My new YA title

I find the decision by Whitcoulls to not stock my new YA title ‘Make a Hard Fist’ – as it’s possibly too confronting and therefore a hard sell – to be a disturbing trend for New Zealand publishing. So does this mean that Whitcoulls are actually dictating the terms of what we publish in New Zealand? If they don’t take a title because it’s a hard sell, then publishers here (as we’ve seen) will be selling books that are tending towards the bland end of the spectrum, the safe approach, presumably to sell less confrontational books more easily to Whitcoulls. So, what about Patrick Ness, as an example – will Whitcoulls not sell his books because they are confronting? No, because he is an overseas author, and thus accessing a larger market segment than boring old Whitcoulls. What can you do? Go into Whitcoulls and order my book!