BC Review Annual Fundraiser, 2024

A note from Richard Mackie, publisher, The British Columbia Review.

* 

Dear friends, supporters, and readers,

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Advisory Board of The British Columbia Review, I must mention our pressing need for continuing financial support from our reading community. We make this request for private donations annually to keep the review in a healthy state. We are most grateful to the 117 donors who, in 2023, contributed a total of $12,291.93. Thank you, everyone!

Our coverage of books is unmatched by any publication in Canada, digital or print, national or regional. We posted 336 reviews in 2023, and this year — under the energetic leadership of interim editors Trevor Marc Hughes and Brett Josef Grubisic — we are on pace to publish a review a day.

Our change in name in 2022 from The Ormsby Review has helped bring readers from all corners of British Columbia and the world to our site. Every day, over 300 people look at 1000 pages. Readers, authors, publishers, and bookstores rely on us for the latest from BC writers, and our social media manager, Myshara Herbert-McMyn of Mara, B.C., posts regularly on Facebook, X, and Instagram. As well, our bibliographer Lee Cadwallader — now of  St. John’s, Newfoundland — regularly scours publishers’ catalogues across Canada for books by BC authors or on BC topics.

Unlike publications with a paywall, The British Columbia Review is free to anyone with access to the internet. But it is only free because we receive government grants, donations from our friends, and advertising revenue from publishers. Again this year, we acknowledge the generous support of grants from Creative BC and the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Periodical Fund) and of publishers across Canada whose banner ads appear on all our pages. These sources of income allow us to pay our hard-working editors and our capable and knowledgeable reviewers. Last year we paid $25,200 altogether to Brett and Trevor and $30,000 to our reviewers in $100 honoraria.

Please consider showing your support by making a donation by PayPal, Interac e-transfer, or cheque through our secure donate button on our website.

Cheques made out to the Ormsby Literary Society may be sent to:

Ormsby Literary Society
c/o The British Columbia Review
1865 Kitchener Street
Vancouver, BC
V5L 2W5

We can send you a receipt, but it won’t be tax deductible because we are a registered BC society, not a charity.

Finally, may I also invite you to join the 713 people who subscribe to The British Columbia Review? Sign up here to be notified regularly by email of the most recent three posts. There is no cost to this.

Thank you for supporting The British Columbia Review.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Somerset Mackie
Publisher, The British Columbia Review