Far from publishing hubs, Montreal's Anglo writers find their own paths to success

They may livefar from the publishing capitals of the English-speaking world, but Montreal's Anglo writers have neverthelessmanaged to find success by coming up withunique ways to get their work in print.

The executive director of the Quebec Writers Federation,LoriSchubert, said while publishing is difficult everywhere, it can be especially hard for local English-language writers.

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"It's a little bit of a challenge because you can't go to book launches all the time and meet the movers and shakers," Schubert said.

So some arepublishing locally throughthe small English literary community, or out of Canada's literary hub, Toronto.Others are seeking out major book publishers in the U.S., or skipping the industry entirely to self-publish.

International aspirations

Westmount-based international bestselling novelist Catherine McKenzie has written seven books and practices law in Montreal.

Her debut novel, Spin, was released to positive reviewsin 2010, with the Globe and Mail calling it "a compelling, fast-paced read."

She said writing her first manuscript was her version of taking a writing class. She admits it "now lives in a drawer."

She didn't have any connections in the literary industry when she started her writing career a decade ago, but stilltried to secureaU.S. agent for her next manuscript by sending outquery letters.

"I felt like, if I believed in what I wrote, why not go for the big prize? Why short change myself before I'd even be told 'No,'" she said about sidestepping the Canadian publishing industry and going directly to the U.S.

Within six months she had an agent based out of San Francisco.

The novel was put on submission for 18 months a process where the agent works to sell the manuscript to an editor.

In her case, a feweditors liked itbut weren't abletosell their publishing houses on it.

During the delayshe wrote Spin, whichwas sold in a two-book deal. She has been publishing novels regularly ever since.

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Montreal's young writing community

Concordia creative-writing grad Alex Manley published his poetry collection, We Are All Just Animals & Plants, with local pressMetatronin 2016 after following their workfor years.

The young, independent publisherwas founded by other graduates of the Concordia writing program in 2013.

He submitted his work for a Metatron prize and it led to a publication contract.

"They publish the kind of poetry that me and my peers are reading and writing," Manley said. "It was easy to feel at home there as a result."

He regularly participates in readings with other young Montreal writers and says being a part of that network leads to healthy competition and inspiration.

"Being a part of a community of writers is such a great motivating tool to push you to write more, and edit your work harder, submit more placesand push yourself to be the writer you want to be," he said.

He added that he hasn't looked at agents for his poetry since the majority of poetry book deals in Canada occur with no agent as go-between.

'Don't get discouraged'

ConnieGuzzo-McParland is also a graduate of Concordia's creative writing program, but with a master's degree. In the master's program a creative work is expected as the thesis.

Her thesis ended up being splitinto two books The Girls of Piazza d'Amore and her latest, The Women of Saturn.Guzzo-McParlandthen spentyears perfecting those books for publication.

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"My book was finished in 2007, and I only published the first part in 2013 and the second part in 2017. But I kept at it, and it's important to persevere and not get discouraged," she said.

Her latest novel was published by Inanna Publications, anindependent feminist press in Toronto.

She lauds the QWF, based out of the Atwater Library, for their grants and workshops, whichhelp writers promote andpolish their works.

"We are very lucky to have theQWF. They provide a lot of support to Quebec writers," she said.

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The QWF has about 650 members, half of which are published writers. It offerswritingworkshopsand writers also use it as a resource to tighten their manuscripts.

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Schubert said this support and guidance is essential for all writers, and can be especially beneficial for people seeking to self-publish their work.

"Everyone needs a professional editor," she said.

Skipping the industry to self-publish

Many self-publishing services offer the kind of support a writer would get from a publishing house editing,cover design and linking to online retailers, like Amazon.

Self-publishing success stories include books that became so wildly popular online that publishers approachtheir authors with multimillion-dollar contracts for the print rights.

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Perhaps the best-known example is Fifty Shades of Grey, which has sold more than 100 million copies sinceErika Mitchell(akaE. L. James) had it self-published in 2011.

Rosemont's David Makin hasself-published two novels Reantasy, MontrealandEarly Work & Later Works, released this spring.

He said the process costabout $1,500 each, but the price tag wasn't high enough to dissuade him.

"In today's society you always have to invest in yourself," Makin said.

"You're going to spend all this time writing a book that may take a couple of monthsit could take two yearsso putall the effort in it.Publish it. Take a chance," he said.

He acknowledged that he doesn't expect to becomethe next Stephen King, or evenrecuperate the expense of self-publishing but that isn't the point.

"We basically do it because we enjoy it," Makin said.

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