By Kelli Corscadden
Although some local authors say Ottawa’s a tough town to get a start in, Craig Carson and Chris Nihmey are finding a way around closed doors.
Carson says that’s because they are a youthful, energetic duo, which gives them an edge over other children’s authors.
“We’re the two guys that write the books, everywhere we go,” says Carson, 28, who met Nihmey, 29, growing up in the same Hunt Club community. “I don’t think kids are used to seeing young people in their schools talking about books.”
Combined sales of Carson and Nihmey’s books are about 15,000. Their most recent book, Treasures of Time, was released in October and is already considered a national bestseller.
rob mclennan, an Ottawa poet and publisher of above/ground press, says some local authors have not been as lucky.
“There are few publishers here. Ottawa doesn’t make sense. Broken Jaw in Fredricton publishes more Ottawa authors than Ottawa publishers,” says mclennan, who doesn’t use capital letters in his name.
He says most authors have to look to cities like Toronto or Vancouver to get published, but surprisingly, still decide to live in Ottawa. It’s because the writing community is strong he says, despite the lack of support from universities and the media.
Both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa lack creative writing programs, so there are fewer students interested in keeping the community alive, he says. And local media won’t support Ottawa authors in the arts pages, mclennan adds.
“What gets talked about in the media is the National Gallery or the National Arts Centre more than Gallery 101, or the GCTC. There is so much focus on the national (arts scene) that the local gets overlooked,” he says.
Carson and Nihmey have yet to be reviewed and agree getting local media attention is difficult.
As independent bookstores are being squeezed out by big box chains such as Chapters in the Pinecrest mall, mclennan says, local authors are also having trouble finding places to showcase their work.
But that’s not true, says Warren Layberry, manager in charge of ordering for Chapters Pinecrest. He says an author just needs to approach stores in order to establish a contract, and if their book is presentable, it can be on Chapters’ shelves.
Carson and Nihmey, who decided to self-publish, set up an account and saw their first book hit local Chapters’ in 2001. With the success of the book, they were able to hire a distributer, but are still independently published. Their decision has given them the power to print more copies, whereas a publisher may not have had the faith in them to print thousands of copies.
Carson says he is still happy with their decision to take the road less travelled and publish independently. The only downside has been a lack of funds for national advertising.
“We’ve done well in Ottawa and it’s tough for us to market outside of Ottawa because we have no money,” says Carson. “That’s the biggest drawback of an independent author.”