SCBWI New Zealand

Each year, for National Poetry Day in August, The Poets XYZ (look them up on facebook) run a poetry competition for those who write poetry for children. A different word is used as a theme prompt each year. This year’s word was ‘Leap’. I took a while to come up with an idea with the ‘Leap’ theme. I wrote two poems, one to do with that famous quote, ‘One small leap for man . . .’, and another about the cow who jumped over the moon.  You can enter up to three poems in The Poets XYZ competition, so I wanted to come up with one more.  I love libraries and I love what librarians do in our schools and communities. When I read a book I often feel like I’ve leapt into another world. So I decided to write a poem inviting children to leap into the library to see what they could discover there. It took some effort to narrow down the stories I would highlight in the text (there were so many jostling for position!), and a few didn’t make it (I’m going to save them for another time). Crafting the rh

This month SCBWI interviews author Rachel Weston  I'm Rachel, and I live in the beautiful  Bay of Plenty, New Zealand , on a kiwifruit orchard with my husband Stu, our three children, two dogs and a horse. What is your writing day like? When and how do you create? Mornings are my most productive time and when I have the most energy. I find walking helps my creative process; I mull over ideas and let my mind wander where it will. Walking is also helpful for my mental, physical and emotional health, so that I can create. When I’m really into the flow of a story I’ll often end up writing in the evenings too.  Regarding creating, I choose an idea that’s been simmering away in the background and just start writing. It’s always surprising what ends up on the page! There’s a time for structure and process, but first comes imagination and creativity.    Where do your best ideas come from? How do you develop them further? Mainly from life’s experiences and noticing nature. When a word or st

We pre-empted the Sketch and Scribble with a coffee catch-up of members and writer friends on Thursday 8 th August! No sketching or scribbling was done, but we shared lots of news, and had a great discussion about bookshops and book selling, from the experiences of both traditionally published and self-published writers. Sherryl recently attended a Australian webinar with two booksellers speaking about how they select what books to stock, how the ordering works, and what they base their decisions on – lots of factors including reviews, publisher support, who their customer community is, what media coverage the book has or will receive. As a guide, one of the booksellers said August is a quieter month for publishing, yet she was presented with 3000 new books coming out, and selected 700. We talked about our local bookshops (of course!), and how hard it is to get them to work with self-publishers.  Yes, it’s the paperwork, but more often it’s about getting them to pay for your books aft

by Katie Furze What a day! It started with Books Alive  for school students in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, where I was thrilled to meet some of the other finalists as well as thousands of book-loving tamariki and rangitahi. The National Library was abuzz with excited youngsters rushing between lightning talks, signings, live drawing, workshops, and behind-the-book sessions. The whole day was so well organised by the team of librarians that everything worked seamlessly – yay for librarians!  Ned Barraud and I read our book Tuatara, A Living Treasure to a packed auditorium alongside author/illustrator Raymond McGrath and illustrator Zak Atea. Later in the day, we ran a joint workshop:  Writing and Illustrating Nature . It was the first time Ned and I had presented together (and the first time we’d met in real life) – a special occasion all round!  After Books Alive, Scholastic NZ and the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) put on drinks and nibbles at the Backbencher. I re

This month SCBWI New Zealand interviews Aki Fukuoka Aki Fukuoka is a children’s book illustrator based in rural Whangarei. With over 80 published titles, her work includes popular series such as Billie B Brown (Hardie Grant Egmont), Sam Kerr (Simon & Schuster), Go Girl (Hardie Grant Egmont), and Lily the Littlest Angel (Scholastic). Born in Japan and raised in New Zealand, Aki was encouraged by her parents to explore art from a young age. Alongside her four siblings, she spent her days adventuring their backyard, filled with bushes and wildlife, playing musical instruments, drawing, and inventing stories. This early immersion in imaginative play is a significant reason why Aki enjoys creating stories, characters, and whimsical scenes. Aki’s commitment to art deepened after achieving the highest mark in New Zealand for her high school art studies. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, and later pursued postgraduate studies focused

While this was focused on the American market, there was plenty to think about. She discussed the effect Amazon has had on bookstores and the anti-trust court case. Indie publishers are doing well breaking through, all the same. Cuts to school budgets and book bans are having an effect, as are fewer school librarians. The huge increase in book bans is definitely concerning. There has been significant growth in e-book sales, even more so in borrowing, which is interesting, given how low these have been for a long time, with people preferring print. (I couldn’t help wondering if easy access to e-books that are banned in certain areas has been part of this?) There is also technology on the near horizon that will help book buyers see if a book has been produced in any way by AI. Stay tuned for more on that. Among other things, Deborah Halverson looked in depth at what is being published at the moment – more importantly what is selling well. From that comes that eternal question – what are