Halfmoon Bay publisher Caitlin Press was recently awarded the Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year Award — an award that recognizes their work in being a voice for under-represented regions of the province and for reaching out to authors and booksellers throughout the province.
It’s no surprise that Caitlin’s slogan is “where urban meets rural.”
Publications from Caitlin cover all of rural B.C., from the west coast of Vancouver Island to the Yukon border to the East Kootenays with such titles as Corky Williams: Cowboy Poet of the Cariboo-Chilcotin and a recent release, Accidental Eden: Hippie Days on Lasqueti Island.
Publisher Vici John-stone said she is honoured to be so recognized by peers.
Johnstone purchased the press in 2008 and has reinvigorated it, releasing dozens of titles. Many have become B.C. best-sellers. The books reflect the diversity of rural B.C. with titles such as Dipnetting with Dad, by Willie Sellars, a children’s book that describes a traditional First Nations fishing style (illustrated by Kevin Easthope). They are also proud of their commitment to publish books by and about B.C. women such as The Legendary Betty Frank, by the late Betty Frank.
Caitlin Press has been a recipient or finalist for many other awards in the past — including three recent nominations for the 2015 BC Book Awards.
For Johnstone it’s a sign that Caitlin is on the right track. “You go by feel,” she said, “and you do what you believe in.”
She was reached by Coast Reporter in Williams Lake where she was helping a 93-year-old author put his book together. It is outreach like this that has helped her and her Sunshine Coast staff earn the kudos.
The award is presented as deserved to an active B.C. book publishing company that has, in recent times, earned the respect and applause of the community of publishers for a specific publishing project, an extraordinary contribution to the B.C. publishing community and/or its extended commitment to excellence in publishing. It is named after Jim Douglas, founder of J.J. Douglas Publishers, which later became Douglas & McIntyre.
