A new set of free resources aims to provide event organisers with extra support.

The New Zealand Book Council’s Event Support Kit offers downloadable resources including checklists, templates and strategies for event organisers.

It also includes links to existing Book Council resources, such as the extensive Writers Files and an online event calendar for free listing of literary events.

Book Council CEO Jo Cribb says the support kit is a response to the number of emerging festivals showcasing local authors and their books.

‘Festivals can be a great way of exposing new audiences to authors. We are especially supportive of events that showcase the diversity of New Zealand writers and seek to reach new or poorly served audiences,’ she says.

‘Over the years, the Book Council has supported many festivals and book events and in doing so we’ve learnt about what might help their organisers. We hope event organisers will find these resources useful.’

Programmes Manager Kathryn Carmody brings extensive event management experience to her role at the Book Council.

She hopes the toolkit will give new event organisers ideas and reassurance and remind experienced event organisers to reach out to others in the sector.

‘We’re seeing an increase in the number and variety of book events that are happening all over the country.

‘We want to give people who are starting out some ideas about how other people organise stuff. For people who are doing this work all the time, hopefully this will inspire them to reach out to others to build even more robust networks between themselves than they are currently,’ says Kathryn.

‘Sometimes the phone calls or emails we get are from people who are feeling a bit overwhelmed by what they’ve taken on and are hoping to achieve. This toolkit is one practical thing we can offer to everyone.’

The Book Council plans to update aspects of the toolkit, such as the spreadsheet of key dates, each year. The organisation hopes the resource will be widely shared among arts organisations, and welcomes feedback on what else might be useful to add to the kit.

Download the resources from the Book Council website here.