Blog 3 – ‘The Importance of the Written Word and the Visual World’.

The Importance of the Written Word and the Use of Visuals

For the past three years, I have elected to go with a local publisher, Tagona Press for the publication of my latest books. A local publisher is accessible and can assist local authors in navigating the market for the sale of their books. With the large publishers, you require an agent, who works on commission and therefore will only accept those books that promise a financial return. Tagona Press and I have published ‘The West End: A Magical Place Created by Giants’, ‘Hound Town Revisited’, the second edition of ‘Hound Town: One of the Best Hockey Towns Anywhere’ and ‘The Thinking Chair: Mobilizing Your Community to Create Positive Change’. Tagona Press has also taken on the sale of ‘A Special Place: Sault Ste. Marie’ with net proceeds from the sale flowing to St. Vincent’s Place and Pauline’s Place. All of the net proceeds from ‘Hound Town Revisited’ flow to the Soo Greyhounds’ charity. 

Tagona Press is owned and operated by Tony Cavaliere and Bryan Davies. Tony was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie. He is married to Tara and they have two children. Along with acting as President of Tagona Press, he is involved in multiple business enterprises, including the Cavaliere restaurants and his Kapptive Studios web development / e-commerce platform. Bryan came to the Sault later in life – his wife Marianne moved here in High School / met Bryan at University – after they married, Bryan and Marianne always dreamed they would live in the Sault – made that dream a reality 10 years ago – a lawyer by original vocation, Bryan then enjoyed success authoring books for LernerGlobalMedia (Boston), and Dundurn Press (Toronto) before establishing Tagona Press here in 2020. 

Bryan’s interest in publishing stemmed from what he perceived as an industry where local / regional authors were never getting a fair shake. Tony saw publishing as a natural adjunct to his Kapptive Studios expertise. Bryan as Tagona Press publisher is responsible for the company’s creative side (including working with Tagona authors taking books to publication), with Tony leading Tagona ecommerce and business structures – a neat division of their Tagona Press responsibilities.

Tagona Press offers a full publishing house service – advice regarding content (development editing) / copyediting / layout / formatting / graphic design – they arrange for printing and work with authors etc. to secure distribution. It is essential to appreciate that the creative process does not end with the author giving a manuscript to be published  – it is a next / vital creative step.

Tagona Press really got going at the end of the Covid 19 pandemic and by yearend (2025), will have about 30 books available. They have some nice local titles and three books with national / North American reach coming soon (a collaboration with famed Olympic sprinter Donovan Bailey, a California football star’s story, and Leo Burt, long time US fugitive (the 1970 Sterling Hall, Wisconsin bombing) – They are cautiously optimistic about these projects and our new local books.

Tagona Press shall soon have membership finalized in Canada’s Literary Press Group (giving us national distribution) and Bryan was asked to join the Board of the new Great Canadian Creative Cooperative, a new organization devoted to promoting / marketing Canadian creative talent.

The written words in books tell stories but visuals in the front and back covers and those within the body of the work supplement the stories and create immediate visual (i.e. potential customer) appeal. I like that Tagona Press sometimes add a ‘Publisher’s Note’ as its own contribution to the work and explain why they have published it.

The Tagona Press website not only provides a glimpse at their published titles but have an array of artwork displayed. It also has a ongoing special project called ‘Fresh Eyes 2025: The Sault Reimagined’, which combines local photography and local authorship. Bryan explained that: “No Canadian city has ever been captured in this way”. There will be much more about this project and others in later blogs.

All of the books published by Tagona Press can be ordered on line at www.tagonapress.com. They offer free delivery in Sault Ste. Marie and area and through Amazon.