A West Vancouver woman who has spent a lifetime in the world of books was recently recognized by the publishing community for her contributions to the province.
Diana Douglas took home the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia's Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year award, presented by her father, Jim, a well-known publisher and founder of Douglas and McIntyre.
"It was pretty special. He hasn't presented this award in the last few years to many people because he's getting on and he's a bit frail but he made the effort to present the award to me," says Douglas.
In 1971, Douglas co-founded Self-Counsel Press -- a company that focuses on Do It Yourself Guides for legal and business processes -- with her then husband Jack James. The idea started when a friend of James, who was a law student at the time, asked him if it would be possible to get a divorce without hiring an attorney.
"He put together some hasty notes, coached her a little, gave her total access to the forms," says Douglas.
Her self-representation during the divorce made headlines province-wide and soon more and more people were asking James for the same advice.
After he met Douglas, who had plenty of experience selling books, the two formed a strong partnership and the B.C. Divorce Guide was formed.
"We met, we fell in love and the whole thing kind of gelled from there," says Douglas.
Over time the company began producing guides for incorporation, writing wills, probating estates, and fighting traffic tickets.
The company eventually expanded into the world of small business. Their books are now available all over Canada and in parts of the United States, as well as internationally.
"There are a lot of paperwork type processes that people are very capable of being given the information and we empower them and they can do it themselves," says Douglas.
Although she never worked for her father, she says growing up around him certainly provided a lot of insight into publishing.
"There were definitely people in the house like the Pierre Bertons and the Farley Mowats and I would sit and listen, so he was in that atmosphere," she says, adding she experimented with other career paths, such as modeling and even dairy farming, while she was younger but to no avail.
"(Publishing) was something that I knew and there wasn't anything else that was my passion."
Richard Day, publisher at Self-Counsel Press, says as driven as Douglas is in business, she has always made an extra effort to make sure that the readers were getting the help they need.
"Diana actually shocked me a few times. . . . We would be discussing a new book, particularly a legal self-help book and Diana would say, 'OK this one is really needed, the people who would read it are going to have difficulty affording anything expensive, let's do this at cost with almost no margin at all,'" he says. "I think that speaks volumes about her character."
For more information about Self-Counsel Press go to www.self-counsel.com.
