Episode 224 – Being an Independent Publisher and Bookseller with Heather Campbell

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Mark interviews Heather Campbell co-founder and publisher at Latitude 46 Publishing, and owner of a brand-new indie bookstore in Sudbury, Ontario.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares some recent comments, a personal update, and shares a word about this episode’s sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In their conversation Mark and Heather talk about:

• Heather’s long love of reading and books, and her engagement in the Sudbury, Ontario writing community
• Deciding to start Latitude 46 when Scrivener Press decided to close shop
• How Heather got into learning about publishing, distribution, and self-publishing twelve years ago by helping a friend out with her book
• Celebrating Latitude 46’s 7th anniversary on March 22, 2022
• How often a regional/local publisher has to start off doing it part time and with funding support from arts councils, etc
• The average number of submissions rec’d versus books published
• The way that Heather, as a publisher, seeks to have a collaborative relationship with her writers
• Advice for authors looking to submit to Latitude 46
• The mandate to publish authors either from or with strong ties to Northern Ontario and mid-Northern Ontario
• Heather’s decision to open up a downtown independently operated bookstore as part of a 4 month opportunity by the city called “Zero Vacancy” to help revitalize the downtown core
• Some of the other artisan and local artist merchandise carried in the store
• An imprint from Latitude 46 that Heather uses when the title doesn’t have a literary bend to it
• Authors who have come in to sign books and the store as well as forthcoming planned author visits
• Heather’s thought that writers could benefit from going and working in a bookstore, even briefly, to understand what that experience is like
• The question of “is this publishable” that publishers often ask when a manuscript is presented
• Toni Morrison’s long term “teamwork” based relationship with her editor

After the interview Mark reflects on the importance of understanding a publishers vision and mandate as well as the idea of how writers can benefit from in person bookstore experience.

Links of Interest:

• Latitude 46 Publishing
  • Facebook Page
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
• EP 189 – From Stage to Page Then Back to Stage with Rod Carley
• EP 223 – Love, Only Better with Paulette Stout
• The Canadian Mounted
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark’s Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover’s Moon

Heather Campbell has spent over 25 years in communications and freelance writing, specializing in issues relevant to Northern Ontario communities. A graduate of York University (BA Sociology ’92), she has combined her education, experience and ‘need to initiate’ by starting a local chapter of the Professional Writers Association of Canada and the Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival. Joining forces with another local writer to start a new publishing house for the North is a natural extension of how she can contribute to creating a thriving literary scene in Northern Ontario.

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The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0