Quill & Quire
| Editor | Stuart Woods |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 10 per year |
| First issue | 1935 |
| Company | St. Joseph Media |
| Country |  Canada |
| Based in | Toronto |
| Language | English |
| Website | www |
| ISSN | 0033-6491 |
Quill & Quire, a Canadian magazine about the book and publishing industry, was launched in 1935 and has an average circulation of 5,000 copies per issue, with a publisher-claimsed readership of 25,000. Quill & Quire reviews books and magazines and provides a forum for discussion of trends in the publishing industry. The publication is considered a significant source of short reviews for new Canadian books.[1]
History
Started in 1935 by Wallace Seccombe's Current Publications, Quill & Quire's original editorial focus was on office supplies and stationery, with books taking on increasing importance only as Canada's fledgling indigenous book publishing industry began to grow and flourish. In 1971, Michael de Pencier purchased the magazine from Southam (who had bought it from Seccombe and owned it for just six months). Quill & Quire remained with de Pencier as part of the Key Publishers/Key Media stable for 30 years, until its sale in 2003 (as part of a larger transaction involving Key Media) to St. Josephs Corporation, a Canadian-owned and -controlled printing and media company based in Concord, Ontario, which also publishes Toronto Life.
Quill & Quire was substantially redesigned in 2006 in an effort led by publisher Alison Jones, editor Derek Weiler and art director Gary Campbell. One of the chief aims of the redesign was to demonstrate to the book and magazine industries the viability of printing on 100% recycled, environmentally-friendly paper stock. (It was one of the first magazines in Canada to do so.) As part of the process, the magazine's trim size was reduced for the first time in 30 years, from a large tabloid newspaper size (11” x 14”) to that of a standard magazine. This also marked the first time the magazine was printed entirely in colour.[2]
As part of this visual re-think, Campbell commissioned Canadian typographer Rod McDonald to draw a new logo and provide two custom typefaces, named Laurentian and Slate, that would create a fresh and unique visual identity for the publication.[3] The redesign was later shortlisted for an art direction prize at the Kenneth R. Wilson Awards. Campbell acted as art director for both the print magazine and web site for five years. Athena St. Jacques was hired to take over art direction for the print publication in 2008 when Campbell shifted his focus exclusively toward the web site, which he continued to direct until 2012. [4]
Editor-in-chief Derek Weiler died on April 12, 2009 as the result of a chronic heart condition. Other notable former staff editors include Ted Mumford, Kenneth Oppel, Bert Archer, James Grainger, and Nathan Whitlock.
The current editorial masthead includes Stuart Woods, editor-in-chief; Sue Carter Flinn, web editor; Steven Beattie, review editor; and Dory Cerny, Books for Young People editor. The publisher is Alison Jones and the associate publisher is Attila Berki, founder and former owner of the small publishing house Riverbank Press. Athena St. Jacques is the magazine's art director and Chelsea Murray is the marketing manager.[5]
Quillandquire.com and digital brand expansion
The first Quill & Quire web site was launched in early 2004 as a membership-based online companion to the magazine. Spearheading the project were editor Scott Anderson, art director Gary Campbell, former Shift magazine web designer Steve Park, and developer Jakub Labath. The site replaced a twice-weekly PDF email newsletter, and was one of only a few Canadian magazine web sites to successfully implement a Paywall. As of March 2014, ten years on, this paywall is still in place.[6] At launch, the site also included an archive of Canadian book reviews dating back to 1996.
In January 2007, the staff began blogging daily in a new site feature outside of the paywall called Quillblog.
In 2010, the website was extensively redesigned by Michelle Darwin and Gary Campbell. Subsequently, the site was shortlisted for best digital design, best news coverage and website of the year at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards that year.[7]
Site-wide social media and a global commenting platform were added in September 2011. That year the site won two awards at the COPAs: gold for best news coverage and silver for website of the year.[8]
References
- ^ "Authors : An Exhibition of Photographs by Arnaud Maggs, Paul Orenstein and John Reeves, 1964-1983". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ "Big changes at Quill & Quire", Masthead magazine, December 2005
- ^ "A time to change", Quill & Quire magazine, January 2006
- ^ "Art director becomes web publisher at St. Joseph Media", Design Edge Canada magazine, September 2008
- ^ http://www.quillandquire.com/about.cfm
- ^ Quill & Quire's paywall subscription sign-up page
- ^ Canadian Online Publishing Award winners, 2010
- ^ Canadian Online Publishing Award winners, 2011