The Perilous Trade: Book Publishing in Canada, 1946-2006

by Roy MacSkimming

A book that will fascinate and inform readers who love Canadian writing

Part cultural history, part personal memoir, this accomplished, sweeping, yet intimate book demonstrates that the story of Canadian publishing is one of the cornerstones of our literary history.

In The Perilous Trade , former publisher, literary journalist, and industry insider Roy MacSkimming chronicles the extraordinary journey of English-language publishing from the Second World War to the present. During a period of unparalleled transformation, Canada grew from a cultural colony fed on the literary offerings of London and New York to a mature nation whose writers are celebrated around the world. Crucial to that evolution were three generations of book publishers–mavericks, gamblers, entrepreneurs, political activists, and true believers–sharing a conviction that Canadians need books of their own.

Canadian publishing has long made headlines—be it Jack McClelland’ s outrageous publicity stunts, American takeovers, the collapse of venerable imprints, or bold political moves to ensure the industry’s survival. Roy MacSkimming takes us behind the headlines to draw memorable portraits of the men and women who built Canada’s literary renaissance. With a novelist’s eye for character and incident, he weaves their tangled relationships with authors, agents, booksellers and each other into a lively narrative rich in anecdote and revealing personal recollection. Canadian publishers large and small have nurtured a literature of extraordinary diversity and breadth, MacSkimming argues, giving us English Canada’s greatest cultural achievement.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Canada

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Colby Clair Stolson]

I'm not in the publishing industry, but the book manages a narrative to impart the general, while obviously littered with particulars, some of which I will retain. There's a handy chronology in the back that I will reference in the future. The characters that arise are memorable, including McClelland and Hurtig, especially. It took me a blasted long time to read it and a lot of dedicated sessions, but I think it was worth it. Respect for Canadian small presses.

[Aras · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tracks the history of English-language publishing in Canada from WWII until the printing of the book (2003). Canada faces some unique challenges, such as sharing a language and much culture with much more populous and economically powerful nations, and a large geographical area with a small and scattered population. So the story told here is of a lot of earnest people with momentary successes and the almost inevitable eventual failures and bitter endings.

The story told is certainly biased towards small presses, especially those that advocate a political agenda. One thing I was struck by is that the publishers are always the heroes, and little to no emphasis is placed on engaging with readers and the general public that could become potential customers. It's as if the publisher's role is only to take any piece of Canadian writing, regardless of merit, publish it, and then it's the fault of the stupid world and capitalists if the people don't lap it up.

A good example of this attitude is the criticism near the end of the book of Amazon expanding into Canada with the Amazon.ca website. As a reader and a buyer of books this was a positive development for me, offering more choice, better prices and convenience. But MacSkimming just sees it as a negative, wishing that consumers had no choice but to go to folksly independent bookstores, as if it would just be easier for Canada to stay in a past that never was, even though it means a raw deal for the book buyer and reader that wants something else.

An additional star off because, in all honesty, it was a pretty dry read that took a long time to get through. A worthwhile read for me, but dry all the same.

[Tiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Canadian book publishing professional should read this book. Roy MacSkimming has written the one-stop-shop book on the history of book publishing in Canada, spanning from the early-twentieth century to 2003 when the book was published. He discusses the birth of such established presses as McClelland & Stewart, University of Toronto Press, MacMillan, etc., in addition to the advent of independent book publishing in the 60s, headed by House of Anansi, Coach House, New Star, etc. I'm fairly certain he covers the beginnings of every Canadian press established before 2003, although he obviously spends more time on the heavy hitters. The last quarter of the book is then dedicated to the demise of publishers such as Stoddart and Hurtig (which I found especially interesting since I used to live in Edmonton), the rise of multinationals such as HarperCollins, Pearson, and Random House, and also the impact of Chapters Indigo on the industry as a whole.

I can imagine that many outside the book publishing industry might find the content a little dry. But as someone who's worked in the industry for four years, I thought The Perilous Trade was a fascinating and illuminating read. It was exciting to read about industry folk whom I've actually heard of, although I'll admit that it was often difficult to follow all the name dropping. I'm pretty sure I've already forgotten a lot of the people mentioned in the book in relation to which press they worked for and/or started. But I've never been good with names in the first place, so this isn't a criticism against the book.

After reading this book, I wish more than ever that I had been a publisher during the 60s and 70s--those people had it made, and they didn't have to worry about e-book pricing or XML workflow. They published books because they believed in Canadian writers and Canadian content. What a concept! While this is of course still the driving force that keeps that ever-creaking publishing wheel turning, hippie-era publishers seemed more likely than present-day publishers to say, "Fuck it, I'll probably lose money on this book but I'm publishing it anyway because it's awesome." So what if they were drunk or high on acid when they decided which books to publish? It obviously worked out because some damn good authors emerged from that time, and Can lit is better for it.

It wasn't always this way, of course, and MacSkimming describes in great detail the financial struggle many publishers weathered in order to remain in business. But that in turn resulted in much of the cornerstones of present-day publishing, such as grants for publishers and writers, the Canada Council, the Association of Canadian Publishers, the Literary Press Group, and the general sense of community that occurs when an underappreciated industry needs to strengthen itself internally to stay afloat. Because back then, publishers got together to harass the government a hell of a lot more than they do now to get what they want. And get this--the government used to listen. (Well, sometimes. The Mulroney government really fucked over Canadian publishers with bullshit free trade agreements and allowing the infiltration of foreign businesses into the Canadian market. So that's shitty. But at least I know the story behind that after reading MacSkimming's book.)

My only gripe about the book is that it included no insight into the future of Canadian book publishing, which I thought was a bit cowardly. I realize the book is meant to focus on the history of the Canadian book publishing industry, but I think MacSkimming may have skipped out a little early and consciously avoided commenting on where he thinks the industry is headed. While 2003 may have been early to speculate on the advent of digital publishing, I think at least some mention of it is essential to the text, and he really did sidestep the whole issue. But there's a new(ish) edition of the book that was released in 2007, so I imagine this oversight has been touched upon in the latest version.

The Perilous Trade is essential reading for those in the Canadian book industry, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to better understand Canadian literature, writers, and the cultural sector as a whole.

[Cpapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Occasionally devastating, often hopeful and always poignant, The Perilous Trade is a must-read for anyone with a connection to the industry.

Roy MacSkimming manages to bring readers into the fight for Canadian literature, introducing us to and really connecting us to influential figures in the industry through narrative and first-hand accounts. It is a critical read for anyone who loves books in Canada, covering everything from why we read what we read to why books in Canada cost more than the US price.

[Adrian]

A history of Canadian publishing. Well written and surprisingly entertaining. Excellent profiles of major players like John Gray, Jack McClelland, William Toye and Mel Hurtig. Later chapters dealing with literary agents, Chapters and multinationals were depressing.

[Karena · Rating 3 out of 5]

The small bit of this book which I read (I was mining it for information) was great. Even though I worked in the industry I learned a lot which was new to me. I highly recommend this book to any aspiring Canadian author...just so you know what you're getting into!

[Patrick Nichol · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant and readable history of Canada's book publishing industry. I recommend it highly!