NIKKI MACDONALD - Dominion Post - Stuff.co.nz - 14/09/2013
Two months later he was out of a job.
Chapman's comments followed Pearson Education's announcement it was pulling out of New Zealand and HarperCollins' decision to move distribution and some editorial and back office functions to Australia.
Hachette NZ followed, abandoning its New Zealand publishing arm with the loss of 15 jobs, among them its managing director – Chapman.
With him goes 30 years of publishing experience and likely the confidence of an industry that started 2013 with four major players and will end the year with just one full-scale multinational operation.
To add to the bad news, the government last week announced it was winding up School Journal publisher Learning Media, because annual revenue had fallen by a quarter. The journal is expected to continue.
Chapman was spared the awkward discussion about his employer's demise by a serendipitous change of Publishers Association president, with Auckland University Press publisher Sam Elworthy taking over in July. But the bigger question, about the future of book publishing in New Zealand, cannot be so easily evaded.
It's worth considering what's at stake here.
According to Publishers Association figures, about 2000 new Kiwi books are published every year. About 1200 are educational books like primary school reader series.
Or they were, until one of the country's biggest educational publishers, Pearson, decided to cease publishing here. It's not yet clear if it will still produce New Zealand-tailored titles from overseas.
That leaves the "big four" multinationals: Random House (80-90 local titles a year); Penguin (about 90); Hachette (20-30) and HarperCollins (about 50). The significant minnows, including Victoria University Press (VUP), Auckland University Press, Huia, Awa, David Bateman and Craig Pottonwhich between them account for to 200 titles.
So, take out Hachette's 30 titles, cut HarperCollins' list by half and factor in the likely rationalisation of Random House and Penguin's publications following their July global merger, and it's hard to avoid the conclusion that fewer Kiwi writers will end up in print. Unless they slap a self-published text on Amazon and embark on the difficult task of self-spruiking.
"I think it will mean that," says International Institute of Modern Letters director Damien Wilkins.
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2 comments:
Is it the same for children's publishing here? In terms of percentage of total sales, the trends for these percentages over time and the total impact on children's titles being published here (amongst other things)? This is the second article I have seen on this topic in as many weeks which fails to include the local children's publishing sector.
Nothing about children's publishing in the article and virtually nothing about educational publishing. Both major parts of the book publishing industry. I will be commenting more on the article in coming days.
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