Some Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Cobalt?
Does this affect my shipping rates?
How long has White Mountain been publishing?
Who runs White Mountain?
How long have you been online?
What is the Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar?
Do you accept credit cards?
When is the best time to contact you?
Your store now has pre-loved books. Do you accept donations?
Do you accept manuscript submissions? (Writer's Guidelines)
What is the difference between printing and publishing?
Where is Cobalt?
Cobalt, Ontario, Canada is a historic town credited with the emergence of the Canadian mining industry over one hundred years ago. Since 2022 we are at the old grocery store at 8 Prospect Avenue, Cobalt, ON. 157 km (two hours driving) north of North Bay or 540 km (six hours driving) north of Toronto, Ontario Canada. GPS Coordinates: Latitude 47.3961319; Longitude -79.685029
We are still more than an hour south of the 49th parallel that divides most of the United States and Canada and have become a destination through TripAdvisor.
Does this affect my shipping rates?
It did not in the past, but recent events have changed the way we have had to handle shipping. We have averaged shipping costs to the rest of Canada if you use our custom rates: 01-WMPub shipping by weight (Canada Post) Canada only. For the United States or other countries you can choose Canada Post and their international rates, or a ShipTime courier.
Of course, if you visit the store there are no shipping costs and we'd love to see you.
How long has White Mountain Publications been publishing books?
Our corporation has existed since 1982, but we haven't always published as our main business. Since 1992 the publishing arm has produced well over 400 titles, and continues to grow, especially with your support. We'd done everything from one page flyers to 500 page hard cover books, and many in between.
Who runs White Mountain Publications?
Deborah Ranchuk was born in southwestern Ontario, Canada. She moved to St. Catharines (ON) to attend and eventually graduate from Brock University (B.A.) She served on the National Executive for the Canadian Authors Association from 1991 to 2005, serving as CAA National Treasurer 1998-2005. In July 2003 she became the 36th recipient of the Canadian Authors Association's Alan Sangster Award for service. Member of the Bahá'í Faith since 1980, she served on the St. Catharines (ON) Spiritual Assembly for 13 of those years before moving to New Liskeard in 1995. Served on the board for the Little Claybelt Homesteaders Museum since 2007 and the Cobalt Historical Society since 2015. The move to open the store in Cobalt in 2014 was a way to further share her love of books, and with the larger space in 2022 there is room for many more.
How long have you been online?
We have been online since 1992; the website has undergone many changes since its inception in 1997. Yes we were here selling books before Google, before Amazon. We've seen a lot of changes.
What is the Canadian Writer's Contest Calendar?
Since 2003 we have published the Canadian Writer's Contest Calendar. This annual publication lists Canadian writing contests and book awards by deadline date. It contains full contest information and submission information, as well as contact links to verify updates. More information and links to the current index of contest names and more information available here.
Do you accept credit cards?
We are absolutely paranoid about credit card information. So if you call an order in to the store, use your credit card for an order, please know that as soon as payment for the order is completed, the numbers are shredded. We do NOT keep any card numbers here in any way, shape or form. Our online processing is by a major security-conscious third party who specializes in such transactions. After thousands of transactions we have never had any problem.
Add your choices to our shopping cart and you have a choice of using your debit, credit card or PayPal®, the tax (if applicable) and shipping is added and then you can pay for all of it with one transaction in the currency of your choice. PayPal® does not require that you open an account with them in order to process your payment, although you do have that option at the end of the process. We have used PayPal® since Oct 18, 2003 with only two tiny problems in thousands of transactions, neither of which was their fault or ours.
We accept e-transfers through the Canadian online banking system. Information is on the order form.
When is the best time to contact you?
BY PHONE: Tuesdays through Saturdays between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (Eastern Daylight Savings Time if it's summer) is the best time. Keep in mind that some Canadian holidays are different dates than other countries. We are closed on Canadian civic holidays.
BY EMAIL: Email us We generally check email once a day in the early morning. If it's urgent, phone us.
Contact information has been collected in this easy-to-print, PDF format file. Our contact page has full details.
Your store now has pre-loved books. Do you accept donations?
Whether you're cleaning out a house, downsizing, or just need more room, the answer is yes, we accept books. We have no budget to buy books and no truck to go pick them up. If you bring them here, and they're in good shape and we think we can find them a new home, we'll get them out as soon as we can. If they're not in good shape or we don't think we can find them a new home, they get ripped up and recycled. At least you don't have to decide.
Having said that, please know we do not accept magazines, encyclopaedias, or Reader's Digest Condensed books.These all have a tendency to breed while we're not looking and take away too much space that we need for other books.
Do you accept manuscript submissions? (I have a manuscript I'd like you to consider publishing...)
I direct you to our new Writer's Guidelines page. Query before sending manuscripts to White Mountain Publications. Please know we are very few people having a lot of fun, and doing a great deal of work here, so we ask your patience waiting for a reply.
What is the difference between printing and publishing?
This is covered in our information on contract publishing.
If you have other questions you would like answered, let me know what they are.