PAGE 18 Friday, November Page 18 Friday, NOVEMBER 22, 201322, 2013
regional NEWS
Transportation
Recreational/Sale
FOR SALE
dailyTOWNSMAN/DAILY townsman / daily bulletin DAILY BULLETIN
Nelson’s Mint Literary Agency takes on e-publishing Greg Nesteroff Nelson Star
2001 40FT. MONACO DYNASTY MOTOR COACH includes:
• 400hp Cumins diesel engine • 66,000 miles • 2 slideouts • remote control awning • washer/dryer • Aqua hot heating system • many more features • 2008 Equinox Sport towing vehicle (122,000 kms)
Asking
$140,000 250-349-5306 Is Reading Your True Passion? Love Local News & Politics? Desire More Sports?
Care for Classifieds?
Lovey-Dovey for Travel?
250-426-5201 250-427-5333
Subscribe Today! Sport Utility Vehicle 2004 FORD
SPORT TRAC 4WD
EXPLORER 140,000km
Auto, loaded, sun roof, leathers seats. Keyless entry, remote start. 2 sets of tires on rims.
$7000. 250-489-4962
Local literary agent Morty Mint is expanding into self-publishing — but not the traditional kind. Mint’s agency, whose Kootenay clients include Anne DeGrace, Holley Rubinsky, and Cindi Sand-Eveland, will be the first in Canada acting for authors of e-books and print-on-demand works. “I’m feeling like a kid again,” the industry veteran says. “I’m having an absolute ball learning all of this. I think the potential is awesome.” Before moving to Nelson in 2004, Mint’s long publishing career took him to the top of Penguin Canada, where in six years he increased sales fivefold. He also had his own publishing firm and distributed books that sold millions, like the Guinness Book of Records and Ripley’s Believe it or Not! All along he’s been a staunch advocate for Canadian authors and books — and in recent years, a benefactor to the Kootenay literary scene. As part of his latest venture, Mint will match authors with editors and cover designers, and help them with marketing. But on top of that he has an arrangement with eBOUND Canada, a non-profit wing of the Association of Canadian Publishers, giving his clients a leg up on the digital marketplace. As with the rest of his business, he takes a 15 per cent commission. “I want to work with writers and help them help themselves,” he says. “Opportunities for authors are dwindling in terms of where they can get published in Canada. A great many are looking at self-publishing and doing it on their own.” With recent bankruptcies and mergers in the Canadian publishing industry, Mint expects fewer new titles in print. However, he predicts tremendous growth in electronic self-publishing, noting that e-books
NELSON STAR
Nelson’s Morty Mint is poised to become the first literary agent in Canada for authors self-publishing electronically. already account for up to 25 per cent of Simon & Schuster‘s US sales. It doesn’t hurt that e-books are a lot cheaper to produce than their print counterparts. (Mint points to one author who spent $22,000 self-publishing through an Ottawa company.) He’s not abandoning the business of finding publishers for manuscripts, nor is he going to be less choosy about who he takes on. “I’m going to use the same selective judgment. Will I accept everybody? No.” Mint already has some writers and titles in mind, including one he couldn’t sell to a publisher. In addi-
tion to new works, he says e-publishing is a good way to resurrect out-ofprint books whose rights have reverted to the author. Once he accepts a writer, he’ll work with them to decide if a given manuscript is better suited to seeking a publisher or self-publishing as an e-book and print-on-demand. Authors determined to self-publish in larger quantities he’ll steer elsewhere. Mint says some self-published authors might not see the benefit to having an agent, but others find navigating all the steps by themselves overwhelming. Furthermore, individ-
ual writers won’t be able to access eBOUND. “Authors want to do it on their own, but the time and energy [required] is crazy,” Mint says. “I don’t want to be a publisher or a distributor in the conventional sense. I want to continue to be an agent.” While he’s embraced electronic publishing, Mint admits he’s still a books-and-mortar kind of guy. He has them all over his house — both the ones he reads and the ones he distributes. “The only things I read electronically are manuscripts at night on the iPad before I fall asleep. But boy, the world is changing.”
Rail safety guidelines already in effect Sheri Regnier Trail Daily Times
Two months after a devastating train explosion in Lac-Megantic, Que., the federal government is ordering rail companies to come clean and tell communities when they pass through with dangerous goods on board. This ruling, called a protection direction, was issued in Ottawa on Wednesday in hopes it will result in better communication between municipalities
and rail companies. Locally, the regional emergency services coordinator said a line of communication with Teck Trail Operations has long been established that includes information about the products regularly transported through Greater Trail. “That has been taken into account as part of our regional emergency plan that we have on file and just updated last year,” confirmed Dan Derby. “We are aware and work
with Teck on a regular basis so collectively we’d respond to an event that involved a rail car and Teck products.” While Teck does have extensive emergency training and capacity to respond, rail companies are responsible for ensuring safe transport on their rail systems, said Catherine Adair, Teck’s community relations leader. “Teck does not ship or receive via rail any materials that are listed
The Cranbrook Food Bank needs your help. Drop boxes at Safeway and Save On Foods Food Bank office 104-8th Ave. S. • 250-426-7664 (from 10am-3pm)
as explosives under the Transport of Dangerous Goods Regulation,” she confirmed. “And Teck does not ship or receive fuels by rail.” CP Rail runs to Teck Trail Operations from Castlegar with rail lines running through Tadanac and up to the Warfield plant. Additionally, two reload centres located in the Waneta area, run by third parties and serviced by Kettle Falls International Railway, travel to and from the U.S. “Current operational needs have trains travelling up to a maximum of once per day to and from our site,” said Adair. “We have a mutual aid agreement in place with the regional
district’s emergency services,” she explained. “And we regularly carry out joint training exercises.” In a Canadian Press story, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt acknowledged that the measures won’t prevent another tragedy like the July 6 train disaster, when tanker cars carrying oil derailed and exploded into flames, better communication allows communities more tools to prepare for possible future incidents. “One of the key differences for us is that the rail traffic doesn’t just pass through,” said Derby. “The train is terminated here with offloading and the
re-loading of materials. That’s why we are more aware of products that other communities.” The protective direction order is effective immediately and will require Canadian Class 1 railway companies that transport dangerous goods provide municipalities detailed dangerous goods information every three months. “The biggest takeaway with this change for me is that, any time we can share accurate and current information in regards to transportation of these types of goods,” said Derby. “It’s going to enable us to respond better for the community in case of an event.”