The centre of the publishing world is no longer London, New York or Toronto. It is as close as a home computer.
Technology has made home publishing easy and two independent ventures are starting in rural Saskatchewan. ActionWest is a sports magazine that intends to publish six times a year from Porcupine Plain.
And a Langenberg woman will be posting a craft catalogue on the internet.
Caroline MacMurchy had originally intended a paper catalogue, as well as an electronic version featuring prairie artists and crafts. But she since has started a new full-time job and that means she won’t have time to do the mail order publication.
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Instead, she will concentrate on an Oct. 1 launch of her home page featuring photographs of crafts that the artists pay to place. After browsing, people can contact the artists directly through e-mail, letter or telephone.
The concept came to her as an easier way to window shop for crafts from other areas.
“I’m an avid craft consumer myself,” said MacMurchy. “I only get to see crafts done in this area of the province.
“Catalogue sales are booming across North America because of its convenience. In Western Canada, it also allows artists to reach distant customers they otherwise would never see.”
While many farmers work with computers, she is not sure how many are on the internet. But MacMurchy expects her electronic Copper Kettle Craft catalogue could draw international visitors. She has no internet address yet but internet users should find it this fall while cruising through the craft references.
Technology is also the impetus for a new magazine whose first copy came off the press in August. New computer programs and access to the internet, e-mail and fax machines meant ActionWest magazine’s partners could move to northeastern Saskatchewan from Vancouver.
“It’s shrunk the globe,” said Shannon Hill, the magazine’s creative director. Originally from Porcupine Plain, Hill was able to convince her partner Edward Danneberg to move from the coast. Hill said it’s easier to cover western Canadian events from a prairie location than from Vancouver. Most of their advertising business is done with Toronto so it didn’t matter if they were in a city or rural location to make the contacts.
The magazine is about Western Canadian fitness, health and lifestyle and the next issue, which will be out Nov. 1, features small town prairie boys who have made it to the National Hockey League.
Fitness is different on the Prairies, said Hill. Weather, availability of facilities and seasonal farm work bring a different style of activity or focus for prairie versus west coast dwellers.
She herself is a runner and likes racing cars; her partner is a competitive swimmer and both of them rock climb.
Hill said they are hoping to build a circulation base of 50,000 within a year.
