The Sentimentalists, recent winner of this year’s Scotiabank Giller prize, will see a broader audience after the book’s publisher, Gaspereau Press, signed an agreement with Douglas and McIntrye (D&M) to allow them to produce a trade edition.
According to a report by the Toronto Star, D&M is rushing the production of 40,000 copies of Johanna Skibsrud’s debut novel, which took the $50,000 Giller prize. Gaspereau Press, a small specialty printer based out of Nova Scotia, produces the book by hand, at a quantity of only 1,000 copies a week.
Also according to The Star, Douglas and McIntyre initially placed an order of 30,000 copies with Altona, Manitoba-based Friesens, but upped the order soon after. Last year’s Giller prize winner, Linden MacIntyre’s The Bishop’s Man, sold more than 75,000 copies.
“We’re delighted to be working with Douglas & McIntyre and Friesens to produce a new edition of The Sentimentalists for the wider marketplace,” said Andrew Steeves, co-founder of Gaspereau Press, in a statement. “This alliance will ensure that our author’s accomplishment will be honoured, and that readers across the country will have ready access to well-made copies of the book.”
The Sentimentalists is also available through Chapter’s Kobo e-book service at a price of $14.95. The new edition from D&M will have a cover price of $19.95 while the original Gaspereau edition carries a cover price of $27.95. The Gaspereau edition will continue to be produced while the D&M edition will be branded as such.
Gaspereau Press was established in 1997 by Andrew Steeves and Gary Dunfield in Kentville, Nova Scotia. The company both prints and publishes books from “some of Canada’s most original and innovative authors.”
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