Speculative Fiction in New Zealand
From time to time I receive emails through my website, on a range of topics. One I found interesting, from a correspondent who shall remain anonymous (and no, in all likelihood you wouldn’t know him/her anyway) wrote: ” … a few years ago … I spoke with some NZ publishers and asked them for their opinion of non-YA SFF* publishing in NZ. They told me they doubted there would ever be much activity in that area.”
* (scifi-fantasy/ speculative fiction)
Humph, thought I—and then, but is it true? Is it really true that there’s not much adult SFF worthy of publication being produced in NZ?
My observation and anecdotal evidence suggest that it isn’t true and that there are in fact a large number of people out there now who are either writing or aspiring to write SFF—far more than I realised when I started down this road myself. So has something changed dramatically over the past few years, or has an enduring reality of New Zealanders reading and writing SFF simply become more visible?
I would be interested to know your thoughts, but my feeling is that the latter is probably the case and that recent phenomena like the Harry Potter and Twilight books, and the Lord of the Rings films, have simply made SFF more, well, respectable. (I certainly received the impression that it wasn’t respectable when I first started writing in earnest, eleven years ago!) I was intrigued, for example, when Interactive Press brought out Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand (edited by Mark Pirie and Tim Jones) in 2009, to see how many mainstream New Zealand poets had written poetry, over a considerable period of years, that qualified for inclusion in a “science fiction” anthology.
In terms of some of that activity out there now, the newly formed SpecFicNZ—which is for writers (and editors et al) as opposed to readers—has gotten off to a flying start. And the recently published A Foreign Country: NZ Speculative Fiction (edited by Anna Caro and Juliet Buchanan, Random Static, 2010) contains twenty two short stories by New Zealand authors, some as well established as Juliet Marillier and James Norcliffe, while also featuring newer voices such as Ripley Patton and Miriam Hurst. So plenty of activity there!
You may also recall, from my January 13 post about the Sir Julius Vogel Awards, that I could readily list 5 Adult and 4 YA titles from 2010—so again, no shortage of activity by New Zealand writers in the speculative fiction field.
But of those 5 Adult titles, all five were published overseas, four in the USA and one in Australia, which does rather make it seem as though the lack of activity arises, not from a lack of publishable material being produced in New Zealand, but rather from a lack of interest in publishing it … To make my point, Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand was published by an Australian press.
Which does rather beg the question: why?
So waddya reckon? Why do you think NZ publishers aren’t interested in NZ speculative fiction? And are those reasons valid?
That’s really interesting. As a New Zealander writing YA fantasy it makes me wonder if it’s worth approaching publishers here at all, perhaps I shouldn’t bother?
It is hard to say for sure, but the observations above certainly don’t seem encouraging …
I know that HC Australia has a long and proud record for SFF publishing, which makes it a hub downunder, perhaps. But White Cloud Worlds was a HC NZ – centered effort, and a fine one at that. Granted, its SFF art rather than SFF story. But could things be changing?
Part of the problem, of course, is that NZ is a tiny market compared to Aus, Europe and of course the US/Canada.
I would like to think that things could be changing, Mary—especially as, tiny market or not, other homegrown fiction does get published in NZ, including in genres other than “literary”, such as “crime” and “chicklit.”
Isn’t ‘A Foreign Country’ from a NZ press, too? 🙂
Yes, Random Static. I am currently reading A Foreign Country and that is partly what sparked this post, because the collection contains such a diversity of excellent voices, with a wonderful NZ slant to the whole, that it made me think: why can’t we see more of this kind and calibre of fiction?
LOL, I just noticed you wrote a paragraph on it. Must have eyes cleaned out and brain re-supplied with caffeine.
We’re good! [Grins.]
It would be great to see a response from one of the “good and great” of NZ publishing to the question that this post raises
Indeed—I am quite interested to know “the answer”, especially as I, too, 10 years ago was told it wasn’t worth even trying to get published in NZ … which has worked out for me, but it’s also sad, that there’s no interest in ‘indigenous’ SFF.
The SpecFicNZ membership seems to show otherwise, too. There seems to be a huge interest in it, from what I’ve seen. SciFi and fantasy is growing overseas, too. Dystopians are big and getting bigger all the time. There’s examples on the NYT list right now, in YA (Beth Revis’ Across the Universe, for instance). That may not be NZ, but I can’t imagine we’re that different, surely? The interest is definitely there, if nothing else.
Maybe there’s a perception that NZ-ers won’t read homegrown SFF, but we read other locally produced writing so why should/would SFF be so different, one wonders … (Yes, one does, precious!)
Helen, your last comment sums it up: mainstream New Zealand publishers believe that New Zealanders will not buy SFF by New Zealand authors – indeed, I recall a New Zealand publisher saying this once during a radio panel discussion we were both on.
The next questions that occur to me are: what evidence do they have for this, if they never publish NZ SFF, what evidence do they have that it won’t sell – and if they remain convinced of this, who will show them that they’re wrong, if indeed they are?
Yes, it’s in the nature of a self-fulfilling prophecy, isn’t it? But I do wonder if anyone’s ever done an actual market survey around SFF, or any of the genres in fact, and if so when; or whether these decisions are made by the metaphorical equivalent of wetting a finger and holding it to the wind …
Perhaps its a good thing that New Zealand authors have to go to overseas publishers – it gives them a much bigger audience for their books, surely?
What interested me about the Julius Vogel list was that it seemed to be made up entirely of fantasy. No science fiction in sight. As a child I devoured Andrew Lang’s colour fairy book series – and later I got into Heinlein, Asimov and the like – and it would never have occurred to me to lump them together into one genre. And when I encountered the likes of Tolkein – and the Narnia series, for that matter, I would have been far more inclined to group them with the Lang than with Asimov and Heinlein. Sure, they are both speculative – but the fantasy genre seems to look backward towards some simpler, more medieval life – even it is in the future – whereas science fiction seems to look forward in terms of imagined technological advances. (Very broad generalisation, I know, but I definitely feel the two fields are different).
So – do we have any New Zealand science fiction writers? Other than in the poetry field, there were certainly some in the Voyagers anthology.
The A Foreign Country anthology is science fiction in the sense that it is based around speculation about the future—although admittedly some of that speculation is ‘fantastic.’ (But not ‘magical’—an essential Fantasy ingredient.) In terms of novels, given that very little SFF is published locally, it is harder to see the SF as opposed to Fantasy, but I believe there are some writers who would identify predominantly in that area.
In terms of going overseas, yes, doing so does provide a bigger audience potentially—if the writer can find a publisher, but he/she will also be competing against a far larger pool. There is also likely to be far less understanding of, or interest in, elements that give the fiction a distinctively kiwi flavour. Not that I consider the latter essential, but if distinctively Kiwi SFF can’t find acceptance locally then it’s unlikely, I suspect, to do so anywhere else—although Karen Healey’s Guardian of the Dead may give me the lie on that one … Or is it a case of the exception proving the rule?
Strangely enough, I never worried about where an author was from before meandering into the industry, now I’m more worried about why I can’t get published NZ authors in NZ than I am where they were published.
I would have thought it would be better for the author to get picked up by a publisher outside of NZ, from a financial & distribution point of view; it seems that NZ authors tend to be marketed as ‘New Zealand Author’ first and “Great Fantasy” second… which to me doesn’t seem like the best strategy for turning the author into the next Tolkien.
I would certain love to see NZ publishers picking up more NZ spec fic authors (obviously), but do they have the same budgets as their USA counterparts? Or would it be better to have more NZ agents/editors focusing on the worldwide market?
I agree that ‘great fantasy’ etc would probably be a better focus than ‘NZ author’—but I think the NZ author stickers arise from a belief that many NZ-ers are actively looking for NZ writers. But if so, then why not publish more NZ authors: a conumdrum?!
With respect to the overseas market etc, I direct you to my reply to Catherine’s comment.
Re locally-published SFF novels: I’m pretty sure Doug Van Belle’s Barking Death Squirrels (Random Static) came out before the end of the year.
I think it’s important to also recognise that there aren’t just two relevant camps among the publishing industry, but three:
International mass-market publishing houses
Locally branched mass-market publishing houses
Local small press
Of the three, I reckon the local branches of the mass-market houses (eg Hachette NZ, HarperCollins NZ) are probably least likely to take a punt on a local author, because of the (perceived) small audience. Authors with some kind of a track record probably have a better chance of achieving publication over the ditch, provided their work is judged likely to have broader geographical appeal. But small press is probably where the most innovation is likely to occur–new authors, new voices, riskier narratives. Ultimately, the ideal scenario would be that all three of these publishing modes are reasonably accessible to local authors, but this won’t (imho) happen unless and until there’s more prominence given to local origin, via stickers, publicity, interviews etc, because this provides more of an incentive for the NZ reading public to actively seek out local-author work. It’s a slow process, necessarily, but it can happen.
Perhaps this question is irrelevant to your discussion, but are you talking about cultural identity publishing or about wide-spectrum international distribution of NZ writers? If you are more concerned with the former and are questioning how your particular brand of SFF can be known and loved across the world, then who cares, frankly, whether the publisher is in NZ or NY? What is important is that Kiwi talent and Kiwi creativity be recognized and validated from pole to pole. But if you are concerned about the latter and anxious to promote Kiwi publishers, who should I presume be concerned with publishing Kiwi writers only, then it boils down to the market and the bottom line. The minute you try to “protect” local talent through local publishers, you will invariably end up with local distribution rights, for purely economic reasons.
For those of us living on the other side of the planet, the difference between a publisher in NZ and a publisher in Australia is frankly far less significant than access to the book. We don’t give a damn who the publisher is so long as we can get a hold of the actual, literal and non-Kindle book without paying astronomical sums for postage. The biggest frustration is when a so-called “international mass-market” publishing house like HarperCollins, which protects itself by keeping control of regional distribution rights, only makes books available on a truly international basis after they have “proved” themselves locally and regionally. At that point, we begin to wonder what the difference is between international mass-market publishing houses, locally branched mass-market publishing houses and local small press…
I have to say, that seeking publication overseas in my case was about money and exposure to a large audience. But I think things are changing.
Overseas there seems to be fewer barriers to New Zealand authors getting published than there used to be. (I remember the days of having to have post coupons to submit to New York- oh the agony of that!) I think we can thank the internet for opening these new avenues up. I’ve been surprised and delighted how open and welcoming the American publishers are to kiwis- in fact I am just about to sign a contract for my 6th New York published novel.
In New Zealand there are a lot of changes going on. I take the creation of SpecFicNZ as a sign that there is a huge untapped interest in writing in the genre. I know the Sir Julius Vogels had to create a YA section because they got so many entries.
I think that NZ publishers will catch on to this- and even though we are a small market there is still money to be made in the field. Big publishers like Harper Collins think so since they have a Australia/New Zealand division.
That being said, I have encountered some resistance to having stories set in NZ published in the States. So perhaps the local publishers should be investigating that area in particular.
Picking up on Simon’s comment, it has been good to see some of that local prominence starting to happen—and again I see the emergence of SpecFicNZ and the activity by ‘zines such as Semaphore and small presses like Random Static, as well as longer standing organisations such as SFFANZ, as an indication of activity and vibrancy that is part of generating that increasing profile for NZ SFF. But I also know that journals, ‘zines and small presses traditionally struggle to stay afloat, and in that sense the current activity could end as quickly as it began—especially if there is no clear path forward for local growth/development growth.
B Nakhjavani—the point that sparked my post was the feedback from NZ-based publishers that they didn’t foresee a lot of activity in terms of adult SFF publishing locally (YA is reasonably active at present.) I then correlated this comment with the level of SFF writing occuring locally and noted that last year’s adult releases that I could recall ‘off the top of my head’ had been published internationally. (Simon Petrie has now mentioned Douglas van Belle’s “Barking Death Squirrels” from Random Static as well.) I was intrigued enough to post on the topic, given that it appears that the NZ scene is active enough to produce SFF writers capable of being published internationally, but without corresponding levels of local publication activity, especially by the larger publishing houses. In terms of small presses, Random Static has received two mentions and I know Victoria University Press (medium sized by NZ standards) publishes Elizabeth Knox (but again, her most recent SFF works have been YA) but otherwise the only path appears to be to go straight for the international scene. I do think it’s fantastic that so many Kiwi SFF writers are breaking through internationally—and as Philippa points out, overseas publication does offer more in terms of both audience size and remuneration potential, so maybe it is all for the best. But I can’t help feeling that the lack of any intermediate steps between small pro/semipro presses and the global market probably means that there is less potential for a uniquely Kiwi texture to have the opportunity to evolve/develop—and maybe just less opportunity all round.
Philippa, in terms of resistance to having stories set in NZ published in the States, I have also heard that it is the same in the UK—whereas the local resistance appears to be more to SFF full stop. A conundrum!
Helen,
This topic is something I’ve thought about a lot, so thanks for posting this.
I found the idea that to readers it doesn’t matter who publishes a book, as long as they have access to it at a reasonable price interesting. First, because “reasonable” price for a book doesn’t seem to exist in New Zealand, at least not compared to what one pays for a book in the States. Books are very expensive here, and I can actually get a new book much cheaper via Amazon (with shipping) than buying one locally. That can’t be good for the local book market.
I have yet to figure out why books cost so much here, but I am assuming it may have something to do with import costs. And that brings me to my main point about New Zealand authors going with an overseas publisher.
The genre writing talent it here in NZ, but we actually export it out of our country (by refusing to publish it here) and then pay heaps to have it exported back into the country by outside publishers so we can read our own, homegrown authors. To me, that just doesn’t make economical sense.
Another side effect of this is that many New Zealand authors eventually move away from New Zealand so as to be closer to their publishing houses, a larger fan base, bigger cons, and more opportunities to promote themselves and further their careers.
So, not only are we exporting good fiction (only to import it back in and pay the price), we are actually pushing our talent to export itself.
I find it all a little sad really.
My hope is that the resource of NZ genre writing talent will eventually be valued by its own homeland. One can always hope.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Ripley.