Book fair convinces N.Z. publishers

Press, 20 October 1980, Page 27

Book fair convinces N.Z. publishers

NZPA staff conespondent London

New Zealand publishers have left the World Book F ,ir at Frankfurt convinced that New Zealand has an important role to play in international publishing. Eighteen publishers were represented on the New Zealand stand at the London and Frankfurt book fairs. Together they netted about $4.25 million worth of business. “With publishing in the United Kingdom and the United States in a critical state. New Zealand has a major role to play,” said Mr Alistair Taylor, a Mar-tinborough-based publisher. “New Zealand publishers have the advantage of being highly mobile, and the high standard of education in New Zealand means they have excellent material to draw upon. “There is tremendous European interest in New Zealand, and that includes academic interest in New Zealand writing and children’s books as well as reference books.” Proof of European interest in New Zealand books was shown by Mr Taylor’s series of “Notable Thoroughbreds.” selling for $550. which has sold 3000

copies for Australian and American versions, with plans for South American. French, Italian, and German versions.

Mr Taylor estimated the deal to' be worth more than $3 million in retail value.

“These are no coffee table books. Each has been thoroughly researched and well produced. They stand on their own as reference books as well as works of art in themselves." qe said.

Oxford University Press also signed a deal worth almost $500,000 with its "Art of the Pacific,” with photography by Brian Brake. Editions are planned in English, French, German, and Italian as a result of the book fairs.

Three thousand copies of "Contemporary New Zealand Painters," photography by Marti Friedlander. of Auckland, and text bv Jim and Marv Barr, of the Dowse Gallery in Lower Hutt, were sold, and Australian and British versions are planned. The $750 edition of

"The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle,” edited by Charles Darwin and published by Nova Pacifica of Wellington, was virtually sold out. The book will be officially launched next week when David Attenborough presents a copy to the Ambassador of Ecuador on behalf of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Isles and the Charles Darwin Research Station. Unfortunately — from some publishers’ points of view — the London Book Fair overlapped with the Frankfurt fair, which is the main fair. This meant that some publishers had to leave London to attend the Frankfurt fair. Dates have been altered so that the next London fair will be held in the Spring, 1982, and will not conflict with the Frankfurt fair. All the publishers regarded both fairs as a success, • which. Mr Taylor summed up when he described them as “a milestone in New Zealand publishing.’’