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As noted in an earlier posting, Canadian books and magazines are battling a trade deficit in the area of one billion loonies. To put that into perspective, if you were to take Canada's print material trade deficit, in loonies, and start stacking them horizontally at the foot of Yonge Street in Toronto, you'd still be stacking by the time you reached Dryden, Ontario, some 1700 km to the northwest.


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How can you as a Canadian cultural consumer reduce this ridiculous horizontal-stacking load? Simple, buy more Canadian books and magazines. The lower right-hand menus on this very blog (scroll, scroll, keep scrolling... there you are) provide you with an entire province-load of book and magazine links to choose from. Get clicking, get reading.

And when you're ready to crack the wallet, Magazines Canada has an amazing deal for you. Each and every title in the Buy 2 Get 1 Free promo is Canadian, and many of the Ontario arts and culture magazines linked to here are part of the deal.

Fight the cultural trade deficit even more effectively -- keep the first two subscriptions for yourself, and send the third one to a friend or relative outside Canada. I have no idea if that actually makes sense economically, but how can it hurt?

Suddenly I feel like the Slap-Chop guy.

audiomagazine about... print magazines

"Don't start a magazine unless you have a million dollars in the bank."

- thought-provoking advice from Marion LaVigne, founder and publisher of Up Here magazine

Magazines Canada, the backbone association for Canada's cultural magazine industry, has recently launched the audiomag podcast series, hosted by Tina Pittaway.

The latest instalment of the podcast feature's Marion LaVigne discussing the unique challenges of publishing a small market cultural product in Canada's far north.

deal on Canadian magazines

I apologize for this nakedly consumerist message but, seriously, it doesn't get a whole lot better than this. Until March 15th, Magazines Canada is offering to sell you subscriptions to Canadian magazines with a 3 for the price of 2 deal. With 170 (that's right) all-Canadian titles on offer, choosing that free one could take a while.

Buy 2 get 1 free

Get your Canada on, and spend us out of this recession why don't you?

a holiday wish for Canadian magazines

Magazines Canada, the industry association for the Canadian periodical industry is urging the federal government to re-invest in this important cultural industry. In an article in Marketing Magazine, Magazines Canada references a "'sharp downturn' in ad revenues, rising paper costs and 'destabilizing unilateral decisions' by Canada Post" as the main reasons for recent troubles in the sector.

"Magazines Canada noted that ongoing developments have forced publishers to significantly cut back on discretionary spending, curtail editorial investment, postpone or cancel freelance contracting and lay off staff. The magazine industry contributes $1.5 billion a year into the economy, it said, while creating over 8,000 full-time jobs and “ongoing creative opportunities” for more than 5,000 freelance writers, illustrators and photographers."

For the full story, please click this link.