All about Foglio

It was always books.

I remember trips to Chapters with my dad in the mid-2000s. They used to keep the music at a reasonable volume—a perfect environment to read. I’d pick something from every shelf—joke books, fantasy novels, almanacks, and books of tongue twisters—and return to the lounge to read, hot chocolate in hand, with all the time in the world. At the end of a visit, I’d have to make the difficult decision to choose just one book to buy, but I was grateful.

Little by little my collection slowly grew, and so did I.  I was getting older, and I wanted to read serious books—whatever that means. With my own hard-earned money in hand, I’d journey downtown with friends to visit second-hand bookstores like BMV. I’d leave with a bag of bargain bin classics that strained my hands to carry—novels by James Joyce and William Faulkner, Romantic poetry, a few absurdist dramas, and a light peppering of pre-Socratics. I wasn’t sure of much at this age, but I was sure I wanted to do something with books.

Soon after, I started my degree in English and Professional Writing at York University, with a specialty in Book Publishing. Suddenly, I was thrust into a wealth of bookish experiences. I started a literary journal, edited university research journals, and learned all about book design and publishing. I was writing poetry and my first novel as well, and it was at York that I met my wife, who now runs Foglio with me.

However, despite being steeped in all kinds of literary activities and dabbling in all aspects of book creation, I still had no idea what I wanted to do. I had many options but no clear way forward—until the very end of my time at York University.

 It came in the most unlikely way, in a class about the work of Marshall McLuhan. His aphorism, “The medium is the message”, stuck out to me. In short, his argument was that media have a more meaningful impact on society than the content of that media. The telephone as a revolutionary means of communication is more significant than any particular conversation using the telephone. The same applies to books. Books hold a place of authority in society that is not shared with any other medium. If you’ve written a book on any topic, people will assume (not always correctly) that you’re an expert on that topic. 

My eureka moment? I realized I wanted to work with people who recognized this power in books.

I didn’t just want to be involved in the writing or editing of books—I wanted to make books as well. And so I did. Immediately after leaving university, I found a job at a small self-publishing company in Toronto, where I honed my skills in editing, cover design, typesetting, and ebook design. I worked with hundreds of authors from all walks of life who had written all kinds of books—novels, poetry, memoirs, family histories, cookbooks, and more.

I worked with authors through every stage of the publishing journey, from editing to design to print, but the most significant moment was seeing them hold their books in their hands for the first time. There were tears of joy, laughter, relief—all kinds of intense emotions. I realized that when someone makes the bold decision to put their thoughts, research, or life story into a book, the whole process should be treated with a kind of reverence and humility. It’s not about the words themselves; it’s about the act of vulnerably sharing something with the world, despite the possibility of rejection or obscurity.

Today, as founder of Foglio, I get to work with a diverse group of inspirational authors who show me daily the many meanings of “book”. My goal in starting Foglio is to make design-centred self-publishing services available to every author. I want self-publishing authors to be well-equipped to compete with traditionally-published titles, and to stand out in the saturated book market of the 21st century. Deciding to write and publish a book is a daunting task, especially for first-time authors. I accompany authors along every stage of the publishing journey and ensure that their creative vision and unique voice are brought to life in the final version of their books.