Just a typical day in book publishing - or not

What’s happening in the world of DriverWorks Ink publishing?

I’ve been asked on occasion what it’s like to work in the book publishing industry. This seems as good a time as any to give you a peek into my work life as a small, sole-proprietor, book publisher in Canada. Hold on, 'cause there's a lot going on!

Since I went back to work this week after enjoying three almost-uninterrupted weeks of vacationing in Europe (with Saskatoon author and friend Janice Howden), the wheels of my publishing company – mentally and physically-speaking – have been constantly turning. (By the way, the vacation was amazing. You can view some photos and videos on the DriverWorks Ink Facebook page or YouTube channel, or my Instagram.) 

Deana Driver and Janice Howden enjoying their first view of tulip fields in the Netherlands, April 2018

Within the first two days of being back at work, I mailed and/or shipped some book orders to people who ordered from our website (thank you!) and to bookstores and other purchasers (thank you!). These orders were in addition to those my daughter Dani shipped while I was away. Thank you, Dani, for taking such good care of DriverWorks Ink while I was away!

In the pile of mail waiting for me, I found a beautiful magazine from the CanadianChildren’s Book Centre. They’ve named Skye Bird and the Eagle Feather, which is Saskatoon author Mary Harelkin Bishop’s latest children’s novel, as one of the 2018 Best Books for Kids and Teens, in Junior and Intermediate Fiction! Skye Bird is about a First Nations girl who is determined to make her new school a friendly, welcoming place for herself and her friends. This great kids’ story is one of only two Saskatchewan-published books included on the Best Books list – the other book is also from a small, hybrid publisher in Saskatchewan – so that’s quite an honour that we will gratefully cherish. 

To follow up on that honour, I was delighted to ship some boxes of Skye Bird and the Eagle Feather books to Chapters Indigo to be sold on a national scale. So look for it soon at a bookstore near you. Or you can always buy it from our website. (Schools and libraries should contact me directly for a discount.)

And then there is this – two new books arrived from the printer just before I went away on vacation, so that was fun! And hectic. Once a new book arrives at my door, the hard work of creating it is done and the process continues to get it out to market. That includes sending information to all the bookstores and other vendors, to media about launch and signing dates, getting the book up onto our web page and social media pages, as well as the sites we partner with, and working our tails off (I’m talking about myself and the authors) to let people know about these great new books. (That "people" includes you. I’m telling you now. 😊)

ISBN 978-1-92757043-2   $14.95

Dear Me: The Widow Letters is a compilation of letters collected by Dianne Young of Martensville. Dianne is a widow who asked other widows what they would say if they could write a letter back to their newly-widowed selves. Twenty widows, including Dianne and me, wrote letters to ourselves, which we’ve published in this book. The letters will help not only widows to see they are not alone and that they can survive their devastating losses, but the book will help others who are connected to widows but are not sure what to say or do. Personally, I learned something from every one of the letters and, sadly, I related to at least one thing that was said by each of the different widows in their individual letters. What a beautiful book.

ISBN 978-1-92757042-5   $19.95

Possessions: their role in anger, greed, envy, jealousy, and death is a fascinating new book by Saskatoon author Boris Kishchuk in which he considers why people do some of the negative things they do. Boris takes a sociological approach, using historical and modern-day examples to show how desire for possessions has led to some devastating consequences within North America and the world, including murder, corruption, and war. Religious beliefs, corporate greed, self-identity, and the desire for power are among the topics in this thought-provoking book.

Psst!  You can buy both of our new books, Dear Me: The Widow Letters and Possessions, with a specific link on our website's Shop page and save $5! Just saying.

Launches and signing dates for the two new books are:

Dear Me: The Widow Letters:

Launch - Thursday, May 31st, 7 pm (St. Martin's United Church, 2617 Clarence Ave. S., Saskatoon)

Signing - Saturday, June 2nd, 1-3 pm (McNally Robinson, 3130 - 8 St. E., Saskatoon)

Reading - Tuesday, June 5th, 7 pm (Martensville Library, 66 Main St., Martensville)

Reading - Wednesday, June 6th, 7 pm (John M. Cuelenaere Public Library, 125 - 12 St. E., Prince Albert)

Reading - Thursday, June 7th, 7 pm (Weyburn Public Library, 45 Bison Ave., Weyburn)

Regina Launch - Friday, June 8th, 7 pm (Chapters, Southland Mall, Regina)

Possessions:

Launch - Tuesday, May 29th at 7pm. (McNally Robinson, 3130 - 8 St. E., Saskatoon)

Dianne Young will also be interviewed by various media about Dear Me: The Widow Letters. Those details are on our News and Events page.

And, as if that isn’t enough going on, I’ve also been talking with Swift Current cowboy poet Bryce Burnett to continue working on the manuscript and images for his new book Horses, Dogs and Wives, which we’re releasing this summer. Bryce’s first book of poetry, Homegrown and other poems, won third place in the prestigious Will Rogers Medallion Awards in Texas, and we anticipate Bryce's new book will be a barn-burning (not literally) follow-up!

But wait - we’re not done talking about the new stuff yet!

One of our authors, Jim Hopson, is being inducted into the Saskatchewan Roughriders' Plaza of Honour in August. How cool is that! This well-deserved honour for Jim affects me, his publisher, in two ways. I’ve been asked to provide photos from Jim's book Running the Riders: My Decade as CEOof Canada’s Team, and I’m also working with the Riders on promotion and book sales possibilities for the book (which was co-authored by Regina sports writer Darrell Davis). 

Also in the past two days ... I contacted three authors about more promotion ideas for their books, made arrangements to be interviewed about publishing options for Saskatchewan writers, agreed to proofread and provide feedback on a manuscript, finished updating my website, picked up some office supplies, and obtained information for an e-book production company. Wowee! Welcome back from vacation! (I took breaks, of course, to eat, sleep, watch TV, visit and hug my children and grandchildren, and water and enjoy my flower garden - not necessarily in that order.)

Soon, I’ll be packing up some books for this Saturday’s booth (May 26/18) at the Cathedral Village Street Fair in Regina! My booth #235 will be on 13^th Avenue, just east of Rae Street, in front of Aware House Books (which happens to also sell Lisa Driver’s three angel-reader books)!

So that is fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, and FUN!

I can’t wait to see what the rest of this week brings.

Fun at Frontier Days - Swift Current's Summer Fair

Frontier Days Fair and Rodeo in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, is typical of summer fairs across Western Canada. It has its share of cowboys, cowgirls, ranchers, cattle, horses, midway rides, midway food, exhibits, cowboy hats, trade show items for sale, home-cooked food, and entertainment.

DriverWorks Ink had a booth at the Frontier Days trade show this year and Al and I spent time visiting with lots of great people, including Bryce Burnett, author of our book Homegrown and other poems. Bryce is a local rancher as well as a poet and a member of the Swift Current Ag & Ex board of directors, serving as chairperson of the Livestock section of Frontier Days.

Here's a photo journal of our time at Frontier Days 2015.

Howdy, partner! Welcome to Swift Current's Kinetic Park!

This is the door to the office of the Stockade Building, where we were set up as part of the commercial exhibits/trade show.

Here's my partner in publishing (and my husband too), Al Driver, telling customers about our amazing Prairie books written by Prairie authors, including me. 

Outside the Stockade Building, there was a lot going on too.

West Coast Amusements was set up to entertain with amusement rides, games, food, etc.

Doc's Town is a section of Kinetic Park that features preserved Prairie buildings and other features such as farm machinery.

I didn't know Case tractors were ever blue. I suspect this one was painted and then moved to this property. The Case tractors we drove on the farm, when I was growing up in Alberta, were a distinctive orange colour like this one - which looks a lot like the one we had. (Seeing the photo of this two-toned orange Case tractor just took me back almost 50 years to my days as a 10-year-old frantically trying to reach the clutch and brake as I turned the corner while pulling the baler behind the tractor. Yikes!)

But back to Swift Current's Frontier Days...

Walking around the grounds, I enjoyed the old buildings, but I did stop and do a double-take when I saw this...

It's a DINOSAUR!

A man dressed as a dinosaur actually - moving every so often and freaking out whoever happens to look that way. It's part of an educational display to tell folks about that era. 

"Alright, heart... you can slow down your beating again now..." I said to myself.

At supper time, this was the best place to go on the grounds. 

The Tea House offered home-cooked meals, like this turkey dinner, complete with lemonade and a dessert of lemon cake and ice cream. 

For $14, this was all ours to enjoy. That's right, ours. Al and I shared this delicious meal as well as the roast beef dinner the following evening. 

Another fine feature of these meals - the profits from the meals went towards the maintenance of Doc's Town on the grounds. Win Win!

We got a chuckle out of this ironic sight - a burly Hutterite farmer holding this very pink, very feminine, inflatable "Princess Power" mallet. It just goes to show you the warm heart of this fellow.

And we saw cowboy hats. Lots of them.

Even on little guys like this one, who was enjoying his berry-flavoured drink on a hot, hot summer day. (His parents gave me permission to take and share his photo.)

On another stroll around the grounds, I headed toward the barns. I enjoyed seeing this operational "General Store" selling cold drinks, snacks, and various hardware and other items.

These cattle are being led between the barns.

A 4-H Angus class is being judged here. (Our author and friend Bryce Burnett raises Black Angus cattle and Tarentaise cattle, by the way.)

These riders are lining up for their turn in the ring.

A heavy horse event is being judged.

I asked this woman's permission to take a photo of her shirt. Every time I see angel wings, I think of eight-time cancer survivor Dionne Warner, subject of my award-winning book Never Leave Your Wingman: Dionne and Graham Warner's Story of Hope (shameless plug). 

This woman graciously stopped walking and posed for me.

I thanked her. She will never know how many people have smiled and been given a tiny bit of joy and hope because of the shirt she wore that day.

I got a kick out of the prizes offered on the midway. Minions were everywhere...

... including in the lap of this tiger!

Minion Fall Down ... Can't Get Up!

WHAT ... IS ... THIS?

That's exactly what I said to myself as these spry young fellows walked by our booth one afternoon.

I caught up to them a couple aisles later and, being the shy young men that they are (not), they quickly began posing for me when they saw my camera. Clever guys. 

But it must have been ridiculously hot in those outfits since it was plus 34 degrees Celsius most days of the fair! The things some people will do to make an entrance, hey?

We were pleased to see people stop at the booth of STARS (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service Foundation, which operates in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba). "STARS offers time, hope and life-saving transport to critically-injured patients."

Jeffrey Dickson, the STARS community relations officer for Saskatchewan, was selling lottery tickets for STARS. 

My favourite line from Jeff came when a man accidentally tripped on a chair by Jeff's booth. Jeff quickly responded with, "This is the right booth if you're going to get hurt." Jeff may not be a paramedic, but he has a great sense of humour and works for a good organization.

And the BIG NEWS of the fair for us?

Bryce Burnett has been notified that his book, Homegrown and other poems, has been named a Finalist for a 2015 Will Rogers Medallion Award. How great is that?

Bryce's book of cowboy and other poetry celebrating Prairie rural life has already won an Honorable Mention in the Poetry category of the 2014 Great Midwest Book Festival. How nice would it be to win another award!

Congratulations, Bryce! Well done. 

(Bryce and I stopped for a selfie to celebrate his book being named Finalist in this prestigious competition.)

The Will Rogers Medallion will be handed out this fall in Fort Worth, Texas. We'll keep you posted on how Bryce's book fares.

Al Driver and Bryce Burnett had a visit at our booth one evening, when Bryce could take a break from his Ag & Ex duties.

And our daughter Lisa Driver visited us for a bit one day too. Lisa is the author of the award-winning spiritual wellness book, Opening Up: How To Develop Your Intuition and Work With Your Angels.

Shortly after this photo, she and I drove to Regina to get ready for her bridal shower! yes, this is going to be a great, busy summer!

But first, farewell from Swift Current's Frontier Days!

May your summer include time for you to relax and have some fun.

May you find joy in the simple things, the images and sights and sounds that surround you.

Most of all, may you find time to be with the ones you love.

Happy summer, everyone!