Vanwell Publishing is a recognized publisher and distributor of quality aviation, military, naval and transportation books from respected publishers. But that is not all we do. Vanwell also presently distributes books for over 30 companies, including those from Canada, France, Germany, South Africa, the United Kingdom and United States. Through our distribution agreements, we carry subject genres that include audio books, Canadiana, children’s, craft and hobby, general history, food and wine, sports, teacher resource, theatre, and woodworking.

Established in 1983, primarily as a distribution company, Vanwell Publishing Limited is a family owned and operated company located in St. Catharines, Ontario on the southern shores of Lake Ontario in the Niagara Peninsula.

It was not until 1986 that an effort was made to become a small publisher of local history. Since that time, Vanwell has matured and developed an excellent reputation across Canada as the largest publisher and distributor of military history titles with a special emphasis on Canadian naval and maritime history. We currently have over sixty Canadian history titles in print.

Our books can be found in a wide range of outlets—independent bookstores and chain superstores and a variety of non-traditional book outlets such as hobby stores and museums. We market our books nationally and internationally, and try to ensure that they reached as wide an audience as possible. From Aikido to pottery – Roman roads to Afghanistan, these and thousands of other titles are available from our large backlist.

Another venture that Vanwell supports is our School Book Fair Division called Panorama. We operate across Canada providing quality paperback books to the elementary school market. Each participating school treats a book fair as an educational fundraiser and upon selling the books earn a percentage of the sale.
 

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Our Publishing Focus

Vanwell Publishing, a publisher of juvenile, military history, and regional books for more than 20 years, produces roughly 8 to 20 titles annually. Our juvenile titles contain a mix of hi/lo vocabulary, fiction and non-fiction that is offered to bookstores and educational market.

Notably, we have created a new imprint called Looking Back Press, which explores primarily towns and/or regions prior to 1950 in a multitude of photographs and captions capturing the nostalgic feeling of that era.

Throughout the past twenty-five years, we have striven to maintain our focus on quality, from our editors’ attention to detail to the promotional efforts of our sales force. Over the last five years, we have created a new “In Canadian Service” aviation series and plan to develop further studies into aviation history with the addition of the John Griffin Library. It is Vanwell’s mandate to foster and generate an appreciation of Canadian history. It is our desire to better educate others about the contributions and sacrifices made by Canadians during periods of peace and war.

Though we may have a Canadian-oriented publishing view, Vanwell Publishing remains interested in extending an invitation to a wider variety of submissions from authors, whom have military history topics that have not been widely explored or previously published.

We are eager to hear what you think of our books, and any suggestions you have for future publications. Please email us at editor@vanwell.com with your comments and suggestions or notify us of any difficulties you may be experiencing with our site.