For too many and maybe for far too long, self-published writers have been–mainly–the runts ts of the literary litter, folks to be gently humoured since they–obviously–lack the required talent to land publishing house deal.
“If they were any good,” conventional wisdom dictates, “They would have found a legit publisher by now.”
The perception, of course, is a tad misguided. In fact, a lot of great writers self-published. Sometimes for their whole career, sometimes not.
Check the Internet. Self-publishers range from Mark Twain and Walt Whitman to L. Ron Hubbard and Irma Rombauer. It’s a wide net and mixed bag that includes plenty of other now-famous writers.
Even Margaret Atwood, Canada’s best-known–if not most lauded–current writer (Alice Munro, after all, did with the Nobel Prize in 2013) self-published her first collection of poems, Double Persephone, back in 1961.
She is now a full-fledged member of Canada’s literary establishment, a position that has not prevented her from launching broadsides against Stephen Harper’s Conservative government when she disagrees on policy.
Point is, it’s doubtful that any of the aforementioned would ever be mistaken for the runt in anyone’s litter.
One thing that does appear quite certain: Dewey Decimal the self-published writer under the category marked “Long Shot.”
It ain’t easy. No respect, no money, no fame, no getting your ideas out to a wider audience. Did Jackie Vernon ever publish?
But wait a sec, self-published writers. You just caught a break in Canada.
There’s a new book awards forum for self-published authors in Canada with some financial prizes that go with it.
On Monday, the Toronto-based Association for Art and Social Change, producer of INSPIRE! Toronto International Book Fair, announced the launch of the “Creation of Stories: Canada’s Self-Publishing Awards.”
Three grand prizes of $3,000 each and one people’s choice award of $1,000 will be awarded to winning books in three categories: Books for an adult audience, books for young adult audiences and books for children. The prizes will be awarded in November at the first edition of the fair.
The INSPIRE! Toronto International Book Fair evolved from the feasibility study, “A Re-Imagined Book Fair” conducted for the Ontario Media Development Corporation by Rita Davies and John Calabro. The pair then asked Steven Levy, former president of Informa Canada to join them.
All three are serving as executive directors of the fair whose mission is to inspire and encourage creativity.
Jesse Bernstein is the digital creative director and special projects director of the INSPIRE! Toronto International Book Fair and has been working steadily on the project.
He spoke with RCI by phone from his office in Toronto.
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