The Book Publishing Industry In Canada

First, the book publishing industry plays a strong role in cultural development in Canada.

Second, a Canadian publisher who publishes books about Canadian topics by Canadian writers for Canadian readers will find it very hard to make ends meet (Lorimer, Gasher, & Skinner, 2008, p. 179). This is because of Canada's small population and because of competition from foreign publishers. A publisher in a country with a large population, like Britain or the US, has better economies of scale and can publish and export books to Canada at a lower cost than a

Canadian publisher (p. 179). Thus, the Canadian book publishing industry needs government support.

Third, Canada is a mixed economy and a welfare state where the government is responsible for improving

This "includes poetry, fiction, drama, titles for children and young adults, literarcy criticism and literary biography, creative or literary nonfiction, CD-ROMS or cassettes with particular characteristics, and art books of certain types" (p. 180). This is called "cultural support" (p. 180). While most financial support is for book publishers that meet certain criteria (size and financial performance), cultural support is simply for book publishers who deal in these smaller types of literature, and it comes without financial conditions (p.

Magazines build a bridge between companies and readers, and they can specialize in certain areas of life. This makes them even more effective at building communities (p. 184).

The authors describe magazines as a "national interest" because if they are large and important enough, magazines "create a national community" (p. 184). Magazines are a constant, easy-to-read source of information; they give ideas and opinions, and readers are highly involved in the magazines. Over time, magazines become the voice of a community that is all over the country. For example, we might say that the magazine Canadian Family Physician (CFP) is the voice of the national community of Canadian family doctors.

Magazines discuss and explore issues that their readers care about. The target market determines the content of a magazine (p. 184). Thus, American magazines focus on topics that are important to American readers, not Canadian readers. American magazines are also much larger than Canadian ones, because the US has ten times the population of Canada. Canadian readers of American magazines become very influenced by American topics and interests, at the expense of Canadian interests (p. 184). Thus, the Canadian national interest is threatened by the dominance of US-related