books on the radio


ABE the Advent Book Elf: An interview with Open Book Toronto (via @seancrnabury)
November 1, 2010, 12:24 PM
Filed under: Enthusiasms, Imagination, Industry Change | Tags: , ,

Last December our friends at Open Book Toronto interviewed Julie, ABE and myself about the Advent Book Blog. It was a fun interview and it gave us a chance to explain ourselves and our project but ABE’s part of the Q&A is the most memorable. I’ve posted it below.

For the full interview check out Open Book Toronto.

I’m looking forward to unleashing more of ABE’s crazy story later this year!

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Advent Book Blog (@AdventBooks) Will Return on December 1st! (via @seancranbury)
November 1, 2010, 11:07 AM
Filed under: Enthusiasms, Events, Imagination | Tags: ,

Remember the Advent Book Blog? Remember how much fun it was?

Remember the look on your mother’s face when she opened her gift on Christmas morning and saw that you’d followed the advice of Dan Wagstaff and got her a copy of Asterios Polyp? That, my friend, is the magic of giving books as gifts.

And so, in hopes of creating even more looks bemused perplexion if not surprise and joy, we’re planning to launch a renewed version of the ABB in one month from now.

If you didn’t participate in the project last year or were sleeping under a rock or perhaps lost in a Stephanie Meyer Coma here’s a breakdown of what the Advent Book Blog is all about:

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Joe Planta talks to Sean Cranbury about Advent Book Blog

Listen to Joe Planta interviewing me about the Advent Book Blog here.

December 2009 has been all about the Advent Book Blog for me.

The ABB – for short – has been an excellent project that has gathered together a huge range of people to recommend a huge range of new(ish) books for Holiday gift giving.

Julie Wilson is my partner in crime in organizing this viral online book community.  For those of you who don’t already know of Julie, she’s behind the voyeuristic literary blog Seen Reading and is currently dividing what remains of her personalities between her life as Bookmadam and the mercurial Rebecca Wilcott.

Joseph Planta

We have done a few online written interviews over the past few weeks, too.

Erin Balser was the first one in the water with her Q&A for the Torontoist.com on December 1st.

Amy Logan Holmes and Clelia Scala of Open Book: Toronto interviewed Julie, me and ABE the Advent Book Elf a little later in the month.

Now, here’s a phone interview that I did with thecommentary.ca‘s Joseph Planta last week.

A great interview where we touch all bases of the Advent Book Blog from inception to execution.  We talk about Vancouver book stores, the power within the bookseller/customer relationship and my upcoming brief custodianship of the commentary.ca while Joe takes a break.

Listen to the interview and let me know what you think.

Advent Book Blog Banner!



Advent Book Blog: Arriving December 1st, 2009
November 27, 2009, 12:06 AM
Filed under: Enthusiasms | Tags: , , , , , ,

On December 1st, Julie ‘Book Madam‘ Wilson and myself, will unveil our new collaborative project, The Advent Book Blog: Great Books Recommended by Great People.

The idea behind it is simple: authors, publishing professionals, bloggers, and booksellers will write short enthusiastic recommendations of their favorite books that have been published in the last year.  We’ll publish a few of these every day, including pics and links for the books.  We’ll also publish short bios and photos of everyone who contributes.

It’s what we’re calling the Digital Handsell 3.0.  Just in time for the Holiday Season.

Here’s how it works:

We’ve asked our participants to respond to the following imaginary scenario: You’re working in your favorite bookstore and a customer walks into the store and tells you that he/she needs a good book.  A gift for a curious, open-minded and adventurous reader.  The customer is someone that you’ve helped many times before and they trust your taste implicitly, but they’re in a hurry.

In 25 words or less (or more, depending on your sense of restraint) what book do you recommend?  What book, regardless of genre, format, relative bestsellerness, colour or shape, gets your unequivocal stamp of awesomeness?

Tune in on December 1st to find out!



Me and the Book Madam: We’re Cookin’ Somethin’ Up!

Some of my most dedicated readers know that I’m good in the kitchen.  I’m always workin’ with the heat and mixin’ the ingredients and layin’ surprise concoctions of extreme tantalization upon your tongues!

Well… this Holiday Season I’m stepping away from the charcoal broiler, the freshly oiled cedar planks and the dwarf-sized oak peppermill and I’m stepping back into the ring of Bookseller.

A kind of Bookselling 3.0 Digital Handsell / Best Books of the Holiday Season by the People Who Should Know – the Writers, Booksellers, Editors, Designers, Publicists and other Creators who help bring great books into the world.

The irrepressible Julie Wilson aka the Book Madam (and the artist formerly known as the Seen Reading lady, who may or may not be making a surprise reappearance of her own in a certain iconic American digital periodical)  is joining me in largest non alcohol related herding of book publishing professionals in Canadian History.

The 2009 Advent Books Calendar

Julie and I are working to gather some of the best people that we know in books – from the booksellers to the writers to all points on the publishing compass – to bring you their selections for the best books for gift giving this holiday season.

We’ll be publishing 3+ book reviews a day on out TBA Blog.  Each review will be written in 25 words or less!

That’s right.  Maximum enthusiasm, minimum space.

Micro-reviews of the best books available to make your shopping easier.

If you’re in publishing and we haven’t contacted you yet and you’re sure that we would because, seriously, what are we, crazy?  Then drop me a line sean[at]booksontheradio[dot]ca.

It all starts on December 1.
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