-
SURVEY RESULTS – COVID IMPACT ON AUCKLAND CREATIVE ARTS SECTOR
Here are the results of the COVID-19 Impact on Tāmaki Makaurau creative sector survey. The received 332 responses, with the responses revealing both the immediate impacts of the crisis, and the underlying fragility of the arts sector. They have now released the survey report and the executive summary: https://www.tetaumatatoiaiwi.org.nz/covid-19/ The survey will be […]
Continue reading -
Coronavirus Rocks China’s Book Business in the First Quarter of 2020
In Feature Articles by Porter Anderson A first assessment of the Chinese book market, January to March, shows physical bookstore sales plunging 60-plus percent, online sales stumbling at the outset, printing stalled, the supply chain disrupted. Shuttered storefronts in a shopping mall in Wuhan on the first day of its lockdown, January 23. Image […]
Continue reading -
Australia Reads receives $100K in federal funding, announces Reading Hour date change
The Australia Reads campaign has received $100,000 in funding from the federal government, it announced today. Chair of the Australia Reads committee, Hachette ANZ CEO Louise Sherwin-Stark, said the government support would ‘significantly amplify our campaign on the benefits of reading and motivate all Australians to get back into a regular reading habit’. The […]
Continue reading -
Canadian Publishers on Court Setback: ‘Copyright Framework Is Broken’
May 4, 2020 A new court decision condemns certain ‘fair use’ guidelines by the educational sector, but doesn’t support the mandate to pay the fees set by Canada’s copyright board. At York University in Toronto. Image – iStockphoto: Peter Spiro By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson ‘Illegal and Unfair Copying on a Systematic Basis’ After […]
Continue reading -
Kiwi book publishers struggling to regroup after seeing sales obliterated in April
4 May 2020 The Publishers Association of New Zealand/Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) says members are reporting zero or minimal sales for the month of the Level 4 lockdown. The risk to the book industry is at its greatest since the Global Financial Crisis. “Publishers, along […]
Continue reading -
JOIN THE VERB COMMUNITY – new platform launches
A MESSAGE FROM VERB WELLINGTON It’s a strange writing to you all in this new world we are all in. We hope this finds you well, safe and in good spirits. Even while the creative landscape as we know it has radically shifted, none of our ambition has. In fact, I’d say that the current […]
Continue reading -
AMANI: Africa Creative Defence Network launches to defend free speech – PEN
As authoritarian regimes crackdown on dissent, artists and creatives are bearing the brunt of the pressure, finding themselves at risk of threats, harassment, arrest, imprisonment, torture, and even death because of their creative work. This has become only more of a reality during the COVID-19 pandemic, as governments exploit “emergency powers” to silence criticism. […]
Continue reading -
Coronavirus Update: The UK Scraps Its 20-Percent VAT on Digital Books
A rare benefit of COVID-19, the UK’s government has wiped out the market’s punishing 20-percent VAT on digital publications, making ebooks more affordable amid #StayAtHome restrictions. Windows in east London’s Leyton district carry messages of hope in the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, an April 26 shot. Image – iStockphoto: Marcos Casado By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief […]
Continue reading -
World Book and Copyright Day – international news
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson FEP Predicts a 25-Percent Loss of Revenue Much of the World Book and Copyright Day messaging of the past 25 years since UNESCO approved the observance has been given to reveries about the charms of reading—especially with your children. A UNESCO proclamation approved at the agency’s Paris general […]
Continue reading -
The NZ Coalition for Books launches digital campaign to support NZ writing and reading and bookseller – Buy Local!
The Coalition for Books has prepared a set of digital assets to support local bookshops, writers and publishers. Right-click on the images or follow the links to full-size images (recommended for best resolution). Please share wildly and support our local literary economy! […]
Continue reading -
Riordans to Match Up to $100,000 in Donations to #SaveIndieBookstores
Rick and Becky Riordan have announced a personal matching gift challenge for the #SaveIndieBookstores campaign, in which they will match each dollar raised up to US$100,000. The Binc fundraising campaign was launched with a donation by James Patterson. Fundraising began on April 2 and runs through April 30. Riordan, who is the bestselling author of […]
Continue reading -
Effect of USA ‘Fair Use’ copyright legislation hits hard on authors’ incomes
US Authors Guild Income Survey results 15th April 2020 Authors earnings, News, USA Multiple studies have suggested that authors’ earnings are in decline around the world. In 2018, the Authors Guild surveyed its membership and the members of 14 other writers’ organisations for its 2018 Author Income Survey, receiving detailed responses from 5,067 authors […]
Continue reading