Publisher Liaisons

Many spectacular resources already exist that would be of tremendous benefit to our project and the people who hope improve their reading skills through practice. If you know of an author, a publisher personally, or perhaps are willing to invest the time to make contact with organizations that may have materials that would be a good fit for our project. (click here to see our sample ideas for projects to get a feel for the kinds of resources we are looking for). If the copyright owner is willing to give us written permission to translate or even adapt their material in some way or another this would be very appreciated indeed! (see below for a sample letter that could be sent to a publishing organization or author).

Contact us!

If this sounds like a fit for you or someone you know, please contact our literacy team by emailing cd-resources-admin@ntmpng.org and let us know a bit about yourself and how you might be able to help as a volunteer publisher liaison (including letting us know who you hope to contact on our behalf)

Publisher Liaisons’ Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I start as a publisher liaison?

Your first step would be to contact our literacy team by emailing cd-resources-admin@ntmpng.org and let us know who you intend to contact on our behalf, share with us what resource or resources they may have that would be of benefit to us.

What do I actually say to an organization to ask them for permission to use their materials?

After you introduce yourself, you may want to mention this website and your interest in in promoting this project. Then feel free to communicate something like this..

Greetings ____________,

    For years we have been labouring to teach remote people throughout Papua New Guinea how to read in their own, local, heart language.  Recently, however, we’ve recognized one unmet challenge to reading is the need for graduated reading materials that individuals can read to practice their newfound skill.  Without practice, we’ve found new readers can very quickly regress back into illiteracy.  Since literacy is a critical foundation for any strong mature church, it’s vital to do all we can to ensure the vitality of churches throughout PNG.  Therefore, we are always on the lookout for more reading materials that span a vast variety of genres.  Specifically, we are looking for materials in Melanesian Tok Pisin and English that can then be translated into local languages around Papua New Guinea.  While we have been developing many books, we recognize that much effort could be saved if we were given permission to translate ready-made materials that are already in Tok Pisin, or perhaps English materials that can be first translated into Tok Pisin, then further developed into local language versions.  Would you as an organization / author have any materials that we could utilize for strengthening literacy in local languages around Papua New Guinea?  Currently, we have 48 missionary teams actively involved in ministry, many of whom are ready for such materials or soon will be.  If you have any materials (ideally in digital form) that would be useful that you would be willing to give NTM permission to translate into local languages, could we please get a written statement to that effect?   It could be as simple as…

I give permission to NTM to translate ______________ into local languages.

(or perhaps you could include Simple English & Tok Pisin too?)  This is simply a suggestion, if you have something else in mind that may still be of benefit, we are all ears.  If there are any other copyright requirements that we’ll need to abide by, please let us know this, too.  Thank you so much for your time and consideration of this project. 

This statement or something similar may be the key to increasing our library by orders of magnitude. In the same token, you correspondence on our behalf, even for one quality resource would save our project months or even years when you factor in the time and coordination it takes to bring even a single book into existence..

Will NTM PNG change the copyright for materials they are given permission to use?

We are committed to respecting the wishes of the copyright owner. Ideally materials in our library will be protected with at least a Creative Commons SA-BY copyright, however for any materials we are given permission to use, copyright will be entirely on a case by case basis based entirely on the wishes of the copyright owner.

I own the copyright to material that I think would fit well in your project, who do I send the materials and permission statement to?

Thank you so much for your generous offer! Please contact our literacy team by emailing cd-resources-admin@ntmpng.org and let us know a bit about yourself and the material you would like to give us permission to utilize along with your authorization statement. At the same time send along any special considerations or questions etc. We evaluate all materials and any special considerations on a case by case basis to see determine whether it is a good fit.

How will I contact an organization I think has materials that would fit well with this project?

Increasingly many organizations can be contacted by email, some prefer phone yet others may only be contactable by standard mail (snail mail) etc. Unfortunately we cannot proceed with incorporating materials into our library based solely on verbal permission, so it is important that the copyright owner authorizes usage in written form.