NZ Coalition for Books strategic plan report

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Coalition for Books has released the Mahi Tahi Work Together: A Strategic Plan for the Aotearoa New Zealand Book Sector 2025–2030, which is the culmination of the publishing sector ‘committing to increase the visibility and sales of books by local authors as a priority’.

The report aligns with the government’s Amplify: Creative and Cultural Strategy for New Zealand (2024–2030) and ‘highlights goals and action areas that will drive growth, sustainability and greater local and international recognition of New Zealand’s literary work’, said the organisation.

Chair of the Coalition for Books Melanie Laville-Moore said local authors ‘such as Catherine Chidgey, Nicky Pellegrino, Charity Norman, Jenny Pattrick and Witi Ihimaera have shifted the dial on public demand for NZ adult fiction titles’.

‘Despite the current economic and social headwinds facing all retail sectors, domestic publishing revenue grew by 5% in 2024, with a slight 2.4% increase in revenue also generated in 2023 compared to the year prior. Local book lovers are reading more novels written by NZ writers than ever before, across all genres: crime, contemporary, historical and literary fiction. The “cultural cringe” days where Kiwis shied away from reading books written by their own are gone,’ Laville-Moore said. ‘One of the aims of collaborating as a sector is to capitalise on the hunger Kiwis are showing for stories by and about ourselves.’

Laville-Moore highlighted the industry’s aim to work with the government to ‘modernise the Copyright Act and the Public Lending Right Act to protect and value intellectual property in the digital age, addressing risks such as AI misuse and copyright infringement’; the need for the country to have a dedicated literary funding stream with Creative New Zealand; and the need to prioritise educational titles and children’s books.

‘Unit sales of educational books, or those titles destined for early childhood, primary and secondary institutions, after a 22% decrease in 2023, recorded a small gain of 4% in the past year.

‘The positive impacts of reading at home and at school on student literacy performance are well established. Studies like PISA demonstrate that reading for enjoyment is associated with higher literacy achievement. This suggests a correlation between declining literacy rates and declining sales of books for students and children. As a unified sector, we can work alongside government to address the longtime trend of declining literacy rates. There is huge potential there.’

The report is available online.

Category: Local news