Reed Publishing


Reed Publishing Ltd,, was one of the leading publishers in New Zealand. by Alfred Hamish Reed in association with his nephew Alexander Wyclif Reed It was a New Zealand literature specialist and general titles publisher, releasing over 100 titles a year including a number of significant New Zealand authors such as Barry Crump, Janet Frame and Witi Ihimaera. In 2006 the firm won the Thorpe Bowker Award for Outstanding Achievement in New Zealand Book Publishing.

History

The Reed firm was founded in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1911 by Alfred Hamish Reed in association with his nephew Alexander Wyclif Reed.
In its early years Reed operated as a Sunday school and religious supply business and in the early 1930s it moved into publishing. The publishing side of the firm expanded quickly, taking advantage of the shortage of imported books during World War II.
In the 1950s and 1960s A. H. & A. W. Reed issued a number of bestsellers, including books by Barry Crump, and became New Zealand's foremost educational publisher. In the late 1960s the firm was the largest publisher in Australasia. In the 1970s Reed had its head office in Wellington and branches in Auckland, Christchurch, Sydney and London.
The firm published many popular non-fiction books that "celebrated a distinctly New Zealand way of life", including works in the fields of "back-country tales, books on sport, gardening, cooking and crafts" and illustrated books of "natural history and books of landscape photographs and painting". Books on Māori topics were one of Reed's specialities.
In the 1970s faced growing problems of shrinking markets and increased competition.
A. H. Reed Ltd was sold to Associated Book Publishers in 1983 and, with Methuen Publishing also part of ABP, became "Reed Methuen". After several more ownership changes, it became "Heinemann Reed" in 1988, and was renamed "Reed Publishing " in 1992. In 2007 it changed its name to "Raupo Publishing ". Raupo is Maori for bulrush, a type of reed. Raupo is currently an imprint of the Penguin Group.

Book series

Book series published by Reed included:
In 1957 A.H. & A.W. Reed began producing records "to support the company's Maori language, physical education and folk-dancing school texts". This division of Reed became known as "Kiwi Pacific Records International Limited" and is no longer part of the former company., nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
Hibiscus Records is a division of Kiwi Pacific Records International Limited and has many Polynesia and Maori titles on CD, specialised in mainly authentic Polynesian music. There were many Maori and Pacific Island recordings released via Kiwi Pacific Records International Limited in Hastings New Zealand. A great deal of the recordings were produced and recorded by author James Siers. An example of James Siers work is Bora Bora – Island of Dreams by the Hotel Bora Bora Entertainers, released on Hibiscus HLS-22.
Other authentic recordings are Western Samoa Festival Performers, The Festival Music From Western Samoa released on Hibiscus HLS-72 in 1976, and Western Samoa Teachers Training College – Samoa Song And Rhythm Hibiscus TC HLS-24 in 1972.

Selected releases

;EP
;LP
"Adventures in Sound" Series, HLS-1 – HLS-6