Oceanbooks draws two hundred to launch party

PRESS RELEASE

2 April 2012
New publishing company Oceanbooks
draws two hundred to launch party

Over two hundred people crammed into the seaside Nautilus restaurant in Tauranga on Friday night, 30th March, for the launch of Oceanbooks Ltd. Managing Director Bryan Winters admitted: “We were hoping for a good turnout, but this exceeded expectations.”

Local MP Simon Bridges opened the launch event, and commented that the current selection of books from Bay of Plenty authors was as fine as he had seen anywhere. Guest speaker, Richard Webster, who has sold more than two million titles worldwide, talked about his experience with self-publishing.

Oceanbooks sells only New Zealand written eBooks directly to the public through its portal www.oceanbooks.co.nz. The company is a cooperative, owned by more than forty local writer shareholders, and sets realistic prices for eBooks, mainly in the $1.95 to $3.95 range.

“Oceanbooks is a publishing company belonging to writers,” says Winters. “The internet enables us to communicate directly with readers in the emerging eBook era. As the avenues for traditional publishing dry up, the writers of our region decided to band together, and do it themselves.” He adds, “Some may be tempted to think there will be a loss of quality through this. On the contrary, with our wide pool of editorial talent, we have more stringent criteria than many mainstream publishers.”

Oceanbooks also plan to move into Print On Demand (POD) hardcopy books. Winters says, “Print on Demand is much less wasteful. Many New Zealanders don't realise 30-50% of books in New Zealand are pulped because they don't sell. And the traditional publishing industry has apparently logical reasons why you can't send them to schools in Africa.”

Winters and his enthusiastic team were very happy with the buzzing, noisy, supportive crowd. “It's good to know reading is still alive and well,” he said, “and it's a better exercise for your brain than blobbing in front of the TV.”

About Oceanbooks Ltd
Oceanbooks Limited is an independent co-operative publishing company for Bay of Plenty, New Zealand writers. The Oceanbooks team believe Bay of Plenty authors write quality books of interest to readers locally, nationally and globally. We seek to publish and market literature in both print and digital media. Launching in March 2012 Oceanbooks seeks to publish quality books by Bay of Plenty writers in both print and digital media formats. The Oceanbooks single website portal is our focus. With the publishing industry in a stage of change, www.oceanbooks.co.nz offers an exceptional opportunity to reach the consumer directly.

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