensitivities.

The poet doesn’t seem to realize that the English language has evolved in the last 200 years. Or that poetry has. The editor sympathizes: bad poetry teachers! Nevertheless, they rejects the poem.

10

The poem contains the words love, pain, suffering, truth, honesty and future—all in seven lines. It’s enough to make the editor want to dash the poem’s brains out on the concrete floor. But he checks his anger, decides a rejection will do.

q

“Why Poems Get Rejected” is reprinted from the chapbook of the same title © Marianne and Suzanne (leafpress.ca).

With love to Manfred Klein for drawing the font BirdsXtreme (used with permission and a donation to Doctors without Borders) and to Tim Lander, who always includes the line “Do not reproduce without love” in his chapbooks.

24 WORDWORKS ︱ 2021 Volume II

I will be more myself in the next world

Black Bears in the Carrot Field

Matsuki Masutani poems & Japanese translations

Linda K. Thompson poems

JUNE

In Masutani’s debut book, his clear minimalist poems embrace with gentle and perceptive wit; aging, family, his Japanese roots, self-acceptance and island life. Untangled and reflective they also address marriage, Parkinson’s, Chemo and impermanence.

Masutani has translated Canadian works such as Roy Kiyooka’s Mothertalk and Hiromi Goto’s A Chorus of Mushrooms. He lives on Denman Island.

Thompson’s debut book is loaded with personalities from small towns and full of imperfection and humour. Verna, who sneaks back from the dead, Gloria, who whacks down walls, Kirk, who buys a house on Visa, and old Pete, who never loved the moon. Finally a Canadian poet that writes characters better than many novelists.

Thompson has won several awards for her writing and lives in Port Alberni.

JULY

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Portal celebrates 30 years!

Portal’s Script Contest $25 entry fee includes one issue $500 Prize • Deadline: Oct 15, 2021

Details at:

portalmagazine.ca 2021 Volume II ︱ WORDWORKS 25

In this Issue Suzanne Anderson is an author and publishing coach who helps others navigate the world of independent publishing. She self-published her first book in 1997 and has written three books. Best known for Self Publishing in Canada, which won a Writer’s Digest Selfpublished Book Award, she is the Cowichan regional rep for the FBCW. She conducts writing and publishing workshops throughout BC and will soon have them online. http://selfpublishing.ca.

Bill Arnott is the bestselling award-winning author of The Gamble Novellas (fiction), Forever Cast in Endless Time (poetry), Gone Viking: A Travel Saga (nonfiction) and the upcoming travelogue sequel Gone Viking II: Beyond Boundaries. When not trekking the globe with a small pack, weatherproof journal and laughably outdated camera phone, Bill can be found on Canada’s west coast, making friends and misbehaving. billarnottaps.wordpress.com | @billarnott_aps.

Marie-Claude Arnott was born in France and lived in several countries before moving to West Vancouver. She earned a BA in International Studies then studied with the London School of Journalism. She is a member of the International Women’s Writing Guild.

Travel stories in print and for an award-winning digital travel magazine are her most-published work. Her flash stories took the back burner for a memoir ready to leave the coop.

Barb Drozdowich is an author and a technical trainer. She takes her decades of teaching experience and focuses it on the needs of authors and the rapidly evolving publishing world. Barb is the author of thirty books, many YouTube videos, and several online courses, and she blogs at Bakerview Consulting. She lives in the mountains of British Columbia with her family.

Voted by Library Journal as one of the top five sci-fi/ fantasy novelists of 2005, Janine Cross is the author of the internationally published The Dragon Temple Trilogy and the literary novel The Footstop Cafe. She’s sold fiction and non-fiction to various magazines and

26 WORDWORKS ︱ 2021 Volume II

has taught workshops at writing festivals, conventions, and in secondary and elementary schools. You can reach her at www.janinecross.ca.

CBC Books. Her first novel, The List of Last Chances, a Shrapnel Magazine most-anticipated choice for spring 2021, will be on shelves this May.

Aja Egglestone provides holistic and psycho-spiritual counselling and coaching to those embarking on the journey of self-exploration and discovery. She blends ancient and contemporary philosophies and teachings to support others in cultivating a deeper understanding of one’s self, developing skills and strategies to navigate challenges, and identifying ways one can enrich life’s experience. Based on Vancouver Island, Aja is a nature lover, adventure seeker, and a proud dog mom.

Lily Quan is a writer and editor in Nanaimo. She was recently in Whitehorse, where she worked as a literary programmer and festival director. Lily was a 2019 winner of the Writing for Children Competition by Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP). In 2020, We Need Diverse Books awarded her a mentorship with author Aisha Saeed. Lily is currently a freelance writer for Disney publishing. Her Yukon blog is sourdoughwannabe.wordpress.com. Twitter handle is @sagenorth.

Shirley Martin writes harbourside in Ucluelet, and gains inspiration from her rugged west-coast surroundings. Her first book is an alphabet book for all ages, featuring her photography and prose. Shirley has published a children’s picture book about Ucluelet harbour, and two middle-grade novels, with a third in the works. She has a passion for local history, kayaking and beachcombing, and a relatively new-found rapport with poetry. www.shirleymartinwrites.com.

Lesley Taylor is a writer and life coach. She is the author of The Dynamic Introvert: Leading Quietly with Passion and Purpose. Lesley has written on and off throughout her life. Her projects include a monthly seniors’ column in the Richmond Review and a research article in the Canadian Journal of Family Law as well as numerous freelance articles.

Christina Myers is a writer, editor, and former journalist. She is the creator and editor of the non-fiction anthology BIG: Stories About Life in Plus-Sized Bodies (Caitlin Press, 2020), which was named a most-anticipated book by both Quill & Quire and

Joanna Streetly’s work is published in Best Canadian Essays 2017 and in anthologies, magazines and literary journals. Her most recent book, Wild Fierce Life: Dangerous Moments on the Outer Coast, is a BC Bestseller published by Caitlin Press. She has been short-listed for the FBCW Literary Writes Poetry Contest, and the Canada Writes Creative Non-fiction Prize.

Jess Wesley is a graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University. She writes fiction for adults and teens on Wattpad, where her romantic comedy, Girl Under Construction, is available for purchase. She lives in Smithers, BC. jesswesley.com.

2021 Volume II ︱ WORDWORKS 27

Launched!

New Titles from FBCW Members Soul of a Nomad Kim Letson / West Moon Publishing, 2020 / 9781777271107 / $26.99 Transversing Canada, rounding Cape Horn, riding the Patagonian Pampas and Mongolian wilds. From Greek Islands to North Cape. Through Thailand or along the Silk Road, Letson’s journeys reflect her curiosity and adventurous spirit. Readers meet characters imagined and real: ancestral ghosts, the author’s intrepid parents, lighthouse keepers, an Auschwitz survivor, gauchos, Roma and nomads. Set within historic and literary contexts, Soul of a Nomad shares sixty-five years of journeys and revelations. Evocative descriptions nestle amongst hair-raising anecdotes, every page encouraging the reader to explore further.

Arc of Light Lorraine Gane / Raven Chapbooks, 2020 / 9780973440843 In this loving and light-filled elegy to her mother, Salt Spring Island poet Lorraine Gane evokes a painful stage that mid-life children of ailing parents will recognize. It is a complex grief, letting go of parents as protectors, moving into acceptance of inevitable loss, and of their own place, parentless, now on the front lines of mortality.

The beauty of the natural world is ever present in these poems; doubtless Salt Spring’s stunning landscapes assist Gane’s braiding of light and dark, life and death. The final poem finds her tranquil and accepting, comforted by the image of a luminous white arc floating over her mother’s body. (Wendy Donawa.)

ARGENTINA poesia Franci Louann / Ekstasis Editions, 2020 / 9781771714068 / $24.95 Franci Louann’s book captures the unique and sensuous qualities of Argentina and its cities. It gives the reader the view of an outsider looking through eyes of love—personal and cultural—but clear-sighted about dark political histories and present complexities, and the difficulties gaining knowledge of how to live in a new land. In Louann’s poetry, we hear the music, taste the wine, read the authors, and enjoy the artists and architects of this place, while we take up residence and wander its streets, grand and humble.~ Adrienne Drobnies, author of Salt and Ashes.

Lou and the Whale of a Crime Inga Kruse / November, 2020 / Paperback ISBN: 9781777300104 E-book ISBN: 9781777300111 Lou can’t seem to help herself—when she sees something suspicious, she has to investigate. Her Great Dane Rocky is always by her side trying to help, but mostly getting himself into hilarious tangles. Using her homemade spy gear, she stumbles on nefarious criminals operating nearby. Along with Lou’s best friend Oliver, it takes all of her bravery and smarts to figure out what’s happening. Little does she know there is something else more serious brewing in the town of Squamish. The crime turns out to be bigger than anybody could imagine. Lou pulls together her friends to figure out what is happening Now they have to figure out how to stop it.

Unamakik, Land of Fog Afiena Kamminga / FriesenPress, 2020 / 9781525577093 / $22.49 In this sequel to The Sun Road, 2014, we follow a tenth-century Norse woman from Greenland, Thora Thorvinnsdottir, on her travels in newly discovered “Westland” across the Western Sea, with her lover, Elkimu, and indigenous “Westlander.” The story features harmony and conflict in the meeting of two people, one from Viking Age Scandinavia, the other from the indigenous world of that time in what is today known as Atlantic Canada.

Will Thora succeed in creating a new life for herself in an alien place among an alien people?

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My Delightfully Dysfunctional Family (and me) Loraine Hartley / September, 2020 / 9781525578267 / $20.00 The book begins in 1972,when dad created a “blended family” long before the concept was considered as normal and common as it is today. It ends when my dad dies. It contains struggles, joys, trials and triumphs that I and my family members faced through the next generation of divorce and deception. Families are complex and don’t always turn how the way we want them to. There are incidents where you can’t help but laugh, and adventures that were not easy to survive. There are eye opening experiences about how my faith and spirit have carried me through—always trying to maintain a positive outlook. Many people can relate to the stories, as they are comparable to their own.

Guilty Knowledge—Canadian True-Crime Allan W. Waddy / December, 2020 / 9781775176305 Guilty Knowledge is a real-life look into true-crime files investigated by the author Allan W. Waddy and his wife Gloria. During their twenty-six year career as Licensed Private Investigators, they concluded thousands of criminal, civil litigation, fire causation and surveillance files throughout British Columbia and the United States. The cases depicted in this book amplify rules and regulations relating to the Canadian Criminal Code, Privacy Act and Evidentiary Chain of Custody.

Strength and Vulnerability Ken Westdorp / FriesenPress, 2000 / 978152555152 / $14.99 pb $7.99 e-book Strength and Vulnerability is a follow-up book of poetry to the book entitled Gateway to Obscurity dealing with an in-depth look at the human condition. This time Ken uses a great deal of his outreach experience with NightShift Ministry as he recounts the emotional turmoil and triumph of those living on the street. In addition he describes his early spiritual journey that had both elements of addiction as well as depression as he searched for greater purpose. Beside being available online from FreisenPress, the book is also accessible from Google books, Amazon. ca and Indigo Books.

Tone Dead Sydney Preston / 9781775315728 / $22.50 When the body of a local arts reporter is found at a local tourist site, it appears to be a robbery gone wrong. She had been under police protection after witnessing a murder in Edmonton, but the modus operandi does not fit the profile of a professional hit. Detective Sergeant Ray Rossini leaves for Italy believing the case is closed, but his partner, D.S. Jimmy Tan is not so sure. The reporter had made enemies with her vicious reviews and had been accused of causing the death of a famous choral conductor. On his own time, his investigation takes him to Edmonton where he unearths an astonishing story.

All That It Takes K.L. Ditmars / January 2021 / 1777410100 / $21.99 A human trafficking ring is operating in the shadows of Victoria, BC. When they murder her husband, Julia Bowen is determined to turn on the light. As she navigates grief, being hunted, and attempting to expose a network of local businesses involved in the sexual exploitation of young women, Julia encounters help from unexpected people and discovers a God who is present through it all.

Heart Work Susan McCaslin / Ekstasis Editions, 2020 / 9781771714020 / $25.00 This luminous book is a poetic mandala, a circle of compassion that embraces the planet and illuminates the particulars of sparrow, snail and spider. Susan McCaslin follows the poet’s vocation to “dream, receive, and chant the broken world.” The poems speak most movingly to our times, addressing coronavirus and lamenting a beloved forest region devastated by wildfire. Hildegard of Bingen, Keats, and Julian of Norwich enter her reflections to enrich our sense of these times and their meaning. McCaslin has evidently lived with the mystics’ writings for a long time, and they appear here, not as though they are of the past, but as though they are presences who have been with us all along.

2021 Volume II ︱ WORDWORKS 29

WARRIOR ANGEL Beyond Disabiity: A Family’s Quest for Ordinary Susan Dunnigan / December, 2020 / 9781989092484 / $25.00 Raw and real, Warrior Angel intimately shares one family’s lived experience with disability. Standing against ingrained societal tendencies that patronize and marginalize people with disabilities, the family rejects segregated approaches. Susan and Neil fiercely nurture capacity, belonging, and responsibility for their son. Equally independent-minded, Matthew doggedly pursues an ordinary life, where abundant risks, struggles, and rewards await. Diverse vignettes spill decades of indelible memories. The book weaves two tales. The first speaks to Matt’s textured journey and the challenges he encounters. The second is his family’s story. With candour and sensitivity, the stories exude the elements of ordinary life: unconditional love, vulnerability, angst and hope.

Wind on the Heath Naomi Beth Wakan / Shanti Arts, 2020 / 9781951651558 / $25.00 The poems in Wind on the Heath are all about the examined life. Naomi Beth Wakan, personal essayist, and the inaugural poet laureate of Nanaimo, has spent a lifetime pondering what it means to be human. What is clear from this collection of poems spanning her mid-twenties to late eighties, is that she was born inquisitive and has remained inquisitive. Whether she is writing about sex or how to cut a rose, these poems offer a bittersweet look at life with irony, humour, reflection and a healthy dose of cynicism. These are poems that speak to human nature, our existential aloneness, the fleetingness of life, the pitfalls and hurdles we all must face—this collection offers readers a crack through which we may glimpse reality.

What I’d Say To Buddha If I Met Him In the Pub Frank Talaber / January 2021 / EPUB: 9781777526917 Print ISBN: 9781777092870 Enter the literary world of Frank Talaber, Canada’s Foremost Off-Beat Author. A natural storyteller, whose compelling thoughts are freed from the depths of the heart and the subconscious before being poured onto the page. Literature written beyond the realms of genre. He is known to grab readers kicking, screaming, laughing or crying, and drag them into his novels.

One Good Thing—A Living Memoir M.A.C. Farrant / Talon Books, 2021 / 9781772012842 / $19.95 One Good Thing is a charming collision of memoir with the living, exuberant, and vulnerable natural world.

Written in sixty-four short epistolary chapters, M.A.C. Farrant’s latest offering represents a search for hope and appeasement in a rapidly changing and often perplexing society. One Good Thing is also an homage to gardening columnist extraordinaire Helen Chesnut of Victoria’s Times Colonist, each section of the book focusing and expanding on one of her gardening columns.

Diary of a Mad Travel Writer Carolyn Walton / FriesenPress, 2019 / 9781525544811 / $20.00 This collection of tales and misadventures takes the travel lover and armchair traveller on an engaging and often humorous journey to the heart of some sixty bucket-list destinations around the globe. The old adage: “Half the fun is getting there” just doesn’t compute when Carolyn’s much anticipated flight to Paris is politically interrupted or a transfer to the wrong boat in the South Pacific leaves her abandoned on a Fijian Island!

The Electric Girl Christine Hart / March, 2021 / 9781777519404 / $2.99 Polly Michaels is trying to forget that her mom has cancer. She keeps busy at school and plods through a normal social life. Until a freak electrical storm and a unicorn appear in the orchard next to her house. Sy’kai wakes on an orchard floor to the smell of rotting cherries and wet earth. She doesn’t know where she is—or what she is—but she knows something is hunting her. Polly recruits her friends to find the creature she saw from her window while Sy’kai, a confused shape-shifting endling from another dimension tries to piece her mind back together. Once the human girls find Sy’kai the mystery unravels and the danger facing all of them comes into focus.

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Kateri O’Leary and the Show Dog Scene Shirley Martin / November, 2020 / pb 9780992061548 $9.95 e-book 9780992061555 $4.95 Kateri O’Leary is finally ready for the Show Dog ring, despite a friendship fiasco, money troubles, and a bully named Clive. But does her rescue dog, Belle, have a different plan? “This entertaining story for eight- to twelveyear-olds features a lovable and feisty redhead whose freckled Irish charm and hair-brained Irish Setter keep you turning pages. I kept finishing a chapter and thinking “I’ll just read one more…” Shirley Martin has created a memorable character, one that kids everywhere will relate to.” (Joanna Streetly, author of Wild Fierce Life: Dangerous Moments on the Outer Coast www.shirleymartinwrites.com) Some Christmas Teresa Schapansky / December, 2020 / 9781988024097 / $6.99 A fifteenth birthday and a drug bust in the midst of a global pandemic. Pretty sure this will turn out to be…some Christmas. Some Christmas is the first book in the Inspire Series: high interest, short stories directly inspired by and written for the adolescent in all of us.

Cowichan Kid Joy Sheldon / September, 2020 / 979-8673139400 / pb $46.21 e-book $9.99 Wringer washers, sad irons ’n hog jowls! Staples of rural life back in my day. Growing up at Stratfords Crossing near Duncan, BC was vastly different from what most kids experience now. From party lines to bucksaws. Life on a small truck farm interspersed with the antics of several, mostly dysfunctional, family members. Several had mental illness, undiagnosed and not talked about in those days. The neighbours, mostly poor, like us (but some rich by our standards) also had their share of eccentrics. From Nestor N., the hermit, to Mr. McGonagal who blew himself up with dynamite! School days from Old Somenos to Cowichan High. And all under the shadow of that unusual red “crossing house” named Stratfords. Yep, those were the days.

Courage to Speak: Honouring Ancestor Voices Sharon E Syrette & Siyamtelot Shirley Leon / January 2021 / 9780986936845 / $20.00 Your culture is disappearing, so what can you do? In the mid-1970s the Coqualeetza Elders met weekly to document their Halq’eméylem language. The history of the change from oral to written Halq’eméylem became the story of individual Elders whose memories of education were so negative. Throughout this new “apprenticeship in linguistics,” they maintained their dignity, corrected one another, laughed together, and created the grounding for the written words that were recorded for the first dictionary. The stories of ten fluent speakers focuses on three Sto:lo women. Over 100 photographs and graphics help bring the stories alive. ancestorconnections@gmail.com To Kill a King: a Hollystone Mystery Book 4 W. L. Hawkin / March 2021 / 9780995018495 Sorcha just wanted to warn Ruairí of his fate until she fell in love. How could she leave him to be ritually murdered and cast in a bog to cure for two thousand years? Though he’s grieving the loss of his lover, when Estrada discovers that the archaeologist is trapped in Iron Age Ireland, he demands Cernunnos take him back through time to rescue her. There are rules: “You cannot change history or develop bonds with anyone.” How can Sorcha survive this Druid culture? Assuming she’s fey, Ruairí’s rival wants her power, but worse still, his lover, the Crow Queen wants her dead. Read this romantic, time-travelling, prehistoric thriller to find out what it takes To Kill a King.

Wild Horses of the Mind Lisa Rawn /December 2020 / 9781777310219 / $15.00 Part of a two volume coffee table set of poetry chapbooks, Wild Horses of the Mind explores the events, connections and demons that defy us during our lives. This equine-themed volume contains twenty-three pages of choice poems, accented with antique engravings. Each chapbook is exquisitely crafted of finest materials and design, with stitched bindings. Readers review them as beautiful to hold, admire and read, making them a lovely gift item. Lisa Rawn is the author of four poetry chapbooks. Her poems have been published in prominent magazines and anthologies. Lisa won Vancouver’s 2015 Pandora’s Collective poetry contest, and was nominated for a 2016 Pushcart Prize.

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The List of Last Chances Christina Myers / Caitlin Press, 2021 / 9781773860596 / $22.95 At thirty-eight years old, Ruthie finds herself newly unemployed, freshly single, sleeping on a friend’s couch and downing a bottle of wine each night. Having overstayed her welcome and desperate for a job, Ruthie responds to David’s ad: he’s looking for someone to drive his aging mother, Kay, and her belongings from PEI to Vancouver.

But once they’re on the road, Kay reveals that she’s got a list of stops along the way that’s equal parts sightseeing tour, sexual bucket-list, and trip down memory lane. Heartfelt and humorous, The List of Last Chances follows a pair of reluctant travel companions across the country into an unexpected friendship, new adventures, and the rare gift of second chances.

Albert Quimby George Opacic / Rutherford Press, 2021 / 9781988739458 / $32.00 Albert has moved through life easily taking on different personas. He falls in love while helping a co-worker who had found their boss’s body. Running from a gang that blames them for shooting their former employer, they hide on an island in the Salish Sea, helped by a growing sentience they call Beasty.

Out of the Dark

by Lillian Boraks-Nemetz / Ronsdale Press, 2020 / 9781553806325 / $17.95 This collection offers a cycle of poems about the poet who, as a child survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, has had to live with the memories of the Holocaust all her life. The first section describes the evils of suffering and prejudice, of war and destruction, and the loss of loved ones, even the loss of self. “This is a ghetto / where humans live in neglected cages / within a fire that burns sleep out of their eyes.” The second section brings glimmers of light in finding ways to move towards a better, fuller life, as the poet realizes “We must always seek / new ways / of reaching one another / though each of us / is a world unto itself.” The third section offers a tribute to the artists and poets who have come before and who have left behind their gifts for us.

Mother Nature Eats Her Kind Neil Garvie / Pod Creative Publishing, 2020 / 9781715683993 / 64 pp $10.00 Mother Nature Eats Her Kind is Neil’s second environmental book of poetry. In it the author pulls no punches, offering real images of nature which touch on the disturbing—reminding us, “Mother Nature is pounding at our door. There is no doubt she will survive. The question is, will we?” That said, this book is also mindful of those whose hearts are heavy from the constant reports of doom and gloom, concluding with an important message to hold strong and not lose hope. Presented in strikingly varied styles and forms it is a must-read. You can purchase a copy of this exciting new book at garvie.ca.

The Pit Tara Borin / Nightwood Editions, 2021 / 9780889713956 / $18.95 Set in a small-town sub-Arctic dive bar, this debut poetry collection explores the complexities of addiction and the person beneath, and the possibility of finding home and community in unexpected places.

Lady Black Tim Hanley / 9781777263911 Jack Marian is a young man, the son of a single mother, and though he doesn’t know it, he is in need of a father.

Roy Allen the “old man of truth” hires him on and becomes his mentor. Likes dogs circling a singular bone, man’s greed comes knocking. A deadly chain of events leads from the blackness of the Turn Again gold mine, to a desperate adventure on board the sternwheeler “Lady Black” to raucous bars and taverns where murderous plots are hatched. All in the quest for another man’s gold—and a harbinger of the worldwide evil to come. And behind it all, a story of love that was missed and then reached for.

32 WORDWORKS ︱ 2021 Volume II

2021 Volume II ︱ WORDWORKS 33

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