MANDATE
The Ontario Book Publishers Organization (OBPO) has a mandate to:
- represent the needs, interests, concerns, and issues of independent Ontario book publishers to government and arts organizations;
- facilitate information sharing and educational opportunities to our membership about the provincial, national, and international book publishing industries; and
- facilitate group marketing projects (both domestic and international) at a greatly reduced cost to our members.
HISTORY & MILESTONES
The OBPO was incorporated as a not-for-profit professional arts organization in January 1990. It is an ever-growing membership-based organization with 48 member companies. Throughout its 33 years, the OBPO has conducted many research studies into the book publishing industry, advocated on behalf of the membership to the provincial government and its arts agencies, held professional development seminars and courses, and carried out marketing projects, both domestic and international, which promoted, publicized, and sometimes sold the works published by the member publishing companies.
Among the milestones of the organization are:
- successfully advocating for several expansions to the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit Program’s eligibility requirements for titles;
- successfully advocating for the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport to create a fund to address the scarcity of Canadian books in Ontario schools;
- encouraging the expansion and contributing to the design of programs offered by Ontario Creates for book publishers;
- carrying out dozens of successful marketing programs for the membership;
- creating and administering a medical benefits group plan available to all OBPO members;
- creating and administering an RRSP matching group plan available to all OBPO members;
- creating the first Diverse Intern Initiative in Canadian publishing;
- supplying books from our membership to First Nations Libraries throughout northern Ontario;
- the creation of the websites Open Book: Toronto and Open Book: Ontario, designed to promote Ontario books and now operating separately as The Open Book Foundation;
- administering and awarding the Janice E. Handford Award for Contribution to Literary Canadian Publishing.
STAFF
- Holly Kent has served as Executive Director of the Ontario Book Publishers Organization and its sister organization, the Open Book Foundation, since 2015. Holly previously managed communications, sales, and marketing for the National Reading Campaign, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, and Scholastic Canada.
- Tania Blokhuis has served as Administrative Coordinator for the Ontario Book Publishers Organization and the Open Book Foundation since 2021. Tania was previously a publicist at ECW Press and continues to provide marketing, publicity, and project management services to a wide range of independent publishers and non-profit organizations.
BOARD
- The OBPO Executive for 2023–24 is:
- President: James Saunders, Saunders Books
- Vice-President: Alayna Munce, Brick Books
- Treasurer: Jay Millar, Book*hug Press
- Member at large: Heather Campbell, Latitude 46 Publishing
- Member at large: Ashley Hisson, Wolsak & Wynn Press
- Member at large: Emily Ferko, ECW Press
- Member at large: Andrea Crabtree, Crabtree Books