Sunday July 23, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
When you’ve got something to say, put it in a book!
That’s what Brookeline Publishing House Inc can do for you.
Full disclosure, Brookeline is the parent company of Island Social Trends. There’s a whole other side to what we do — putting *your* creative thoughts to paper (or PDF) in book format.
In years past, Brookeline has produced books for several self-publishing authors in the Greater Victoria area. Some of the genres are:
- parenting guidebook
- hiking guidebook
- spirituality exploration
- autobiography (in English or French)
We usually aim for non-fiction book projects that serve to enlighten the reader or serve an emerging audience. Going forward from 2023 we hope to publish books and e-documents about food sustainability, climate issues, urban lifestyles, and politics. But the sky’s the limit!
About the editor:
Back in 2006 and 2007, editor Mary P Brooke taught a course on self-publishing at one of the municipal rec centres. If there’s enough demand, that course might be resurrected.
During the period of 1994 to 2008 Mary assembled the content and layout of activity guides for rec centres and municipalities, as well as writing and producing membership newsletters and annual reports for larger organizations. She assembled major presentation documents for business, as well as PowerPoint presentations.
Between 2008 and 2023 Mary Brooke has focussed on building a newspaper series for and about the west shore region of Greater Victoria. That series started with the quarterly MapleLine Magazine* (2008-2010), expanding to a weekly print/PDF newspaper called Sooke Voice News* (2011-2013) which morphed into West Shore Voice News* (2014-2020). When the pandemic hit, that news publication series shifted into being Island Social Trends, entirely online at IslandSocialTrends.ca with daily news and in-depth analysis. [* MapleLine Magazine, Sooke Voice News and West Shore Voice News have been permanently archived in the collections at the Sooke Region Museum.]
Now in 2023, Mary P Brooke has been nominated for a Jack Webster Foundation award for contributing to her community through journalism.
Benefits of self-publishing:
Sure, it’s easy enough for people to type out their notes and post that in social media. But there’s something special and unique about books… developing a one-on-one relationship with the reader is just one part of it. It also puts you into a fairly exclusive ‘club’ of people who’ve taken the self-publishing journey. You might even start a public speaking side career to talk about the subject of your book!
Brookeline will guide folks as to the quality of their content (i.e. does it need editing or a simple tidy-up, or can it be formatted as is). Then there are a range of options for formatting the presentation of the book, both content and cover. Some books need an index, and most need a forward (perhaps by a guest contributor), epilogue, and ‘how to order more’ page. Marketing and sales are another component; you can sell your book on Amazon or simply have enough printed for friends and family or the direct clientele of your business.
Self-published books are sometimes just to document a historical period of your life or a phase of an organization or business. Sometimes they are destined to be best-sellers, but oftentimes they are treasured in small numbers for a target audience.
Unlike dealing with larger publishing houses, there is usually no rejection of a self-publishing project as produced by Brookeline Publishing House Inc (except that we won’t publish extreme, obscene, racist or hateful content). That puts you, the author, in control.
Consulting to support self-publishing:
Sometimes self-publishers just need a helping hand or a second opinion. The range of involvement by Brookeline would be entirely up to the client as to their own skills, their timeline expectations, budget realities, and requirements for research, editing, page layout and gathering together of all the pieces that make a professional book.
This service is suitable for individuals, businesses or non-profit agencies — either locally to the south Vancouver Island region or anywhere via email and the Internet. We can help guide your expectations and budgeting.
The self-publishing individual, organization or corporate entity always retains ownership of the book or publication. Brookeline charges appropriate fees for taking your project from idea through to tabletop or digital device.
Getting things started:
There’s a lot to talk about!
Feel free to contact Mary P Brooke, editor at Brookeline Publishing House Inc, at 250-217-5821 or by email at publishing@brookeline.com if you’d like to find out more.
===== RELATED:
Jack Webster Awards 2023 Gala Evening set for November 14 (July 7, 2023)