Prince Edward Island Publishers, Bad Luck, and a Radio Show Called Faster Than Light
Handle a Subtitle as a Bee Does a Flower; Extract its Sweetness But Do Not Damage It!
FEB 23, 2024
This is the seventh edition of Assorted Nonsense, the official newsletter of Donovan Street Press, where we are constantly refining how we do titles
We all experience bad luck from time to time.
I broke my ankle once. An excellent example of bad luck. I did not enjoy slipping on ice. I did not enjoy seeing my foot twisted 180 degrees in the wrong direction. I did not enjoy the knowledge that I wouldn’t be able to walk normally for at least another two months. And I certainly didn’t enjoy the pain I experienced over the next several hours, some of the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life.
But I super appreciated all the people that suddenly appeared to help me. The woman who called the ambulance, the paramedics who transported me to the hospital, the fact that there was a hospital to transport me to, the nurses who did their best to make me comfortable, the doctor who snapped my ankle back to something approximating its normal position, the surgeon who patched me up a couple of days later, the Canadian Medical system which didn’t cost me a dime, and my beautiful wife who took good care of me during my recovery.
Because here’s the thing about bad luck. Often, I find, it’s wrapped inside good luck. What good fortune that I broke my ankle in a time and a place that it could be fixed, well and promptly?
Bad luck that I was born with poor vision, and contact lenses give me terrible headaches. What good fortune that I have access to glasses that completely correct my vision.
And so on.
We can wallow in bad luck if we like.
Or use it to remember all the good fortune it so often comes wrapped in.
Publishing in Prince Edward Island: A Survey
As some of you might recall, Donovan Street Press is about to start publishing other peoples’ books. This is a big step and there’s a lot to do to get ready.
One important task is simply to get the lay of the land.
With this in mind, I conducted a survey of who else is publishing books in Atlantic Canada. By this, I mean publishers who are publishing books by more than one author.
I took a look at Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and the province in which Donovan Street Press is mainly based, New Brunswick.
The results are illuminating. There are more publishers than I expected, and some of them are bigger and more established than I thought. And hardly anyone is focussing on genre, especially science fiction and fantasy. What, don’t they believe in dragons and spaceships down here in Atlantic Canada?
For the next few newsletters, I’ll share what I’ve found. Today we’ll look at Prince Edward Island (PEI).
I found five publishers in PEI:
Acorn Press
Acorn Press publishes books that “reflect the culture and indigenous knowledge of Prince Edward Island.” The books are “primarily about Prince Edward Island and/or written by Prince Edward Islanders.” Acorn Press was founded in 1994 by Laurie Brinklow (though Wikipedia says 1993.)
Acorn Press professes to publish books in most genres, “about Prince Edward Island, by Prince Edward Islanders.” They publish both fiction and non-fiction. They mention mysterys and thrillers explicitly “that will keep you on the edge of your seat.” They are fond of PEI history as well.
Acorn piggybacks on Nimbus Publishing out of Halifax for distribution. (Nimbus is “the biggest book distributor on the east coast of Canada.”)
They receive financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canada Book Fund.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my sister Susan Rodgers has a book coming out soon from Acorn Press. Congrats Susan! (More on that in a future newsletter.)
https://www.acornpresscanada.com/about-us
Crescent Isle Publishers
Okay, I’m only on the second publisher of my survey and I’ve already broken one of my rules, the one about concentrating on publishers publishing books by more than one author.
I think Crescent Isle Publishers is just one guy, J. Clinton Morrison. He’s based in my hometown of Summerside, PEI.
It looks like Clinton’s intention was to publish books by other authors, but I can’t tell if that ever happened.
According to his facebook page, as of 2017, Crescent Isle Publishers, “specializes in historical writing, genealogies, community histories, biographies, short stories, monographs, and poetry. Preference is given to Island writers and Island themes, in keeping with the business motto, “Preserving Our Heritage.”
J. Clinton Morrison has authored and published several books himself under the banner of Crescent Isle Publishers. He is definitely a kindred spirit in his obvious love for the written word. At the very least he intended to expand his operation, and as such has earned a place on this survey.
Crescent Isle Publishers does not have a traditional distributor nor any indication of external funding.
https://www.facebook.com/CrescentIslePublishers/
Island Studies Press (UPEI)
Island Studies Press is the publishing arm of the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island, based in Charlottetown. Their mandate is “to publish books that focus on Island culture, economy, and environment.” They “produce scholarly books for a popular audience as well as poetry, literary non-fiction, and drama.”
They’ve been in business for over thirty-five years, and publish 2-4 titles a year. Laurie Brinklow, founder of Acorn Press, has published with them.
It’s not clear how Island Studies Press books are distributed. I presume they are funded by UPEI.
https://islandstudiespress.com/
Pownall Street Press
Based in Charlottetown, Pownall Street Press is a boutique, hybrid publishing house “that focuses on the best of both worlds: platforms for traditional publishing and full package custom publishing solutions… providing end to end support for nonfiction and picture book clients.”
It looks like they mostly produce custom books for indie authors, alongside a small list of traditionally published books which consist of nonfiction, essays or memoir. They are currently open to submissions for their traditional list.
It is not clear who, if anyone, distributes Pownall Street Press books, and they appear to be self-funded.
Update (Nov 1, 2024): They are operated by Mo Duffy and Glen Loughlin, and they just made a deal with Raincoast and Orca Books for distribution across Canada and the United States.
https://pownalstreetpress.com/about/
Selkirk Book Publishing
Based in Cornwall, these folks celebrate “the rich Scottish heritage of Prince Edward Island.” It looks like they’re a hybrid publisher, providing “comprehensive publishing services, from editing to marketing.”
The driving force behind Selkirk appears to be author Margaret Westlie, who has several books available. There is no indication of traditional distribution or external funding.
https://www.selkirkbookpublishing.com/
Takeaways
There are only five publishers on Prince Edward Island
There are only two strictly traditional publishers on the island, Acorn Press and Island Studies Press (UPEI)
There are three hybrid publishers on PEI, that both publish books and profess to provide editorial services.
Only one of the hybrid publishers appears to be a serious enterprise (Pownall Street Press), though Selkirk Book Publishing looks to have heart
Only one of the five publishers has clear distribution (Acorn, which is distributed by Nimbus)
Only one of the five publishers (Acorn) appears to receive government funding
There are zero science fiction and fantasy publishers on Prince Edward Island
Faster Than Light: The Radio Show
In my memoir about working for CBC Radio, Adventures in the Radio Trade, some of you may have read about my attempts to get a science fiction radio show off the ground at CBC Radio back in 2002. It was called Faster Than Light. You will know that one of the pilots aired, on Sunday Showcase and Monday Night Playhouse. Two others got produced but did not air.
Several readers have expressed a desire to hear those shows. Alas, CBC Radio has not made the original Faster Than Light available and probably doesn’t even have copies of the pilots.
But somebody does.
Somehow, they have made their way online, where they’re available in at least two spots I’m aware of.
It would be disingenous of me to say that I don’t endorse pirated material only to then provide a link to said pirated material. This is a grey area for me. I support artists getting paid for their work. I got paid to make all the Faster Than Light pilots. Rob Sawyer got paid, all the actors and writers got paid. What none of us got paid for is repeated access to the material. In an ideal world all of this would be available via CBC Radio archives, and all the artists involved would have received proper compensation for that. But that is probably never going to happen.
And the fact is it really bothers me that all this work got done and nobody can (officially) hear it anymore.
Librovox Audio Books claims that their mission is to make every book in the public domain available via audio book. This patently doesn’t apply to the Faster Than Light pilots because they were never books and the content is not in the public domain.
All that being said, you can (unofficially) hear every episode of Faster Than Light, including the unaired pilots, on their site here.
Appearances
I’ve been invited to appear at the Dieppe, New Brunswick location of Chapters (just behind the Champlain Mall) for a signing event this coming Sunday, February 25th, between noon and 4pm.
I’ve invited myself to Curt’s General Market at the Riverview Lion’s Club Saturday, March 2nd (my birthday!)
I’ll be at the Riverview Lion’s Club for the Athena’s Touch Craft Fair Saturday, March 23rd
I’ll be at the Miramichi Market 345 McKenna Ave Miramichi between 12 noon and 4pm March 24th
This has been the seventh edition of Assorted Nonsense, the official newsletter of Donovan Street Press Inc.
Is Acorn Press named after Milton Acorn, the poet? I know he lived and worked on PEI most of his life...
I've gotten very frustrated with CBC for not making their old radio and television productions more widely available. There are thousands of channels in both for everything under the sun, and surely CBC vintage programming would find a ready audience if they were willing.