Wow! eBook
A Precarious Enterprise: Making a Life in Canadian Publishing No Edition
Author(s): Scott McIntyre (Author)
- Publisher: ECW Press
- Publication Date: September 9, 2025
- Edition: No
- Language: English
- Print length: 304 pages
- ISBN-10: 1770418199
- ISBN-13: 9781770418196
Book Description
Scott McIntyre has
lived the story of Canadian book publishing. Beginning his career at McClelland & Stewart in 1967, he went on to cofound his own publishing house, Douglas & McIntyre, in 1970 and made his mark on the industry amid the country’s exhilarating literary coming-of-age.Becoming one of Canada’s largest and most respected publishing houses and among the first to embrace Indigenous issues, Douglas & McIntyre and its associated children’s publisher, Groundwood Books, published some 900 authors and 2,000 books in less than 50 years. For McIntyre, the authors always came first, and he worked closely with many important figures, including Doris Shadbolt, Wayson Choy, Richard Wagamese, Anna Porter, Will Ferguson, Douglas Coupland, Hugh Brody, Robert Bringhurst, Wade Davis, and Farley Mowat.
Telling stories featuring a colorful array of characters who rebuilt the publishing world following WWII and anecdotes about how book publishing works, McIntyre touches upon the guiding philosophy and historic traditions still animating the industry today. More than the story of one publisher and his company, this is a first-person account of the buoyant period when writers, their books, and the companies who published them changed the nation.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“It’s a trenchant tale, wonderfully told: invigorating, enlightening, hilarious, and heartbreaking. Every student of Canadian history and everyone who thinks they have anything to do with Canadian culture should read it.” — Robert Bringhurst, poet and author
“Filled with fascinating figures,
A Precarious Enterprise handles the world of publishing so well, and Scott tells his story courageously. A fine read!” — David Staines, University of Ottawa, scholar and writer“Of all the things that Scott accomplished with D&M, of all the authors he has fostered, all the talented staff members he has mentored, all the books he has brought to Canada and the world, the contribution that I value most is this: he did more than any other person to transform Canadian publishing from a local to a national industry.” — Carolyn Wood, former executive director, Association of Canadian Publishers
“
A Precarious Enterprise has all of the DNA necessary for future historians to fully understand the joyous and unexpected rodeo that was CanLit 1.0. It was a cherished window in time, and Scott tells of it with love and the ultimate insider’s POV.” — Douglas Coupland, author and artist“What unfolds in
A Precarious Enterprise is a mixture of the vagaries and cautionary tales of the business of book publishing, along with a kind of rolling who’s who of authors and playmakers (and, sometimes but not often, moneymakers) and a quieter undercurrent of a determined, sometimes opportunistic, and indefatigable champion of the arts.” — Ian Gill, The Tyee“
A Precarious Enterprise: Making a Life in Canadian Publishing No Edition is a valuable read for those mystified by the historic traditions of publishing and its many challenges, as well as just how lively and exhilarating publishing in Canada was during its literary golden age.” — The B.C. Review“If you’re interested in book publishing, you’ll find it absorbing and rewarding.” —Ken Whyte
“McIntyre’s
A Precarious Enterprise reminds us that the survival of Canadian publishing is not simply a business concern but a national one?—?more central to our future than ever before.” — Literary Review of Canada“McIntyre’s narrative is entertaining, propelled by reminiscences of working with authors as diverse as Haida sculptor Bill Reid, Justice Thomas Berger and Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie. He revels in telling stories of international deal-making at the Frankfurt Book Fair and takes justifiable pride in the publishing excellence of his staff and of associated imprints Groundwood and Greystone.” —
Canada’s History Magazine