Tag: Sale

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From the BumblePuppy’s nest #002

Of pride and poetry

(TD/DR:)

  • Our most recent release, Skipping Stones, was published on May 27th, 2024, and is now available through most of your favourite online vendors in both paper and electronic editions, as well as the behemoth, Amazon. Of course, you can also order it, and all our books, directly from our store;
  • The Bumble Puppy Press is proud of our queer-related novels, Cascade and Reprise, both of which are now on sale at a 25% discount in all formats;
  • I discuss my own longstanding relationships (or lack thereof?) with Pride and some of the LGBTQ communities;
  • For Ottawa folks, we have a table at the upcoming Ottawa Small Press Book Fair on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at the Tom Brown Arena between noon and 5:00 PM;
  • Marie-Andrée and Adrienne were interviewed on the Meter&Mayhem videolog on the 15th of June. You can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-ucYRKvaQM;
  • And a reminder about the Skipping Stones virtual book launch on June 26!

Proud of our queer books!

Image shows pride flag, with the cover of Cascade (left), The BumblePuppy Press Logo (centre), and Reprise (right) superimposed upon it.

June 19, 2024 — It seems as if June is Pride Month everywhere but here in Ottawa, where for some reason it is celebrated in August. Which goes some way towards explaining why The BumblePuppy Press is only now taking note of this year’s festivities.

But only some way. Other reasons include the fact that BPPress is a small operation, and that I am juggling a lot of plates (while riding a metaphorical unicycle). And also (full disclosure, as the kids put it these days): I am a cis, white, almost completely straight, male who is approaching 60 with alarming rapidity (February 2025 is in — what? — less that eight months, isn’t it? Dear god …) — but I digress.

As said old(ish), cis, straight, white guy, what does Pride mean to me anyway? After all, I’ve hated parades at least as far back as the early 1970s, when my parents took me to the Santa Claus Parade in Montreal and I was bored silly.

Could it be that I am just cynically using Pride to try to sell a few books, with no more genuine concern for the problems facing “the gayz” than, say, Scotiabank or Loblaws has for any of the “social justice” causes they put their publicity machines behind?

Well, no.

In fact I do have some skin in the proverbial game, even though I am not, myself, a member of the queer community.

I have gay and bisexual friends and relatives; I have at least one trans acquaintance (that I know of); and many years ago, a dyke friend of mine made me very (yes) proud by declaring me an Honorary Queer (along with gifting me a subscription to Diane DiMassa’s marvellous zine, Hothead Paisan: Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist — thanks, Erin!).

(I realize (and realized) that “the gayz” don’t actually have a formal system of handing out such accolades; I still took it seriously.)

The most important reason, of course, is that human rights are (or damned well should be!) human rights. The sex or gender of the people we are attracted to are nobody’s business but our own (provided, of course, that we act on those attractions only with people able to consent; pedophiles remain beyond the proverbial pale).

And so it is that (yes, again) I am proud to have published both Rachel Rosen’s Cascade and Zilla Novikov’s Reprise, novels that are not about being queer, but both of whichtreat queerness as a normal aspect of the human condition.

So, halfway through Pride month, I’ve found the time to put on my marketing hat and do something about it: both Cascade and Reprise are available on sale at 25% percent off through our shop! The sale will continue until the end of June, so get ’em while they’re cheap!

The Ottawa Small Press Book Fair

Image shows covers of BumblePuppy Press books in two tiers.

Local folks, all of our books will be available this coming Saturday, June 22, at The Ottawa Small Press Book Fair, once again taking place at the spacious and airy Tom Brown Arena, 141 Bayview Station Road.

Of course, it won’t just be The BumblePuppy Press holding court, but the cream of Ottawa’s small press crop. If you love books and zines, you owe it to yourself to come out and browse (and buy).

Reminder: Online book-launch for Skipping Stones

Image shows copy of Skipping Stones, with text reading 'Chapbook Launch - Skipping Stones' superimposed at the bottom left.

If you missed the announcement the first time, our most recent (chap)book, Skipping Stones is getting a virtual launch, even as I work at getting its authors out into the three dimensional world as well.

Adrienne Stevenson and Marie-Andrée Auclair will host that online event via Zoom at 7:00 PM eastern time on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Each of them will read from Skipping Stones, and that will be followed by an interview with the authors.

The event is free, but registration is needed to take part. Please visit https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/chapbook-launch-skipping-stones-tickets-914917481817 to register; it’s going to be a lot of fun!

Marie-Andrée and Adrienne also appeared on the Meter&Mayhem podcast, first posted on June 15th. It’s on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-ucYRKvaQM.

Image shows The BumblePuppy Press' mascot, half-puppy and a half-bumblebee, wearing a jacket and smoking a pipe.
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Celebrating Carl’s first 90 years (with a sale of course)

Photo of Randy Ray and Carl Dow, seated at a table, with a painting of a teenage boy on the wall between them.
Randy Ray (left) and Carl Dow (right) talk while waiting for the birthday food to arrive on July 15, 2023. Photo by Judy Kwasnica.

July 17, 2023 — A few months shy of the 10th anniversary of the publication of Carl Dow’s first book (the eclectic collection of short fiction, The Old Man’s Last Sauna) came another anniversary: Carl’s 90th birthday, which we celebrated in quiet style at his home on the northern edge of Ottawa’s Centretown this past Saturday.

In attendance were Randy Ray, his longtime friend and sometime publicist, Randy’s partner Judy Kwasnica, Carl’s oldest friend (who he has been trying to catch for about 70 years, but who somehow remains four months older) Nick Aplin, his friend Faduma (who asked not to be pictured nor last-named), and of course, my darling wife (who also chooses to keep her face and name off the internet), and my daughter, “Baobao”, whose face I have decided to keep private, now that she is nearly four.

Photo shows young girl giving Carl Dow a hand-made 90th birthday card.
Carl receives a hand-made card from his grand-daughter, Baobao.

As I said, it was a small celebration of Carl’s first 90 years, but a joyful one.

Though largely confined to the wheelchair you can see in some of the accompanying photos, Carl (who is, yes, my father; the shared last name is no coincidence. His writer’s home at The BumblePuppy Press, on the other hand, has nothing to do with nepotism and everything to do with the fact that, when I read his first novel, Black Grass, in manuscript, I started it in the evening and finished it as the sun was rising the next morning. I founded the company because I really wanted that book to see print) promises to deliver his next novel, Wildflowers: The Women Who Made McCord Chronicle to his publisher, well, any day now.

After that, he says he has a sequel to Black Grass percolating — one that will feature Louis Riel himself, along with the protagonist of Black Grass, Gabriel Dumont. He says he might start work on his memoirs once those two novels are in the proverbial can, but I suspect more fiction will get in the way of that.

While I wait for the new book (and to really bury the lede), to celebrate Carl’s birthday, we are offering both of his existing books — Black Grass and The Old Man’s Last Sauna for a combined price of only $25.00. Click here to buy them now!

Please offer your congratulations to my dad in the best way possible — buy his books! If you need evidence before laying down your hard-earned money, click here to read an excerpt from Black Grass, and here to read the powerful novelette, “O! Ernie … What Have They Done To You?” in its entirety.

Image shows Geoffrey Dow, standing behind Carl Dow, who is holding copies of his books, Black Grass, and The Old Man's Last Sauna, while seated in his wheelchair. Photo by Judy Kwasnica.
Why yes, there is a bit of a family resemblance! Photo by Judy Kwasnica.
Click here to buy Black Grass and The Old Man’s Last Sauna for only $25!

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One year for Cascade? (Actually, more than one … mea culpa)

Cover of Rachel A. Rosen's Cascade with 1st birthday graphic superimposed on back cover (www.pngarts.com/explore/238839)
Birthday graphic from First Birthday PNG Image Transparent Background.

June 16, 2023 — It’s hard for me to believe, but it has been more than a year since we published Rachel Rosen’s brilliant debut novel, Cascade.

I am embarrassed to admit that I missed the actual anniversary (June 7, 2022), and while I’ll lean a little on my duties as a father, and of getting Zilla Novikov’s equally-brilliant Reprise ready for publication, neither explanation/excuse really lets me off the hook.

But here we are, with a belated celebratory offering.

First, Rachel’s book is on sale, 25% off each version, ebook or print. Please visit our store, if you have somehow not yet bought her book!

Second, if you haven’t read the book and still need convincing, I have collected a lot of reviews here — if these raves don’t convince you, I don’t know what will.

That's me!
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News: Cascade audio book coming soon

And a warm welcome to narrator Paul Adamson

Image shows hard-cover copy of Cascade with earphones draped atop it, one earphone covering part of the front cover.

March 17, 2023 — It is with great pleasure that I welcome Paul Adamson to the BumblePuppy Press.

Paul has signed on to launch our — and his — very first foray into audio books, narrating Rachel A. Rosen’s Cascade.

This being our first time working with audio, I’m not ready to provide a precise launch date, but our intention is to publish it in the fall of 2023 (why yes, in time for Christmas). We will also be launching a crowd-sourcing campaign to support it — details to follow soon.

Paul has already made a name for himself as a voice actor in video games and e-learning videos, but Cascade will be his first time working with long-form fiction. I for one have no doubt that this book will be the first of many — I hope, for the BumblePuppy Press, and elsewhere.

Cropped black and white image of Paul Adamson.
Paul Adamson (image provided by Paul)

Below is a very brief excerpt from his audition recording, already very nearly ready for prime time.

Of course, if you prefer to read your fiction with your eyes (or you just can’t wait until the fall), Cascade is now on special at our store, in hard-cover, soft-cover, and all major ebook formats (DRM-free, of course). And if you’re voting in the upcoming Aurora Awards, there is still time to vote for Cascade as this year’s best novel.

Thanks as always for your support,

That's me!

Geoffrey Dow, publisher

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Vote early, vote late! But vote!

Rachel A. Rosen’s Cascade eligible for Aurora Award

Vote early, vote often!
Image courtesy of Rachel A. Rosen

As is only right and proper, Rachel A. Rosen’s debut novel, Cascade, is eligible in the Best Novel category for Canada’s premiere English-language science fiction and fantasy awards, the Auroras (https://www.csffa.ca/members-home/nomination/).

To have a chance to be added to the final Aurora Awards ballot, a work must get at least five nominations, and only members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) are eligible to vote. The price of that franchise is a pretty affordable $10.00 for an annual membership, and you must be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant in order to join.

If you loved Cascade, or even if you’re just a fan of Canadian SF&F, that seems a small price to pay to support the work creators you like. Membership information is here: https://www.csffa.ca/become-a-member/. CSFFA membership allows you to:

  • nominate your favourite works in any or all of the categories;
  • download e-versions of almost all of the finalist works for free with our voter package; and
  • vote for the for the awards themselves.

To celebrate (and yes, to improve Rachel’s chances, I won’t lie), we’ve reduced the price on all versions of Cascade. DRM-free ebooks in all formats are now only $2.00, the paperback is marked down to $15.00, and the hardcover is only $26.00. A little self-serving, maybe, but a great deal for you if you have not yet had the pleasure of reading what I really do think was the best Canadian SF novel of 2022. You can buy all of our books here.

Cascade has blurbs!

Besides the upcoming Aurora Awards, the BumblePuppy Press will have more news about Cascade (audiobook!), the upcoming novel Reprise, and a new version of A.A. Milne’s classic children’s book, which we will be calling The Inclusive Woke Winnie-the-Pooh. So please come back soon or, better yet, subscribe to our newsletter!

That's me!

Geoff

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Ho-Ho-Holiday Sale!

The BumblePuppy Press is pleased to offer a full 20% discount on all of our books, from now until December 25th (though, y’know, if you want them in time to put under the tree for that beloved bookworm in your life, best to order them now)! Click here or on the image below to visit our store.

(And note that we are offering in-person delivery for those of you living within bicycle distance of downtown Ottawa for only $5.00, a considerable saving off of Canada Post’s price. Please email orders@bppress.ca to make arrangements.)

Poster displaying The BumblePuppy Press' logo, and the covers of our existing and forthcoming books in two columns. From left-to-right, top-to-bottom: Black Grass, by Carl Dow; Cascade, by Rachel A. Rosen; So Human As I Am, by Rachel A. Rosen; The Old Man's Last Sauna, by Carl Dow; Reprise, by Zilla Novikov, Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne, edited by Geoffrey Dow.
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Black Friday & Cyber Monday or, Yielding to the madness of crowds

Two books for the price of one!

[NOTE: This sale is now over.]

As I imagine many of us did, I learned a difficult lesson in the early months of the pandemic: When everyone around you is doing something bad or stupid, it can sometimes become quite reasonable to also do something bad or stupid. Worse than that, it can sometimes be stupid not to be stupid.

The specific cause of that not-too-original observation was last year’s hoarding. In the spring of 2020 our local grocery store’s shelves were suddenly bereft of toilet paper, flour, yeast and disinfectant wipes, among other essentials and staples. Although we ourselves weren’t hit too hard — we tend to buy those kinds of things in bulk on those occasions when we rent a car — but the lesson was learned. When there was toilet paper to be had, I’d snap up twice what I normally would, because I didn’t know when it would be available again.

And so it is with “Black Friday”. Since every other publisher is doing it, everybody expects it us to do it as well. An event that was once some weird American custom we’d make fun of here in the Great White North even a decade back, seems inescapable in Canada in 2021.

And so, here we go …

Sale! Sale! Sale! Sale! Sale! Sale! Sale! Sale! Sale!

Starting tomorrow right now, Thursday, November 25th, and running until midnight Monday, November 29th, The BumblePuppy Press is letting you rob us blind. That’s right, for the next five days only, you can get two books for the price of one! (Note that this offer applies only to our remaining first edition paper copies. Our ebooks remain at our regular (very reasonable and DRM-free) prices, and books ordered from sites like Amazon or Chapters are not included.)

Buy one copy of Carl Dow’s brilliant debut novel, Black Grass (you can read the first three chapters right here for free) and get his collection of short stories, The Old Man’s Last Sauna for free! (and speaking of free, you can read one of those stories, “O! Ernie, What Have they Done to You?” for free right here!)

If you’re fortunate enough to live in the Ottawa (Ontario!) area and can make your way to within bicycling distance of downtown, the publisher (that’s me!) can arrange to deliver you both books for a nominal delivery fee of only $5.00. All in all, you’re looking at two first editions, signed by the author for only $25.00! Click here to buy them now!

They make great Christmas presents, too, if you’re organized enough to be thinking that far ahead.

Thanks and looking forward,

That's me!

Geoffrey Dow, Publisher

P.S. At long last, we are launching a newsletter. If you want to stay informed, please sign up!

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Summer sale (before summer’s over)

Black Grass special advertisement

Edit: September 18, 2021: We’ve decided to continue this sale for a little while longer – there’s still time to save!

It seems hard to believe that this summer is almost over. As I type this on the afternoon of August 26th, 2021, in Ottawa (Canada), the thermometer in my home office reads 31.5° C, and the weather app on my phone tells me it feels like 38. (As I prepare to post, on Friday, the heat wave has mercifully broken at last — 23C!)

It seems even harder to believe that we are now pushing two years since rumours of a new infectious disease began to come out of China. That makes it nearly a year-and-a-half since I was laid off from my day job and since I started wearing a mask when I ventured out of doors.

I am vaccinated now, so I don’t always mask up outside, but I am not yet ready to venture into a bar or restaurant, and I am unhappily prepared for yet another lock-down before all this is over.

But all that said, I do believe (as the old saw has it), where there’s life, there’s hope. And what better way to remind ourselves of that adage, then to remember that life has never been easy and has never been simple.

Take Carl Dow’s fantastic historical novel, Black Grass (which is on sale for the low, low, low price of only $1.99 for the ebook edition, or $12.95 for the paperback (signed by the author at no extra charge if you wish!), only at the BumblePuppy Press. Why pay Amazon when you can be sure it all goes straight to the author!)

Set in 1866, on the border of what would be become the western territories of the United States and Canada, we find that life is no simpler, nor any safer, than it is in 2021. There is still conflict and threats of war; men and women still love, and still hate; the future is (literally, in this case) an on-coming train, inevitable in the broader sense, but not yet set on an inevitable track.

Gabriel Dumont and his fellow prairie Métis face threats to their lives, and their way of life, and face them with courage and imagination, just as we must do in the face of our challenges today.

I don’t recommend books because of their message — most of the best novels and stories cannot be broken down to a singular point. Yet we can sometimes take hints from good fiction, about what makes life worth living, and when it is worth risking all to preserve it.

Anyway, with a week and a half to go before Labour Day weekend comes to a close, I offer some small comfort to those of you in search of a good story.

Black Grass for $1.99 if you want it now, or $12.95 is you want it signed (delivery is extra, though if you live in Ottawa, I might be able to get it to you for considerably less than Canada Post will charge — and faster, too). Please visit our online store and make your choice!

Let’s hope next summer is a far sight better than the past two have been!

Geoffrey Dow, Publisher

P.S. And don’t forget to leave a review if you like it (or even if you don’t), here, at an online retailer, or at Goodreads. Small presses especially appreciate every kind word that comes our way!

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