Well, because...

I have seen quite a few comments on 'where are the NZ authors' on the interweb, since the launch of Whitcoulls ebooks.

There are a lot there, but they are not always apparent. They have taken their books offshore as they are impossible to publish here.

Without getting into the bitchfight politics of grants and NZ publishing- we are just too small a market especially for the newbies.

So it's off to Smashwords and the other epublishers who don't look down their nose at writers learning the trade and who haven't got the 'right' degrees or connections.

It's a brave new world for literature!