Think of a fanzine you might have written. (Maybe you even did write one). After all the issues, the community you may have found, the new things you learned as you published about your favourite TV show, celebrity, type of fruit, grocery store chain, etc. How would you finish it all, a final goodbye?

I thought this was such a great creative writing idea. Writing sort of a eulogy for your creative passion once its wound down. Maybe you ran out of things to say. Maybe you got tired of it. Maybe your opinion about the whole thing changed. Maybe it got to be too expensive. There are lots of reasons a small, self publication, a fanzine, would close down. Would that be part of your final issue, or would you leave it for people to guess at? Leave them wanting more?

You might make a final grand statement, an epic summary of everything you have found and learned. I think I'd try to do that then change my mind when I couldn't make it short enough, or be sure I hadn't forgotten something and then want to write another final issue.

Of course, if you've never written a fanzine this could be your one and only. The one and only fanzine about wilted lettuce... giraffes... bicycle lanes... the evolution of Sunday shopping... there really is no end to the range of ideas and topics. They don't even have to take themselves very seriously.

There were only two groups I could find but there are likely lots of Canadian book artists. Add your links in the comments (moderated - they won't automatically show up when you post).

ARA Canada

Canadian group promoting art bookbinding. French-Canadian site. An official chapter of an international association devoted to promoting art bookbinding on the national and international stage.

Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild

Supports the development of the book arts in Canada. Bookbinding, artists' books, papermaking, calligraphy, letterpress printing and typography, wood engraving, paper decorating, restoration, and conservation.

Bookbinding is already becoming an obsolete, lost art, even before eBooks and eReaders. This was originally a free ecourse on SuiteU. Preserved here for my own interest, before SuiteU is taken down.

Bookbinding
By Kez van Oudheusden

Introduction

Bookbinding can be inexpensive, easy to do and can produce some unique and individual works. There are many basic techniques that you can use to create books and we will be starting with the simplest of all, a single section notebook that you will use for class notes and ideas. These techniques are easy to master. These are the basic techniques that you can use to build on to more difficult techniques. You can research other book artists work and combine with your own techniques to create unique books. This course will show you the basic techniques and help you get started. Once you have finished this course you will have the information you need to tackle your first project with confidence. …more

Originally posted to SuiteU, part of Suite101. SuiteU is being removed from the site. I wanted to save the ecourses so this resource would not disappear.

Selling Manuscripts

By Dawn Whitmire

Introduction

You've just finished your manuscript or maybe you have the finish line in sight. Are you wondering what next? In between editing your book and preparing the query letter to your targeted agent or editor, there's a step you must take....writing the synopsis.

If you're like I was a few years back, your face is wrinkling right now and the dread is settling in. What if I were to tell you it didn't have to be that way? What if I could show you a quick, precise way to write your synopsis and make it as enjoyable as writing the manuscript? What if I could make you look forward to your book's ending just so you could get to the synopsis? Or maybe even help you to write the synopsis as you wrote the book. …more

Originally posted to SuiteU, part of Suite101. SuiteU is being removed from the site. I wanted to save the ecourses so this resource would not disappear.

Selling Stories

By Diane Goldberg

Introduction

Welcome to "Selling Chicken Soup Stories!" Get a nice cup of tea or coffee and get comfortable while we explore how you can turn your cherished memories, personal triumphs, and funniest stories into the sort of essays featured in the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Keep one thing in mind as we begin our journey: this course isn't only about writing, it's about you -- your hopes, dreams, values, beliefs and experiences! Because whether you are a fourteen year old soccer star, fifty year old gardening grandma, or sports fan who uses baseball to unwind you've got a story other people want to hear.

Everyone has moments and memories that guide him or her down the pathway of life. And like all adventurers we can lighten our load, improve our efficiency, and reach our desired destination if we learn from those who have gone before. All of us have defining moments in our lives that prove to be benchmarks, turning points, and memories that gain us strength. Whether we are nineteen or ninety, we all know what it is to laugh, cry, love, learn, feel, and change. It's the "kernel of universal" in our unique experiences that's the soul of a Chicken Soup story. And this course is designed to help you find that kernel. …more