Blair: Independent mystery writers in Canada deserve their own award

No big publisher is interested in Canadian authors who aren't already established. But the independents shouldn't be shut out recognition for good work. Welcome to the Toby Awards.

Published Oct 12, 2024  •  Last updated 4 hours ago  •  3 minute read

The Toby Award is a rusted-metal sculpted dog sitting on a birch base reading a book. The first one will be given out in 2025. Photo by Ross Brown

I’m an Ottawa-based mystery author. My debut novel, THE BEGGAR’S OPERA, was rejected 156 times before it was shortlisted for the prestigious U.K. Debut Dagger Award, the same one that launched Louise Penny’s career.

I didn’t win, but when I was in Harrogate, U.K. for the festivities, I ran into famed crime writer Ian Rankin, who told me “156 rejections isn’t that bad,” and said I should reach out to his Canadian publisher. As a result of that encounter, I ended up represented by Rankin’s U.K. agent.

Article content

I got a two-book deal with a Big Five Canadian publisher. THE BEGGAR’S OPERA was published internationally and was shortlisted for several prestigious awards. It was even favourably reviewed by the New York Times.

But when I set my third book, HUNGRY GHOSTS, partly in Canada, my publisher turned it down because of the Canadian setting; I switched publishers. HUNGRY GHOSTS hit the national bestseller list. My next book, UMBRELLA MAN, was shortlisted for an Ottawa Book Award, among others.

But more recently, when I wrote SHADOW PLAY, a story that includes an LRT scandal in Ottawa, my publisher declined it. They liked the book, but didn’t think it would be a bestseller. A number of Canadian agents told me they can’t place a new mystery with a Canadian publisher these days; they’re not interested in anyone who isn’t already a top-tier bestselling author.

And that’s what led to the creation of the “Toby Awards.”

I created my own imprint, ReBound Press, and published SHADOW PLAY myself. I sell from my own website. Because it’s self-published, however, SHADOW PLAY didn’t qualify for any of the literary awards I’d previously been shortlisted for or won. Nor did its sequel, DOUBLE VISION.

Article content

With more and more talented authors — many of them here in Ottawa —  choosing to self-publish, such restrictions on prizes hurt. I was shortlisted by Crime Writers of Canada for their Best Novel Award three times, but am no longer eligible because I don’t sell through regular “Canadian” retail channels such as Amazon, Kobo or Kindle. The Giller Prize only accepts entries from eligible publishers; self-published books are out. The Governor General’s Award places tough restrictions on entries from independent publishers.

Such restrictions seem unfair and arbitrary. So, in partnership with Little Branches Rural Routes Library Conference 2025 and Vimi Corp., my Ontario printer, I’ve created the Toby Award for self-published mystery authors.

LBRR is a conference for Eastern Ontario librarians; we will announce the winner at their annual meeting in Perth next May. Vimi Corp. will publish sufficient copies of the winning book for participating libraries to add it to their collections.

Ian Rankin told me he couldn’t get published now if he was starting over. His first six books didn’t sell. They were remaindered, meaning the covers were torn off and they were tossed out. It was his seventh book that was his breakthrough novel. He told me no publisher these days will give an author the time they need to develop their craft and build up a reader base.

Article content

There’s a certain amount of pressure here to write books set in the U.S., as they sell better in the larger U.S. market. But if Canadian writers can’t tell Canadian stories, who will? The Norwegians? And what about the many authors who set their compelling narratives in Ottawa?

The Toby Award — named after Toby, my TV watching dog, by the way — is designed to celebrate and amplify the voices of self-published mystery authors who are ineligible to submit their trade paperback novels for existing awards because they do not sell in traditional bookstores or in traditional ways. They, too, deserve recognition.

Submissions are open until Dec. 16, 2024 at tobyaward.wordpress.com. Let’s recognize Canada’s — and Ottawa’s — independent authors who, undaunted by the timidity of traditional publishing houses, forge on with great fiction.

Peggy Blair is an Ottawa-area independent mystery author.

Recommended from Editorial

1. 

   BOOK EXCERPT: Amy Tector's HONOR THE DEAD a 'joy ride' of murder and mayhem

2. 

   BOOK EXCERPT: Ashton is the scene of a double murder in Brenda Chapman's Fatal Harvest

Article content