Montreal’s Baraka Books will begin explicitly highlighting the Quebec and Canadian origin of their books in September.

A sticker bearing the words “Published & Printed in Canada,” illustrated with a maple leaf and fleur-de-lys, will be printed on the copyright page of each new title. The plan is also to sticker the covers of books sent out from the publisher’s office, and Baraka Books is considering having all their books stickered at their Canadian distributor.

In a time of heightened awareness of what is made in Canada, it is a way to emphasize the independent publisher’s local links, not just of the press and its authors, but also its relationship to local manufacturing: Baraka Books prints its titles with Imprimérie Gauvin in Gatineau, Quebec.

For books sold in the U.S., the copyright page will make the books’ origin clear, though it will not be “in your face,” with a sticker, says president and publisher Robin Philpott.

The idea for the branding initiative came from fiction editor Leila Marshy, who borrowed the idea from Quebec City publisher Les Éditions du Septentrion, which prints a similar “discreet but very visible sticker on the back cover” of their books.

“As with other cultural initiatives, we have a lot to learn from our Quebec colleagues,” Philpott says.