Shocking News from Raincoast Books

Just heard that Raincoast Books will be closing down the publishing arm of their business to "focus on the core business of distribution and wholesaling". I can't seem to pull the press release off the website, but the link to the CBC story is here:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/01/08/raincoast-cut-publish.html

This truly does feel like the amputation of an arm -- or many arms, in the form of Canadian writers who have been published by this fine company for many years. I remember when Raincoast picked up the Canadian rights to an obscure little novel from the UK about a boy wizard. I know the success of Harry Potter meant a great deal financially to Raincoast, and from that success (and others) sprang a truly wonderful opportunity for Canadian voices to be heard.

Raincoast is laying the blame at the feet of the strong Canadian dollar and the resulting implications for the publishing industry here. I know many authors and illustrators whose back-lists stand to be lost with this closure. A terrible situation.

~kc