"Come on shore and we will kill and eat you all"

My vote for the most attention-gripping title to come out this season is Christina Thompson's Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: A New Zealand Story," published by Bloomsbury USA this month, and due to be launched in New Zealand within the next couple of months or so.

Back in the eighties, Christina was a graduate student in Melbourne, and on the way back to Australia after a vacation with her folks in Boston, Mass., she decided to spend a few days in the Bay of Islands. There, in a reprise of what happened to Captain James Cook and Captain Dumont de Surville about a couple of centuries earlier, she had her first contact with the Maori people. The difference is that while they were both killed by Polynesians, she married one she met in a pub.


It was quite a contrast in cultures. He was a tradesman from a background of rural poverty, she was an upper-middle-class intellectual: He was a “native,” while she descended from European colonizers. She was a 90-pound blonde, and he was a 200-lb Maori. For a candid and revealing Q&A session with Christina, see:

http://www.comeonshore.com/qanda.php

While the book is about those aggressive first contacts between European and Maori warriors (according to Darwin's journal on the Beagle, he was informed that they shouted out something like the words of the title in ritual challenge), Thompson draws the reader in to the story by intertwining New Zealand’s history with an anecdotal account of her own relationship with her husband and his family, describing how the two met and married, had three sons, traveled together, and lived in several different parts of the world, including Australia and Hawaii, before settling in Boston.



Thompson began Come on Shore in 1999, after moving back from the Pacific to the U.S. After putting it aside for several years, she wrote most of it over the course of two years. Apparently her husband had no input, and has not even read it, which demonstrates a great deal of trust in her good taste and judgement, but is also a pity, as it would have been very interesting to learn something about his cultural memories of those first contacts -- not to mention his feelings and being transported to Boston.


Christina Thompson is already planning her next book, which will explore Maori language and culture, in which she hopes to call attention to disappearing languages by documenting the process of learning one. Luckily, she is good with languages, but because her husband is not a fluent speaker of Maori, she says she may have to travel as far as Hawaii to find a teacher.


As far as Hawaii? How odd. Why not New Zealand? While Polynesian dialects have a common root, Hawaiians and speakers of te reo Maori have quite a lot of trouble understanding each other -- or so I have been assured by experts. Hopefully, we will see her here. And it would be great to hear a few words from her husband, too.


Christina Thompson has strong links with New Zealand, quite apart from her very interesting souvenir. She is now the editor of the prestigious Harvard Review, and in the fall issue will include a special section dedicated to that country’s literature. Well, Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand, said so, in a speech given at the country’s literary awards ceremony last fall.

For last weekend's New York Times review in the book review section, see:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/18/arts/idbriefs19A.php

Those Montana Awards

Bookman Beattie asks WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REVITALISE THE MONTANAS? (The Montana being New Zealand's premier book awards.)


Then he goes on to say: "This is the very timely question posed by Listener Arts & Books Editor Guy Somerset in a page long thoughtful piece in the NZ Listener dated August 2-8."


Timely indeed. As discussed earlier (scan through the older posts), there was a bit of controversy here about only four fiction works being shortlisted, when five is the norm. Was this because the rest of the entries were not up to scratch? This, it was claimed, was the inevitable impression given. (No one mentioned another alternative, that the offering as a whole might be such an even standard that there were very few stand-outs, which could account for the other unusual fact, that two books of short stories were included in the short list.)

****
For further background (and also because a good friend who is just back from Aus. asked me to do it), here is the complete list of the 2008 Montana New Zealand Book Awards:
Montana Medal for Fiction or Poetry winner and Fiction category winner: Opportunity by Charlotte Grimshaw (Random House)
Fiction runner-up: Edwin & Matilda by Laurence Fearnley (Penguin Group (NZ))
Poetry winner: Cold Snack by Janet Charman (Auckland University Press)
Montana Medal for Non-Fiction winner and Environment category winner: Wetlands of New Zealand – A bitter-sweet story by Janet Hunt (Random House NZ)
Biography winner: The Life and Times of James Walter Chapman-Taylor by Judy Siers (Millwood Heritage Productions Ltd)
History winner: Te Tau Ihu O Te Waka Volume II: Te Ara Hou – The New Society by Hilary and John Mitchell (Huia Publishers)
Reference and Anthology winner: A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the New Zealand School Journal by Gregory O’Brien (Learning Media Ltd)
Lifestyle & Contemporary Culture winner: Mau Moko: The World of Māori Tattoo by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku with Linda Waimarie Nikora, Mohi Rua and Rolinda Karapu (Penguin Group (NZ))
Illustrative winner: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning by Jennifer Hay, with Ron Brownson, Chris Knox and Laurence Aberhart, designed by Aaron Beehre (Christchurch Art Gallery)
Each category winner was presented with a prize of $5,000. The winners of the Montana Medal for Fiction or Poetry (formerly called the Deutz prize) and the Montana Medal for Non fiction were each presented with an additional prize of $10,000. The runner-up in the Fiction category received $2,500. The Readers’ Choice Award carries a monetary prize worth $1,000.

The prize for the Best First Book of Prose was won by Mary McCullum's book The Blue.

*****

As Bookman Beattie goes on to say, "Somerset makes a number of valid points about the need for a fresh look to be taken at the whole structure of the awards." A fresh look? I wonder if a backward look might be a good idea, too. In "the old days," that much maligned era, there was THE Montana award. I stand to be corrected, but my vague memory is that one book was chosen, because I remember the year that Harry Morton's wonderful The Wind Commands was the winner. Was it split between a fiction winner and a non-fiction winner? Or did that come later? Whatever, somehow, sometime, in the interval, a whole lot of categories have been born. Is this a good thing? Is there any guarantee the winner of one sub-category will be as great, in its way, as the winner of another sub-set? I don't think so.

I vote we go back to two awards, one for a truly outstanding work of fiction -- something folk will still be reading in 200 years' time -- and one for a non-fiction book that extends our knowledge of New Zealand in a fashion so remarkable that it is absolutely essential reading.

Bookman Beattie goes on to quote another interesting observation -- a commentary sent to him by bookseller and former publisher Tom Beran.

Beran says: "My concern regarding the Montana awards has been bugging me for years i.e. the Peoples Choice award which carries a monetary prize of $1000. I have never been able to understand the purpose of this award as the winning author in any year may have encouraged friends, family etc to vote for him/her and due to a small response for such awards (unlike the Children’s one) we may get a strange result."

Beran continues: "Surely the best process is to look at the sales of major selling titles over the calendar year to create a shortlist of say 5 titles, and then the Booksellers NZ/Montana Awards management committee who are unbiased towards any book, author or publisher can chose the appropriate winner by popularity and discussion. This would give the award some parity with the Nielsen BookData Booksellers Choice Award which I don’t think carries any monetary prize, just the prestige of being the booksellers’ favourite title to . . . "

And there, I think, he has an excellent point (Beran, that is). Why is money attached to any of these awards? Isn't the prestige of having won it enough?

To go back to my own experience: back in the dim mists of time, David Ling, then with the now defunct firm Heinemann, published my first book, Exotic Intruders. I was so chuffed I left my teaching job, and changed my registration with the Inland Revenue to "writer." Lo and behold, Exotic Intruders won the Best First Book of Prose Prize.

In those days, you didn't arrive at some grand function, wait with your heart going pit-a-pat, and then stumble to the stage when your name was announced. Instead, you received a letter from PEN (now under the umbrella of the New Zealand Society of Authors) graciously informing you that you had won the prize, and a cheque for one thousand dollars (New Zealand) arrived in due course. Totally chuffed, I instantly joined PEN (NZSA) and have been a member since, through thick and thin, even thought most of my books have been published outside of New Zealand. Then I got a less welcome letter from the Inland Revenue, informing me that as my declared source of revenue was writing, the award was taxable. I eventually wrote a cheque. And basic tax rates were high, back then. So the eventual remuneration was very small.

That is one argument against monetary awards -- unlike winning a lottery like lotto, here in New Zealand awards won in the course of your declared occupation are taxable.

My solution is to remove the monetary component entirely. The three American awards I have received came without money attached, but have been hugely valuable in other respects. In a word, they look great on the curriculum vitae. What more could anyone want?

So, I would reduce the number of Montana awards to lend credibility to the authors and books that win. And I would remove any monetary component, so that the rewards were purely professional.

In a word, call me "Scrooge."

Comments welcomed.

http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/what-can-be-done-to-revitalise-montanas.html


(Photo of Bookman Beattie by Harvey Benge)

The demise of the newspaper book review?

There has been a lot of comment lately on both GalleyCat at mediabistro.com and on Bookman Beattie's blog about the possible impending demise of the newspaper book review. The latest, from Graham Beattie, is that there is a rumour flying around that three of New Zealand's major newspapers -- the Dominion Post of Wellington, the Christchurch Press, and the Waikato Times -- will be shifting their book review pages to a single supplement with "an international flavour", composed in Auckland.

He asks, "What can we do to express our anger and disappointment?" As of the latest count, he has had fifteen replies, all very interesting.

My own instant reaction was a very suspicious: "International flavour"? What the devil does that mean? This is echoed by one commenter, who hopes that this won't involve recycled overseas reviews of overseas publications.

Others nod wisely, saying, So that is why so many editors and subbies have been fired lately. (I didn't know that!)

Sue Green, the Dom's weekend magazine editor, assures everyone that the supplement won't necessarily replace the local review pages, as that will be up to the individual newspapers -- welcome news indeed.

However, what I really like is the fellow who prophesied that the printed review pages will be largely replaced by internet sites like Beattie's, where chosen books are reviewed at leisure.

As a reviewer myself, I have thoughts of my own on that. I was going to demonstrate my credentials by giving a link to my review of John Boyne's Mutiny on the Bounty, which was published prominently and grandly in today's Dominion Post, but when I went to the newspaper's website the review wasn't there! Do they (the Dom and other NZ newspapers) ever put book reviews onto the internet? I don't know, because I have never looked before. But there are none in the stuff.co.nz archives, so I strongly suspect they do not. This makes blogs like Beattie's all the more valuable. Another thing -- I don't believe that in over twenty years of newspaper book reviewing, anyone has ever stepped up to me, and said, "Hey, I read your review of such-and-such" -- not even offended authors. Yet, I've had a lot of comments on what I have penned on this site, young as this site may be. Another plus for internet reviewing.

So maybe the slow demise of the newspaper book review is not all bad news.

And if anyone asks me (and the Dom allows it), I'll post that review on this blog.

http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/stop-press-bad-news-on-book-review.html

Speaker fees? They must be joking!

The New York Times is running a story by Rachel Donadio called "More Bang for the Book." It's about speaker fees, and claims that a mid-list author can ask (but not necessarily get) $2,500 for a speaking engagement, while a top-seller -- particularly, it seems, if the book is inspirational or written by "a superstar presidential historian" -- can ask up to $40,000. (One of the latter, Doris Kearns Goodwin, can average a lecture a week.) Some best-selling authors charge double that -- on book tours!

Only the venues listed in the story sound familiar -- the churches, the libraries, and the downright weird. I've done all of those, including nearly sinking the Last Wooden Whaleship -- the marvelous old Charles W. Morgan at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut -- with an overlarge crowd. But fees? On book tours, that is unheard of, while the incidental stuff, such as talks to genealogists or maritime enthusiasts, garners wine for my wine-imbibing visitors, or another of my wonderful (though involuntary) collection of handmade pincushions. Oh, and petrol vouchers. After years of this, my rule of thumb is that I will always talk at a museum or historical society where I hope to do some valuable research, or to help out a good friend, but otherwise avoid the business, unless I actually have a new book to promote.

But, it seems, the wine-and-vouchers era is coming to an end, and I might have to rethink my stance. These days, publishers have become booking agents, or have teamed up with speakers' bureaux -- or so Ms Donadio informs us. HarperCollins, Knopf, and Penguin have set up their own agencies, while Random House has gone into some kind of partnership with the American Program Bureau . . . though I have to admit I see no mid-list authors on their list: http://www.apbspeakers.com/themes/DefaultView/Site/index.aspx

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/review/Donadio-t.html?_r=1&8bu&emc=bub1&oref=slogin

Who is to blame when a book doesn't sell?

Galleycat on mediabistro.com has a riveting commentary today from an anonymous editor with a New York publishing house, on who should be blamed when a book doesn't sell.

"At our house we have a policy called, Don't Ask Don't Tell," s/he reveals.

What does this mean?

"Well, it means that if a book fails in the marketplace don't ask anyone and don't tell anyone. Nine times out of ten the author is blamed for poor sales; even though, the house more often than not does support the author in marketing the book. As an editor I can assure you that I have too many books to edit and there are too many books to promote."

Why is it a safe bet to blame the author?

"Because we all want to keep our jobs, that's why. What I am telling you is very important because it will give you some insight into the mindset of publishers today. The bottom line is this: When sales are good we all pat ourselves on the back and take credit, but when sales are bad, we find fault with the author, when in fact many times the poor results are our own fault! At just about every publishing house I've worked at I've run into this problem of having too many books to publicize, as do most of my colleagues. Some you just have to send out into the ether blind, some you champion, others you do the bare minimum on because that's all the time you have. I've actually had my boss tell me to NOT do anything for a book because another book needed to take priority. I think poor sales could be blamed on the new corporate model of publishing that thinks of books as widgets and tries to get away with less staff and more books."

Galleycat ran a poll of readers. How would you vote?

1. Sales didn't get enough books into stores O

2. The publicist dropped the ball O

3. The editor bought an unsellable book O

4. The publisher has too many books on the list O

5. The author wrote a dud O

6. The agent built up the author to be more than they were O

7. All of the above O

For the results, read the story:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/publishing/the_blame_game_90169.asp

Amazon surges -- but are they moving away from books?

Amazon.com, the gigantic pioneer of internet book selling, reported second quarter sales of US$4.06 billion, an increase of 41% on last year's figure, and yielding a net income of $158 million. North American sales were up 25%, to $1.148 billion, while international sales were up 38% to $1.258 billion.

Full year sales may be as much as $20.1 billion, they say, so it is little wonder that in the hours of trading that followed the announcement, amazon shares rose $6.10, to $76.64.

"It's a very efficient business," observed one commentator, in a miracle of understatement.

However, the chief financial officer, Tom Szkutak, was less upbeat, pointing out that office supplies and fabrics had been added to the inventory, and electronic book downloads promoted, to entice U.S. customers grappling with declining house values and shocking prices at the pumps. Additionally, the increase in international revenue owed a lot to a favorable exchange rate.

"We don't think we're a good barometer for the economy," he said.

Jewelry, electronics, toys, shoes and baby products were among the bestselling items. Amazon is relying less on its traditional strength, which has been media products such as books, DVDs and music -- media sales accounted for just 59% of its total revenue, compared to 64% last year.

Will this trend continue? It looks likely.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/amazon-earnings-double-strong-sales/story.aspx?guid=%7B9A9D30D7-E16F-4E79-877C-A4A627A08325%7D&dist=msr_35

So, rich booklovers (if there are any of you left out there), perhaps investment in amazon.com is not the best option right now.

Stephen King does it again

Despite more success than any other thriller/horror writer in history, Stephen King makes a speciality out of finding new ways to market his books. "The first soldiers out of the trench are always machine-gunned," he comments. "But somebody has to go first, and I'm curious about this. You try these things and see what happens."


What he is trying this time is a mind-bending combination. "N", a previously unpublished story about "a psychiatrist who becomes the victim of the same mysterious and deadly obsession as his patient," which will be part of the table of contents of his new book of short stories, Just After Sunset, has been turned into a series of 25 two-minute video episodes. These will be released FREE to cellphone users via the largest providers (through an embedded Flash player that updates automatically, which sounds really scary), or can be bought through iTunes in batches of five for 99 cents, or the whole caboodle for $3.99.

http://www.stephenking.com/n/

Simon & Schuster will bring out Just After Sunset as a regular book in November -- but not before pitching it to the Wall Street Journal well ahead of time (to give them time to make sense of it all, as "Publishers Lunch" comments), so that they can tell the business world about this cute new marketing ploy. Then in 2009 -- wait for it -- it will come out as a Marvel comic!

And along the way lots and lots of organizations will be credited -- Scribner, Simon & Schuster Digital, Marvel Entertainment, CBS Mobile, Comic-Con . . .

Good lord. It sure does illustrate how keen publishers (and authors) are to come up with new marketing techniques.

And maybe it explains, too, why video trailers of Dark Knight mysteriously materialize in my outlook express inbox.

World's Largest Floating Bookstore Fails to Sail

And can you blame the captain of MV Douros for deciding to linger? See the pic of the inter-island ferry above. New Zealand is being battered by a record storm, and sure could do with a few prayers!

Ron and I explored the ship on Tuesday, while the storm was building, thinking that we would have a quick look before it sailed as scheduled the next morning. They certainly do have thousands of books, many with a religious theme, and priced, most intriguingly, in "units". One hundred units is equal to four New Zealand dollars, apparently, which made many of the books a real bargain.

Have a look at http://www.mvdouros.org for more about the ship. And for the storm:

http://stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4629941a6000.html

World's largest floating bookstore

I can't believe that the newspapers have been so quiet about it (or perhaps I wasn't reading them properly, it being school mid-winter vacation time, with attendant influx of delightful but time-consuming visitors) -- but while drifting into harbor on the East-West ferry, I spied a gorgeous old ship docked at Queen's Wharf with a huge sign floating high that bore the magic words "BOOK FAIR."

The ship's name is MV Douros, and - or so I found with a hunt through the internet, including Wotz On in Wellington - it is the world's oldest active passenger ship with the world's largest floating bookshop. She has stopped at over 500 ports of call, but almost decided against Wellington, as the weather forecast was so breezy -- or so the captain, New Zealander Graeme Bird, reported. Fervent prayers did the trick. The gales moderated, and a safe anchorage was made. All Wellingtonians wish that the ship, plus prayers, would make a permanent berth here!

Seriously, MV Douros is a floating book fair, with over 6,000 titles for sale -- quality books, in a range of genres. Staffed by over 300 volunteers, the ship is a charity that works mostly in the developing world, to provide good educational literature. The crew is multinational, and keen to share their cultures with visitors, who can board the ship at any time from dawn to dusk, at no cost.

http://www.mvdoulos.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=682&resourceid=R12140&Itemid=251

The secret to winning a Booker

As the whole literary world knows, Sir Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children has been voted the most-popular-Booker for the second time. So how does he do it? What is the secret to producing an enduring Booker prizewinner? Vincent Dowd of the BBC service speculates on this fascinating matter, after consultation with Martyn Goff, the man who ran the Booker award for 35 years, and it comes down to four basic points:

1. Literary tourism -- the book should transport the reader to a remote time or place where he or she has never been before.

2. Strong plot -- the book must be a page-turner

3. Compelling story writing. There are lots of beautifully written books out there that are not getting much attention, simply because they are not quite engrossing enough. See point 2.

4. Get the book talked about on TV. Tricky to do, but very effective once accomplished.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7495663.stm