When Ken Whyte launched Sutherland House in 2018, he wasn’t just another former journalist trying his hand at book publishing. As one of Canada’s most influential media figures, he brought something uncommon to the book business: an understanding of how to cut through the noise in an attention-driven marketplace.

Seven years later, Whyte’s Toronto-based independent press has evolved from a narrative nonfiction startup into a notable player, in part because of this year’s acquisition of Fitzhenry & Whiteside. The deal brought Sutherland some 1,400 backlist titles and imprints including Red Deer Press, Fifth House Publishers, and Whitecap Books, significantly expanding Whyte’s boutique business.

Whyte has some experience running a large operation, having edited both Saturday Night and Maclean’s magazines and launched the National Post newspaper, where he was conservative media mogul Conrad Black’s handpicked editor-in-chief. He then served as president of Rogers Publishing, the publishing arm of Canadian communications giant Rogers.

Whyte’s interests shifted to book publishing as part of a “midlife course correction,” as he calls it. The transition did not prove seamless: in 2018, he tried to acquire the Porcupine’s Quill, a small Ontario-based literary press, but the deal collapsed when the Canada Council for the Arts couldn’t guarantee that government grants would transfer to the new ownership.

After that failed acquisition, Whyte launched Sutherland, with a focus on narrative nonfiction books that have international appeal, particularly in the U.S. “I’m especially looking for books that will travel,” he says. “I think that the Canadian writers who are making a living at it tend to be doing subjects that are of interest outside our borders.”

Part of what distinguishes Sutherland is Whyte’s systematic approach to addressing the discoverability problem plaguing publishing today. Books coverage has become increasingly scarce in the media ecosystem, but Whyte leverages his background in journalism in acquiring books he believes journalists will want to cover. His strategy has resulted in a notable amount of earned media for the small house’s titles, such as Dancing with Diana by Anne Allan, which was featured in a four-page People magazine cover story, and The Successor, Paddy Manning’s biography of Lachlan Murdoch, which was the focus of an NPR segment and features in Financial Times and Wall Street Journal. (Sutherland House works with Smith Publicity in New York City and cultivates relationships across the North American media spectrum.)

Whyte also runs Shush, a popular Substack, with more than 8,000 subscribers, in which he comments on publishing. He often takes a contrarian’s position, which has brought him much attention in the Canadian book business—both positive and negative.

“Publishers are shy,” Whyte says. “They don’t want to give away too much. They worry, for example, that excerpts can cannibalize sales. We strongly believe in exchanging our content for attention.”

The acquisition of Fitzhenry & Whiteside, founded in 1966, brought Sutherland a robust backlist that carries serious literary weight in Canada. Among the authors with works put out by the press are influential literary critic Northrop Frye; Indigenous children’s book author, novelist, and playwright Tomson Highway, who wrote the libretto for the first Cree-language opera; and Caroline Pignat, a two-time Governor General’s Literary Award winner.

For retiring CEO Holly Doll, who took over after her sister Sharon Fitzhenry’s death in 2023, Whyte represented the ideal successor—Canadian and committed to honoring existing author contracts. And the acquisition helps Whyte break into publishing categories beyond his topical nonfiction focus. “The great thing about Fitzhenry & Whiteside and its group of companies,” he says, “is that it can help us credibly launch any direction we want—food and cookbooks, children’s and YA, or fiction.”

In this way, Whyte’s broad media background again comes into play. Whether publishing books, magazines, or newspapers, words are the product, and getting them attention is the key to success. And if Whyte has proven anything over his long career, it’s that getting people’s attention is his forte.

Return to main feature.