Net News: Canadians poised to succeed in e-business

Long rumoured defunct, Coach House Books is alive and well, and living on the Internet

By: Pat Daley

  Finally it looks like Canada's smaller population and, therefore, smaller marketplace could be an advantage - especially if you're a manager.
  Towers Perrin, one of those global management consulting firms that seem to abound, released the results of a survey on the impact of the Internet on companies and their employees.
  Needless to say, Canadian companies are more complacent about the whole e-business thing than their American counterparts, even to the extent that fewer Canadians see a "dramatic change" in the future for their business.
  The good news is that there is a great global shortage of "generalist management talent" - except in Canada. Basically, companies in this country can't afford teams of specialists, relying instead on one individual who can wear many hats. Those people have an ability to work across functions and disciplines - an ability that will be highly valued in the market, according to Towers Perrin.
 

Fanciers of poetry, experimental fiction, artist books, and drama can read the books without ever leaving their computers

  There's something comforting about all of this. Maybe that "generalism" is what accounts for the wait-and-see attitude of the Canadians surveyed about the Internet. It's knowing that no matter what comes along, we'll deal with it.
  Of course there are always exceptions, the explorers and innovators who are out ahead of the pack.
  Coach House Press in Toronto is one of those. I was surprised to come across their website the other day while doing research on the publishing industry; surprised because the company's death was widely rumoured to be imminent a few years ago when government grants to their publishing arm were cut off.
  Coach House is not only alive and well, but has become a cyber-pioneer. Publisher Stan Bevington says that as far as he has been able to discover, they are the only publishers anywhere to put their books online. Fanciers of poetry, experimental fiction, artist books, and drama can read the books without ever leaving their computers. If they like what they read, they can order the actual book.
  It's the shareware concept brought to book publishing. The site even has a system for "tipping" authors.
  Bevington says selling direct reduces their warehousing expenses. It's also a grand way to get beyond the small Canadian market - especially for a specialty publisher.

Pat Daley is a freelance writer and editor in Athlone in Simcoe County, Ontario.

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You can see what's available from Coach House Press by visiting www.chbooks.com.

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