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Welcome to the Literary Bulletin
What a fantastic year we have had! There has been quite a bit of positive change in the last 14 months with the new website, a new accounting sytem and the National Writers Forum conference for writers. Claire and I are definitely ready for the summer break but we are smiling and very happy with the way things are going. From the emails and phone calls we receive, our sense is that members are satisfied with their NZSA membership as well. We end the year in good health and good cheer.
There are many membership renewals at this time of year so both Claire and our book keeper Marlyn will be working the odd day between now and 11 January when the office is open again. Jackie returns 16 January.
Your first e-news Literary Bulletin for 2017 will be 20th January.
Best wishes for the holiday season.
Jackie Dennis and Claire Hill at your National Office
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End of year bonus! Double pass film giveaways
Jim Jarmusch's beautifully calibrated ode to art and ordinariness Paterson stars Adam Driver as a New Jersey bus driver who writes poetry in his downtime and Golshifteh Farahani as his cupcake chef wife. The film quietly observes the triumphs and defeats of daily life, along with the poetry evident in its smallest details. View the trailer. Read the Guardian review of Paterson.
5 double passes to giveaway
(Showing at the following cinemas: Auckland: Rialto Newmarket, Bridgeway, Academy, Lido Epsom. Wellington: Lighthouse Petone, Penthouse Cinema, Lighthouse Cuba St. Christchurch: Alice, Sumner. Dunedin: Rialto. Hamilton: Lido.
We also have a few 2 for 1 passes and some Jim Jarmusch DVDs for those who can not make it to the cinema.
For a chance to win email NZSA office with your name, membership number, postal address and the prize you are after by this Sunday 18 December so that we can put your name in the draw. Tickets will be mailed out to winners next week.
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PLR update - good news
Many published New Zealand authors received a message from the National Library stating “This year we will be conducting a full survey of all editions of your titles so please carefully check all of the information below that we have recorded about your registration. Note that any missing titles or editions will not be surveyed.”
Previously, all works with the same title were merged and a cumulative total, if over 50, paid out. A cumulative total is the fairest method of counting works because authors with popular and/or significant works may have several re-prints or editions of the same title over many years often with changing publishers.
The change had been made without any consultation and NZSA campaigned against it as it would have had a significant, detrimental impact upon authors' incomes. Getting little reaction from PLR Administration, I climbed up the ladder to Policy Management at the National Library and from there we were heard and action was taken.
This reversal would not have happened without the combined action of NZSA and authors - well done to those who took the time to write in.
The PLR regulations need to be reviewed as the libraries change the way they work (holding fewer copies of a title, increased number of e-books and audio books available for loan etc). In the new year it will be time to look at the bigger questions about the scheme and we will continue to communicate with you, our members, about this.
Jackie Dennis
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Book Publishing Industry Rebounds
A report released recently on the economic contribution of New Zealand book publishing shows that the industry has rebounded from difficult trading conditions in 2013 and 2014 to a position of growth in sales of both physical books and eBooks in 2015.
The work of authors and publishers contributed $397 million to the economy with sales from book stores accounting for nearly 60% (with an impact of $234 million) and eBook sales at 7% (with an impact of $29 million.)
Read the full media release and access the report here
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Release of the report: Copyright and the Creative Sector
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) study of the Copyright and Creative Sector, released yesterday, is the Governments first step towards better understanding how copyright is used in practice and in context.
NZSA fed into this report. MBIE supplied a survey that was sent a broad range of members. Those anonymous survey responses made up the qualitative data that was given to the study during a meeting between our CEO Jackie Dennis and the MBIE staff working on the study - Katrina Sutich, Stephen Tat and Maree Brown.
A copy of the report can be found here.
WeCreate welcomes government study of creative sector
WeCreate, the alliance of New Zealand’s creative industries, has welcomed MBIE’s new report Copyright and the Creative Sector. The report is the result of positive engagement with content creators and creative businesses who were provided with the opportunity to share their experiences of how content is created, produced, distributed and consumed across the many industries that are now recognised as making up the creative sector. More
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National Library Strategic Directions to 2030
Te huri mōhiotanga hei uara | Turning knowledge into value
The National Library has new strategic directions to 2030 that focus on achieving greater impact through collaboration. The three themes Taonga, Knowledge, and Reading highlight the areas of focus until 2030.
View the video and read more to find out what the National Library aspirations are looking towards 2030.
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Films, Videos, and Publications Classification (Interim Restriction Order Classification) Amendment Bill
This Bill would amend the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 (the Act) to provide the President of the Film and Literature Board of Review, and the High Court, with flexibility when making interim restriction orders. It will allow issuers of interim restriction orders to classify an interim restriction order as applying to a particular age or class of persons, or for a particular purpose. Currently the only option available for an interim restriction on a publication is to ban the publication completely. More
Link to make a public submission
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Manager for NZ Book Awards Trust
Former publisher Belinda Cooke has been appointed to the newly created position of Manager of the New Zealand Book Awards Trust.
Chair of the Trust Nicola Legat said the board was grateful to have secured funding from Copyright Licensing New Zealand to help appoint a part-time manager. This will enhance the delivery of the three properties the Trust manages – the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day.
The position begins with immediate effect, and Belinda can be reached on manager@nzbookawards.org.nz or 021 481044.
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Finalists Announced for Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2016
Congratulations to Auckland poet and NZSA member Maris O’Rourke who has been selected as one of just 60 finalists in the international Aesthetica Creative Writing Award.
The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award attracted thousands of entries from writers across the world.
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Arts Council clarifies expectations of arts leadership 
The Arts Council has clarified its leadership expectations of organisations funded through the Toi Tōtara Haemata (Arts Leadership) Investment programme. (The leadership organisation for Literature is the Book Council.)
An independent review of Creative New Zealand’s investment programmes recommended the concept of arts leadership be retained, but that expectations be more clearly described. In October we asked for your views on what effective arts sector leadership would mean. There was a generous and thoughtful response from the sector. More
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PEN International
Celebrating the Birthday of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
It is almost 70 years since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those interested in freedom of speech and freedom of expression can celebrate the coming into force of the declaration that contains what are now considered to be fundamental human rights that we should all aspire to uphold. Article 19 is fundamental to PEN’s philosophy, setting out the right: ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
On the 10th of December as the world observed Human Rights Day (so-called because it falls on the day the declaration was signed) PEN International repeated its call on Chinese authorities to release all writers, journalists, bloggers and publishers held for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of opinion, expression and association. PEN International records that China has among the highest number of detained and imprisoned writers in the world. PEN also calls on the authorities to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights without further delay.
PEN encourages members to send appeals to the Chinese authorities calling for the release of all writers, journalists and publishers imprisoned in violation of their right to freedom of expression in the People’s Republic of China. It urges the Chinese authorities to cease its harassment and persecution of members of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, and lift all restrictions on their freedom to exit and enter mainland China, particularly to attend PEN International conferences and to return home. More information and how you can take action can be found here.
Email PEN spokesperson Dana Wensley at PEN@nzauthors.org.nz for any issues to do with Freedom of Expression and Writers In Prison co-ordinator Lesley Marshall if you would like to be part of the Writers in Prison letter writing team.
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Clippings from the internet
Are small publishers doing all the hard work for the big ones?
These days, it is minimally staffed and funded firms who invest in new authors. The giants avoid such risk, only picking the writers once their names are made.
Paul McVeigh and Kirsty Logan are authors you may have heard of. Both of their debuts were published by Salt, an independent publisher. Paul McVeigh’s The Good Son was shortlisted for a bunch of awards, and won the Polari first book prize this year. Kirsty Logan’s The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales won three awards — including the Polari in 2015— and Logan had her next book published with Harvill Secker, a division of Penguin Random House. The same trajectory is likely for Paul McVeigh. It’s a familiar story. More (extract from article by Ilana Masad in the Guardian)
AWG Report: More Australian plays being staged, but female writers continue to miss out
The National Voice, a major survey of Australia’s 10 largest theatre companies, has concluded that while more original Australian plays are being produced than three years ago, there is still a shortfall when it comes to balance between male and female Australian playwrights. More
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Digital Files
Why You Only Need to Sell Your Books on One Social Media Channel
There are hundreds of social media networking sites on the Internet. Of those, there are 10 or so that most people can identify. According to data from Smart Insight, there are around 2.3 billion people on social media worldwide.
Five years ago, it was pretty easy to be found and followed on social media. Now, the Internet is bulging with information. And this proliferation of bits and bytes has caused some authors to throw up their arms and declare that selling books on social media is not possible. More (Extract from article by Chris Syme in Digital Book World)
File Sharing Sites blocked in Australia - court ruling
The Australian Federal Court has ordered internet companies to block copyright-infringing websites like The Pirate Bay.
Copyright holders Foxtel and Village Roadshow lodged applications in the Federal Court to have five copyright-infringing websites blocked under the Government's new website-blocking laws. More
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Page & Blackmore Short Story competition
The national short story competition, sponsored by Nelson’s Page & Blackmore Booksellers, opens for entries on 1 January 2017. The judge is Kevin Ireland, who is a renowned poet, librettist, and author of novels, short stories and memoir.
Writers may submit as many entries as they like, provided an entry fee of $20 is paid for each entry. The judge will provide a written assessment of the ten short-listed stories, and all other stories will be given feedback from an experienced writer. The top three entries receive book vouchers from Page & Blackmore to the value of: First, $300; Second, $200, Third, $100. Deadline is 1 April 2017. More
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2017 Annual Text Publishing Prize opens 2 Jan
The Text Publishing prize has unearthed extraordinary, multi-award-winning books and launched international publishing careers for the last ten years. The good folks at Text Publishing can’t wait for the next great YA/Kids storyteller to join the Text family! More
Submissions will open Tuesday 3 January and close Friday 3 February
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Death by Deadline
December
16 Outside the Square. More
20 Wallace Foundation Short Fiction Contest 2017. More
31 Magic Oxygen short story and poetry competition More
January
2 M Literary Residency 2017-18. More
30 Kokako twice-yearly magazine of haiku, senryu, tanka, renga and related forms. Email
31 Catch our Drift More
31 Fish Short Memoir Contest More
February
3 Text Publishing Prize. More
28 Poems in the Waiting Room competition More
April
1 Page & Blackmore Short Story competition. More
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Opportunities
The Calendar of Opportunities is found on our website.
- Opportunities are displayed in calendar or list form (together with events).
- Opportunities are only visible to members! To see opportunities on the website you need to log in using your email address and website password.
- To find opportunities in your area, visit your branch page.
- Beware! The listing appears on the deadline date.
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Events / Book Launches / Workshops
Events are found on our website
- You can see Events in calendar or list form (together with opportunities).
- To find all events and book launches go here.
- To find events in your area, visit your branch page.
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Bestsellers from Nielsen BookScan
Bestsellers from Nielsen BookScan
Latest Nielsen Bestseller reports: Bestsellers Chart - fiction, non fiction, adults, children & Independent Booksellers Top 20
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Writers on Radio and TV
Click here for the lineup for upcoming Books on Radio New Zealand National.
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