DeeBee Books, an Ottawa-based small-scale publishing company, run by Carleton University contract professor David Hamilton, is helping emerging writers get published and learn the business side of the craft side in the age of the e-book.
“My real goal is not just to publish young writers, but to show them how to make a living at it that goes beyond just putting your book out on a bookshelf,” he said.
Hamilton, also a writer, started DeeBee Books in 2017.
He also runs creative writing workshops in Ottawa, which began as a way to teach new writers about the publishing process and about short story writing.
Hamilton selected writers from these workshops to be the first ones to publish novels under DeeBee Books.
The company acts as a stepping stone for new writers, familiarizing them with the business process of publishing a book–a step often missed in a writer’s journey to becoming published.
Julia Lye, a Carleton English student, is publishing her first novel under DeeBee Books.
“It’s a good middle-ground between self-publishing and big publishing companies,” she said.
Lye said if it weren’t for Hamilton, she probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to be published at all.
“It’s exactly what I needed, so I’m extremely grateful and thankful for it, and I feel like I can’t be the only one,” she said.
If approached by a larger publisher, she said she will be glad to take the opportunity.
Hamilton also wants his company to simply be a helpful step up along the way to success.
“I have no intention at all of ever trying to compete with the big publishers,” he said.
He added that he hopes his writers continue on to secure contracts with bigger companies and become the next Margaret Atwood or Dan Brown.
Hamilton sees his role as going beyond just an independent press.
He said his company is unique because it teaches writers how to market their work.
“Purists might say ‘tut tut,’” Hamilton said. But, he explained that in today’s online world, most writers need to be realistic and learn skills about how to commodify their art.
Despite the significant role DeeBee Books is playing for new writers, Hamilton said he wants to keep the company small.
With only a handful of current authors, he is happy with the current workload.
Eventually, he said he wants to pass the company along to writers who he helped with DeeBee Books, and who would continue to uphold the company’s values.
But, for now, he said he is content to do what he is passionate about, and what he said he feels he was put on the Earth to do–teach.
“Ultimately, all of the teaching I do is about showing people that they’re so much more than they think they are, and that they’re capable of doing so much more than they ever thought they were,” he said.
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Image by Hannah Berge
