Mackwood Publishing Services is owned and operated by Robert Mackwood who celebrated 25 years in the publishing industry in 2007.
He has had a varied career within the book business, including:
- Publicity Co-ordinator at Stanton & MacDougall/Raincoast Books in Vancouver, BC;
- Corporate and Public Relations at Contemporary Communications in Vancouver, BC;
- Vice-President and Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Bantam/Doubleday Canada in Toronto, ON.
He returned with his family to the West Coast in 1996 as a book consultant and eventually as the Director of Contemporary Management, the largest non-fiction author agency in Western Canada.
Robert purchased the agency in 2005, renaming it the Seventh Avenue Literary Agency. Known for its award winning and diverse non-fiction client list, Seventh Avenue represents over 40 writers with rights sales in Canada, US and the UK, and, using a large team of sub-agents, translation sales in over 15 countries.
The Agency has negotiated over 150 book, film, and television contracts. Robert attends all the major book trade fairs including Frankfurt, London, and Book Expo conventions in the US and Canada to meet with editors, publishers, and sub-agents on behalf of the Agency's clients.
The Agency website www.seventhavenuelit.com contains accounts of recent sales as well as a complete client list.
Some of the writers represented include Ian Mulgrew, Jonathan Manthorpe, Trina Read, Brendan Brazier, Ron Shewchuk, Jim Harris and Mag Ruffman. Robert has worked with many personalities within his career including Norman Schwarzkopf, Kim Campbell, and Jean Chrétien.
In addition, Robert teaches a regular course on The Role of the Agent through the University of British Columbia Writing School, and appears on panels and at workshops throughout the year.
He is available for half or full day courses on a variety of publishing subjects including self-publishing.