The Literary Press Group has been collectively promoting Canada’s literary publishers for 50 years. From left to right: LPG catalogues from 1976, 1983, 1984, and 1979.

At times, it seems as though the literary publishing industry in Canada has persevered despite a relentless churn of challenges.

Its continued existence can be explained in some ways by the efforts of the Literary Press Group, a nonprofit organization that has worked to collectively represent the interests of Canadian literary publishers for 50 years. 

The LPG marks its golden anniversary this year, half a century after it formed as an offshoot of the Association of Canadian Publishers. Its first catalogue, published in 1976, featured books from a group of small presses including House of Anansi Press, Breakwater Books, Coach House Books, Talon Books, and Red Deer Press, among others. 

The organization was created by the ACP to allow literary presses, with their limited staff and resources, and their unique needs, to work collectively to address aspects of business including marketing, sales, and distribution.

Laura Rock Gaughan, who has been the organization’s executive director since 2019, says that the LPG’s mission has remained remarkably constant, even though its methods have evolved.

“We support Canadian literary publishing and our member publishers, and we support the growth of Canadian literary culture,” she says. “Those two things continue to guide us, and the principle of collectivity is a very important thing for us.”  

Today, the LPG numbers 65 members, and it is celebrating this year’s milestone anniversary with a catalogue of 50 books for 50 years – a collection of notable titles published by member presses that will be marketed digitally over the course of the year. Books on the list include titles from Lee Maracle, George Bowering, Catherine Hernandez, Austin Clarke, and W.O. Mitchell. 

“Those books were selected because they sparked a conversation, they’re still available, they’re really important books,” Gaughan says. “It just showcases the variety and the depth and the exciting nature of the books that our members publish.”

The LPG is also running its annual marketing campaign in partnership with select independent booksellers with a theme – Great Reads, Canadian Made – chosen to reflect this year’s anniversary. Plans are also underway for a celebratory reading and anniversary party in the fall, with details to come, Gaughan says. 

LPG members, including Linda Leith of Linda Leith Publishing, Simon Dardick of Véhicule Press, and Hazel and Jay Millar of Book*hug Press, contributed to an eight-and-a-half minute celebration video that explores what it takes to persevere as a literary publisher in Canada. Many contributors stressed the importance of tenacity. 

Invisible Publishing publisher Norm Nehmetallah, who is halfway through a two-year term as chair of the LPG’s board, points out that the organization provides an incomparable venue for the country’s independent literary publishers, who face the same challenges, to be able to strategize and work together toward collective solutions.

Over time, the solutions to those challenges have changed: in 1987, a group of 15 LPG member presses reached a collective contract with UTP Distribution for book distribution. Now, the LPG maintains a subsidiary, LitDistCo, which handles distribution for a number of member presses, and also offers member publishers a collective sales arrangement with Canadian Manda Group. Its sales website, All Lit Up, is, as Gaughan notes, the only Canadian website devoted exclusively to the sales of books by Canadian-owned publishers. 

“We would not have the same industry we have without it,” says Alana Wilcox, editorial director of LPG member Coach House Books.

At this moment of “prolonged crisis” in the industry, where publishers are dealing with a dizzying array of challenges, from the rising costs of doing business to ongoing issues such as loss of revenues due to Canada’s copyright laws and the still-to-be-determined threat of AI, Nehmetallah says it is a “massive” accomplishment that the LPG has managed to survive for 50 years. But he is looking ahead with a mix of optimism and dread. 

“This does feel like a moment for change. I am glad that we are here to collectively weather that, whatever weathering it looks like, but it’s a tough time, regardless,” he says. “Canadian publishers, who account for 5 per cent of (book) sales in the country, publish more than 80 per cent of the Canadian-authored books that are published. 

“I think it’s sometimes hard for us to say this, but I think this is a moment where readers, members of the media, and authors themselves can think about ways to support the Canadian producers in that industry.”