It is a busy, busy month. March is New Zealand Book Month and I am speaking at three evening events, doing several school visits and I'm one of the authors at the NZ Book Council's Speed Date the Author Event which was so popular they have put on a second date. It is nice to be wanted. I will be talking on Character. One of my publisher's, Pear Jam Books, is having a celebration down at the St Heliers Public Library on March 31st which is also the day of the Storylines Margaret Mahy Day and AGM being held at Kings Prep. in Remuera. Hopefully in amongst it all I will be finishing off writing a book, sneaking in reading a few, and studying for this year's university paper. It is BRILLIANT to celebrate books, and books by New Zealand writers in particular. Reading books makes you smarter. And if you are searching for magic - books are where you will find it. If you yearn to be a student at Hogwarts or mix with Vampires, Werewolves, Unicorns, the brave, the beautiful, the damned and the heroic, all you need do is open the cover and read the words inside. Words are powerful things.
And because I like to share, here are today's juicy links. The first via agent, Rachelle Gardner's blog, is a very interesting discussion on the financial rewards an author might expect. I agree that authors should get back what they put in and years of perfecting your skills and being generous with your work will most likely pay off, but this pay off for hard work, generosity and talent is by no means guaranteed. No business model would operate on this basis. There are salaried folk who are rewarded despite no effort, generosity or talent. It is somewhat depressing to think that the majority of hard working authors might never receive a fair days pay for a fair days work.
And in the continuing saga of the battle for Publishing Middle Earth (with both sides taking turns at playing Sauron in Mordor against the Mad Steward in Gondor's Minas Tirith) here is another perspective or two from over at author Lexi Revellian's blog. It is somewhat startling to see people actually 'taking sides'. My joke aside, this is not a war, this is about change. And this guest blog post here by publisher mark Williams at Anne R. Allen's blog is a very rational discussion with a lot of great information. I believe we shouldn't be afraid. Millions of people still want to read good stories. Everywhere I go, I tell children how wonderful books are and what all the benefits of reading are both as entertainment and as an educational tool. I can tell you right now, no one disagrees.
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