Tag Archives: Second Story Press

I’m Back!

Mmmmm. This is a celebratory apple pie that I baked. That’s A – P – P – L – E. My (almost) six-year-old helper put the letters on top. Thank you, Noah!

First, I’m very sorry for the delay in blogging. I’ve had too much going on. Ai-ya, where do I begin?

Book news

I submitted my latest book manuscript to the publisher in February — ten days early! It was an amazingly intense, but infinitely gratifying, researching and writing process. I was feeling pretty darn pleased with the final draft. I was even more pleased as I began to receive bits of very positive feedback from the publishing house.

I have a title. My book, which profiles ten female entrepreneurs, from different countries, different times, and working in different fields, will be called Phenomenal Female Entrepreneurs. The series’ name is The Women’s Hall of Fame series, and the publisher is Second Story Press in Toronto, Canada. It was challenging to find a title that worked with the press’s established alliterative pattern of Adjective + Female/Women + Descriptor [field]. The obvious choices of “Extraordinary” and “Exceptional” had already been used for previous books in the same series. Though I scoured the dictionary and flipped through the entire “E” section of my humongous Random House Dictionary of the English Language, I couldn’t find many words that had quite the right meaning. We mulled over “Excellent,” “Eminent,” “Enlightened,” and “Exemplary,” but, in the end, credit goes to the publisher herself for crafting the title as it now stands. I like it. I think it has a good balance. I admire the way “Phenomenal” and “Entrepreneurs” are equally long, look good on the page (which I think is really important), and have some heft to them. The managing editor said she likes the ring of the title. It’s true. It does have a ring to it.

And then, it got even crazier . . .

No sooner had I submitted my manuscript — no, wait — before I had even submitted my manuscript, I received an email asking if I was available to work on an editorial project. I wasn’t quite available and had heaps of papers all over my desk as I fine-tuned the final draft of Phenomenal Female Entrepreneurs. But like the intrepid freelancer I am (and most of us are), I gulped, said “yes,” and jumped in. That’s what I’ve been doing since mid-February. The hours have been crazy, the work stimulating and interesting with a great balance of research, thinking, and writing. But best of all, I have to say, is to get a contract like this after taking 15 weeks off to write a book. Yes, day jobs are worth their weight in gold. I love writing books, but editorial work helps make it affordable to do so, and, thank goodness, I really enjoy the editorial work, too.

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Drop me a line if there’s something you’d like me to write about on this blog. Apparently a lot of people are reading it lately and I thank you for visiting. I appreciate your feedback and thank you for your interest in my books!

Connecting with Idle No More

One morning last week, I felt compelled to look for an necklace from my childhood that I still have. It’s a piece of Aboriginal jewellery–a yellow, red, and blue beaded necklace. I found it and put it on. I wore it all day and thought about Idle No More, First Nations communities, and Nicole Robertson. This evening I heard on CBC Radio that Chief Theresa Spence will end her hunger strike, and has signed a 13-point declaration. See this breaking news story here.

In November and December, I had the honour and privilege of interviewing Nicole Robertson for my upcoming book about women entrepreneurs. Like the other books in the Women’s Hall of Fame series by Second Story Press — two others of which I’ve written — this new title will feature profiles of ten women who are excellent role models for children, especially girls. The series targets children ages 9 to 13.) Nicole is a Media Specialist and President of Muskwa Productions & Consulting in Calgary, Alberta. She’s a Rocky Cree from Sandy Bay in north-eastern Saskatchewan, but she now resides at the Tsuu T’Ina [soot-tenna] Nation, just outside Calgary.

Muskwa Productions & Consulting, Calgary, Alberta

Nicole is devoted to spreading good news stories about Aboriginal peoples. She is well connected with the media and this puts her in a great position to notify mainstream media about positive and inspiring stories about indigenous people. She also makes videos that educate non-Aboriginals about First Nations culture. I just love this whole idea of being a messenger of good news stories for the media. What a welcome change!

In the last six weeks, the Idle No More movement and Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike have brought Aboriginal issues into the spotlight. Concerns about poverty and the destruction of the environment are central in the movement. When I visited the remote Inuit community of Nain, Labrador, two years ago, I felt like I was in a far-away foreign country. The living conditions were closer to developing countries than they were to what I previously associated with Canadian communities. There was tremendous beauty in the land and most Aboriginal people feel this connection strongly. It’s part of their culture and something they revere.

What’s clear to me is that something HAS to change. It is not right that a disproportionate number of Aboriginal people live in poverty. How can we turn our backs to this and pretend it’s not our problem?

I think non-Aboriginals have much to learn from indigenous people. Consider the value in inviting a full-of-attitude tween to sit quietly with an elder in the community, listening to stories that the elder chooses to share, or meditating silently. This deep respect for elders is lacking in non-Aboriginal culture, and we are missing out! Our elders possess great wisdom, gained from years of living and experiencing life. Young people can learn a lot from the elders in our society, and yes, we can learn a lot from young people, too.

Let’s stop the racism and embrace the positive changes that are underway, at last.

You can read more about Nicole Robertson and other fantastic women in my fall 2013 book, Enterprising Women Entrepreneurs (working title).

Peace.

That Glass of Water — Lookin’ Good

I was reading the December 2012 issue of Quill & Quire and saw a quote by Howard White that resonated with me. In responding to a question about the future of Canadian publishing, he says, “…we need to keep the faith.” Then he raises the glass of water analogy: “I think one of the most damaging things that’s happening to publishing right now — and to writing — is that people are looking at the empty half of the glass.” I’m going to keep this analogy in mind over the next while and consciously try to talk more positively about the book biz. Why not?! A prolific children’s writer recently stressed the importance of celebrating the good things: a new book contract, a cheque from Access Copyright (yay! Just got this!), a royalty cheque that is bigger than expected, a request to speak at a writers’ festival, a glowing comment from a reader, a booking at a local school for a book talk. These are not events that happen every day, or even every month — but when they do happen, take note, smell those roses and take the time to do something special to celebrate the success.

I’d like to raise my half-FULL glass of water to all the Canadian publishers, editors, authors, designers, publicists, and marketing staff who create the beautiful landscape that is Canadian literature. Thank you for all the hard work you do to give readers so many rich experiences with painstakingly crafted content. And for the rest of you, my advice of the day is: hug your children, read books, and buy some made-in-Canada books for the fast-approaching holiday season.

Psst! My personal celebration this week is that I’ve completed drafts for four out of ten profiles for my upcoming Women’s Hall of Fame book. It will be the last book in this important series. The release day is early fall 2013. Hurray!!!!!!

Other news is that the National Reading Campaign has some great Twitter-based contests for kids and adults. Check it out. And, in case you’re wondering, I’m not on Twitter. I don’t know if I should add the word “yet” to that sentence.

Until next time…

Shh! Writer at Work

My apologies for the lag in blog postings. I’ve been researching and writing my next book–yay!–which will be released by Second Story Press in early fall 2013. I feel so good being in writing mode, but there is this deadline looming over my head, adding some time pressure to my life.

I may be a bit lackadaisical about blogging over the next few months. Multi-tasking while writing a book is not my forte. It’s one of those all-consuming projects that demands full attention and makes for lots of late nights. Currently, my home office is filled with stacks of library books from two different libraries–the public library and the university library.

Tomorrow, however, I’m taking a day off to attend The Writers’ Union of Canada workshop “How to Be Your Own Publicist” by Ann Douglas, Elizabeth Ruth, and Kelly Duffin. It will be so valuable to learn about social networking and blogging and all that through these talented and accomplished women. I’m especially looking forward to seeing Ann Douglas who I first met when I was a children’s book editor working in-house in Toronto. Ann is the creator of the blog Having-a-baby.com and is well-known for The Mother of All Books series. I’ll have to report back as to which local writers attend the workshop.

I have some homework to prepare for the workshop, which I haven’t even looked at yet. For now, it’s back to my research!

Cheerio!

“The Future of Canadian Publishing”

Yesterday morning’s CBC Radio program The Sunday Edition featured a discussion about the future of publishing in Canada. This was a brilliant overview of the current struggles facing publishers, and those who work in this industry. Three publishers spoke their minds: Marge Wolfe, President of the Association of Canadian Publishers and Founder and Publisher of Second Story Press (one of my publishers!) in Toronto; Patsy Aldana, Founder and Publisher of Groundwood Books and Co-Chair of the National Reading Campaign in Toronto; and Scott McIntyre, Founding Partner and Publisher of Douglas and McIntyre in Vancouver.

Click here to listen to the program. Click here to add your voice to the comments on the CBC website.

눈부신 여성 디자이너 Surprise!

I was dazzled and delighted to find two copies of Dazzling Women Designers in my mail box yesterday. What an amazing surprise! These didn’t look anything like my other copies, though. They are Korean translations. The cover looks completely different, as does the inside — and I don’t just mean the text. Many of the photos are new and they have more photos showing the designers’ work. The cover features fabric designed by Senegal’s Aissa Dione and India’s Ritu Kumar.  I spotted a photo of R2D2 in the profile about robot designer Cynthia Breazeal. No, she didn’t design it; she’s my age and would have been a kid when Star Wars came out. Breazeal was influenced by the robots in Star Wars and loved R2D2 and C-3P0.

The book’s dimensions are 6-6/8 x 8-1/4″, making it more square. It’s thick, too! Oooh, and it has French flaps.

Here’s one inside spread from interior designer Aissa Dione’s profile:

What a neat feeling it is to think of children in Korea reading my book. I will cherish my copies — absolutely!

Amelia Bloomer List

Great news! You’ll never guess what I discovered in my email in-box last Friday (Jan. 27)! Dazzling Women Designers (Second Story Press, 2010) is on the Amelia Bloomer List 2012. This news totally made my day!

A little research unearthed more details about what this list is all about. I feel truly honoured. The Amelia Bloomer Project, which is part of the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) Social Responsibility Roundtable Feminist Task Force, annually selects the best feminist books for children and teens, published within the last 18 months. Librarians from public and university libraries across the U.S. make up the ten committee members who read many, many books and make the final selections. You can view the complete list of titles here. The Amelia Bloomer Project has a blog, too.

Here is the Amelia Bloomer entry for my book:
Bryant, Jill. Dazzling Women Designers. 2010. Second Story Press, $10.95 (978-1-897187-82-1). Gr.5-up.
In a field traditionally dominated by men, these women designers have pioneered techniques and pursued artistic visions in many areas including: urban planning, interior design, automotive design, landscape architecture, and robotics.

A member of the committee sent this email to Emma Rogers, the marketing genius at Second Story Press.