Vivek ShrayaTag
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January 06, 2020The Need for More Non-Traditional Mentorship in Canadian Publishing
When I was in school, the act of reading books was just that, reading books. I wasn’t categorizing them. I wasn’t thinking about publishing, editors, marketability, or whether or not a book was considered ...
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July 04, 2017Vivek Shraya on New VS Books Imprint & Mentoring Emerging Writers
Vivek Shraya self-published her first book (which boasts one of our favourite titles), God Loves Hair, in 2010.In the seven years since then, her books have taken the literary world by storm, securing ...
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May 19, 2017
Kid Lit Can: Personal "Firsts" In Kid Lit, Part Two
Welcome back to my conversation with five amazing authors about their “firsts” in children’s publishing.Just to catch you up: Naseem Hrab is pleased to have her first picture book published; Suzanne ...
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December 06, 2016Ask & Answer Post-Tour
In the spring of 2015, I became aware that fellow multi-disciplinary Toronto artist, Chase Joynt, was publishing his first book, You Only Live Twice. A long time admirer of Chase's work, I immediately ...
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November 03, 2016The Art of Giving Feedback
In 2009, after I had finished an early draft of my first book, God Loves Hair, I gave some of my closest friends a copy of the manuscript for their feedback. It was a vulnerable experience, especially ...
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October 05, 2016How To Make a Great Book Cover
The most important lesson I learned when I self-published my first book was that readers do judge a book by its cover. This is often framed as negative but as author and illustrator Annie Mok recently ...
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September 06, 2016September: My Season of Jealousy
September marks the beginning of award announcements and big fall book launches. In recent years, September has also marked the beginning of my season of jealousy. I feel apprehensive typing these words ...
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July 07, 2016How to Plan a Book Tour
As grateful as I am for the vast reach that the internet provides artists, every time I tour I am reminded of the value of real life human connection and interaction. Being able to travel with my art ...
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June 17, 2016Revenge of the Indie Bookstore
In 2014, when I began booking my Crushes and Mountains US book tour with fellow Toronto-based writer Elisha Lim, I Googled “gay bookstore” or “independent bookstore” in cities we were planning ...
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May 25, 2016How to Get Your Book Published (No, Really)
When I asked friends what they would want to know about the literary world, the consistent response I received was: How does someone get published?A quick Google search reveals that many, many articles ...