About Book*hug Press
Celebrating adventures in literary publishing since 2004, Book*hug Press is a Canadian-owned and operated, radically optimistic independent publisher working at the forefront of contemporary book culture. We specialize in bold and dynamic literary fiction, literature in translation, poetry, and narrative nonfiction. We publish critically acclaimed, award-winning literary books with a strong and recognizable brand, and readers turn to us for engaging and intelligent books. We champion emerging and established writers whose work meaningfully contributes to and reflects contemporary culture and society, as well as books that challenge and push the boundaries of cultural expectations.
Book*hug Press has made an impressive mark on the domestic Canadian-owned independent publishing landscape. This success was helped by our promise early on to remain open to change and adapt to the changing needs of the culture to which the press contributes. Our books are known for making significant contributions to contemporary literary culture. We have worked hard to build a highly supportive community of core readers around the press and consistently engage in promotional activities to reach new audiences and markets year after year.
Book*hug Press is deeply committed to building an equitable an inclusive publishing landscape by championing culturally diverse voices and producing born-accessible editions of our titles. To this end, we strive to ensure our catalogue reflects a diverse, inclusive, and just society. We prioritize submissions from equity-deserving writers marginalized by attitudinal, historical, social, and environmental barriers based on race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, economic status, age, gender, and sexual orientation. These equity-deserving groups include but are not limited to women, Indigenous writers, writers of colour, racialized writers, writers with disabilities, Deaf writers, and writers of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
We’re proud to be part of Canada’s vital independent publishing community. We champion and support Canadian and international voices and stories and produce and manufacture all our books in Canada. What does this mean? It means we mainly work with Canadians on our books from start to finish, including authors, editors, proofreaders, translators, designers, sales reps, distributors and wholesalers, printers, booksellers, marketing professionals, and more, to get them into the hands of as many readers as possible.
We support our writers through attentive editing and by facilitating dialogue about the spaces and traditions they work within. We help expand their readership through strategic and targeted publicity and marketing campaigns. We produce attractive and elegant editions with careful attention paid to design aesthetics. We publish books in born accessible formats (print, eBooks, audiobooks) and sell and distribute them through as many channels as possible.
Some of our notable authors include Shani Mootoo, Lee Maracle, Maria Stepanova, Olga Ravn, M. NourbeSe Philip, Lisa Robertson, Chelene Knight, Jacob Wren, Marianne Apostolides, Jess Taylor, Joni Murphy, Johanna Skibsrud, Rune Christiansen, Mona Hovring, Sandra Ridley, and more. Our books receive recognition and acclaim in the media and on literary prize shortlists, including nominations and/or wins from the Giller Prize, the International Booker Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, CBC Canada Reads, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, the Griffin Poetry Prize for Excellence, the Trillium Book Awards, the Atlantic Books Awards, the Quebec Writers’ Federation Book Awards, the BC Book Awards, the Toronto Book Awards, the City of Vancouver Book Award, and more.
