Archive For The “SpecFicNZ” Category
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” ~ Milton Berle
This is a quote that resonates with me, not as a carpenter (I don’t know my slidey-cut-wood-tool from my bang-in-nails-thing) but as a writer.
We are cursed (in the Chinese sense) to live in Interesting Times. Now, more than any period in history, writers are able to communicate with a global audience. We can create stories and share them with anyone, the best part is; they give us money for them!
Wait, what? Money?
What sorcery is this??
SpecFicNZ is working with Creative NZ to survey the number of print books sold in New Zealand. Specifically we would like our members to reply to this email with information on the following questions for each title you have written or published: 1. Title of the book: 2. Genre of the book: 3. Number of…
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Greetings, writerly and creative folks!
Here in the SpecFicNZ Committee, we’ve been hatching plans for how we can get to know you better as well as help you with publicising what you’re up to in your corner of the writing world. One way we want to do this is to feature our members here on the blog, with whatever you’d like to tell us about. Below are some questions you may use for inspiration if you wish. Please keep your total wordcount around 500 – no need to include the questions, only the answers. We may edit a little at our discretion. Send your interviews to specficnz at gmail dot com along with a photo of yourself and an image of your most recent book cover if you have one. We can’t wait to find out what makes you tick!
On Tuesday 21 June, Paul Mannering and Lee Murray visited Stephanie Soper and Catriona Ferguson of the New Zealand Book Council. The meeting was convened to discuss a recent article in Booksellers website (9 June, 2016) which said the Book Council would be sampling New Zealand print book sales on behalf of Creative New Zealand:
“As part of the New Zealand Book Council’s funding contract with Creative New Zealand we are collecting data on the readership and sales of NZ books within New Zealand. It is anticipated that this information will support Creative New Zealand’s decision making processes around where best to prioritise their resources for literature in the future.”
Hi everyone! This year’s AGM will be taking place at 11am this Sunday 5 June, at Au Contraire III in Wellington. We’ll be working through the agenda below, and all members will have the opportunity to present questions or project ideas under item 7: Any other business. Agenda Welcome Meeting called to order and roll taken….
The content on this page is for members only.Log In Not a member? Join!Members, have your say at the Annual General Meeting, to be held at Au Contraire 3 in Wellington on 5 June at 11 am.
If you are in Wellington, come on by. If you can’t make it, join in online in the SpecFicNZ chat room.
We’ll be electing a new Core; check out the candidates and positions here. And we’ll be taking nominations on the day, if you’d like to stand for a position yourself! There are still regular committee member positions which need to be filled.
See you then!
Au Contraire III is approaching fast, and so is SpecFicNZ’s 2016 AGM, which will be held at the convention.
The AGM is a chance for members to discuss what direction you’d like to see SpecFicNZ take – and to become involved yourself. This year we’ll be holding an election for new Core members, so if you’re keen to have a say in SpecFicNZ’s activities for the next year, let us know – email us at admin@specfic.nz.
More info, and a list of current nominees, can be found at http://specfic.nz/2016/02/14/specficnz-needs-you/.
The 2016 SpecFicNZ Publishing Grant is open for applications.
Complete information about the grant is here and the application form is here.
Applications must be received by 11:59 pm NZT, 31 May 2016.
This year’s grant amount is $2000 NZD, to be split amongst one or more applicants. We will be accepting applications for publishing projects from SpecFicNZ members who are publishers or self-publishers. A previous publication history is not required, but a successful track record in publishing may help your application.
SpecFicNZ is run by a committee – the Core – annually nominated and elected by our members. The 2016 election will be held at Au Contraire III in Wellington over Queen’s Birthday weekend, with an online meeting room integrated for members who aren’t attending the convention.
This year, several long-running Core members will be stepping down, so we’re looking for people who are able to step up and help SpecFicNZ help New Zealand creators in 2017 (and beyond…?). If your expertise fits any of the role descriptions below – or if you’ve just got some great ideas for SpecFicNZ you’d love to see materialise – then let us know, and we’ll happily add your name to the nominations list!
Deadline: 31 December 2015
At this year’s AGM, attendees voted in favour of the SpecFicNZ Core drafting a Code of Conduct by which our members would be expected to abide as part of their membership of the society. This Code of Conduct has now been drafted.
As our Constitution requires any new membership-related changes to the society to be approved by our members, we are now inviting all members to vote on whether or not to accept this Code of Conduct into the SpecFicNZ society rules.
Please click through to the survey below to read the proposed Code of Conduct and vote on whether or not it should be adopted by SpecFicNZ.
Winners of Spooky Bookshops Challenge Announced!
We are thrilled to announce the winners SpecFicNZ’s Spooky Bookshops Challenge:
First Place “The Shelver” by Piper Mejia
Second Place “The Bookshop” by Jane Percival
Third Place “The Box” by I.K. Paterson-Harkness
A huge congratulations to Piper, Jane, and I.K. for three gripping page-turners!
SpecFicNZ has published the three winning stories in an ebook as SpecFicNZ Shorts to coincide with NZ Bookshop Day, which falls on Halloween this year.
There is only a week left to complete the member survey. We’d like to find out more about you and about how we can be more useful to you. Please complete the survey before 19 July 2015! The survey is embedded on the website below, or you can find it here. (function(t,e,o,c){var n,s,m;t.SMCX=t.SMCX||[],e.getElementById(c)||(n=e.getElementsByTagName(o),s=n[n.length-1],m=e.createElement(o),m.type=”text/javascript”,m.async=!0,m.id=c,m.src=[“https:”===location.protocol?”https://”:”http://”,”widget.surveymonkey.com/collect/website/js/mw3_2F3_2F44lS6J5F4ngkX2_2F968mOkBbNLMu_2FSmWcdxG6A7pIyWPcvoL_2Bo4ChCCVBNX.js”].join(“”),s.parentNode.insertBefore(m,s))})(window,document,”script”,”smcx-sdk”); Create your own user…
The grant funding allocation which the panel has agreed upon is as follows:
(a) $NZ400 for the Capricious project, edited / published by Andi Buchanan
(b) $NZ1100 for the At The Edge project, published by Marie Hodgkinson (Paper Road Press) and edited by Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray
The panel was impressed by the overall quality of applications. Inevitably, not all worthwhile projects could be fully funded.
The panel felt that Capricious was particularly deserving of funding in filling a niche (local speculative fiction periodical) that is currently absent from the NZ scene; offers local authors and artists an attractive remuneration ($US50 per contribution); and looks likely to establish a distinct online identity, thus furthering the visibility of its contributing NZ artists and authors. The project builds on Buchanan’s recognised talents as an editor/anthologist, and we note that, since the publisher is meeting the other costs personally, no additional external funding is required for the zine’s first year of publication.
Thank you to everyone who attended today’s AGM. The minutes will be forthcoming in due course, but in the meantime, here are the members of the new Core committee elected today:
President Marie Hodgkinson
Vice President Steph Soper
Treasurer Immi Paterson-Harkness
Secretary Jean Gilbert
Publicist Elizabeth Heritage
General members:
Darusha Wehm
Jane Percival
Grace Bridges
Chris Yee
Beaulah Pragg
Many thanks to the outgoing members of the Core: Simon Petrie, Andi Buchanan, and Lee Murray.