Is Canada Even Real?

How a Nation Built on Hobos, Beavers, Weirdos, and Hip Hop Convinced the World to Beliebe

by J.C. Villamere

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Read an Excerpt

Pub Date May 30 2017 | Archive Date Apr 30 2017

Dundurn | Dundurn Press

Entertainment | Humor & Satire

Description

This quirky ode to a quirky land is a humorous nostalgia trip and a fun Canadian history lesson couched in a hipster quiz book.

If you’ve ever wondered

Why is the inuksuk more revered than Wheelchair Jimmy?
Does the iconic beaver really represent us better than The Littlest Hobo?
Is everyone going canoeing without me or is canoeing way less of a thing than it’s made out to be?

then this book is for you.

Is Canada even real? It’s a question that’s being asked more and more, thanks to our waterproof, see-through, supposedly maple-scented currency and our improbably hot prime minister’s assertion that Santa lives here.

In the age of Google Maps and #factcheck, how could the existence of Canada be questioned? And yet how could a nation that’s the home of toboggans, Drake, and KD exist in the same realm as, say, Belgium or Niger?

Is Canada Even Real? examines the cultural factors behind the twenty-first-century monolithic myth of Canada, a nation that is lovable and real — if only in your imagination.

This quirky ode to a quirky land is a humorous nostalgia trip and a fun Canadian history lesson couched in a hipster quiz book.

If you’ve ever wondered

Why is the inuksuk more revered than Wheelchair...

A Note From the Publisher

J.C. Villamere knew how to drive a Ski-Doo by age eight and her body is 90 percent maple syrup. She is the most Canadian woman in the world. Villamere writes to remind you that your country is wise and weird and you‘re in charge of keeping it that way. She is the publisher of Villamere: The Lowbrow Magazine of High-End Can Lit. She lives in Hamilton.

Marketing Plan

Consumer ads: Villamere, NOW Magazine
Library wholesaler ads: Library Services Centre, Whitehots, United Library Service, Library Bound
Trade ads: Quill & Quire, PW Canadian Supplement
Online ads: 49th Shelf, cbc.ca, Facebook, twitter, 1236, ETCanada.com, Villamere.com

MARKETING MATERIALS
Chapbook
Stickers

EVENTS
Festival pitches
Event promotion: posters, evites
Trade shows, school and library conferences
Launch events, Toronto & Hamilton
National Tour

DIGITAL MARKETING
Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Dundurn.com campaigns
Social media giveaway contest
Cover and sample chapter reveal
Guest Post on Dundurn Blog
podcast sponsorships
Digital Reader Copies available: NetGalley, Edelweiss
Consumer, library, bookseller, and author newsletters

SPECIAL OUTREACH
Key Influencer mailing
Bookseller mailing, enhanced packaging

PUBLICITY
Targeted media and blogger review mailings
Pop Culture & CanLit Blog tour

Book hashtag: #IsCanadaEvenReal
Author Website: http://www.villamere.com/
Author Twitter: @jenvillamere
Author Facebook: villamere
Author Instagram: jenvillamere