Recent Articles

Did you know that Thinkubator exists on the excellent social bookmarking platform Delicious? I've been using Delicious over the past year in my classes, gathering my picks of the best news and commentary on the evolution of publishing (and other topics which I think are worth following). It occurs to me that these links may be interesting to a wider audience than just the current students...

You can follow the TKBR Delicious account here:

Thinking about applying to the MPub? There's still time. Submit your online application by February 1 at http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/prosp_students/ Questions? Contact the Program Advisor, Jo-Anne Ray, at ccsp-info@sfu.ca.

Maybe Ken Auletta and the good folks at Penguin were in a bit of a rush to get Googled: The End of the World as We Know It out into this world (nothing like impending cataclysm to light the fire), and a few infelicities snuck through. Maybe Google’s mission was slightly more prescriptive in the early days – Auletta generally doesn’t cite his sources, so it’s possible this was simply revised over time.

Either way, here’s my favourite (potential) misquote, when Auletta describes Google’s mission:

According to an article in today's Vancouver Sun, Duthie Books will close its doors for good, 52 years on. Duthies was once a mighty chain of excellent stores all across the Vancouver area, a pillar of the local literary scene.

The chain itself imploded in the late 1990s, after a major flourish in the face of the new Chapters outlets in Vancouver: the opening of a short-lived Duthies “superstore” at Granville and Georgia. The company nearly fell then, but managed to save its newest store in Kits on 4th Ave.

Interested in the MPub program at SFU? The next information session will held in April. Details to follow in March.

If you're interested, please contact the Program Advisor, Jo-Anne Ray, at .

The Vancouver (and international) design and publishing communities lost a truly unique artist and typographer on January 8, 2010, when Jim Rimmer passed away. Jim Rimmer, who was a friendly face to CSSP and scores of former MPubbers, led small groups from MPub around his workshop and demonstrated the sadly-declining craft of designing and cutting metal type. Jim was so knowledgeable yet modest, I can personally say that seeing him work firsthand was one of the most inspiring and memorable mornings of my publishing and design life. The smell of the molten metal and the hot sting of newly a cast ampersand in my bare hands was a tactile reminder of his tireless craft. I have a memory of Jim spilling a small amount of molten metal on his hands and simply brushing it off, not even a whince of pain as his hands most likely became immune to the heat of hot type after decades of perfecting his art.

Neutra Face : An Ode On A Typeface http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHCu28bfxSI

I'm finally wow'd by an e-reader and it turns out to be a conceptual prototype... This conceptual magazine-of-the-future prototype from London-based Berg and magazine publisher Bonnier, Mag+, has me weak in the knees. I love that 'vertical-based scrolling windows on a conveyor belt of articles' thing.

Raincoast Books is looking for a Publicity and Marketing Assistant to start immediately. The successful candidate will have excellent written and organizational skills and a high level of proficiency in the Office suite of programs. Experience with blogging and design programs is an asset. Raincoast Books is a national full-service sales and marketing book distributor for over 20 client publishers from across Canada and around the world. Raincoast has offices in Vancouver and Toronto and the successful candidate will work out of our Vancouver head office.

As Publicity and Marketing Assistant, the successful candidate will collect, edit and load bibliographic and enhanced content; write and edit e-newsletters; and support the sales and marketing departments through specific administrative tasks. This position is ideally suited for a candidate who has a passion for a wide range of publishing genres and who is self-motivated and can work on many projects simultaneously.

If any current MPubbers are interested in getting a jump-start on finding an awesome internship for the summer semester, Nimbus Publishing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is currently accepting applications for an internship in our editorial department. The intern would ideally work from the beginning of May to the end of August 2010, but we're pretty flexible about start and end dates.

For more information or to apply, email editorial@nimbus.ca.

Clay Shirky's written an interesting blog post, entitled Local Bookstores, Social Hubs, and Mutualization, about the role of bookstores in the social fabric, the rise of online retail, and the looming $9.99 pricepoint crisis brought on by WalMart?, Amazon and others this season.

http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/11/local-bookstores-social-hubs-and-mutualization/

Kindle set to hit Canada

The Globe and Mail, November 17, 2009 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/kindle-set-to-hit-canada/article1366152/

RHC - PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Nov 6, 2009

The students, faculty and staff of the SFU Master of Publishing program invite you to attend the final presentations for the Book Publishing Project, on Friday, November 6, at 1:00 pm, Room 1600, Harbour Centre.

The four publishing groups -- Bombus Books, Brink Books, Northern Echo and Sweet Flag -- have been hard at work for nine weeks preparing their inaugural trade book lists, and on November 6 they will present their books and marketing plans to a panel of publishers, as well as their colleagues and guests. Please come and help celebrate their achievements!

Type designers and Web designers have reached a consensus on a format specification for embedding fonts on the Web.

WOFF has the backing of a wide array of type designers and type foundries.