Imagnary House is a boutique publishing house for children’s books and young-adult literature in Cape Town, South Africa. They are focused on building a larger market for African children's authors and illustrators by both igniting the local readership and engaging with international readers, rights’ and literary agents. Imagnary House is now opening their submissions, and are looking to build up their publication list for the next 2 years. What are they looking for? They love stories that are fun and imaginative, but also address current societal issues for children. They want simple stories that mean something and can feed positively into our children's futures. However, they don’t like didactic or educational texts, and lean towards manuscripts that are diverse and can travel across different cultures and countries. Imagnary House will consider submissions in the following genres: Children’s long form fiction (think Roald Dahl and CS Lewis narratives) Young-adult science-fiction, fantasy, or alternative-reality novels Comic books and graphic novels Writers and illustrators can submit their work on Imagnary House’s submissions page here: www.imagnaryhouse.com/pages/submissions. CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za. . . .

Cape Town, 23 June 2017: As a niche sector in the Western Cape, film and photographic production services have come to play a significant role in economic growth in the region. Both local government and the private sector have identified this industry as one with significant potential. Cape Town is certainly an attractive location for producers of movies, for advertising agencies looking for a range of backdrops, for the modelling industry, and for the various support services that work behind the scenes to craft the end-product. Coupled with the region’s natural beauty, the range of architectural styles (both historic and modern), low production costs when compared with countries with stronger currencies, and its fair climate, the city ticks all the boxes for what the international industry needs. The efforts that have been put in are reaping rewards. “The industry generates millions of Rands in revenue,” says Danny Bryer, the Director of Sales, Marketing and Revenue Management for Protea Hotels by Marriott®, “and it has created thousands of permanent jobs, as well as many part-time jobs. Of great importance, too, is the positive spill-over for many other sectors, such as the accommodation and food sectors, transport, vehicle and equipment hire, among others.” In terms of the accommodation sector, one hotel that has created significant alliances with players in the wider production industry is the African Pride 15 on Orange Hotel, situated on the borders of the CBD. Bryer is enthusiastic about the benefits of these partnerships, commenting that, “We have just reached a substantial milestone: the provision of 10 000 hotel nights for a local production company, Cape Town Productions.” Bryer explains that, over the years, the African Pride 15 on Orange Hotel has tailored its offering to meet the specific needs of this industry. With many people being brought to the city from all over the world for film, television and photographic shoots, this hotel . . .

It’s official: digital advertising has overtaken TV advertising revenue (IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, 2016). As a medium, digital advertising has grown at super-sonic speed. Here’s what the latest statistics reveal: Meet ‘Digital Audio’. For the first time (ever), Digital Audio has its own category and includes online radio stations, music streaming services and podcasts – on desktop and mobile. The sector is expected to grow and should be given serious credence as a new advertising medium for savvy marketers looking to field new ground. Shop, bank, drive, talk. The four industries with the biggest internet ad revenues have kept their ground. In order of spend: retail, financial services, automotive and telecommunications. In Africa particularly, these sectors are unlikely to change in the near future. And I predict financial services and telecommunications – and offerings that incorporate both – are poised to grow. Social is still for sale. Social media advertising revenue was around $16bn in 2016, compared with $10.9bn in 2015. However you slice it, that’s impressive growth. Like the USA, advertising on social media in South Africa isn’t going anywhere – but the platforms available to marketers are growing in number and the methods we adopt are becoming increasingly automated. Unfortunately, with the increase in numbers of ads comes the inevitable advertising avoidance by consumers. Users’ attention is becoming prized real estate, which means content needs to be smarter, more innovative and more engaging than ever before. Video in the palm of your hand. Digital video continues to dominate with a rise of 53% in 2016, which was largely expected. Interestingly, digital video on mobile rose by an impressive 145% from 2015. Multimedia is on a meteoric rise in the context of digital advertising and content marketing. If you were waiting for a sign to start creating engaging video for your brand, consider this a 145% fool-proof signal . . .