BookExpo Canada

BookExpo Canada 2006 was amazing. Once again the people at Writers of The Future and Galaxy Press have given me an opportunity I would never have had. I thank them and especially Elise Toth for making it happen.

Unfortunately, security wouldn’t allow strollers onto the floor because of the pedestrian traffic, so even though they came, my wife and daughter couldn’t attend. But being the trooper she is, Kathleen made the sacrifice and volunteered to take Ellery shopping at the nearby Eaton’s Center, the largest mall in the province of Ontario. I found out later that she happened upon an outdoor dog accessory show a few blocks away from the convention center. She and Ellery spent hours wandering around looking at all the animals and weird products for pet lovers. Then they went shopping.

As I said, the BookExpo was amazing. Elise Toth met us at the entrance with free passes. She introduced me to Tony Pi, the second place winner of the second quarter of this year’s WoTF contest. I’m very much a first-impressions kind of guy and I liked Tony right off the bat. The three of us went to the Galaxy Press booth. Elise wanted a picture of us with Robert J. Sawyer, Nebula and Hugo winner, and one of the judges’s for the WoTF contest.

So we began The Search For Sawyer.

Elise led us through the crowds to Red Deer who publishes the Robert J. Sawyer line of SF novels. We discovered Rob wouldn’t be around for another two hours. Since Elise had to go, Tony and I decided to explore the show together.

Right off the bat Tony gets himself a free package of spaghetti, a novelty gift for Spaghetti Western, a biography by Maria Cioni. After that the hunt was on for the swag. Bookmarks, pens and pins, Caesars, Perrier and Champagne, muffins, chocolate and apples; if it was free we took it, drank it or ate it.

Then Tony spied Robert Sawyer. It happens that Tony was a student in one of Rob’s workshops so they knew each other. We returned to the Galaxy booth and took some pictures. Rob had to go do his own thing and Tony and I were on our own again. We talked about the contest and writing and possible future signings and con panels we could do together. We also met Mark Ladouceur and Karin Sumner-Smith who have stories in Julie Czerneda's anthology, Mythspring.

After that we met up again with Elise who wanted more pictures with Rob Sawyer. We went to his booth and scored four signed books from the RJS imprint from Red Deer Press; Rob’s, Iterations, Karl Schroeder’s, The Engine of Recall, Nick DiChario’s, A Small and Remarkable Life, and Marcos Donnelly’s, Letters From The Flesh. Now how cool is that? And pictures too.
Soon after I signed a copy of WoTF XXI for Tony, then bid Elise good bye for the last time. I’m looking forward to meeting her again in San Diego.

Tony and I scrounged for some more free stuff, which brings me to my rant about the publishing industry.

What does the publishing industry have against fridge magnets? As an advertising gimmick, magnets are way better than business cards with a book cover printed on them, and are a lasting reminder because they are stuck on the fridge. They are visible, functional, and in my older daughter’s case, fun to play with when you got a couple minutes to kill before school.
So, publishing industry, think about it. Fridge magnets. They’re, ahem, attractive.

Rant over.

Before long it was time for me to rendezvous with my wife and daughter. I said goodbye to Tony Pi and off I went.

Fridge magnets not withstanding, I liked BookExpo Canada. I got some free stuff, met very nice industry people and more importantly, made a new friend.

I don’t know when I’ll be back, but if the opportunity arises, I’ll be sure to bring a bigger bag.

For some pictures go to www.mikerimar.com

Mike Rimar