Downton Abbey actor joins Booker judges

Downton Abbey actor Dan Stevens joins Man Booker judges

Read the full story at BBC

 

Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens (who is also editor-at-large for the online literary magazine The Junket) will join the judging panel of the 2012 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

For once the whole of New Zealand (a country utterly hooked on Downton Abbey) will find a Booker judge a familiar face.  Best known to audiences as Matthew Crawley in the hit ITV1 drama, Stevens studied English at Cambridge and was a member of the Footlights drama club.

Academic and critic Dinah Birch, historian Amanda Foreman and writer Bharat Tandon will also join the panel chaired by Sir Peter Stothard.

The prize longlist is announced in July with the winner unveiled in October

A female surgeon in the days of sail

Surgeon's Mate, by Linda Collison

Book Two of the Patricia MacPherson Nautical Adventure Series

Patrick (aka Patricia) MacPherson has survived the horrific siege of Havana, and narrowly escaped death from yellow fever.

Now it is October, 1762, and Dr. MacPherson, surgeon's mate and female in disguise, is back on the frigate Richmond.

Those who have read Star-Crossed will know Patricia's history.  The bastard daughter of a high-born plantation owner in Barbados, she stowed away to get to the island and claim her inheritance, and was saved from starvation and seasickness by a handsome young seaman, Brian Dalton.  Somehow, she managed to get to the plantation, but only to find her father dead, and nothing to inherit.  Desperate and penniless, she married a ship's surgeon, and was too quickly widowed,  leaving her at her wits' end, again.  Dressing as a man, and passing off as a surgeon's mate on the frigate Richmond (where Brian is a gunner) seemed the logical way out of her dilemma.  Then came the siege of Havana.  And thus the first book came to a nail-biting conclusion.

Now, Patricia is back on the Richmond, and all goes well until the horrible moment when her true sex is uncovered.  What is she to do?  Marry Brian, and become a gunner's wife, one of the unrecorded females who lived on His Majesty's ships at the time?  The choice is taken away from her.  Called onto a smuggling craft to try to save the captain's wife, she is spirited away, and forced to live on her wits again, while she carries on with her deception of being male.

Linda Collison knows her ships and her sails.  She knows what it is like to haul on a line, and lean on the spokes of the helm.  She has also done her homework, and has deduced an astounding amount about the life of a woman in the lower decks of an eighteenth century man-of-war.  Anyone reading this book will learn more than he or she could possibly imagine.

I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of Patricia's adventures on board the little smuggling craft.  Not only was there a very good contrast between life on a small vessel and existence on the multi-layered decks of a frigate, but the feeling of "family" that Collison described is very evocative indeed.

With Fireship Press, Linda Collison has found a publisher with the enthusiasm she deserves.  I look forward immensely to the next in the Patricia MacPherson series.

Worth buying for the pictures

Photo Essay of the school ship Passat

Uwe Hansen and Dirk Poppinga are the "authors" of 100 Jahre Viermastbark Passat: Leben und Lehrnen an Bord. Ein Bilddokumentation der Reisen 1956 und 1957.

The word "authors" is in quotation marks because this lovely but slim (85 pp.) book is more photo than text. It is published by the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum and offers a photographic account of the role that the 'Passat' played as a school ship. You’ll find a brief (German-only!) description here:

With thanks to Olaf Janzen, one of the founding editors of The Northern Mariner.

Writing to Santa from a lighthouse

Children of lighthouse-keepers had a unique Christmas conundrum

"How do I know that Santa will get my letter?"

A heartwarming story from old British Columbia

Pen Brown – Santa Claus on the British Columbia Light Stations

by Lynn Salmon 2011

When you are a child living at a remote light station on the coast of British Columbia, a major concern near Christmas time could be "How will Santa Claus know where to find me?" Pen Brown, filled this role for many years, assuming this unique responsibility in 1978 when George Thomas, the original light station Santa Claus, retired.

The annual event was a volunteer effort with contributions of presents and goodies supplied by coast guard staff and participating light station families. Light houses received periodic visits from a supply vessel and during a week–long supply trip in December; Pen Brown would travel with the ship as it visited each light, accompanying the crew on their rounds. Those stations with children would get a special visit from Santa – an eagerly anticipated event by the thirty or more children who once lived on the different lights with their families. Presents were ordered, wrapped and loaded onto the supply vessel for Christmas delivery and when necessary, Pen would travel to the light station via helicopter. Initially a Santa suit was rented each year from the T. Eaton store in Victoria but one year two women living at the Estevan Point Light sewed up a custom suit for him to wear.

Read the rest.

Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors Scheme

Are you missing out on royalties because people borrow your books instead of buying them?

In New Zealand, there is a scheme that recognizes this, formally known as the Public Lending Right, but usually referred to by its old name, the Authors' Fund.

The Fund provides for authors to receive annual payments in recognition of the fact that their books are available for use in New Zealand libraries. Authors resident in New Zealand can register with the Fund if they are eligible to receive royalties for their books and if more than 50 copies are held in New Zealand libraries. Payment is based on the number of copies held by libraries.

When New Zealand established the scheme in 1973, it was the first English-speaking country in the world to do so.  Recently, the plan was fine-tuned.  Now, the annual Parliamentary budget allots a sum of money (currently $2 million, or so I believe), which is divided by the number of eligible titles.   The more eligible books there are, the less each one is allotted.  This year the book rate was $2.871. 

Registered authors get a check just in time for Christmas.  Some look forward to it immensely.  Even though the check is not by any means large, it is a major part of their earnings from writing.  In fact, they may depend on it to get through this expensive time of the year.

Obviously, the more books you have in libraries, the more money you get.  This year, an interesting list of authors receiving the highest payments from the PLR is included in the accompanying newsletter -- Pamela Allen, Gavin Bishop, Kevin Boon, Ken Catran, Joy Cowley, Andrew Crowe, Lynley Dodd, Maurice Gee, David Hill, Margaret Mahy (in alphabetical order).

And the answer comes clear -- to get the most books possible into libraries, write books for children and young adults.  Some of those names are bestsellers overseas as well as here: the authors are famous children's authors and illustrators.  There are very few on that list who don't write expressly for children.

I always knew I was writing in the wrong genre!  (Mind you, quitting maritime history would be like cutting off my right hand.)

It should be added that not all New Zealand authors register for the scheme.  As we all know, romance, particularly of the Harlequin/Mills & Boon variety, is a mainstay of libraries.  There are at least forty New Zealand romance writers, some of them massively successful -- I know of one who at the last count had 20 million books in print.  Local libraries have packed shelves of these books.  These romance writers would dominate the PLR list so completely that I consider it altruistic that they generally choose not to register.

"Titanic Sank This Morning"

The first official announcement of the sinking of the Titanic is to go on sale.

A series of telegrams from Bruce Ismay, the head of the ship's owners White Star Line, have emerged from a private collection and are set to be auctioned.

The eight Marconi messages are expected to sell for £100,000.

Liner boss Ismay sent the first telegram to the shipping company's New York headquarters after he was rescued by the ship Carpathia following the 1912 disaster.

It reached the US office at 1pm on April 15 - nearly 11 hours after the Titanic sunk with the loss of 1,517 lives.



Read more:

Amazon's "Price Check" sucker-punches stores within their own walls

Want to make sure you're not paying more than you need for a book?

In the old days, in Singapore and other traditional Chinese shopping heavens, all the stores that sold a certain item (such as gold) were lined up alongside each other, in a quaint custom that benefited the price-comparing customer.  This, presumably, worked because the level of service and the goods offered were the same in every shop.

That, most surely, does not apply to bookstores, where a devoted customer is happy to pay a little extra because of the range available, and the wise and interested assistance from the staff.

Now, Amazon has a plan to sabotage that happy situation.  According to Rachelle Dragani on E-Commerce Times, Amazon has a plan to pluck customers right out of retail stores using Price Check.

It's an app on a smartphone that allows users to scan a book in an actual bricks and mortar store -- maybe the neighborhood store where the staff might be friends -- and compare the price on amazon.com to that on the sticker in front of your eyes.  For a limited time, if you buy the book from Amazon instead, they will give you a discount.

Behemoth Amazon moves into children's books

It has been remarked in publishing circles that modern children's literature seems largely immune from digitisation.

Amazon has taken note.

Amazon announced Tuesday afternoon that it has a deal to acquire Marshall Cavendish Children's Book's US trade publishing list, comprising more than 450 children's books.  This means that they will acquire multi-award-winners and NYT children's bestsellers, such as the brilliantly illustrated Basho and the Fox.

Does this mean that these books will be digitised?  You bet.

"We look forward to working with these respected authors and illustrators," runs the statement. "We will continue to publish these books in their handsome print editions and we think customers will love reading these books — most of them never available before digitally — with their families, using the brilliant color touchscreen on the Kindle Fire."

Well, it is good news that they will publish these books traditionally, too.

It must be noted that Marshall Cavendish already has a digital arm, though most of the titles are not available as eBooks.  Whether Amazon will take the outstanding digital rights over is not stated, as the terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is certainly a given.

According to Publishers Lunch, Amazon will publish the acquired titles "under an imprint of Amazon's New York publishing unit" under Larry Kirshbaum, who is now described as publisher of Amazon Publishing, East Coast Group, vaulting the company into the children's book market. Signaling larger intentions, the company says in the announcement "the acquisition creates the foundation for Amazon Publishing to further expand into picture books, chapter books and YA novels."

The deal allows Marshall Cavendish to focus on the K-12 textbook and assessment books business in the United States, expanding its school publishing business globally, and it certainly means that the door to Amazon is still open.

“We’re excited to acquire the Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books titles and expand our publishing business in this area,” said vp Amazon Publishing Jeff Belle in a statement. "We believe the children's book market segment presents a unique opportunity to innovate in both print and digital formats. And since many of these titles are not readily available as eBooks, we see a chance to connect a terrific group of authors and illustrators with more readers. We also see the potential for similar deals across other categories in the future."

Amazon to have its own book

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon.com, the country's largest online bookseller, will itself be the subject of a book coming out in 2013.

Bloomberg Businessweek writer Brad Stone has signed with Little, Brown and Company for a work on "the spectacular rise" of Amazon.com. The book will be released in May 2013 and is currently untitled, Little, Brown announced Tuesday.

Stone's book is not authorized by Amazon, but Little, Brown executive editor John Parsley said in a statement that Stone would draw upon his "unprecedented access and 14 years covering tech companies."
Parsley says Stone, who's a former technology reporter for The New York Times, will provide a "fly-on-the-wall narrative

New Zealand Author December 2011

The latest issue is a cracker

I arrived back from a rather damp trip up the Kapiti Coast to find the latest issue of New Zealand Author, which I devoured at once.

This new, swish version of the old newsletter goes from strength to strength under the able editorship of Adrian Blackburn, overseen by Maggie Tarver, CEO of the NZ Society of Authors (our version of PEN).

There is much that is of interest to American readers.  First, there is a report of the annual gathering of International PEN, written by our representative, Nelson Wattie.  He has intriguing comments on participation from mainland China, who, it seems, sat uncomfortably in the same room as representatives from Taiwan, Tibet, and the Uyghur region.  "Asked about the imprisoned Nobel laureate Liu Xiabo they asked disdainfully, 'Who is that?'"  But at least they were there, as Wattie observes.

Particularly useful for authors who retain foreign rights to their books is "Frankfurt Dreaming" by Richard Webster, who has successfully promoted and sold language rights at the Frankfurt Bookfair since 1968.  He has sold over 500 foreign language rights to his own books, seeing them translated into 29 languages -- and he gives invaluable tips about how to do it yourself.  He tells you how to get there, where to look for lodging, what you will find at the Fair, and how to approach publishers.  He even tells you how to prepare your "elevator speech," the quickfire blurb that makes the most of the very short time you have a publisher's attention.  And it tells you what to do after the Fair is over. A must-read for anyone going to the Fair, I imagine -- and that includes agents and publishers' representatives.

A story discussing eBooks vs. traditional publishing was of course of interest to me.  I find the topic eternally intriguing.  This is a conversation between the editor and Martin Taylor of Digital Strategies.

Columnist David Hill describes a charming incident from his residency at the University of Iowa, involving Kim Sa-In of South Korea.  "Sa-In was poet, critic, academic, and one of the world's Top Ten Delightful Guys."

Former Penguin publishing head Geoff Walker has invaluable tips on selling non-fiction, with some fascinating observations from inside the publisher's office.  While he talks from the New Zealand perspective, his hints would be useful to any non-fiction writer, anywhere.

To ask about subscribing to this very useful journal ($45NZ for six issues per year), contact office@nzauthors.org.nz