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WELCOME TO PANZ NEWS
8 November issue
It's a bumper issue of PANZ News this week. We start with the very exciting news of our Great Aotearoa Audio Book Project, plus don't forget the audio book webinar takes place next week.
Catriona reports back from Frankfurt and Sharjah book fairs and registrations are now open for the 2023 Bologna Children's Book Fair. Plus we announce our next webinar, which has a wellbeing focus.
Congratulations are in order for all those acknowledged in the Storylines Notable Book Awards, and also Huia Publishers after Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea was honoured by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).
In International News we tell you about a prototype carbon label for books, plus look at the ruling on the proposed Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House merger.
Finally, Notices is jampacked with important dates to take note of. We're calling for updates for the New Zealand Books site and asking for your publishers' picks for 2022. There is information on how to get involved in this year's Kiwi Christmas Books campaign and details of how to nominate someone for the Storylines Margaret Mahy medal.
Happy reading!
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 FEATURE
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The Great Aotearoa Audio Book Project
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From Association Director Catriona Ferguson
PANZ is delighted to have been awarded a $497K grant towards kickstarting the production, marketing and distribution of New Zealand audio books. We’d like to acknowledge the support we’ve received from the team at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage (MCH) who helped us to fine tune the details of our proposal and to the Regeneration Fund assessors who clearly have a good eye for a great project!
It’s been wonderful to receive so much positive feedback from publishers and other colleagues in the book sector following the announcement and we’re thrilled to be working on such an exciting and vital initiative. I’m aware that all of our members are keen to know more about next steps and we’ll be sure to keep you all in the loop as plans develop. We’ll shortly be meeting with the team at MCH to finalise the details of the contract and as soon as that happens we’ll be able to launch into action and embark on the important business of making and selling NZ audio books. So, watch this space for further details and of course don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions in the meantime.
And of course further details of the practicalities of making audio books will be delivered in a webinar hosted by Theo Gibson from Audiobooks NZ to be held on Tuesday 15 November at 1pm. Please click here to register.
Claire Murdoch spoke to RNZ's Standing Room Only show about the project. Listen here.
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NATIONAL
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International book fair roundup
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From Association Director Catriona Ferguson
Frankfurt Book Fair
The general consensus from publishers on the Aotearoa New Zealand stand at Frankfurt was “It’s great to be back!” It had been a long time between Frankfurts and we received a very warm welcome from the book fair team and colleagues across the publishing industry.
The book fair is definitely nudging back to post-pandemic levels and although attendance was still down a little on 2019 levels (estimates put it at around 70%) there was a definite buzz in the air and reconnecting was a big theme. Kevin Chapman (Upstart Press) was pleased to see the fair gradually returning to normal and the fact that it was less crowded didn’t detract from the frisson of excitement people felt at being back together once again.
Dame Wendy Pye (Sunshine Books) was pleased to see that interest in NZ education books remains strong and while there’s enthusiasm for new digital content there’s still a lot of interest in physical books. Peter Dowling (Oratia) noted that we’re certainly not the only country to be experiencing inflation, paper shortages and freight disruption which made for a cautious business climate but did not impact on the enthusiasm from colleagues to renew their international ties.
The PANZ stand was busy throughout the fair with a lot of interest in books by Māori authors, beautifully illustrated titles and as usual, books for children – both trade and education. Our traditional stand party was fun and we were delighted to have special guests from Education NZ, Marina Wilmerstadt and the NZ Ambassador to Germany, Craig Hawke join us for the event.
As well as books displayed on the physical stand we ran a complementary virtual Frankfurt Book Fair stand on www.newzealandbooks.com. Julia Marshall (Gecko Press) received some concrete follow ups from this - we anticipate that others who participated virtually will also receive emails from international publishers who were enthusiastically browsing the shelves. Our educational publishers were also represented virtually - nzeducationalpublishers.org/frankfurt-book-fair and we were pleased to be able to screen a short reel on the stand which highlighted the breadth and depth of our local educational resources.
Big thanks to Martin Bailey from Black Chook Books who created a stand-out, vibrant design for us and an additional shout out to our German helpers, Joy Reifgens and Christiane and Sophie Geipert-Arheilger. We’d also like to acknowledge the funding we received from Education NZ and Creative NZ who provided support for both our physical and virtual stand.
Sharjah International Book Fair
The Sharjah International Book Fair Publishers Conference ran from Sunday 31 October to Tuesday 2 November. Following attendance at Frankfurt, Peter Dowling headed off to Sharjah where he found it a great opportunity to deepen connections with publishers in the Middle East, particularly countries such as Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The fair also provided plenty of networking opportunities and Peter noted that it was particularly moving to meet with two Ukrainian representatives at the conference.
I had been invited to the fair to moderate a panel on international translation initiatives and was able to meet with a range of publishers to promote New Zealand educational and trade books and our own Translation Grants programme. The panel included Sarah Hemens from New Books in German, Zanete Vevere Pasqualini from Latvian Literature Abroad and Gvantsa Jobava, International Relations Manager from Intelekti Publishing. Unsurprisingly I discovered that there is a lot to learn from the way in which other countries promote their books internationally and the panel finished with a moving tribute to the experiences of Ukrainian publishers and writers.
It was my first time attending Sharjah and it was a wonderful opportunity to connect with new publishing colleagues. It was also fortuitous that there were a number of attendees at the fair who are involved in audio book production and distribution so I was able to have some very timely conversations!
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Moving Forward in the New Normal
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Please join PANZ for a webinar on wellbeing to be held on Tuesday 22 November at 1pm. Sara Davies from Kinetic Recruitment will deliver the webinar – Moving Forward in the New Normal which will help you and your teams to explore ways of working in the current climate and will touch on teams and connections and how to maintain a good life/ work balance. Sara has a background in business coaching, strategic consulting, recruitment and business ownership, and is a specialist in the wellness area helping businesses improve team culture and performance by introducing wellbeing initiatives to look after their employees. Please register for the event here.
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Registrations open for Bologna Children's Book Fair
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PANZ is delighted to announce that the New Zealand collective stand will be returning to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2023, supported by Creative New Zealand; we would like you to join us!
The Bologna Children’s Book Fair is the most important international event dedicated to the children’s publishing and multimedia industry. The world’s leading rights hub for children's content, it receives over 26,000 visitors and over 1200 exhibitors in 6 halls. The fair will run from 6-9 March 2023. Learn more about the fair here.
We are now calling for registrations to join us at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair either in person or virtually.
The cost for in person attendance is $1,500 plus gst. This cost includes signage and one exhibitor pass to the fair, plus promotion on the Virtual Bologna Book Fair Stand on NZ Books. We hope to also be able to include freight in this price and will have more details on this soon.
Download the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Registration form here.
For virtual attendance the cost is $500 plus gst. This includes an entry and promotion of up to 6 books on the Virtual Bologna Children’s Book Fair Stand on NZ Books, signage and display of the books on the NZ stand in Bologna.
Download the registration form for virtual attendance here
There will also be Creative New Zealand travel grants for both in person and virtual attendees available for those who qualify. Funding details will be sent out soon.
Registrations must be received no later than Friday 25 November. Due to stand space restrictions we are unable to accept any late registrations to attend the fair in person. This is a fantastic opportunity for children's book publishers so make sure to get your registration in before the deadline.
Our thanks to Creative New Zealand for making this possible.
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Storylines Notable Books announced
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The 2022 Storylines Notable Books List, for the highest quality books in five genres published between August 2021 and November 2022, has been announced. The list was compiled from more than 160 entries by expert panels of authors, teachers, librarians, academics and parents.
With up to 10 books awarded in each category, this year’s winners run the gamut from Māori myths and legends to poetry collections and non-fiction books on aspects of New Zealand’s heritage, from picture books to entrancing YA novels, and a superb selection of junior fiction to appeal to all tastes for readers between 8 and 12.
Click here to view the list in full.
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Congratulations to Huia, Tania Roxborogh and Phoebe Morris
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Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea, written by TK (Tania) Roxborogh with illustrations by Phoebe Morris, published by Huia Publishers, has been selected by IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) for the 2023 IBBY Selection of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities.
Congratulations to Tania, Phoebe and Huia. From over 200 submissions from 30 countries in 22 languages, IBBY selected just 40 books from 24 countries in 17 languages as outstanding.
The full list is available here.
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INTERNATIONAL
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Carbon label prototype launched at Frankfurt
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A prototype carbon label for books was presented at Frankfurt Book Fair as part of the IPA’s Sustainability Summit.
The carbon-label project fast-tracked established carbon calculators and combined this with a customised web page for a particular book, which gives users a glimpse into how carbon labels and reporting might look like for book production. Far more work is needed to make this a reality and the project has generated many new insights.
Click through to read four key findings from the project and learn more about how such a label could work or watch the video below.
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Simon & Schuster Penguin Random House merger blocked
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The Guardian reports:
The planned merger of Penguin Random House and Simon &Schuster has been blocked by a US judge.
Judge Florence Pan of the US district court for the District of Columbia said in a brief order on Monday that she had found that the justice department had shown that the deal would “substantially” harm competition “in the market for the US publishing rights to anticipated top-selling books”.
While most merger debates focus on what consumers pay, this was focused on author earnings, with the US government arguing that fewer publishing houses would lead to lower advances for authors across the board. The case was particularly focused on a small part of the market though, bestselling authors who were paid US$250,000 or more.
Read more about the case and the verdict here.
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NOTICES
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Reminder: Audiobooks webinar
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Our Audiobook Production webinar takes place next week (Tuesday 15 November).
Join Theo Gibson, CEO and Founder of Audiobooks New Zealand, for a presentation and Q&A covering how to make and distribute an audiobook in New Zealand. Theo will take you through the production process, looking at the dos and don'ts of audiobook production.
The session will cover all the steps of the audiobook production process including production delivery timelines and production costing. It will also look at how to distribute your audiobooks, taking a look at the different audiobook platforms and why and why not to distribute through them. And finally, it will cover the different audiobook sales models and how to get the best return on your investment.
Date: Tuesday 15 November at 1pm, via Zoom
Click here to register.
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Calling for updates to New Zealand Books
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We are now calling for new submissions to the international trade website www.newzealandbooks.com ahead of the next international newsletter to go out in early December. Titles should either have been published in the second half of 2022, or due to be published in 2023.
Newzealandbooks.com is a central portal where you will find fiction, non-fiction and children's literature available for international rights sales from publishers across Aotearoa New Zealand. The site features books published by independent and multi-national publishers that demonstrate strong international appeal.
The aim of the portal is to provide opportunities to connect with international publishers, literary agents and scouts all year round, uninhibited by international travel limitations. The site supports publishers’ presence at book fairs, while enabling those unable to travel to build international relationships. The site is also supported by a quarterly e-mail marketing campaign to key international publishers and contacts.
If you currently have titles featured on the site please check your entries and confirm any changes regarding rights availability to me by the deadline (note at this stage the only changes we are accepting are regarding changes to rights details). The form to submit new titles is available here.
The deadlines to submit new titles or rights updates is Monday 14 November.
The portal has been supported by funding received through the International Programme at Creative New Zealand and we welcome submissions from trade publishers in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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Send us your pick of the publishing crop for 2022
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It’s that time of year when we celebrate all the amazing books published in Aotearoa throughout the year and ask you to send us some recommendations for our summer reading list. We know that you don’t have a favourite, but if you can bring yourself to pick one (or two) highlights from 2022 we would love to hear about them and we’re sure readers of PANZ News would find the details fascinating. We’d also love to hear from you about which book you most admired from another publisher.
Please email details to katherine@publishers.org.nz by Friday 9 December for us to share in our final PANZ News of the year on 20 December. And please also send through any cover images that we can use to illustrate the feature.
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Journal publishing survey
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As part of our strategic plan, we’re reviewing our coverage of publishing and what we offer to our members. An area we’re currently investigating is: Journal Publishing.
If you have any connection with journal publishing, ranging from just an interest to publishing your own journals in-house or in partnership with a commercial publisher, we want to hear from you!
We sent a survey to heads of houses last week to gauge interest in this area and would love it if you could fill it in and return by Monday 14 November to help us better understand the New Zealand journal publishing market. If you didn’t receive the survey and would like to contribute, please contact Katherine at PANZ.
Or if you have any further comments or questions, please contact kate@publishers.org.nz.
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Kiwi Christmas Books opens for donations
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Children’s book-gifting charity Kiwi Christmas Books is aiming to deliver a record number of books into the hands of under-privileged kids this Christmas - and they are calling on generous New Zealanders to help them do it.
Members of the public can donate books through their local participating bookstore from November 1 or directly through the website at any time: www.kiwichristmasbooks.org.nz
Kiwi Christmas Books provides brand new books to families who can’t afford to buy Christmas presents for their kids. It began as a personal project for TV reporter and author Sonya Wilson in 2019 and has now grown to a fully-fledged nationwide charity. Last year alone saw 6,670 brand new books gifted to families in need or in crisis at Christmas time, across Aotearoa.
"All of the charities we work with are experiencing huge demand for their services," Sonya says.
"Many people are struggling. We want to be able to provide as many families as we can with great Kiwi books to give their kids. For many, it is their very first book, for others it is their very first Christmas present."
Kiwi Christmas Books works with 21 different charities around the country to distribute books to families doing it tough,
See www.kiwichristmasbooks.org.nz for more info.
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Call for nominations Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal
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Storylines is calling for nominations for writers, illustrators, publishers or educators deserving of the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal, awarded for lifetime achievement and significant contribution in the field of children’s and young adult literature and literacy. Nominations close on 30 November. Please submit your nomination, using the nomination form, for someone you think meets the criteria. The award announcement will be made ahead of the Storylines Margaret Mahy Awards Day on Sunday 2 April 2023.
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China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair delayed
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The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair has had a change of date and venue due to the current COVID-19 situation in Shanghai.
The Organising Committee has decided to re-schedule the ninth session of the Fair to the West Bund Art Centre and it will run from 2 - 4 December 2022.
West Bund Art Centre is located in the core of the “West Bund Cultural Corridor” in the Waterfront Area of Xuhui District, Shanghai. It forms a connected art ecosystem with more than 20 art spaces, including the Long Museum, Yuz Museum, Tank Shanghai and West Bund Museum.
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PANZ Publishing Calendar 2022
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Make sure these key dates are in your diary and let us know if there's anything we should add.
NOVEMBER 2022
3 - 6 November: Verb Wellington
10 - 12 November: IPA Congress
15 November: PANZ Audiobook webinar
17 November: PANZ Council Meeting
22 November: PANZ Health and Wellbeing Webinar
DECEMBER 2022
2 - 4 December: China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF)
20 December: Entries close for NZ Booklovers Awards
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If you have an announcement, a job or any news please let us know so we can share it.
Email admin@publishers.org.nz
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