Welcome to the White Mountain Publications Newsletter
April 18, 2019
Website Update
On desktop computers our main site still looks like this, with two additions: the search bar and the link to our mobile site. For those who are used to seeing our orange PayPal buttons, they are replaced with a cleaner boxed order buttons. The site is secured, and functions as a true e-commerce site now. I am always annoyed at having to sign-in to sites to even look around, and after 27 years on the internet I have over 300 passwords. I left this 'join us' function off this site. If you like what you see, you'll be back. If not, thanks for stopping by.
The mobile site configures to the size of the screen it is being viewed on. It contains all of our books, but the huge lists of indexes and other content is still on the main site. We just have too much information for that format, but it is still available through the links back to our main site. On the mobile site, just keep scrolling down to find the main divisions: Aphabetical list, Genre list and EBook listings. What is not on the mobile site is the Northern Ontario Poetry Competition information, rules and online entry form. Those are on the main site only.
Why we had to do this is different long story, but we have finished this part of the transformation. If there are any questions, quirks, or problems, we want to know. Please email us or call the office (1-800-258-5451). The new format gives you the option of using debit or credit cards, echecks, or PayPal. Hopefully, these choices will make life more convenient for you. The biggest change is that now the HST on Canadian orders is properly configured to your location. We tried the best we could under the old system, but this is totally compliant now.
Northern Ontario Poetry Competition
Call for entries for our 24th annual poetry competition:
Deadline May 31, 2019
The Launch this year will be held September 7th, 2019 at 2:00 pm althought the exact location is not yet booked. Rules and entry guidelines here. Congratulations to all last year's winners listed here. We'll be looking for ideas to celebrate our 25th competition in 2020. If you have any, we'd like to hear them.
Coming in May
Immigrant in Porcupine and His Later Journal by Magne E Stortroen. We will be announcing a launch soon.
Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar 2019 still going strong
It's NOT too late to kick start your writing goals for 2019 and NOT too early to plan for 2020. Time moves pretty fast; please don't wait.
If you think that you'd ever have time to write and still know where to find all this information, collect it, and organize it, let me know. There are over 400 database lines to confirm each year, some found very few other places yet. Some contest information is not available on the internet. Geographically, the contests cover Canada from Whitehorse to Windsor, Victoria to St. John's. Every year there contests started and contests discontinued. And by far the changes are the addresses, email, mail and websites. Anyone who says they could compile all of this on their own, has never tried to do it. This will be our eightteenth year compiling this resource for writers and there are always many changes each year.
The Store continues
Hey, that's news in itself. Going into our sixth summer (already!) here in Cobalt, and we're looking forward to this year. The word is out, the visitors keep returning.
If you are visiting and have heard our radio anouncements, please mention them. We are trying to track how effective different advertising methods are for the store.
As a reminder to those who have said they would post a review on TripAdvisor, doing so would be a huge favour and show of support (and thank-you to those who did). At least five people came into the store last summer saying that is where they discovered our store. The link is here: TripAdvisor reviews for White Mountain Publications, aka White Mountain Books. We appreciate all your support.
New Offerings:
Selected Chapters of Temiskaming Heritage is now available. This is a collection of the Proceedings from the Cobalt Historical Society's 2017 symposium.
A Northern Hope
One Family's Life in Cobalt and Haileybury 1904-1928
by Debra B. North
Beginning with the birth of her maternal grandparents William Ferris and Rachel Johnston, in Scotland, in the 1870s, this book follows them through their early years and my grandfather's experiences in the Boer War (1899-1902), their immigration to Canada beginning in 1903 and their settling in Cobalt in 1904. It recounts the family's life during Cobalt's Silver Rush which occurred, from 1904 to the early 1920s. Family history is followed through World War II. Documented with 430 pictures, many of which have never been published before, this book makes fascinating insights into life in northeastern Ontario in the early twentieth century. It is being very well received.
Stephen Lafricain
Grand Old Man of the River
by Bruce Taylor
Stephen Lafricain was born in 1837, and in his 99 years witnessed much history in both Canada and the United States, including treaty signing, the decline of the fur trade, the opening of northeastern Ontario to great mineral wealth. Well worth the read, and the history. Also available in ebook formats.
Quarantine a novel by Terry Cassidy. Set in 1994, young Wat Moore is caught up in a devastating situation while visiting his father's laboratory in Ottawa. When it's believed that he has been exposed to a deadly and highly contagious pathogen, the government sends him into a quarantine that could last the rest of his life. A fast-paced story set in Ottawa, northern Ontario and north-western Quebec, Terry has given us another well-researched thriller.
Missing in Cobalt by Terry Cassidy is a murder mystery set in Cobalt 1949. A young woman's body is discovered in the ice in a Buffalo Mines adit, and from there, we have to discover who she is, how she got there, and of course, who did it. Have had rave reviews on this one. And yes, it is fiction.
Books are a great gift for any time of year. They stand the test of time, become part of your life. The good ones can change your life, your perception of the world. Consider a great book for your gift giving year round.
We have compiled a list of the books we handle for the Little Claybelt Homesteaders Museum, similar to the one we have for the old Highway Book Shop books.
Yes, we have been busy. Hope all is well with you and yours. Have a great summer.