The Walrus Foundation has moved into book publishing as it partnered with Coach House Press for the launch of The Walrus Books.

The first edition will feature the 32-page short story I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth by Margaret Atwood, and will only be availible to those who sign up or renew their subscription to The Walrus. 

 

Shelley Ambrose, co-publisher of The Walrus and executive director of the Walrus Foundation, said this was done not only to move into a new platform, but as a treat for the book lovers who subscribe to The Walrus.   
 

"There's an exclusivity about it as you have to be a Walrus subscriber to be able to get it and it's a limited edition print," she said. "They are beautiful small books of short fiction by acclaimed Canadian writers, and for people who love books it is something I think is a really beautiful bonus."

 

Those who take advantage of the offer will have a copy of the book mailed to them regardless of if they subscribe to the print, digital or tablet edition of The Walrus. As well, Atwood will sign the first 100 copies of the 2,000 edition run. 

Future editions from The Walrus Books may be released in a different manner. "We can't do a special offer subscription drive every ten minutes, so it will take slightly different forms going forward," said Ambrose. 

This isn't the only new platform The Walrus Foundation has entered in recent months. In January it launched Walrus TV, where it partnered with High Fidelity HDTV to bring content in the form of documentaries, feature films, and broadcasts, which can be found on Hide Fidelity's commercial-free eqhd channel and WalrusTv.ca.       

"We're pretty much on every platform you can be on right now," said Ambrose. "We have the print magazine, the tablet, the digital edition, WalrusMagazine.com, The Walrus Laughs, and we launched Walrus television." 

 

The Walrus Foundation is ultimately looking to connect with people through all available methods. "As the publisher we need to be where people are," said Ambrose. "Wherever they are we want to make sure that we're there and that includes in book form."

 

Walrus editor John Macfarlane is no stranger to book publishing. He and partners had a book publishing business for several years called Macfarlane Walter & Ross.