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Meet Craig Riggs — MPub Alumni

March 12, 2020

This interview is part of our “3 Questions” series with Publishing Minor students, Master of Publishing candidates, and MPub alumni.

Meet Craig Riggs, partner at Turner-Riggs and founder of ReaderBound.

Twitter: @craigriggs
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-riggs-6b74831/

1. What was something you wish you had done differently while in school?
Take more courses outside of my focus area. Both of my degrees are very much in the “applied studies” vein (Bach Commerce, MPub). In hindsight, I wish I had explored more liberal arts or classical subjects during my undergrad program in particular. I have a lot of interests—in music, philosophy, even religious studies—that I missed the chance to explore during that time.

2. What was the most valuable skill you took away from your time in the MPub program?
An openness to – in fact, a keen interest in – critical feedback on my work.

3. What is 1 piece of advice you would give to current publishing students (this could be advice for publishing minors or MPub)?
Be passionately curious outside of your primary interests in publishing. If you are an editor, make friends with spreadsheets. If you are more marketing-inclined, learn how to really work with a manuscript. You will never regret it and the empathy and insights you’ll develop for other aspects of the publishing process will serve you extremely well.

As part of the duo behind Turner-Riggs, Craig has contributed to many notable projects, including 49thShelf.com, which brings together more Canadian books than any other source in the world, and Reading Canada: A Literary Tour in Seven Parts, which was an early initiative of Canada's Guest of Honour program at the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair.

Turner-Riggs have also conducted several major national studies on the Canadian publishing industry, including:

  1. The Book Retail Sector in Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage, 2007
  2. Book Distribution in Canada’s English-Language Market, Department of Canadian Heritage, 2008
  3. Audiobook and eBook Publishing in Canada, Library and Archives Canada, 2009
  4. A Study of Canada’s Book Import Regulations, Department of Canadian Heritage, 2012
  5. Current and Future Reading Technologies Used by People with Disabilities, Human Resource Development Canada, 2012
  6. Book Discovery and Book Marketing in Canada’s English-Language Market, Department of Canadian Heritage, 2013

Craig Riggs, and his partner Kiley Turner (@kileyturner), were both part of the 1998/99 MPub cohort.

 

Learn more about Canada’s only Master of Publishing program. Application deadline each year is February 1st.