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Canadian Publishing: Adapting to Change
Leah Eichler -- 5/15/00
Random House of Canada released The Nature of Economies, the latest work by celebrated author Jane Jacobs, to much fanfare this year, and it reached the top of Canada's bestseller lists. Yet it is still questionable whether Canada's publishing industry and $2.1 billion book industry has read the treatise on the organic and ecological nature of economies and applied it to their own dealings. And if they have, are they abiding by its rules?
There are many pressing issues facing the Canadian publishing community: this year's heavy returns; the loss of multiple independents, including Duthie's in the West and Lichtmans in Toronto; the future and relevance of electronic publishing; and the constant struggle to break into the U.S. market. Yet the one topic to which everyone seems constantly attuned is the influence, actual and potential, of Chapters Inc. and Pegasus, the wholesaler of which it owns the majority--but few will talk about it on the record. As one insider described it, the company in its current role in Canada would be comparable to "Barnes and Noble if it merged with Borders and purchased Ingram."
Although the government's Competition Bureau did say that there was not enough evidence to make a case against the bookstore and wholesaler combination, the bureau continues to monitor its actions. The Chapters-Pegasus relationship is currently under scrutiny by the Standing Committee, part of the House of Commons, which has been trying to get publishers to talk about their experiences with the bookstore and wholesaler. But most won't do so for fear of losing up to 60% of their business. Still, many publishers applaud the mega-bookstore for opening up the floodgates to a whole audience of readers whom traditional independents had been unable to reach.
The Story with Pegasus
Pegasus Wholesale, the country's largest national wholesaler, celebrated its first anniversary this month, but it is still plagued by government investigations and off-the-cuff remarks by industry insiders on its relationship to Chapters, which owns 82% of the company.
In the beginning, Pegasus approached Canada's larger publishers and asked them for the same wholesale discount they offered others, such as North 49 or Book Express. Or, if they didn't have an established discount rate, Pegasus asked for 50%--what they saw as the standard wholesale discount. Currently, Pegasus conducts business with Canada's 100 largest publishers, as well as several hundred others, and according to Dennis Zook, Pegasus's president, the wholesaler is signing up publishers virtually every day. The only publisher contacted by PW that d s not work with Pegasus is the University of Toronto Press.
Zook disagrees with critics who claim the wholesaler only services Chapters stores, which include Coles and Smithbooks outlets. "We've spent an awful amount of time and money concentrating on launching our wholesale division aimed at schools and libraries, and we are doing more and more business in that sector everyday," Zook insists. Pegasus's Library and Educational Services (PLES) absorbed the business that use to be done by the Children's Bookstore wholesale and school division, which it purchased when the store went out of business. Zook says the wholesaler also ships to specialty retailers, mass market retailers and some small bookstores.
"We've been told by independents doing business with us that there would be repercussions against them by the CBA [Canadian Booksellers Association] if it was known that they were doing business with us," Zook explains. "There have been letters sent by the CBA to member bookstores asking them to sign affidavits saying that they would never, under any circumstances, do business with us."
Zook insists that publishers don't need to sell to Pegasus in order to stock the Chapters stores. "At the [Standing] Committee, I stressed over and over that publishers that didn't want to sell through Pegasus continued to sell to Chapters throughout the fall and Christmas season, and still do so. While we want them to do business with us... if they decide not to do that, there is nothing I can do to make them do business with me."
Pegasus d s not expect exclusivity from any of the publishers with whom it deals, Zook adds. "So as much as a CBA bookstores don't want to do business with us, they don't have to. They are not in any way obligated to buy, because they can get all of these books directly from the publisher or the distributor or another wholesaler. We didn't really take anything away from them as far as a source where they can buy books. We have offered them a new source, and if they decide they don't want to do business with us, they can do business the ways they always have."
Zook hopes the Standing Committee will compile a detailed report on the industry so that Pegasus "can get away from the innuendo and accusations" that he says publishers have rained on it.
The wholesaler recently renovated its 330,000-sq.-ft. distribution facility in Brampton, Ontario, that stocks almost half a million products. Pegasus plans to open a western facility once the Brampton location is up and running to its maximum capacity, in order to cut down the travel time shipping books to the West Coast.
Chapters Inc.: Are the Salad Days for Publishers Over?
The creation in the last few years of multiple Chapters superstores has been great for publishers, who have been plying the chain with their backlist titles. Larry Stevenson, CEO of Chapters Inc., claims that its purchases from Canadian publishers are up 104% in the last three years, while those from others are up 60%. But the chain, which currently has 70 locations, has not been opening stores with the same fervor as of late, forcing publishers to come to grips with the realization that Chapters may no longer be the huge windfall to which they have become accustomed. That still d sn't explain the high rate of returns publishers have cited this year--some claim that they are running at twice the level of those last year--although Stevenson reports that his returns are actually slightly down, from 32% to 30.1 %.
"The good news on returns is that we've come down in the last few years, but they are still an endemic feature of the book industry. I have always been on the record saying that we do need to move away from this returning policy. I think everybody would be ahead of the game if publishers and retailers sat down and worked that out," Stevenson tells PW. The Association of Canadian Publishers is suggesting that the government lift the Competition Act provision temporarily in order to renegotiate the industry's terms of trade. Most publishers feel that the industry's habit of accepting returns no longer works for them and want to reconsider the process--though, as in the U.S., no one wants to be the first out of the gate.
Despite the returns, publishers across the board have applauded Chapters' ability to draw in new readers and buyers and for taking bookselling to a whole new level. But its success has also made publishers precariously dependent on the bookstore chain for their survival. Although Chapters has said it only represents 21% of the Canadian industry (including all retail venues), it comprises 50%-60% of sales for many publishers.
According to Doug Minnet, owner of the Book Shelf in Guelph, Ontario (see sidebar), if Chapters g s down, everyone will go with them. "It would take down every publisher in Canada," he says, adding that Chapters can't lose, since public policy would have to intervene should Chapters ever risk losing its shirt. "I don't have a similar insurance policy. Nothing is here to bail out the independents. We will be permitted to go down. It will be an irritant [to the government], but that is it."
Stevenson defends the need to open many superstores. "If you went back five years ago, Canada was w fully underpenetrated in book emporiums coast to coast. Chapters has now built in excess of 90, and I think that has led to an explosion in the growth of the book industry," he notes. Stevenson plans to build an additional six to eight stores this year and maintains his belief that Canada can handle 110-125 successful superstores by all competitors. By the end of this year, the country will have a little more than 100 such stores.
Chapters has publicly stated that it is committed to Canadian culture. Although it may be selling more books than previously in the industry, however, there is no data to prove how many of those books are Canadian. The one thing Canadian publishers have asked of Chapters is to provide statistical, point-of-sale reports similar to those that U.S. companies, such as Barnes & Noble and Baker & Taylor, routinely offer their publishers, so far without result.
Publishers across the board plan to attend CHEX 2000, Chapters' own planned trade show, set up in rivalry to the Canadian Booksellers Association's gathering. Although few details have been released, Stevenson explains that it will consist of a trade show, in which Chapters staff can view the fall and Christmas lists, as well as internal meetings to discuss promotions and marketing plans.
HarperCollins: Rooting for Chapters-Pegasus
HarperCollins Canada's president, Claude Primeau, for one, finds that Chapters' influence has been positive, and claims that HC's publishing division in Canada "is healthier than it has ever been. Our biggest customer is Chapters, and Pegasus, their wholesale division, is a force to be reckoned with. They control so much of the marketplace. Nevertheless, they are a valuable asset. They changed the bookselling atmosphere in this country," Primeau tells PW. "My take on all of this is the more people who can get into bookstores, and the more people who want to buy books, the better off Canadian publishing will be."
Although Primeau admits that there is an industry-wide fear of the bookstore chain, he claims Chapters has been very good for Canadian authors and that Harper's sales have increased because of them. Like publishers across the board, Primeau laments the loss of many Canadian independents, which many attribute to Chapters' deep pockets, but he points out that there are those that have found ways to get by in this increasingly competitive industry (click here for more).
"If you go right across this country, you have the Book Room, in Halifax; the Book Shelf, in Guelph; McNally Robinson, in Winnipeg and Regina; Greenwoods, in Edmonton; Munr and Bolen in Victoria--there are wonderful, independent bookstores that have met the challenge of the changing structures in the industry," he exclaims.
As for Pegasus, Primeau brushes off criticism that the company is just a ruse for Chapters to get increased discounts. "If you walk like a duck and talk like a duck, I won't call you a chicken," he joked. "The fact that they have 300 and some customers ready-made is good for us. If the Competition Bureau in Ottawa says we're fine, who are we to argue?" Harper offers the same discount to Pegasus that it d s to other Canadian wholesalers, "even though they do millions of dollars more in business with us." As for the discount the wholesaler turns around and offers its majority owner, Chapters, Primeau says that is none of his or anyone else's business.
The thing Primeau is concerned about--a sentiment reinforced by others in the industry--is the lack of new blood. "The one thing I think we really need is a spirit of entrepreneurship. We need a few people to say, 'Hey, it's not so hard to open a publishing company,' " he remarks, adding that there is a lot of room for niche publishing.
Random House of Canada: Utilizing New Technology
The dust has finally settled after the Random House of Canada-Doubleday merger, and John Neale, chairman of the new combined Random House of Canada Ltd., says they are pleased with the results to date. The enhanced company will move into its new offices in early June so that the publishers and imprints can be located under one roof.
It was a good year for awards at Random; its author Stacy Schiff went home this year with a Pulitzer Prize for her biography, Vera (about Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), while Matt Cohen received the Governor General's Award for Fiction for Elizabeth and After just a short while before his death.
Random recently signed on the dotted line with Pegasus, although the company is mum about divulging any terms. Industry sources felt Random was holding out in order to keep the same discount terms it and its U.S. parent company had with other wholesalers, which was set at 48%, while Pegasus may have wanted a 50% discount.
Yet the main preoccupation of Random at the moment is new technology. The company is looking into electronic publishing in conjunction with its parent company, which has begun an initiative to digitize everyone's backlist as well as any new books.
Neale feels the possibility of new technology extends past mere e-books. "One of the key things that is happening in publishing these days is that new technologies are allowing us to do all sort of things, including increasing the efficiencies and expanding our traditional businesses. What may be driving this excitement is the development of new formats, but for a while to come I think most of the sales are still going to be in traditional formats, and from traditional outlets as well," he says.
"A lot of attention is being focused on new formats such as e-books, or short print run or print on demand. But they are really going to be a small part of the business. We want to take advantage of any technology that can improve our standard distribution arrangements."
Although Neale admits that there were a lot of returns this year, he adds that in the last two years the company has seen the highest level of sales ever. So as a percentage of their sales, returns haven't really gone up. "Having said that, I think the whole industry realizes that returns, at the levels they are running at, are costing everyone a fortune, so we have to figure out ways to reduce those levels."
McClelland & Stewart: Keeping Its Eyes on New Media and Amazon
It's been a busy year for McClelland & Stewart. In addition to their success with the Screech Owl series, created to reach boys between the ages of nine and ten, M&S also published a new Michael Ondaatje novel, Anil's Ghost (Knopf in the U.S.), which hit the stands to rave reviews. Meanwhile, the rights to No Great Mischief, by first-time novelist Alistair MacLeod, were snapped up in 10 different countries (Norton in the U.S.). The success of MacLeod's novel gives publisher Doug Gibson hope that Canadian culture can be exported. "It's very distinctly local and regional," he notes. "It makes no concessions; it even has chunks in Gaelic. But if it is good enough, it will sell all over the world."
Yet, even with its successes, Gibson admits this has been a tough year. "Returns have been heavier than anticipated," he recalls. Not to be deterred, McClelland & Stewart has made leaps and bounds in the electronic publishing market, rolling out 300,000 copies of the Canadian Encyclopedia on CD-ROM. Similarly, the press has a deal with NuvoMedia--the Rocket eBook people--which will carry M&S titles when they come out. A total of 32 M&S books will also be available online through a Microsoft venture later this summer.
The Canadian Publisher--as M&S is dubbed--is also keeping its eyes open to foreign electronic booksellers encroaching on its market. It is increasingly concerned with Amazon.com distributing the American version of their books in the Canadian market, bypassing Canadian publishers.
Raincoast Books: Happy with Harry and Polestar
At the other end of the country, Raincoast Books has encountered a flurry of activity this year. The midsize publisher purchased Polestar Books several months back, and, in September, Advanced Marketing Systems of San Diego bought a 25% interest in Raincoast. The deal with AMS has been mutually beneficial, with the U.S. publisher distributing Raincoast's books south of the border and vice versa. It also offers the Canadian publisher an invaluable degree of access to the U.S.
"It's only in the early days now, but it seems that the sales of our books in the U.S. are very strong," Allan MacDougall, president of Raincoast, tells PW from his Vancouver office. "From our point of view, we want more availability for our books in the U.S. market, and they want more of their books in the Canadian market."
As for Polestar, MacDougall says the acquisition has been "like a dream come true." Before the purchase of Polestar, Raincoast did not publish fiction. In addition to the Polestar imprint, the company has hired a new fiction editor, Joy Gugler, from Beach Holme, to develop a Raincoast fiction list.
Raincoast is also the Canadian publisher of Harry Potter, selling more than one million copies of J.K. Rowling's first three novels. At this point, it has a back order in excess of 200,000 for the books, and its print run, in Canada alone, for the fourth book in the Harry Potter series is set at 300,000--which may set a Canadian record for a fiction print run. Raincoast already has more than 100 events planned for the next Harry Potter book, which will be published July 8 in Canada.
Outside of Harry Potter and Raincoast, however, MacDougall d sn't think the publishing world looks too rosy. "I don't see it as particularly healthy. I am really concerned about the industry, and I haven't felt that way for many years. We have just lost too many customers in the last 12 months; how can we not be worried about that? Returns have been heavy, and I think there is a feeling afoot that things just aren't right," the publisher comments. "Over a period of 10 years, things change radically in this business. It wasn't that long ago that our biggest customers were department stores, and they've all vanished," he adds. MacDougall hopes bright-eyed idealists will jump into the breach and open strong independents, or existing independents will open up additional stores.
As for Pegasus, MacDougall has found its service to be somewhat disappointing: "It was a bad time for them to start. Suddenly they were getting shipments from practically every publisher in the country, and they simply could not process the books fast enough." Since Raincoast is based in the West, there is a concern that Pegasus will be unable to service stores in the area in a punctual fashion without a western distribution center. "In theory, we have to ship all our books to Toronto and then ship them back out West, so if there are any delays it could be a concern getting our books to the bookstores in a timely manner."
Penguin Canada: Industry "Out of Whack"
Like Raincoast, Penguin Canada has made an effort to pump out more fiction by hiring a new fiction editor, Barbara Bersom. But when asked where the future of the industry is headed, president Cynthia Good is uncertain.
"This is such a time of change. Either it's revolutionary or its evolutionary or it's all just kind of stop and go back to where we were, because it is possible that none of these changes are going to go anywhere," she says. Like Primeau, Good applauds Chapters' ability to bring new readers into the fold. "There is something that I call the democratization of reading. There is a kind of attempt--and it is not clear yet whether this attempt is successful or not--to attract new readers."
Superstores, Good believes, have made book buying--or browsing--accessible to people who may have previously been uncomfortable in a bookstore. But she is concerned with the quick and relentless expansion superstores have unleashed on the market. Also, she is unsure whether the superstores have found a way to become economically sound in this market place as of yet: "I think there has been overexpansion.¦ I think there has to be balance, and right now that balance is completely out of whack."
Like other Canadian publishers, Good laments the lack of new blood in the industry. "We have unfortunately felt the loss of a lot of independent booksellers. It has been sad and depressing. What we need is a new kind of retailer to come up. And I believe it will happen. The superstores will remain, but probably fewer of them. The bad thing about one company becoming so powerful is that there can only be one kind of bookstore. And not all of us want to be in that kind of store. We may want to be in another kind of store."
Kids Can Press: The Re-Education of Bookstores
Of the challenges facing children's publishers in this country, the most pressing is moving from hand-selling books in independent stores to educating the "big boxes." "There is a gulf right now between the loss of the independent children's bookstore and the growth of the superstore; the superstore has to assume the knowledge curve if it is going to play that role of not being just a seller but also a marketer of children's books," Kids Can president and CEO Valerie Hussey notes.
One method of remedying this problem, Hussey explains, would be for publishers to go in and educate the buyers and their staff. "I don't think there is a publisher in this country who wouldn't willingly, enthusiastically, go into bookstores and do book talks." Historically, publishers have conducted these sorts of meetings with independents but not with the chain stores. Even though Chapters plans to run its own trade show in order to connect publishers and booksellers, the September date the chain is planning may be too late in the buying season for publishers to have much of an influence. "Am I really enthusiastic about [CHEX 2000] as a way of reaching the individual store managers and people on the floor? Probably not," Hussey admits.
Children's book publishers in Canada see an output of about 500 books a year. According to Hussey, "We can't be faulted for overpublishing. You have to publish to develop the talent." Kids Can Press has remained committed to that ideal; this year it will publish a book by native Canadian writer Jan Bourdeau Waboose entitled Skysisters, which is about two Ojibway children and the northern lights. The press will also publish two novels, one by Margaret Buffy titled The Watcher, and one by award-winning writer Gayle Friesen titled Men of Stone.
"To be able to stand on the shelf next to Harry Potter requires a real commitment. It d sn't happen easily," Hussey explains. The result has been many children's publishers turning to the U.S. for export, which Hussey finds unfortunate: "As Canadian publishers, this should be our core market."
McArthur & Company: "We're Just Happy to Be Here"
It's coming up on two years since Kim McArthur started her own publishing company after Little, Brown Canada, which she once ran, was closed down. With such high-caliber authors as Maeve Binchy, who ended up as number one on the Globe and Mail's roundup of best books last year with Tara Road and Nancy Houston, who was short-listed for a Giller Prize, McArthur & Company has set a blistering pace. McArthur, who was listed among Chatelaine's top 100 women of the year, is amazed that the company has gone from zero to more than $10 million, although ties with England's Orion Books has definitely helped. McArthur will be publishing the biography of Randy Bachman--of BTO and Guess Who fame--in the fall. She is also about to sign with the National Book Network in the U.S. so that M&Co.'s titles can appear in their catalogue.
McArthur is concerned that Christmas book sales were not as good as it appeared to the publisher a couple months ago. Like many others, McArthur and Company has experienced a high rate of returns. "It was a bit surprising, but we are eternally optimistic," McArthur tells PW.
M&Co.'s motto is "We're happy to be here," and the company is persevering. The company has plans to establish a Web site that will hook up to Orion's site, and they will digitize their backlist when electronic books finally take off in Canada.
Key Porter: Setting Sights on Nontraditional Outlets
Key Porter Books, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, has received multiple accolades in the last year: Linda Spalding took home this year's Trillium Award and the Rogers Viacom Non-Fiction prize for The Follow; Modris Eksteins's Walking Since Daybreak won the Rogers Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize; and Zsuzsi Gartner's All the Anxious Girls on Earth was included on the four best books of 1999 list of both Canada's national papers. "It's been a great year for awards. And it has been great for nominations," Anna Porter, publisher and CEO of Key Porter, notes.
Yet, like other publishers, Porter says that her company is seeing considerably higher returns than last year--which was in turn up from the year before. As a result, Key Porter will set its sights more on nontraditional outlets--anywhere that buys books that are nonreturnable--and reduce its reliance on general trade. This should suit its fall books quite well, which include Trade Secrets, a memoir by Senator Pat Carney, and Bubblegum Delicious by Dennis Lee and illustrated by David MacPhail.
Since publishers now must pay for placement in the chains, Porter thinks that the era in which it made sense to pile books in bookstores in hopes of attracting attention is over. "I can't think of a single person in the publishing industry that wouldn't like to reduce returns. I would like to reduce returns dramatically."
As for the future of electronic reading devices, Porter feels such an approach is better suited for reference than for one's reading pleasure. Yet Key Porter plans to jump on the electronic publishing bandwagon by eventually selling its extensive backlist of books--on topics ranging from health to trees to wildlife--as content for suitable Web sites. "We are sitting on a formidable amount of what people in e-commerce call content, what I have always thought of as books," Porter admits. She explains that she is holding off on selling this content because she feels the value of this type of information will go up as the market loses confidence in new ventures lacking substance. She is still on the lookout for joint ventures.
Electronic Publishing: Where Do We Fit In?
Many Canadian publishers remain uncertain where they will fit in the electronic world. "There is a whole world in the technological realm that publishers are thinking about and wondering where their place is going to be," Monique M. Smith, executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers, notes.
Unlike authors, publishers don't always have a brand name. "Publishers have a bit of an identity problem when it comes to Web marketing," Smith adds. "Unless you know who the publishers are, you are not necessarily going to their Web site. Publishers are thinking of how to get over those hurdles. There is a branding issue that has to be addressed."
Other concerns include the future of e-books and the digitizing of backlists--something many publishers have yet to tackle head-on. "They are just slowly getting into this process, thinking, 'What d s this all mean for me?' " Smith says. The challenge is even greater for smaller publishers, who are constantly playing catch-up on new technology. The ACP plans to study the issues at hand in order to bring its members up to speed.
As for electronic books, even Chapters' Stevenson d s not expect it to comprise a large part of sales, but he is committed to staying on the leading edge of the market for when it d s take off.
Chapters Online: We Have the Cash
Chapters Online, which this year has expanded to include GardenCrazy.ca, has had a tumultuous year; its stock is currently trading at under $5, down from a 52-week high of $28. But David Hainline, Chapters' executive v-p of merchandising and marketing, insists that it has the financial backing to weather the storm.
At the end of its third quarter, publicly owned Chapters Online turned a profit of $12.2 million. Yet it has had a difficult time explaining its low stock prices. "If you look at what the markets have done, then [low prices] have been true for all consumer sites. Whether in the U.S. or whatever, they have all taken those kinds of falls. We have held up as well if not better than most," Hainline insists.
Hainline attributes low stock prices mainly to the present market view of online retailers. "Some people got crazy, and bad ideas were funded, so a crashing or change was coming, which has happened now. The market had to eventually discriminate, just like customers have to eventually discriminate when it comes to sites," he explains. "But those that have cash, like us, and those that are clear on the way to get to profitability, like us, and have the resources in hand, like us, and don't have to go back to get it, like us, are going to be the ones that are the successful winners in the long term."
Hainline declined to comment on approximately how many books Chapters Online sells in a day, since the numbers vary greatly depending on the season. But he d s feel committed to Canadian writers and culture and has plans to feature first-time novelists on the Chapters.ca site. "We want to spread the word about new, good writing, to give [the writers] the exposure they deserve," so that they can "make a successful living at writing those wonderful books."
Chapters Online also plans to take the initiative when it comes to digital downloads in publishing, and the company will continue to move on that front. "We are a Canadian retailer and our focus in on the Canadian market," Hainline emphasizes. "We will continue to look at expanding and doing things that serve our Canadian customers."
Random, WCA Jump on Book-to-Film Bandwagon
Agents and publishers alike seem to be jumping on the book-to-film bandwagon. Westwood Creative Artists, Canada's largest agent group, opened a film division this year, as did Random House.
WCA Film and Television is a full-service film agency, actively packaging titles such as Anne Michaels's Fugitive Pieces. One of the agency's recent book-to-film adaptations is Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey, and it is also working on Anna Porter's The Bookfair Murders, set at the Frankfurt Book Fair. In one of the biggest book-to-film deals ever to come out of Canada, Constantin Films of Los Angeles/Munich optioned the rights to Barbara Gowdy's The White Bone from WCA. And, in November, PBS and CBC will air a 90-minute fund-raising special entitled Dogs with Jobs, which will be followed by a 13-part series, written by WCA clients Merrily Weisbord and Kim Kachanoff, with the tie-in book published by Pocket/Simon & Schuster.
Meanwhile, Random House of Canada signed an agreement with Beverly Hills- based Endeavor, which will sell film, television and multimedia rights in Canada and internationally on its behalf. This move by Random House of Canada is independent of its parent company.
Canadian Initiatives: A Final, Eclectic Selection
Other interesting Canadian ventures in the book and publishing industry this year include a new book by Dan Diamond, publisher of Wayne Gretzky's autobiography, and Morty Mint, who represents the Guinness Book of Records. The two embarked on an innovative project, cultivating the resources of the Internet. Mint, formerly Penguin's CEO, started the Millennium Project last year with British-native Alex Klive. They accepted photographic submissions from 120 countries in an attempt to capture, internationally, the way in which the world celebrated the New Year 2000. The end product is 2000: How the World Celebrated, which is described as "a day in the life of the world." Diamond and Mint plan to share the benefits from the book with the communities that contributed to it. The duo intends to have a North American print run of a quarter-million copies.
Little York Books is opening a new bookstore in Toronto, its third location to date in a bid to "provide an alternative to the big chain stores that have dominated the Canadian bookselling community as of late," according to the store's press release. Also in Toronto, one new p try publisher, Mansfield Press, has sprung out of an Italian restaurant that housed p try events. And one writer, Jim Munr , previously published by HarperCollins, has decided to self-publish his latest book, Angry Young Spaceman--not out of necessity but choice--in order to inspire other writers to jump off the corporate bandwagon and to protest the continuing consolidation of media companies.
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