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An Evaluation of Small Press Genre Fiction Publishing in Canada

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An Evaluation of Small Press Genre Fiction Publishing in Canada LAUNCHING CONSTELLATE PUBLISHING: An Evaluation of Small Press Genre Fiction Publishing in Canada By Ellen Michelle B.A., Simon Fraser University, 2016 A.A., Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 2014 Project SubmitteD in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF PUBLISHING in the Publishing Program Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology © Ellen Michelle 2019 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2019 Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Approval Name Ellen Michelle Degree Master of Publishing Project Title Launching Constellate Publishing: An Evaluation of Small Press Genre Fiction Publishing in Canada Supervisory Committee ______________________________________ John Maxwell Senior Supervisor Associate Professor ______________________________________ Monique Sherrett Supervisor Visiting Faculty ______________________________________ Alexis Roumanis Industry Supervisor Publisher and Owner Engage Books Oliver, British Columbia Date Approved April 15, 2019 ii Abstract The small press genre fiction publishing community in Canada is a tight-knit group that supports anD promotes each other. After examining the neeD for increaseD awareness and accessibility to Canadian titles, I Decided to launch a new Digital publishing venture focused on Canadian speculative fiction content, Constellate Publishing. Using the business planning and launch of the Constellate E-zine as a case study, this report Discusses several topics relateD to small press genre fiction publishing in CanaDa anD Digital publishing more generally: CanaDians’ awareness of anD accessibility to CanaDian titles, the community of genre fiction publishing, ephemerality in Digital publications, anD using Patreon as a publishing platform. These topics are brought together by how they affected the business planning Decisions anD ultimate launch of the Constellate E-zine in November 2018. Keywords: genre fiction; small press publishing; CanaDian publishing; Patreon; Constellate Publishing; e-zines iii Acknowledgements I will be forever grateful for the undying support anD encouragement I receiveD while completing this report anD the coursework that came before it. This achievement woulD not have been possible without the continuous love anD support from my parents, Cheryl anD Mike Stark. Thank you for always listening to my exhausteD rants anD continuously telling me, “If anyone can Do this, you can.” I also want to give a big thank you to Suzanne Norman, who has been a mentor anD guiDe for me since my first unDergraDuate class at SFU. I woulD not be where I am toDay without you. AnD to John Maxwell, whose support went above anD beyonD the requirements of a supervisor. Thank you for encouraging my Desire to start a publishing company, anD giving me the tools anD guiDance to make that Dream come true. Constellate may be a one-person operation, but I have never felt like I was doing it alone. Thank you also to those who offereD aDvice anD guiDance along the way: Alexis Roumanis, Monique Sherrett, Leanne Johnson, Noah Genner, Ryan McMahon, Hazel Millar, Pat Flewwelling, and Rhonda Parrish. iv Table of Contents Approval ...................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ...................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ......................................................................................................... v List of Figures .............................................................................................................. vi 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 About Constellate Publishing ............................................................................................................................... 1 Summary of content ................................................................................................................................................. 2 2. Context For Constellate ............................................................................................ 4 Canadians reading Canadians ............................................................................................................................... 4 Growing DemanD for speculative fiction content ......................................................................................... 7 The value of short fiction ..................................................................................................................................... 10 The Constellate e-zine ........................................................................................................................................... 11 3. Format and Publishing Decisions ............................................................................ 17 Ephemerality in print and Digital publications .......................................................................................... 17 Formal and forensic materiality ....................................................................................................................... 19 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................. 20 4. Current Speculative Fiction Publishing Practices ..................................................... 22 Access anD accessibility ....................................................................................................................................... 22 Discoverability ......................................................................................................................................................... 24 Community ................................................................................................................................................................ 26 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................. 27 5. Launching Constellate Publishing ........................................................................... 30 Launch decisions for Constellate Publishing .............................................................................................. 30 Using Patreon as a publishing platform ........................................................................................................ 31 Affordances of using Patreon as a publishing platform ......................................................................... 33 Limitations of using Patreon as a publishing platform .......................................................................... 38 Possible avenues of expansion and new branches of Constellate Publishing .............................. 42 Expanding the e-zine ............................................................................................................................................. 43 Print books ................................................................................................................................................................. 44 Podcasts and other media ................................................................................................................................... 45 Interactive narrative formats ............................................................................................................................ 45 6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 47 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 49 UnpublisheD Sources ............................................................................................................................................. 52 v List of Figures Figure 2.1: Canadians Reading Canadians chart, BookNet Canada ............................................................................. 6 Figure 2.2: Interest in Reading Canadian Authors chart, BookNet Canada .............................................................. 7 Figure 2.3: Description of tiers and their reward levels for the Constellate E-zine ............................................. 14 Figure 2.4: The Constellate E-zine’s subscriber goals. ...................................................................................................... 15 Figure 5.1: Become a patron button, from the Patreon Dashboard .......................................................................... 35 Figure 5.2: Record of earnings, from the Patreon Dashboard ...................................................................................... 36 vi 1. Introduction About Constellate Publishing Constellate Publishing launcheD in November 2018 with the Constellate E-zine after over two years of project planning as a platform for a variety of speculative fiction projects. In the summer of 2016, I came up with the base iDea for a short fiction project that specialized in science fiction, fantasy,
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