Archive for category: Production Notes

The 2018 edition of Best Canadian Stories is well under way. And though I must confess I have not had a chance to read it yet, I am really looking forward to this one. Russell Smith’s selection has me quite intrigued with stories from a number of authors I admire including Lynn Coady, Kathy Page, Bill Gaston, and Liz Harmer (whose excellent debut novel The Amateurs I recently finished reading); and some authors whose work I am really looking forward to checking out: Tom Thor Buchanan, Michael LaPointe, and Stephen Marche.

Trade Paper $19.95
Hardcover $29.95
eBook $9.99

While I was away for a week in the sun in Oscoda, Michigan, a couple new books arrived at Biblioasis. And on my return a couple more did as well.

New Arrivals at the Press:
Catherine Leroux’s Madame Victoria,
Kathy Page’s Dear Evelyn,
C.P. Boyko’s The Children’s War,
and Mike Barnes’ Be With

Our most recent stock

It also looks like I was replaced by a new production manager in my absence. Hope the new guy is up to the challenge.

The Production Manager

• Class Clown by Pino Collucio won the Trilliam last night! No wonder the judges were drawn to this book with such a lovely cover that pairs so well with Pino’s witty poetry, designed by our own Ellie Hastings.
• I have also been working on typesetting K.D. Miller’s Late Breaking. What is most important when I typeset a book is for my typography to quietly supplement the text.  To make the actual typesetting as unobtrusive as possible to allow the author, not the design to do all the talking. Robert Bringhurst said it best: “typography should be richly and superbly ordinary, so that attention is drawn to the quality of the composition.”
  Another consideration is previous books. I like when the design of books by the same author is similar—as long as the setting suits the tone of each book. So to get going on this one I looked back to the interior design of All Saints. So far it is coming together well.
• As we have finally settled on a name for Patrick Brode’s new book, I got started on some cover designs. The title is: Dying for a Drink: How A Prohibition Preacher Got Away With Murder. Here are a handful of the cover designs I came up with as possible directions for the book.
         
  

• The Children’s War has arrived on my desk finalized and ready to go into production and we are getting an Advance Copy underway. I know I wrote about this book a couple weeks ago but Boyko is a genius and you need to read this as soon as we get it out there!
  
• The inexhaustible Ellie, has come up with some new t-shirt designs and they should be available by the end of the month, check ’em out!
  
• We are still getting settled at the new office, but we are finally getting some décor up to make it feel more like home:
  

  The gateway to Biblioasis Production

  

  The entry to Regional History

   

  

  Publicity . . .

  

  . . . and Marketing Central

  

  Operations Headquarters

• Dear Evelyn has been typeset and is heading to the printer soon. For this one I chose a classic Garamond type with Garamond Premier pro display for the titles, page numbers and headers. This font pairs nicely with the elegant prose of Kathy Page’s tender love story.
  

  A spread of Kathy Page’s newest book, Dear Evelyn.

• Biblioasis Merchandise is coming soon to a bookstore near me (The Biblioasis Bookshop down on Wyandotte). Ellie has been working away on new T-shirts designs, plus bringing back a few classics:

She is also working on some other merchandising ideas for the press and shop so keep an eye out for them in the coming weeks.

• Perhaps the best part of my job is working with Seth on the Ghost Stories and CNQ Covers. The new CNQ 102 cover art arrived this week and I have been busy cleaning up and combining all the elements.

Seth’s original drawings.

Converted to all black line art.

Layered and coloured to Seth’s specifications..