From Query to Bookshelf:
A Q&A with publishers and authors
Are you curious about the nitty-gritty details of publishing a book, specifically a science book? In celebration of the 2021 Book Awards, the SWCC is excited to bring you “From Query to Bookshelf: A Q&A with publishers and authors”. In this professional development event, we’re hosting editors from Greystone Books, Penguin Random House, and Rocky Mountain Books to share their industry knowledge and what publishers are looking for in a science book. Afterwards, published authors will speak about their own personal experiences and journey on publishing their science books. Come prepared with your burning questions and ready to engage!
Cost:
Members - $15
Non-Members - $30
Speakers:
Krista Lamb
Twitter: @KristaLambComms
Krista Lamb is a writer, communications professional and podcast producer and host. She specializes in helping translate complex medical, scientific and health-related topics into interesting and understandable stories for diverse mediums. In addition, Krista is the producer and host of the Diabetes Canada Podcast, which won the Canadian Podcast Award for Outstanding Health and Fitness Series in 2020. She also hosts the From Beta Cells to Bicycles podcast for the BC Diabetes Research Network and the Actions on Diabetes Podcast with Diabetes Action Canada. Throughout her career, she has written extensively about health and research topics and she currently provides communications support for a wealth of Canadian not-for-profit organizations. Her first book, Beyond Banting: From insulin to islet transplants, decoding Canada’s diabetes research superstars, is available now from Rock’s Mills Press.
Dana L. Church
Twitter: @DanaLChurch
Dana L. Church has a PhD in animal cognition from the University of Ottawa. She is the author of The Beekeepers: How Humans Changed the World of Bumble Bees, published by Scholastic Focus. She has two upcoming books: one with Scholastic Focus about monarch butterflies scheduled for fall 2023, and one about animal cognition, tentatively titled Thinking Animals, with Orca Book Publishers, scheduled for winter 2024. Dana lives in southern Ontario with her husband, two children, and their big, black, friendly dog. You can follow her on Twitter at @DanaLChurch and Instagram at @danachurchwriter.
Dr. Frederick Voon
@dr_voon (Twitter, TikTok, IG)
Dr. Frederick Voon is a Canadian Emergency physician who works in Victoria, B.C. He was recently named an “Emerging Local Author” by the Greater Victoria Public Library, and listed in the “Who’s Who” section of BC Bookworld Magazine. Currently, he is an executive of the Victoria Emergency Physicians Association and the hospital Medical Staff Association with special interests in patient education, information technology, mindfulness in medicine, business, and evidence-based happiness. Dr. Voon has hosted screenings of documentaries including “Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age” and “Us & Them” a film about homelessness and addictions. He works closely with the Divisions of Family Practice: Transitions in Care with projects including Familiar Faces, which provides digital care plans for the most frequent users of local Emergency Departments.
Paula Ayer - Greystone Books Publisher
Twitter: @greystonebooks
Paula Ayer is a senior editor at Greystone Books and an award-winning author of books for young people. In over fifteen years in publishing, she has edited a wide variety of books for adults and children, including nonfiction, memoirs, picture books, cookbooks, and academic works. She was formerly an editor at Annick Press, and has written, co-written, and translated a number of books for children and teens. Her books as an author include Foodprints: The Story of What We Eat, which was shortlisted for the Norma Fleck Award for children’s nonfiction and the Lane Anderson Award for science writing, and Water Wow! An Infographic Exploration (2016), co-written with Antonia Banyard, which was awarded the prestigious American Institute of Physics Science Communication Award. In 2021 she was shortlisted for the Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence. She lives in Vancouver, B.C.
Nicholas Garrison - Penguin Random House Publisher
Twitter: @PenguinCanada
Nick Garrison is Associate Publisher at Penguin Canada, where he focuses on popular science, sports, and memoir. His list includes biologist Dr. Suzanne Simard’s Finding the Mother Tree, archeologist Thomas Halliday’s Otherlands, and journalist and activist George Monbiot’s Regenesis. His upcoming titles include quantum physicist Jeremie Harris’s Quantum Physics Made Me Do It, historian Tim Cook’s Lifesavers and Body Snatchers, Roy Ratnavel’s Prisoner #1056, broadcaster Justin Bourne’s Down and Back, and Sundance Chief and activist Rueben George’s It Stops Here. He has published bestsellers from hockey legends Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, and Wayne Gretzky. Before joining Penguin, Nick was an Editor at Random House and Doubleday Canada, where he worked with important public thinkers John Gray, Jeff Rubin, and Thomas Homer-Dixon.
Don Gorman - Rocky Mountain Books Publisher
Twitter: @rmbooks
Don Gorman is the publisher of Rocky Mountain Books (established 1979), one of Canada's most vibrant and long-standing outdoor book publishing endeavours. He has spent the past 25 years working within the book trade and has held positions as a bookseller, publisher’s sales representative, and acquisitions editor. Along with publishing 20 - 30 books a year, he spends much of his time working with other book publishers and sales representatives on issues relating to marketing, metadata, and project management within the book publishing industry. He has served on the boards of the Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP), Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia (ABPBC), the Book Publishers Association of Alberta (BPAA), Pubwest (USA), and is a member of the College of Fellows for the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. An avid fly fisherman, hiker and runner, he and his three kids live in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
