The aftermath

Hi everyone!

I thought I'd make this thread now, while everyone can pop in and out of the forum without the stress and insanity that blinds us during Nano. I had a browse around the Nano forums, and a look on kiwiwriters, but I can't find a thread with resources on getting published in New Zealand.

I know I'm thinking WAY ahead, but I'd like to polish my Nano and submit it for publication/to literary agents afterward. Does anyone have their eye set on publishing their work? Do you have an agency/publishing house in mind?
Has anyone here been published before, and how did you go about the process?

We certainly have people who know stuff about that. I'll poke them to reply.

Hello Smith,

I'm currently in something of a similar(ish) situation, in that I'm looking to get something published - eventually.

I say eventually, because the process of polishing is taking a while, despite getting mostly positive feedback, I keep on finding new things that need changing (This approach is DEATH while doing Nano, however, and since plenty of authors go for the creative splurge approach too, I feel comfortable in warning you against it).

Anyway, one potential publisher (of speculative fiction) is www.steampress.co.nz, although they're new on the scene and apparently doing only one book at a time.

www.randomstatic.net are a bit older I think, and publish science fiction only.

We have a few people who are also interns at publishing houses (who should be doing Nano this year) and they can certainly give you some pointers on the criteria of publishers - if you don't mind pinioning your creative wings =P.

One bit of advice - and salient point on the New Zealand publishing situation - is that books often need to be published outside New Zealand in order to have a good chance of being profitable for the company, and to provide much of a return. This is certainly true with any kind of speculative fiction for adults, but if you are interested in children's fiction, then I believe the situation is a bit rosier, and starting off inside New Zealand is more plausible.

As for agents, well I'm afraid I can't help you there. However if I ever get one, I'll let you know =D.

Thank you for replying Diletante!

That gives me some insight in where to send my (still non-existant) query to. I've been advised to look for a publisher in the UK or America, but that would mean I'd need to find myself an agent first. I know in South Africa you don't need an agent to get published and they're pretty good with responding to your query within a fortnight, so I was considering going that route for the sole reason that I have 90% better chance of getting published there, but at the same time it would be more convenient for all involved if I could get published here in New Zealand. I think.