On the Blog

~ Because reading and empathy go hand in hand, we imagined ourselves in the shoes of various characters and challenged ourselves to a mental game Sink or Swim?.

~ Author Mark Burley shared the origin story behind his YA parkour-based adventure novel Hit the Ground Running (Blue Moon Publishers) inspired by a father-daughter trip to a museum, "creepy things that come back from the dead [...] and, as advertised, parkour."

~ Designer Michel Vrana discussed the process behind his cover for  Randy Boyagoda's Original Prin (Biblioasis), describing the cover concept as a "balancing act of 'humour,' 'family,' and 'suicide bomber.'"

~ All Lit Up intern Lubna shared some useful tips for getting the most out of your publishing internship. 

~ We looked at some of the sales trends in the three-month trip of CarryOnBooks, our book vending machine at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. 

Around the Web

~ Is Instagram informing book cover designs? The Guardian speculates on the relationship between platform, design and literature. 

~ For back-to-school season, Electric Lit rounded up the 8 most hellish schools in fiction. 

~ Award-winning Canadian novelist Ann Ireland, author of Where's Bob? (Biblioasis) and others, died at the age of 65. RIP, Ann. 

What Else We're Reading

Staffer Lubna read  Somewhere a Long and Happy Life Probably Awaits You by Jill Sexsmith (ARP Books), a short story collection that "portrays the hauntingly beautiful ways in which people deal with grief, loss, and sorrow on their path to giving life a meaning."

Discuss