If you\u2019ve been captivated by a novel by a contemporary Canadian writer, chances are Iris Tupholme helped get that book into your hands.<\/p>\n
As senior vice-president and executive publisher at HarperCollins Canada, Tupholme is responsible for the overall vision of the publishing program. Along with a team of editors, she decides which books make it to market (it\u2019s as much about a compelling and well-written story as it is a business decision about audience reach).<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also a hands-on editor with more than 500 books to her credit, including novels from prominent Canadian authors such as University of Guelph professor Lawrence Hill (The Illegal<\/em>) and Emma Donoghue (Room<\/em>).<\/p>\n \u201cThe editor is the author\u2019s champion within the publishing process,\u201d says Tupholme, BA \u201980. \u201cThe editor is the ideal reader \u2014 the careful, thoughtful, insightful reader who sees beyond what is on the page, and urges the writer to deepen and improve the manuscript in each draft.\u201d<\/p>\n Hill has worked with Tupholme for 20 years \u2014 she became his editor for his second novel, Any Known Blood. \u201cIt was a very serious book, but the first chapter when I submitted it to her was high comedy,\u201d he says. Tupholme felt this would confuse readers and suggested adding a chapter to set up the story.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I went back and wrote a prologue and I still think it is one of the best parts of the book,\u201d says Hill. \u201cShe didn\u2019t tell me what to do, but she knows how to extract the best from me. She makes me want to write better.\u201d<\/p>\n One book Tupholme is especially proud of is Margaret Trudeau\u2019s memoir Changing My Mind, which tells Trudeau\u2019s story from a new perspective and helped break the stigma of mental illness.<\/p>\n \u201cTelling stories is how we understand ourselves, and to be part of the huge contribution that writers make to our world is a great privilege,\u201d says Tupholme, who edited and published the book.<\/p>\n As an English student at U of G, Tupholme often edited papers for roommates and friends, making suggestions for more effective sentence structure or improved After graduation, she was a volunteer editor for a small Marxist- feminist publisher in Toronto. She then worked as a bookstore manager before moving to roles at publishers Prentice-Hall and Penguin Books. She\u2019s been with HarperCollins for 25 years.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery day is different. I\u2019m never bored. I\u2019ve had maybe 10 total minutes of boredom in all the years I\u2019ve worked in this field,\u201d says Tupholme, who is also the founding chair of the International Visitors Program at the International Festival of Authors. The program helps sell works by Canadian authors to international publishers.<\/p>\n With the rise of digital books, she sees even more opportunity to share literature with the world. To Tupholme, it\u2019s a job that goes far beyond words on paper.<\/p>\n \u201cBooks can free the imagination and deepen our humanity,\u201d she says. \u201cBooks extend and enrich our experience in life.\u201d\u2013TERESA PITMAN<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve been captivated by a novel by a contemporary Canadian writer, chances are Iris Tupholme helped get that book into your hands. As senior vice-president and executive publisher at HarperCollins Canada, Tupholme is responsible for the overall vision of the publishing program. Along with a team of editors, she decides which books make it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":null,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":null},"categories":[16],"tags":[33,258,257],"yoast_head":"\n
\narguments. She discovered she enjoyed editing as much as her friends appreciated it. A career in publishing appealed to Tupholme, an avid reader, but she knew she didn\u2019t want to be a writer. \u201cI do better at helping others share their ideas,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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