I always debate whether to post this kind of update or not. I worry people will mistaken it for swagger rather than the analysis it is. A measure of health - a method of self-diagnosis. See what's working and what isn't.
As the printing industry advances, adapts, and morphs; as the publishing landscape changes and moves away from traditional models, what we are seeing manifest is literature's living and growing heartbeat itself.
This is a truer image of what this represents. Whether it be Broken Keys Publishing & Press or another publishing/printing company, the evolution will still be the same.
Ultimately, Broken Keys Publishing & Press' health or prosperity is not boasting, but the heartbeat of Ottawa's literary talents' successes - its lifeblood - the authors, writers, and poets themselves:
Steele, Cravens, Zamfir, Van Horn, Shinestone, Begovic, Sadava, McCorrister, Sharma, Moore, Blauveldt, Adubato, Underhill, Boulay, Breeze, Commanda, Foster, Georget, Lalonde, Nash, Partington, Prattis, Stewart, Wolf, Davies, Jeffreys, McCarville, Schuster, Scally, Bowie, Grover, Imbleau, Maskell, Medina, Pretty (Murphy), Shotton, and so many more.
And as our literary talents change the publishing landscape, so too is the ripple felt in ever expanding concentric waves. From publishing to printing to bookstores to retail and on. Literature shapes the narrative and chronicles the very fabric of our society. A teacher, a lesson, a mirror and a reflection of our times.
"Artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up."
-- Evey Hammond (V for Vendetta)
I often sit back in quiet amazement at the unsuspecting power our writers and authors and poets possess, and all seemingly unknowingly. Let's not undersell them. They shape our futures, our truths, and our world.
Although I never share dollar values, I will share the growth over the years. And coming out of the government enforced lockdowns, I see our literary talents rising...and influencing...and growing.
Broken Keys Publishing has seen its setbacks and false starts. In 2018 Broken Keys Publishing had began the ARISE events, showcasing Ottawa's numerous local literary talents, and faced the opportunity to host a once per week radio show, but due to a family member's cancer diagnosis, all plans were temporarily paused.
Submissions were opened in October 2019 for its first anthology (Thin Places: The Ottawan Anthology) scheduled for release in April 2020 as well plans to launch into full publishing in March of 2020. But then the pandemic hit and the lockdowns occurred. It had to face reinventing itself - retooling and reevaluating. An online bookstore was created and launched as a bandage solution to the government enforced closures. New tools were discovered and added, other options, abandoned.
It was in early 2022 that Broken Keys Publishing launched fully into publishing, creating its own publishing model, opening two new imprints, Broken Keys Publishing - KIDS! and Broken Keys Publishing & Press, branching out into children books and extending our services into print, giving our authors, writers, and poets a better, stronger and more profitable tableau of tools and resources at their disposal.
As we approach the end of 2023 we currently have over 72 published titles, our roster on literary talents includes 14 signed authors - both local an abroad - have working with 28 local authors/writers/journalists/poets, 6 models, 5 photographers, and 9 voice actors.
Our titles are available worldwide and in local bookstore shelves in over 10 locations (both big-box and independent) and titles in a least 4 local libraries and numerous online library or library services.
This is a celebration of the amazing literary talents our great city has to offer - a sampling of the literary landscape of Ottawa - a cornucopia of the literary feast that's coming. Are you ready? I know we at Broken Keys Publishing & Press certainly are.
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