Authors Electric Down-under in NZ - Kathleen Jones
Katherine Mansfield by Kathleen Jones I'm writing this in New Zealand, which is a big country with a small population and it's a long way from anywhere by ship or plane. That makes books expensive - particularly imported books. There are quite a few small publishers here, and there are off-shoots of big publishers - like Penguin and Random House, but the print-runs are short and the costs high. When Penguin NZ published my Katherine Mansfield biography , I was horrified to find out how much it cost to buy (about £50). The consequence of the economic downturn is that publishers have been struggling here (Penguin have been taken over by Random House) just as they have elsewhere - and book shops have fared badly too. There are wonderful small independent bookshops, but the big chains, like Whitcoulls, have been in deep financial trouble. New Zealand is the kind of place that is perfect for the e-reader - no distribution costs and access to the fr...