Robyn Mundy's Blog, page 5
March 23, 2016
Image of the Week
Arctic hare at Eskimobugt, Nordvestfjord, East Greenland. ©Brendan Downer
Brendan Downer, New Zealand chef and trusty shipmate with whom I’ve shared many a polar voyage, shot this photo of an Arctic Hare, Lepus arcticus, at Eskimobugt in East Greenland. Isn’t it a beauty! The white coat makes a brilliant splash against the Arctic landscape, and with the help of those big ears, an adult stands at an impressive 60cms tall, weighing in at up to 7kgs. Arctic hares don’t stand still for long. The farther north into the Arctic, the larger the herds: while I’ve only seen a handful at a time, they are known to bound across the tundra in herds of over two hundred, reaching speeds of 60 kilometres per hour. Imagine! May a herd of Easter bunnies come bounding your way.
Filed under: Arctic, Image of the week, Uncategorized Tagged: Arctic hare, Aurora Expeditions, Brendan Downer, East Greenland, Easter bunny, Polar Pioneer
March 17, 2016
Publishing: getting the word out
When a new book is launched into the world, the attention it receives—being seen, being talked about—may seem par for the course to many. But is such exposure entirely natural, without planning and effort? When my new novel Wildlight was wending its way to the printer, I was introduced to Pan Macmillan’s publicist, powerhouse LARA WALLACE. Whew! It didn’t take me long to appreciate the energy, enthusiasm and professionalism Lara commits to her role, and to see how an effective publicist makes a significant impact on a book being noticed. Lara kindly agreed to shed some light on her highly proactive but largely behind-the-scenes role.
Firstly, will you share a little about yourself, at work and beyond?
Lara Wallace poses with Puddles the Clown during the 2016 Adelaide for Writers Week.
LW: I have worked as a book publicist for the past eight years and within the Australian publishing industry I have been employed by HarperCollins, Allen & Unwin and Pan Macmillan. I did a one year stint overseas in 2010 where I worked for an independent publishing company based in London called Kogan Page. Outside of work I enjoy travelling, seeing live music and art exhibitions, binge-watching TV series (House of Cards and Nashville are my favourites at the moment) and it must be said, reading.
Let’s get to the nitty gritty. How do you get a book ‘out there’ in the public eye?
LW: It very much depends on the kind of book being publicised and the author’s availability, but the things that remain the same for all books are:
— Review copies are sent out to journalists, bloggers and other influencers who we feel the book is likely to be of interest to. They are also sent to journalists and bloggers who request the book, provided the request is legitimate, and to media contacts the authors has provided.
— Publicists then follow up with media contacts who have received review copies and source interest in interviews, extracts, reviews, cover placements and giveaways.
— Once media coverage starts to be confirmed, the author is provided with an outline of the media due to take place for the book, and receives regular updates on media coverage and any interview requests.
How important is publicity to a new book?
LW: Of course being a publicist, I would argue that it’s incredibly important. But in all seriousness, if you consider the books that have been successful over the past decade, they have almost always been supported by strategically planned, carefully executed media campaigns. For a book to sell well, it needs the strong backing of the sales, marketing and publicity teams. For this reason sales, marketing and publicity departments tend to work very closely together within publishing houses.
When I think about the cover of Wildlight, I love its gothic undertones, and how the design stands out on the book shelves. From your point of view, can a cover make a difference?
LW: Yes, it’s without question that a book’s cover makes a huge difference. A book with a striking or beautiful cover is almost always commented on and the more it’s talked about, the more attention it receives. That being said, a brilliant book with what might be considered as a rather plain cover can still do well, but having a cover that is of wide appeal to book buyers is certainly beneficial.
Pan Macmillan is an international publishing house with several imprints producing an impressive range of material. How many titles do you manage at any one time?
LW: A publicist’s workload tends to vary over the course of a year, but on an average month most publicists work on between three and four titles. If there is a particularly large media campaign taking place in a certain month, it may be that the publicist only works on one book that month. By the same turn, if the media campaign for a book is less extensive (perhaps because the author isn’t available for media or the book is aimed at a more specific audience), the publicist may work on three or four titles. Personally I like to keep busy and work across a variety of titles, and most publicists I know feel much the same.
In your role you would have encountered the full gamut of book reviews. How are you affected when a professional review is less than favourable?
LW: It’s true that we see all different kinds of reviews as publicists, and some authors like to see all reviews for their book while other authors may wish to see none. The most important thing is not to take any one review personally. My feeling is that the author, publisher, editor, sales and marketing teams and publicist are doing everything they can to ensure the book will be a success, and there is really no point in wasting time or energy on a negative review. If a book is good, no one negative review will ever be able to significantly affect its potential. In the interests of being honest, it does really annoy me if I read a review that is badly written or includes incorrect information.
I agree. To me it is apparent and impressive when a reviewer has engaged closely with a book—it can’t always be easy—but there are a few occasions when I scratch my head and wonder if we’ve read the same thing!
What do you enjoy most about your job?
LW: The thing I enjoy most about my job is the opportunity I have to meet interesting and different people all the time. This includes authors, journalists, Writer’s Festival employees and other people who work in publishing. I also really enjoy having the chance to read lots of wonderful books that I may not have been able to read if I didn’t work in publishing. I think most if not all publicists are faced with curly challenges at some (or many) points, but these challenges also give us an opportunity to develop new skills and to continue to get better at our jobs, so it’s not all bad.
What are the key qualities of an effective publicist?
LW: To be a good publicist you need to be organised, efficient and a strong communicator. These days most journalists have a very short amount of time to listen to or read a pitch for a new book, and you need to know how to make the most of that time.
What are the key qualities of an effective author when it comes to publicising their new book?
LW: From my point of view, the most effective authors treat their publicists in much the same way as they treat their publishers. They are hardworking, make sure they are available for interviews they have committed to or submit a piece of writing at the agreed time, are courteous and are mindful that like publishers, publicists are often busy and there is much work that is done behind the scenes to achieve results.
If someone reading this post were interested in a career as a publicist, what advice would you offer them?
LW: The best advice I received on this was from one of my university tutors, the talented author Peter Doyle. Peter told us that if we wanted to work as journalists or publicists, we should make sure we were doing it for the right reasons. Not for the opportunity to meet celebrities, go to parties, travel and maybe even become famous ourselves, but because we were interested in what other people had to contribute, in how and why the world keeps changing, and to share stories that may have a positive effect on someone’s life.
That strikes me as sage and gracious advice, for any career. Let’s finish with this scenario: Lara is on vacation, kicking back. What is she likely to be reading?
LW: Anything by Liane Moriarty (I can’t wait for her new book, Truly Madly Guilty, publishing in August), or Elena Ferrante’s ‘Neapolitan’ novels. I read My Brilliant Friend over the Christmas break and I was happy to discover that it lived up to the hype.
A huge thank you to the wonderful Lara Wallace, publicist at Pan Macmillan, for making time to contribute to this post.
Filed under: Publishing, Uncategorized, Wildlight Tagged: Lara Wallace, Pan Macmillan, Picador, Publicist, Wildlight
March 16, 2016
Header images
Interested in knowing more about the header images for this website? View them in full and read about the locations in the top menu: Header Images.
Filed under: Uncategorized
March 11, 2016
Saving Maatsuyker
It’s been abandoned, neglected, flooded, even struck by lightning, but a unique piece of Australia’s maritime history — our loneliest, southernmost lighthouse — is finally being brought back from the brink of ruin. —Matthew Denholm, Weekend Australian
Read today’s inspiring cover page article in the Weekend Australian on the valiant efforts, largely by volunteers in concert with Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service, to save Maatsuyker Island lighthouse.
Opening of Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse, June 1891. Photo reference NS1013/1/277, published with permission of the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse has suffered further deterioration since this 2010 photograph. ©Robyn Mundy
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: lighthouse, Maatsuyker Island
March 8, 2016
Radio National’s Top Shelf
ABC Radio National Books & Arts airs an occasional 5-minute segment entitled Top Shelf, in which a writer, artist or performer is invited to speak about several artworks, of any form, that have touched or inspired their life and work. RN recently invited me to participate. If you didn’t catch it and have 5 minutes to spare, please listen here. Previous guests include writers Chigozie Obioma, Louis Nowra, Linda Jaivan, Tristan Bancks and Colum McCann.
With thoughts of inspirational places that have touched my life, these images below.
Chimayo pilgrimage church, New Mexico
Pelican Point, Bunbury, in Western Australia’s South West
Filed under: Top Shelf, Uncategorized, Wildlight Tagged: ABC Radio National, Chimayo, New Mexico, Pelican Point, Robyn Mundy, Top Shelf, Wildlight
March 5, 2016
Bookstores rock!
This week and last I had the delight of celebrating the publication of my new novel Wildlight with good friends and exciting new readers. The support of bookstores and the enthusiasm of their expert staff — themselves passionate readers who are ever ready to help customers find just the right book — is a wondrous resource for both readers and authors. Please support your local bookstore!
In conjunction with launching Wildlight, I had the privilege of connecting with six fabulous bookstores that all offered the warmest welcome any writer or reader could wish for. I was doubly impressed that the petite WA coastal town of Busselton boasts not one but three vibrant bookstores, all within cooee of each other and all keenly supported by the town’s bounty of readers.
Tasmania
Western Australia
Beaufort Street Books, Perth
Barefoot Books, Busselton
Viva Books, Busselton
Filed under: Uncategorized, Wildlight Tagged: Barefoot Books, Beaufort Street Books, Busselton book stores, Dymocks Busselton, Hobart book stores, Hobart Bookshop, Margaret River book stores, Perth book stores, Viva Books
March 1, 2016
Readers on Reading
Ann of the Kimberley
Ann Ward is a rural doctor who has spent her career working in the outback of Western Australia. Ann worked as a Flying Doctor in Meekatharra from 1989 to 1992, and since then as an Obstetric Rural GP based in Kununurra. Ann was born in Malaysia to a Chinese mother and an English father. At five years of age her family migrated to Australia and settled in Perth where Ann was educated and lived until her early twenties.
Ann is an inspiring woman on numerous counts, including her connection with wild places:
…equally at home in the Antarctic
I have always had a love and a passion for wilderness, places where few people journey, places that require require some skill to survive, places that are truly wild and beautiful and connect me to the earth. For me, that has meant places like the Himalaya, Antarctica and the Kimberley region of Western Australia. I feel privileged to have spent time time there.
Tell us something you treasure about this aspect of your life.
I love stories. Every week for 23 years, as part of my work in Kununurra, I have flown in a light aircraft to the remote Warmun Aboriginal community in the East Kimberley as the Clinic doctor. I feel a strong bond with this community and feel grateful to have worked there. I have learnt much from this experience and I feel it is now a fundamental part of my own life story. I have shared happiness, laughs, grief, joy and stories with these Gija people and I am grateful for this privilege.
How about your recent favourite book?
History of the Rain by Niall Williams. I love this book. It is many stories, spanning four generations and is woven together with the forces of nature: the river, the rain. I was totally absorbed by the main character Ruth Swain, an intelligent, fundamentally optimistic and whimsical Irish teenager, recently bedridden by a blood disorder that threatens her life, but which affords her time to read avidly and to contemplate her life and the lives that came before her. She has a wonderful, optimistic, funny turn of phrase—Mrs Conheedy had a face as lumpy as a turnip and shoulders you can imagine her carrying sheep on—even at the saddest of times. She is strongly attached to her eccentric poet father and to her shining twin brother (who appears part way through the book) and whose demise profoundly changes all that she knows.
History of the Rain is very well written, with Ruth using capital letters with gay abandon for emphasis. She predicts a Brilliant Career for me if I will only Trim Back.
It is a lovely, poignant story that made me want to continue reading past its end.
A fine recommendation from my inaugural guest reader Ann Ward. If you find Ann’s own life story as inspirational as I do, read more about her in Outback Heroines by Sue Williams (Penguin, 2013).
Filed under: Readers on reading, Uncategorized Tagged: Ann Ward, Antarctica, East Kimberley, Flying Doctor, History of the Rain, Kununurra, Niall Williams, Outback Heroines, Sue Williams, Warmun Aboriginal Community
February 25, 2016
postscript…
Sean Lee, whose photo appears in full splendour in my previous post, has been announced winner of Pinkbike’s 2015 Trek Photo of the year. From thousands of nominated photos, 32 were selected to pit against each other in a showdown. From that point the public voted on the match-ups and the photos with the most votes advanced to the next round: 32, 16, then 8, 4, 2 until a single photo was deemed the 2015 Trek Photo of the Year. Congratulations, Sean!
Filed under: Image of the week, Uncategorized Tagged: 2015 Trek Photo of the Year, Pinkbike, Sean Lee
Image of the week
I am thrilled to introduce up-and-coming photographic artist Sean Lee, a young action and adventure sports photographer based in Perth, Western Australia. With a focus on mountain biking, Sean’s images can be found on the covers of national and international publications. This high-octane photo was shot during his 2015 trip to New Zealand, and is in the running for the Pinkbike.com Photo of the Year Award.
Queenstown local Joel Tunbridge flies down a trail on the slopes of Coronet Peak, overlooking New Zealand’s Southern Alps. ©Sean Lee, 2015.
Sean’s amazing image sits beside a worthy competitor. Check out the two finalists here. Voting is in its last hours and requires a Pinkbike account, which takes 30 seconds to create without any of those pesky follow-on emails.
Click here to read Pinkbike’s ‘five minutes with the finalists’ interview with Sean Lee and Lee Trumpore, on the nitty gritty of mountain bike photography. Regardless of which image takes out the trophy, in my eye both boys are champions!
Filed under: Image of the week, Uncategorized Tagged: Joel Tunbridge, Lee Trumpore, mountain bike photography, mountain biking, photography, Pinkbike.com Photo of the Year Award, Queenstown, Sean Lee, Wildlight
February 23, 2016
Top shelf
Author Amanda Curtin
Western Australian writer extraordinaire, book editor and long-time friend Amanda Curtin is author of three remarkable works of fiction. Her most recent, Elemental, was published to acclaim in Australia, shortlisted for the 2014 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards and, at any tick of the clock, will debut in the United Kingdom. ‘How glamorous things seem from afar when you’ve never felt the everyday of them,’ says Meggie Duthie Tulloch, once ‘Fish Meggie’ during the height of Scotland’s herring trade with its troupes of gutting girls. Elemental spans Meggie’s life from her birthplace in north-east Scotland at the start of the twentieth century, to the close of her life in 1970s Western Australia. The voice of Meggie, and the beauty and restraint of Amanda’s language, empowers this narrative with a consciousness that gives the work a unique vision and a deep-felt humanness that connects us all.
Amanda’s Inherited, a collection of short literary fiction about the gifts and burdens we inherit from the world…and those we leave behind, is a MUST READ. The story ‘Rush’ still gives me shivers.
Amanda’s debut novel The Sinkings, centres on Willa Samson, a grief-stricken mother who searches for answers to her own very private loss, while unpicking clues to the actual 1882 murder and controversy over the remains of Western Australian convict Little Jock. The Sinkings is a haunting story of present and past.
I have all three on my top shelf and I encourage you to add them to yours!
Recently Amanda was nice enough to chat with me about my new novel Wildlight in her post: 2 2 and 2: writers and new books
Filed under: Top Shelf, Uncategorized, Wildlight Tagged: 2 2 and 2: writers and new books, Amanda Curtin, Elemental, Inherited, The Sinkings, Wildlight
