On Sunday 26 Nov, nine Tasmanian children’s book creators gathered at Australia’s oldest licensed pub, The Hope & Anchor.
Christina Booth spoke briefly about attending a SCBWI Netherlands meeting at the International Book Store in Den Hague (The Hague) in October. Christina has proposed a special friendship relationship between SCBWI Netherlands and SCBWI Tasmania.
Maria Gill, author of 55 non-fiction books, mainly for children, then spoke about creative ways of marketing books. One example she gave was her successful approach to the Dutch Embassy to sponsor her tour of schools, bookshops and libraries in Tasmania, promoting her latest picture book: Abel Tasman, mapping the southern lands.
She also spoke about how she is involved in a Facebook page for NZ writers and illustrators. This has provided support for writers and illustrators and built relationships in the industry, with opportunities to share industry information. One of the successes of this forum is that schools are now better educated about the need to pay for school visits and book creators are more confident in asking for award rates for presentations.
She also suggested working with other writers and illustrators on themed exhibitions, for example an ANZAC book exhibition that will be appearing at various librarians in Australia and New Zealand.
Click to find Maria's website here.
Anne Morgan, SCBWI Tasmania