Nova Scotia’s publishing industry latest target of budget cuts

CITYnews halifax / By Steve Gow

Nova Scotia authors and publishers are calling out the Houston government after its latest budget cuts hit the publishing industry.

In a social media post, popular Halifax-based Nimbus Publishing wrote they were informed this week that the province was eliminating a $700,000 fund that helps publishers produce 100 new books a year.

Nimbus general manager Terrilee Bulger called the move “drastic and devastating,” noting that publishers will have to drastically cut output.

Author Lesley Choyce is one such publisher impacted by the move.

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As founder of Pottersfield Press in Lawrencetown, he says the cut will silence many voices in Nova Scotia.

“A publisher like Pottersfield, we have an emphasis on publishing books from the Black community, the Mi’kmaw community,” he says. “Especially first-time authors who go on to become very successful.”

Choyce says that defunding also impacts other aspects of the industry, such as designers, typesetters and others.

According to the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association, Nova Scotia’s program was already less generous than in most other provinces. Choyce says removing provincial support leaves Nova Scotia as the only province in Canada which does not support its book publishers and authors.

He adds the cut may be a small item in the provincial budget, but it’s a huge deal to creators.

He is encouraging Nova Scotians to contact their local MLA to protest the move before one of the cultural pillars of Nova Scotia is permanently harmed.

“This is really bad news,” says Choyce. “Certainly my day is going to be filled up with contacting all my writers and I know all the publishers are doing the same to bring some pressure to bear on the province, on your MLA and on the Premier.”