Unconventional Bay of Plenty publisher Oceanbooks has teamed up with Paper Plus to showcase the work of local authors in stores throughout the region.

Oceanbooks managing director Bryan Winters says they're delighted with the agreement struck with Paper Plus, which has rallied enthusiastically behind the publisher and its aims.

Oceanbooks and Paper Plus stores have teamed up to bring local authors into book stores across the Bay.

'We are very grateful for the strong support from Paper Plus owners who've shown real commitment and support for local writers,” he says.

'Readers can now readily find quality books written by local authors conveniently placed in the seven Paper Plus stores located around the region.

'That may not sound too big a deal to the book-buying consumer, but placing a title in a bookstore means it competes for shelf space with the Jodi Picoults and John Grishams of this world.

'Local writers all over the world find it's difficult to gain public exposure even when they produce good work.”

Bryan says that to put it into perspective, traditional publishers in New Zealand are either getting rid of authors, or at best proudly stating how they launch one new unknown writer a year.

By contrast, Oceanbooks launches 20 or so annually, as it is a uniquely different model, the first of its kind in New Zealand.

The 'Paper Plus connection” began when Oceanbooks invited Stuart Gunn, from Te Puke Paper Plus to a recent book launch.

Oceanbooks tends to launch 10 books at once, so it caught the book store owner's attention. Wanting to encourage local writers, Stuart phoned Bryan with an idea – setting aside clearly marked space in all the Paper Plus stores for the work of locals.

Bryan says 'as if to prove Stuart Gunn's theory that the public does like to ‘buy local,' books by Bay writers are now marching out the doors of Paper Plus stores in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga, Te Puke, Fraser Cove, Papamoa, Bethlehem and Katikati.”

He says him and Stuart are now making plans to take things even further – through ‘meet the writer'-type functions where local readers can meet Oceanbooks writers at store events.