Re: RARA-AVIS: Canadian Noir

From: Kerry J. Schooley ( gsp.schoo@murderoutthere.com)
Date: 16 Apr 2007


At 06:00 PM 14/04/2007, you wrote:
>On a recent episode of Blood Ties, an odd Lifetime series that teams a
>female PI with a vampire, a suspect's rap sheet included his part in the
>"Montreal biker wars," so we're starting to get references to crime up
>there. This show is supposedly based on a series of books (can't
>remember who by). Wonder if they were set in Canada?

I don't know, Mark. I don't read or watch much in the way of vampire stories. The theme to Blood Ties sounds familiar, but that may be from seeing some of the show as I flicked around the dial.

Regarding the availability of Canadian books in the US, the big titles and recognized authors get picked up by US publishers of course. For the rest, those published by smaller presses, I think distribution is often the problem. Maybe it's my subjective experience, but I often hear of Canadian publishers changing their US distributors, hoping each new one will be more effective than the last. They have no money for advertising and promotion, of course, and the little they get from government agencies is focused within Canada. New publications are almost always available through Amazon, however, even the US Amazon, and older stuff through ABE.

I've heard many US crime fiction fans say they'd read Canuck stuff if they could only find it. But I suspect that readers we find at various Cons and on RA are atypically more likely to search out less available material in the genres that interest them. But even then I wonder what efforts folks will go to. I'm very lucky to have a local, independent bookstore with a reputation for finding books in print. He'll even order a few extra copies for his shelves, rather than pass on extra costs for single-copy orders. I find the chains next to useless for ordering books. They don't search beyond their own computer stock lists, and only that far if the clerk happens to have been around the store long enough to learn their own systems before moving up to a job selling jeans at the GAP.

The GAP is way cool, but they don't stock many books.

Best, Kerry

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