Book distributor looking for Native publishers

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Jennifer Burgess likes to think of herself as a bit of a detective. As manger of the Native Book List (NBL), a mail-order wholesale book distributor based in Calgary, Burgess keeps alert for Native titles, particularly those printed by Native publishers.

"What would be the best present I could ever get is if someone sent me a list of all the little Native publishers in North America," she said.

By contacting those publishers, Burgess then could include their titles in NBL's catalogue-"a one-stop shopping centre" for Native books, cassettes, videos or compact discs.

"Our big selling point is convenience. A lot of teachers want Native materials, but they are not able to find them."

Burgess sees that quest as her job. Right now, she estimates about a dozen of the 60 or so publishers listed in NBL's 1996 spring catalogue are Native. (At least 60 per cent of all NBL's 1,500 listing are by Native authors.)

She knows, however, that many more Native publishers exist that she hasn't heard about.

The problem, she explains, is that small publishers often don't travel the book tradeshow circuit.

At the latest spring book fair in early march in Calgary, for instance, most of the 300 catalogues and brochures Burgess picked up to cull for Native titles were produced by large international publishers, such as Random House and Penguin.

Although the big publishers are NBL's bread and butter, "it's the little guys we are looking for," said Burgess.

The Blood Tribe Education Board is a good example. The BTEB children's book Kitamahkitapiminnooniksi- Stories for Our Elders, is excellent, according to Burgess. Other finds include the Yinka Dene Language Institute in British Columbia, which publishes a Carrier language learning series, and Sierra Oaks Publishing of Sacramento, Calif., a publisher of children's stories.

A couple of non-Native publishers, producing top-quality Native titles include Coteau Boks of Regina and Purich Publishing of Saskatoon. UBC Press and Fifth House Publishing of Saskatoon are NBL's major Canadian-only publishers.

Among Canadian Native publishers, Theytus Books of Penticton, the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre and Pemmican Publications of Winnipeg most often appear in NBL's 54-page spring 1996 catalogue.

"We are always more excited to find a Canadian book," added Burgess. Native and non-Native schools and libraries-NBL's major customers-tend to focus on Native peoples in Canada, she explained.

That being said, the NBL this year plans to expand its offering of U.S.-published books, Burgess said.

"A lot of Native people are interested in Native people from al over the place."

Interest of all kinds, in fact, keeps the NBL catalogue growing. NBL's first catalogue in fall/winter 1993, for instance, carried 36 items, all of them published by Fifth House Publishing of Saskatoon.

By comparison, the spring 1996 catalogue tallied more than 1,500 items, a 100 per cent increase over the 750 items listed in the fall 1995 catalogue. More than 2,000 items are planned for NBL's August 1996 catalogue.

"In the past couple of years, (NBL's) revenue will have doubled," said Fraser Seely, NBL's creator and president of Fifth House Limited. That growth prompted Seely last September to set up NBL as a separate division of Fifth House.

Part of Burgess's job over the next few months will be finding new titles to list in the upcoming NBL catalogue. Native tradeshows and celebrations will be a couple of good places to scout for new books, she added.

But the self-confessed bookworm knows that unexpected treasure can be found in unexpected places. "Sometimes it's a roadside coffee shop."

Publishers wishing to contact NBL or individuals wanting a catalogue can phone 1-800-360-8826.