Wanaka writers lean into their voice
The digital era may be turning the publishing industry on its head but that hasn’t stopped these authors, reports.
If you go down to Wanaka’s only new bookNOTE as opposed to second-hand retailer, you might just get a surprise.
Books by local writers are in every section of the Wanaka Paper Plus store; some nestle among blockbusters, some enjoy highprofile display, others sit meekly on bottom shelves.
It all points to a growing niche of Wanaka creatives being picked up by publishing companies. Dozens of other Wanaka wordsmiths are mastering the art of self-publication and a select few of these are also making their way to shop shelves.
Wanaka Paper Plus manager Chris Lumsden worries that commenting on Wanaka-produced books might precipitate a stampede of authors to his door.
‘‘I try to support them, especially commercially published ones. We are right in behind them. To a lesser extent the selfpublished may get shelf space. It doesn’t get to sit on the shelf if it is not turning over,’’ Lumsden warned.
But Lumsden is a wholehearted champion of local writers and devotes untold hours to charitable launches that help Wanaka authors put hard copies into readers’ hands.
Laura Williamson, Lucy Davey, Angelo Georgalli, Derek Grezlewski, Gilbert van Reenen, and Lydia Bradey are among many commercially published Wanaka creatives who have won shelf space.
More are coming. Next month, a new book by Wanaka celebrity chef Annabel Langbein is tipped to stage a take over in the recipe book department.
Central Otago’s Brian Turner pretty much owns the poetry section at the moment, but could have company later this year when Otago University Press releases Lake Hawea poet Liz Breslin’s Alzheimer’s and a spoon.
It’s a tougher road for self publishers. Lumsden is not unsympathetic to them. Just recently, an old schoolfriend sought his opinion about her selfpublished book, although Lumsden stresses he doesn’t do editorial or publishing advice. He liked it and is thinking of telling her to go for it.
But for now, just two selfpublished Wanaka fiction writers have shelf space: Lauren Sleeman’s La Magdelena and Helen Herbert’s books, There and Beyond and A Year of Change.
The Upper Clutha Historical Society’s self-published history of local Anzac service men and women, Courageous and Free, also has tenure.
‘‘Self-published books are hard. They are generally not viable for a commercial print run. They fit niche markets and consequently can be expensive, as a short print run costs more to produce.
‘‘For people who want to go down that path, the easiest way is to do it through Amazon. Then it can be an e-book, and if it is a runaway success, a publisher will pick it up. Look at what happened with Fifty Shades of Grey,’’ Lumsden said.
Writing friends take different publishing routes
Wanaka self-published author Helen Herbert has been friends with commercially published Christchurch writer Jane Carswell for about 11 years. In 2009, the pair realised each other was writing and their friendship deepened as they shared tips and encouragement.
‘‘I look at it as a hobby. Writers don’t expect to make money unless it is a best seller,’’ said Herbert, a former speech language therapist. Despite arriving at publication by different avenues, the effort and investment in editing and publishing services was worth it, they said.
Writers can spend hundreds, if not thousands, to get books to a standard that satisfies themselves or their editors. Herbert spent up to $700 getting her first book assessed by an editor in 2015 and ready for self-publishing. She happily reinvested hundreds again in her second book, There and Beyond, released late last year.
The novel is set in the 1950s and describes five women immigrating from Britain to New Zealand. ‘‘I don’t spend money on anything else. If I played golf it would cost me hundreds, I suppose. So I don’t resent it,’’ she said.
Herbert has held no fear of rejection by a publisher because she has been in charge. But her friend Carswell, a teacher of music and English as a second language, endured 17 rejection letters for her first book, Under the Huang Jiao Tree.
Her second book, Talk of Treasure, is a memoir of ‘‘how to be a writer; and, more simply, just how to be’’. It traverses the rocky road of self-doubt faced by writers; ’’swimming in a tide of flops’’, as Carswell heads one chapter. It also covers her experience of the 17 rejection letters.
Carswell did several rewrites of Under the Huang Jiao Tree before finally winning her Melbourne publisher, Transit Lounge, over. The memoir about teaching in China won the 2010 Whitcoulls/ Travcom travel book of the year.
‘‘I wondered why I persevered. But you have to believe in your child to some extent ... and there was a part of me that wanted to see if I could do it,’’ Carswell said.
Makaro Press picked up Talk of Treasure and offered an authors’ contribution scheme, which Carswell accepted, footing some of the publishing bill herself. It was worth it. An Australian publishing company has since sought and obtained rights to publish Talk of Treasure there.
Both writers are now working on promotion and planning their next literary projects. ‘‘Both of us came to writing later in life but once you let the writer out of the box, it tends to want to get on with its life,’’ Carswell said.