NGAIO MARSH AWARD LONGLIST FOR BEST NOVEL 2026 - Mystery Fanfare

Some interesting books on the list.

On a stop at the Mystery Fanfare site Panzer found the longlist for the Ngaio Marsh Award had been posted.

 

The awards are for New Zealand crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense novels. There are 12 novels on the longlist.

 

Note: This is a short post. You won't need to bring anything to snack on. 

 

To read the post trundle over to  Ngaio Marsh Award Longlist

Authors dumped from New Zealand's top book prize after AI used in cover designs - The Guardian

Amazon lets you do AI audiobooks and translations.

Today's trip in the Catosphere took Panzer to The Guardian site. There with no digging at all in the posts he found one about AI use.

 

According to Eva Corlett's post, two books were removed from the Ockham Book Awards competition. The books' cover designs were generated using AI and the competition had instituted a no AI rule in August. The post includes links to other articles about AI.

 

Panzer says, "It will be interesting to see what the creating, writing, publishing world looks like in four or five years. AI isn't going away." 

 

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and three chocolate chip cookies (biscuits). If you plan to follow the links in the post, you'll need to decide what to bring to snack on.

 

To read the post tootle over to AI and Cover Designs

The UK's Welbeck Publishing Group To Publish in Australia, New Zealand - Publishing Perspectives

 Today as Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere he suddenly heard clapping and cheering outside. Following all the hullabaloo took our traveling kitty pilot to the Publishing Perspectives site. With no digging at all he found a post about the Welbeck Publishing Group.

 

It sounds interesting.

According to the post by Porter Anderson, Welbeck Publishing Group announced the opening of a publishing subsidiary in Sydney, Australia. The company also announced Australia's Booktopia acquired twenty-five percent ownership in the new Australian publishing subsidiary. Plans are for the subsidiary to publish 50 books per year. The post includes links to other information about the companies.

 

Panzer says, "Hmm ... A whole new market for authors in Australia and New Zealand."

 

Note:This is a long-medium length post. Bring a large glass of lemonade, a chocolate chip cookie (biscuit) and a brownie for today's reading. If you plan to follow the links in the post, you decide what extra treats to bring.

 

To read the post tootle over to Welbeck Publishing Group

Announcing the 2020 Hugo Award Finalists - Tor.com

I won't have to travel now.

Panzer hasn't been to the Tor.com site for a while, so he decided to stop in there today. With a little digging the posts, our traveling kitty boy found one about the Hugo Awards. The Hugos are given each year in science fiction genre.

According to the post at Tor.com, the 2020 Hugo Awards, Lodestar Award, Astounding Award and 1945 Retro Hugo Awards finalists have been announced. The awards are to be presented at the 78th World Science Fiction Convention in New Zealand. This year because of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic the convention will be online. The post contains a link to the announcement of the transition to an online convention and the entire list of all the finalists in each division.

Panzer says, "At least the convention isn't cancelled."

Note: This is a humongous post. Bring a quart of tea and a dozen muffins for today's reading selection. You might also want to bring a blanket and a pillow for a nap in the middle of your reading, because there are a lot of divisions and a lot of finalists in each.

To read the post tootle over to Hugo Award finalists

Government announces further tax for Kiwis buying low-value goods online - NZ Herald

Panzer was enjoying a leisurely trip around the Catosphere when the Panzermobile was shaken and buffeted by shouting and crying and teeth gnashing. Following all the noise took our brave kitty pilot to the NZ Herald site. With no digging at all he found a post about New Zealand's Amazon Tax.

The NZ (New Zealand) Herald post by Audrey Young and Barry Soper says the New Zealand government is ready to announce a new 15 percent tax on low-value online purchases from overseas companies. The government designates purchases under $400 as low-value. Online purchases over $400 are already taxed. Although the tax is nicknamed the Amazon Tax it will apply to all online retail sellers such as Alibaba and e-Bay as well as Amazon.

All I need is a credit card and a computer.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... I guess the New Zealand government wants to make it so expensive people wont purchase anything online from an overseas company ever. Of course, that tax doesn't mean anything to a New Zealand cat with his Mom's credit card."

Note: This is a short-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and half a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon Tax

UK Spring First in Series Sale, AU/NZ Mothers Day Price Promo, May Buy 2 Thrillers Get 1 Free Sale. A Snapshot of Kobo's little known promotions feature for indie authors - The New Publishing Standard

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to The New Publishing Standard site. There our ingenious kitty found a post about Kobo's promotion feature.

According to the post by Mark Williams, Kobo is an untapped market for promoting their indie authors' ebooks. Three examples of Kobo's May promotions are the 99 cent promotion on the site in the U.S., the Mothers' Day promotion in Australia and New Zealand, and the Spring Price Drop promotion in the U.S. and Canada. There are other Kobo promotions examples included in the post. Also included are descriptions of how the promotions work, as well as, how to submit an ebook for consideration for the promotions.

I'm definitely looking into this.

Panzer says, "This little kitty has been using Smashwords to get his ebooks on Kobo so he didn't know about the Kobo Writing Life dashboard and the promotions feature."

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. Bring a thermos of tea, a dozen muffins, and a sleeping bag for a nap in the middle.

To read the post tootle over to Kobo promotions