Behind the Books

“Worms have played a more important part in the history of the world than most persons would at first suppose.” — Charles Darwin The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms (1881) A banana peel,  a handful of shredded paper, and a box full of worms may not look like the beginning of something useful. Inside a worm bin, however, they become part of a busy little recycling system. Vermicomposting is a way of using worms and other tiny organisms to break down food scraps and turn them into rich, dark compost. It requires very little space, can be done indoors, and gives some kitchen scraps somewhere useful to go instead of sending them straight to the garbage. What Is Vermicomposting? The word vermicomposting comes from vermis , the Latin word for worm. Unlike a traditional outdoor compost pile, a worm bin does not need to become hot to break down the pile. Instead, composting worms live among damp bedding and help process the organic material added to their home. The...

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” — John F. Kennedy I recently saw someone say, "That books should always be published on Tuesdays." I've seen it before and when you first read it, it sounded like one of those publishing rules that gets repeated often enough that it starts to feel universal.  But is it actually universal does every book need to be published on a Tuesday?  As with so many things in publishing, the answer depends on what kind of book you are publishing, how it is being distributed, and what you are hoping the release date will accomplish. Why Tuesday Became a Publishing Day In traditional publishing, Tuesday releases can make sense. Major publishers are often coordinating bookstore stocking, media coverage, preorder campaigns, bestseller tracking, warehouse schedules, and launch-week publicity. When a book is being released nationally with a large marketing push, choosing a specific weekday can be part of a much bigger strategy. That...

“A word after a word after a word is power.”  — Margaret Atwood, “Spelling” There are thousands of book publishers operating across Canada, from large publishing houses to independent presses and people publishing under their own imprint names. But where can you find them? In the Canadian ISBN Publishers' Directory of course. The Library and Archives Canada maintains a searchable  Canadian ISBN Publishers’ Directory   containing information about publishers that have registered through ISBN Canada. It is one of those useful Canadian publishing resources that is easy to miss unless you already know it exists. If you're publishing in Canada, it's definitely worth checking to ensure that all of your information is correctly listed and that any links they have are current and working. What Is the Canadian ISBN Publishers’ Directory? The short answer is, this directory contains information supplied by English-language publishers that have received their ISBNs through ISBN Cana...

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” — Warren Buffett Why Are Some Little Goodbyes Press Book Prices Changing? If you've been browsing the Little Goodbyes Press catalogue recently, you may notice that the prices of some books are changing. Changing the cost of our books is never a decision I make lightly. In fact, after IngramSpark sent their we are changing the costs of printing books (increased its printing costs earlier this year), I deliberately waited several months before making any changes as I wanted to see how those increased costs affected royalties across our different books and formats over time. For us, publishing isn't just about writing stories. It's also about making sure those stories remain sustainable to produce for years to come and that means pricing needed to be adjusted from time to time. Printing Costs Don't Stay the Same Like many businesses, print-on-demand publishers occasionally face increases in production costs. When the cost of ...

"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." — Gustav Mahler One of the best things about creating the Changing Traditions  series is discovering facts that I never knew myself and bringing them to life in these books. When I started researching Samhain: A Story About Halloween , I assumed pumpkins had always been part of Halloween. After all, these orange glowing jack-o'-lanterns seem just as much a symbol of the holiday as costumes, candy, and trick-or-treating. It turns out, pumpkins weren't the original Halloween lanterns at all. Long before pumpkins lined front porches across North America, people in parts of Ireland and Britain carved turnips, rutabagas, and other large root vegetables into lanterns. And that discovery sent me down a fascinating rabbit hole looking at all the different casts of these lantern carvings like the one below from Ireland.  A traditional Irish turnip Jack-o'-lantern from the early 20th century. Photographe...

"There are many little ways to enlarge your world. Love of books is the best of all." — Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Just over a year ago, I started this blog and incredible journey of creating books. I've had so much support from around the world and that means everything. My family and friends have been there every step of the way and I appreciate each and every one of you. Behind the Books Begins People sometimes ask why I share so many books that aren't from my own press. It's a good question and t he answer is simple. I love books. They have always been my happy place and children's books have a special place in my heart.  Long before I started writing and illustrating my own stories, I was reading picture books with my family, collecting favourites, and paying attention to the stories that stayed with me long after I turned the last page.   So that's why you'll find more than just my books being talked about in my posts, on our website and in our s...

“The old that is strong does not wither.”  — J.R.R. Tolkien When I first started working on this series, I knew I wanted it to feel connected to the cycle of the year. I didn't create this logo until I had two book covers finished to get a feel of what would be a good fit between two completely different stories and cover images. I think that the Changing Traditions logo now is a way to bring those ideas together visually. Each section of the circle represents a different season through small natural details: blossoms for spring,  sunlight and greenery for summer,  autumn leaves and berries,  then snow and candlelight for winter.  The logo reflects many of the themes that continue appearing throughout the series: seasonal change, returning traditions, celebrations connected to weather and light, and the way stories are carried forward year after year. I also wanted the design to feel warm and timeless rather than overly modern so have left the text off the cover...

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” — Stephen King While I waited for my Spanish translator, Vanessa, to be able to review the book, Bye-Bye, tetita  proofs, I finally had some time to work on creating ebooks for my picture books that have been published in both hardcover and softcover. It will take a while but it's worth it and there's been enough of a break to try again. Up until now, I had one picture book as an ebook out there, Bye-Bye-Boobies (original Canadian poem) but the process of getting it into shape was frustrating enough that I kept putting off doing more versions.  The program I made that file with wasn't the best even though I paid for it and followed all the steps. The file looked fine when I tested it in Thorium. Then when I uploaded it to D2D, it came with so many errors that I had to get that company to fix before I could upload it to get it accepted by them. When I tried to use that same file to submit it to a new platform inside of D2D, it was reje...

“The publishing industry is an odd mixture of commerce and culture.” — Jason Epstein I f you’re publishing through IngramSpark, returns are something you don’t really think about at the beginning aside from checking a few boxes when you upload your books. Then one day they show up in your report as a return and completel y change how you feel about your “sales.” What makes them especially frustrating is how random they seem. You can go months without seeing a single return, then suddenly they appear for books that were sold weeks or even months ago. There’s no warning, no clear trigger, and no way to predict when it’s coming. I talked about why IngramSpark is part of our global reach publishing plan here. Why Returns Show Up Months Later For me the confusion came from how book distribution actually works inside this system. When a retailer orders your book through IngramSpark, that isn’t always a final sale for you. Bookstores order on a returnable basis, which means they can send copi...

"Every translation is a reading..."  - Jacques Derrida As a publisher building French and other language editions of our children’s books, I’ve seen firsthand where today's automated translation tools fall short. Let's face it, AI translation tools are fast, accessible and they are increasingly sophisticated. For quick comparisons or basic checks, they can even be helpful. I use them as part of my toolbox in my workflow as a publisher, but not for the various language adaptations we have now or will be hiring people for in the future. Why we don't use AI translations for our books Publishing children’s books, especially books that deal with breastfeeding, bodies, and early childhood transitions, requires more than technical accuracy. It requires cultural fluency, tonal sensitivity, really it's that lived understanding and being able to share thoughts and feelings in a way that machines can't ever understand. That is where human translators remain essential...