A blocked intestine

posal; I welcome the suggestion that there could be Canadian book shops in airports, post offices and even liquor stores. I am very concerned about the Copyright Act, the parts which affect the importation of American editions of Canadian books where the Canadian edition is available in Canada. Obviously our publishers and writers need protection. I sign a contract with my publisher which gives him full rigihts for distribution in Canada , and then my books are brought in from the States in paperback editi'Ons and sold at a cheaper price. This not only undercuts Jack McClelland, it undercuts me. I am very concerned about that part of the Copyright A blocked intestine MARIAN ENGEL I was assured when I first became involved with the Writers' Union of Canada that writers were so paranoid, competitive and disagreeable that it would be a grave mistake to try to organize them. After a year with the Union I have decided that this is nonsense. Publishers are even more inclined to paranoia than writers. What I do find in the current publishing situation - aside from poverty and its accompanying string-saving - is a blocked intestine. We can write good books. There are publishers who publish them. These books often fail to reach the public. Even the most elitist, involuted, difficult writer wants to reach the public. Writers write to be read. Therefore a publisher like Mr. Stoddart gives a writer great hope of reaching the bookstands - and getting there in his own country is every Canadian writer's dream. However, his own financial viability is just as important to the writer. Although possibilities of earning a literary living in this 84 Act which I think will have to be amended now, not wait until the whole thing is rewritten because we will all be dead by then. Strong pressure must be brought to bear on municipal and provincial governments to further Canadian 1-iterature in our schools from grade one through to university. I am not suggesting that we do this simply to provide a vast market for our books. If we deny our children the knowledge of their own literature, we deny them a knowledge of their heritage and birthright. We must give them this because it is truly theirs. It is ours to pass on to them and we have got to do it, or no one will. country have increased, the writer still seeks improvement in his financial dealings. A publisher therefore should not only be an intelligent, sympathetic person who recognizes your value, but also a businessman who wHI place your work in the marketplace . Paperbacks are not reviewed; they do not add to a writer's reputation, or, substantially, to his bank account. In Canada, the writer makes most of his money from hardcover sales. A 10% royalty on an $8 novel gives the writer 8~ for every copy of his book sold. Even a generous 8 % on a paperback at $1.50 yields only 12~, 6~ of which goes to the writer's original publisher, 1.2~ to his agent if he has one. A yield of 4.8~ on each copy sold argues for delaying paperback sales as long as possible. The Paperback Revolution really works more in favour of the public than of the writers. Numbers are crass, but before getting metaphysical about literature, think about them. The public wants cheaper books and it's glorious to reach the public, to feel one is Revue d'etudes canadiennes read not only in the library or in the magazines but in the subways and on buses. The writer's main interest, as I see it, is to make the best possible deal or combination of deals, taking into consideration his ability to reach the pubVic (and to know which public he is trying to reach) and the publisher's ability to reach that public also. Canadian writers, I firmly assert, are best served by their peers, for though good writing is to a degree international, emotional content is national. We are more likely to be understood here than in New York. There are Canadian words we don't want to be robbed of, and if it...