STORIES FOR CHILDREN
Sir.-In your issue of October 29 "Lunette" wonders why New Zealand cannot compete in the production of children’s books with those imported from overseas. Her experience at her local library was certainly unfortunate. The librarian could produce only one children’s book published in New Zealand. It is to be hoped that "Lunette" will urge the librarian to stock more of the New Zealand children’s books, which are readily obtainable ‘from all good booksellers, An inspection of their stock will show that quite a number of such publications are available. Much of what "Lunette" says is true. It is difficult to produce books for young people at a reasonable price in New Zealand, though it is certainly incorrect to say that there is no one here to publish them. Many interesting experiments are made from time to time by the leading publishers of this country, but the real problem which they face is the limited editions of such books which satisfy the New Zealand market, The English publisher can produce many thousands of copies of a children’s book and needs to do so, to produce such books in what is a_highly-competitive branch of book publishing, The sale of such books can be spread over the large populations of the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The New Zealand publisher has to pay the shipping costs on all the material which is used in the production of books, and yet can depend only on the limited New Zealand market. Present-day developments in publishing may well lead to some encouragement for writers in the production of simultaneous. English and New Zealand editions which, on the one hand, will provide the larger overseas sale and on the other a more intensive campaign for publicity and distribution which occurs with books published in New Zealand. Writers must, however, remember that such books of New Zealand interest must prove equally acceptable to the teader overseas as well as in New Zealand. which demands a high standard of writing. In our experience we find that the great majority of books written for children and submitted for publication in this country have no New Zealand background or significance, and should rather have been submitted overseas.
A. W.
REED
(Wellington).
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19541126.2.12.1
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 801, 26 November 1954, Page 5
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376STORIES FOR CHILDREN New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 801, 26 November 1954, Page 5
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