A Way With Words: A memoir of writing and publishing in New Zealand

(Hardback)

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Description

From an early age, author and publisher Chris Maclean was told he had a way with words. This talent, which protected him from school bullies and made him a proficient debater, later became the focus of his professional life. Since the 1980s he has written a dozen non-fiction books, publishing many of them very successfully under his own imprint, The Whitcombe Press. A Way with Words tells the stories behind those volumes, all of which had challenges and rewards as various as their subjects. In candid, accessible style, and through a fascinating range of illustrations, Maclean describes the stages of book creation, from the first germ of an idea to writing, design, printing and distribution. He shows, too, that making books is as much hard work and determination as inspiration, with luck always playing its part. And there are reflections on what has happened to books and publishing over four decades of rapid change the impact of colour printing, the advent of computers and the more recent effects of the digital age. A Way with Words is a celebration of a very New Zealand approach to writing and publishing. It will be of compelling interest and lasting delight to all those for whom books explain, entertain and provide meaning in a transient world.

Author Bio

Chris Maclean is a Waikanae-based author with a keen interest in the outdoors, the subject of a number of his books. Born in Wellington in 1952, he graduated from Victoria University with a degree in history. A career as a stained-glass artist in the 1970s led, in turn, to a second as a writer and publisher, which has been his primary focus since the late 1980s. The result has been a dozen non-fiction titles, including well-known volumes celebrating the local landscape Waikanae, Tararua, Kapiti and Wellington Telling Tales and several biographies, including John Pascoe and Stag Spooner Wild Man from the Bush. He has also collaborated with others to produce books on war memorials and stained glass (with Jock Phillips) and Tramping A New Zealand History (with Shaun Barnett). A Way with Words recalls both careers, then contemplates a third, retirement focused on facilitating conservation in the Kapiti district.