The stream of traffic to our website just got a whole lot busier.
Because of yesterday's exciting news that one of our Spring titles,
The Heart Specialist by
Claire Holden Rothman, has been longlisted for the
2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize, we've been in a rush trying to get the word out to people who don't know and fielding inquiries from people who do know. It's been eventful, to say the least.
Full disclosure: This is my first time working with a book that has a shot at one of the two biggest Canadian book awards. Last year we were shut out, but that was okay because
M is for Moose was (and is) selling like bonkers and the two eventual winners,
Joseph Boyden (2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize) and
Nino Ricci (2008 Governor General's Literary Award) just happened to have their early works (
Born With a Tooth and
Lives of the Saints, respectively) re-issued by us that very season.
So I was kept plenty busy while spared the possible heartbreak of watching one of our books lose. And if I missed the chance to experience the sheer jubilation of victory, to have my heart leap like a demented stag at the prospect of good publicity and better book sales, well, so it goes.
But thanks to Claire's genius and the toil put in by our team, we have a shot at the Giller. Huzzah!
So what does this longlisting mean for us, the folks on the front lines? Well, there's a press release to write and release ASAP. There's a few tweaks to the website that need to get done - nothing major, though that could change should
The Heart Specialist make the cut for the shortlist. There's fielding inquiries from foreign publishers looking to see if they'd want to add
The Heart Specialist to their lists. There's blogging and tweeting and facebooking to be done.
Oh, and there's the waiting. The tortuous waiting. Let's see how much candy is eaten before October 6th.
The stream of traffic to our website just got a whole lot busier.
As a young girl living at the end of the nineteenth century, Agnes White is drawn to the “wrong” things. Growing up, she finds herself fascinated by microscopes, dissections, and anatomy — hobbies that deem her unladylike. Yet despite the criticism of those around her, and the obstacles set in place preventing women from assuming traditional male roles, Agnes chooses to