Leg #2: Auckland, Part 2

Continued from Leg #1 (Melbourne) and Leg #2 Part 1 (Auckland).

Friday:
Friday in Auckland began with a Publisher's Forum. About 50 people from the New Zealand publishing industry were on hand for the discussion. The session opened with a panel on rights selling in the international market. I think the main takeaway of the session is how important the face-to-face meeting is, how important relationships are. As Stephen Maat (Bruna Netherlands) said, he could meet with a publisher every year for ten years and never buy anything, but there will be that day that they call him up, or send him that email and say, "This is the perfect book for you" and it will be.

Then, I was on a panel along with Tom Mayer (Norton) and Fergus Barrowman (Victoria University Press). Hal Wake (Vancouver Writers' Festival) moderated. A lot of what we talked about was how eBooks were changing the publishing industry--in NZ and Australia, eBooks have yet to hit the level that they have in the States, because they don't have the Kindle, Nook, or iBookstore. Tom talked about the opportunities and potential changes that eBooks and the market of Kindle Singles could have on the industry, particularly with nonfiction--eBooks may make it more acceptable to publish a 25 or 50 page book, as opposed to having to expand a nonfiction subject into longer, book-length work. Other advantages include being able to update nonfiction more frequently. We talked about the shift of making paper books more gifty, more objects to keep, vs the type of books that may eventually become e-only.

After a networking lunch we had one-on-one meetings with New Zealand publishers and agents--some just wanted to talk business/pick my brain about publishing in the US, some pitched books.

I finished up with meetings early enough to go for a run before dinner--unlike the rainy Wednesday, the weather was perfect for a run in the Auckland Domain.

I had a delicious sushi dinner with Cassandra Clare and her husband Josh--I had run into them in the lobby earlier--and then I was off to a cocktail party hosted by the Fesivals' board of trustees. Then back to the hotel where once again Karen Healey, Garth Nix, Sean Williams, Margo Lanagan, and others were convened in the hotel lobby for wine and sea breezes.

Saturday:
In the morning I met up with Alexis Warsham (Crown) in the lobby and we walked over to the Aotea Center where our Publishing Panel (this one open to the public) was housed. We found our way through back passages to the Green Room where Tom, Nikki Christer (Random House Australia) and our moderator publishing consultant Geoff Walker were already convened. We covered much of the same ground as our Industry Publishing Panel--talked a lot about eBooks, Amanda Hocking, Barry Eisler, etc etc. But of course when the Q&A portion began, we got a bunch of the expected "how do I get published" questions, and even one woman who was bold enough to actually pitch her book--luckily, it wasn't a children's or YA book, so I didn't have to turn her down in public, OR invite her to send it. One audience member asked us what we thought of the recent news that an agent was becoming an eBook publisher--to be honest, because I hadn't been able to check email and read the news as regularly while in NZ, I hadn't yet read about the news. Some of the others had heard the recent news of agent Ed Victor exploring eBook publishing, but the audience member mentioned it was the Andrea Brown Literary agent, which none of us had heard. So, basically, our response was, "we need to know more about it before we can comment" but "it might be a conflict of interest".

After a quick lunch, I was off to see Karen Healey speak with another NZ author, David Hair:

And then...and then I was off for the adventure I had hoped to have when I first arrived in Auckland. Behold, the Sky Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere:

First, the walk. We walked the circumference of the tower with no rails:

Look, Ma! No hands!

Then, after a trip back down to the bottom to change my jumpsuit (apparently people get nervous when they see the orange jumpsuits falling off of the tower) I did the jump: 630 feet in 11 seconds!

Seconds after taking this picture, they dropped me to a platform below. So exhilarating!

Now, let me just say now that I'm not afraid of heights. At all. Sure, I may get a bit of a fluttery stomach sometimes, but usually barely even that. So, it's not like I wanted to do this to conquer any fear I had or be brave--I just wanted to do it because I thought it would be a beautiful view of the city (it was) and because I thought it would be fun (it was!). And, it's something different to tell people I did in New Zealand!

That evening I had a lovely and yummy Thai dinner with Karen Healey, and then we went to the Festival's closing party for all participants at the Alleluya Bar and Cafe. A good time was had by all. But I couldn't have a super late night, as I was leaving at 6:30 am for the airport to fly to Sydney.

Good-bye Auckland, hello Sydney! Leg #3: Sydney will be next. To be continued, yet again!

Leg #2: Auckland, Part 1

After Melbourne, I was off to Auckland, New Zealand. It struck me as I exited the plane that this was the first time in a while I'd set foot on a country I'd never visited before. The last time was Japan two years ago, but even then that wasn't quite accurate, as I'd set foot on the Tokyo airport as a child.

The weather when I arrived was amazing. As I walked towards the airport exit I couldn't resist taking a picture of the scene outside of the window--the sky was amazingly large:

 And here's the sky from the airport parking lot:

I was eager to ask my driver for some tips on what to do on my one day off. However, it turned out that the driver, Gun, had just move to Auckland from Brooklyn! In fact, he had lived in Fort Greene, a neighborhood in Brooklyn adjacent to my own. He did give me a few thoughts on New Zealand, though, but mainly recommended that I try to get out of the city. Alas, I didn't have time for that.

That night I walked around the city, had dinner at a Thai place in a little food court in front of an Asian grocery store, and later spied the Sky Tower from afar:

Before my trip, my friend Rose had said, "The Biggest Loser went to Auckland, and they jumped off the Sky Tower! It looked like something you would do!" Indeed. I signed up for a combo Sky Walk and Sky Jump for the next day.

Unfortunately, the next day, Wednesday, was stormy: wind and pouring rain does not make a happy Sky Tower walk and jump--I rescheduled for that Saturday, and decided to trek over to the Auckland Domain to go to the Auckland Museum instead. First, I stopped in a little French cafe for a breakfast crepe and a flat white (coffee with milk):

my view of the rainy street

 Then I was in the Auckland Domain, which is kind of like Central Park. I loved this tree:

I passed these birds (geese?):

And here's the museum:

.

It was a great museum, and the perfect introduction to New Zealand, in terms of geography and natural history, background, and culture.

I also saw a Maori cultural performance:

Here's their haka performance:

The Maori dancing and language reminded me a bit of Hawaiian, which makes sense because both are originally Polynesian cultures.

That night, Creative New Zealand hosted welcome drinks for the visiting publishers and authors in their offices. I met most of my fellow participants in the publishing program, including two senior editors from NY (both in adult publishing): Tom Mayer of WW Norton and Alexis Washam from Random House and her fiance Isaac (who does some iPad and iPhone app development); Steven Maat of Bruna in the Netherlands (they were all heading to Sydney after Auckland, like me); and Hal Wake, the Director of the Vancouver International Writers' Festival. The five of us, plus one of the guest authors/poets who goes by his last name, Rives, went to dinner together at a kind of fancy food court--the kind of place where you can buy a bottle of wine, purchase some wine glasses, and drink in the center tables.

Thursday started with a small group of about 20 people including publishing folks, Creative New Zealand, the New Zealand Book Council, and NZ author Emily Perkins for an introduction of the book publishing industry in NZ. Some of the things I learned:
-NZ has a population of about 4 million people. It's very much a reading country.
-Sales of 1200 copies is considered a success. The publishing industry is all about the economy of scale.
-Few NZ authors make it into the international market, partially because NZ publishing tends to be focused on NZ-specific issues. NZ and Australia tend to have to contend with the "tyranny of distance"
-The top publishers in NZ are Random House and Penguin, followed by Harper Collins [edited to add: according to my Hachette NZ colleague,. Hachette is also up there with RH and Penguin.]
-NZ publishing is not an agenting culture--there are very few literary agents. One way NZ authors can make it internationally is to get an agent from Australia, the UK, or the US

After the morning meeting, we checked out one of the local bookstores, and then Tom, Hal, and I were hosted to lunch by Auckland University Press director Sam Elworthy. When I had been extended the invitation by the organizers, I asked if AUP had published children's and YA, and was told, "No, but you have an author in common"--when I met Sam, I asked who our author in common was. "Well, I worked for Princeton University Press for many years, and lived in New Jersey next door to Peter Brown's family!" Small world indeed. It turns out that Peter's mother would send Sam Peter's books over the years, so he'd been able to keep tabs on his career.

I now realize I was horribly neglectful in taking pictures in Auckland, but I did manage to take a picture of my dessert. I got pavlova! I had always thought of pavlova as an Australian dessert, as my Australian friend Tamara had initially introduced this wonderful combination of fruit and meringue to me, but apparently (as with many things) there's a bit of a controversy as to whether the dessert originated in NZ or Australia. And I can understand why both countries would fight for credit, because it is DEE-LI-CIOUS.

In the afternoon, publishing guests and authors were treated to a traditional Maori welcome, or Powhiri. We took a bus up to the Orekei Mirae. This land had been taken away from the Maori and then returned. It was easy to see why the land was being fought for. Here are the views:

We walked up to the meeting house and were greeted by a haka. Then we removed our shoes and entered the structure:

We had been prepped that there would be speeches, and then we would be expected to do the traditional Maori greeting, or the hongi, with our hosts. The hongi is like the Maori handshake, but it involves the two people greeting each other to press their noses and foreheads. It symbolizes trust and the sharing of the breath of life (although, thankfully, you don't actually have to exchange breaths). To be honest, this was what most of us were worried about having to do--it's such an intimate gesture to do with strangers--but in reality it was painless and lovely, even. I don't think it will catch on in the States, though.
 
Later that night was the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival's opening gala that I posted briefly about last week, followed by the Festival Opening Party and then drinks at the hotel bar where I met authors Garth Nix, Margo Lanagan, and Sean Williams for the first time. Garth had contributed a short story for Geektastic and we had exchanged emails but had never met. Lovely, friendly, and down-to-earth people they were all. And, as I discovered, all fans of the Sea Breeze cocktail--a lovely fruity drink with lots of vitamin C, perfect to drink while traveling, apparently. I would have a few sea breezes in the hotel lobby during my time in Auckland.

This post is getting long, so I will continue next week. In the meantime, I've now recovered from both jet lag and BEA. For some great pics and a wrap-up of the first days of BEA, check out Laini Taylor's blog here.

To be continued!

Karen Healey tells a true story

     



Hi all! I'm finally back from my travels to the Southern Hemisphere--returned to New York last night. Don't have time for a real post, so I thought I'd leave you with this video of Karen Healey kicking off the New Zealand Listeners Gala Night of the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival. Eight authors, including Meg Rosoff, Fatima Bhutto, and A.A. Gill were tasked to tell true stories inspired by the alphabet. Here's Karen's story:



This week is Book Expo America here in NYC, so I'm diving right back into the swing of things...more next week!


Edited to add: Karen Healey just blogged about this as well, and includes a transcript of her true story here.