The one about the flightless bird

I hear from one of my dearest bookselling friends in Sydney that the NSW ABA/APA Christmas party held back in December was very well attended by both sides of the industry ‘with drinks flowing, copious food and lots of good cheer from the wall-to-wall people.’ Random House, Harper Collins, Allen & Unwin, Hachette, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster and Murdoch were all well represented, with both management and sales reps in attendance. However, when it came time to hand out the prizes for the best reps, it soon became clear that while one publisher (the one with a flightless bird for its logo) was getting many of the gongs, ‘they were notable for having not ONE single person present to accept the awards for their reps. Everyone was laughing that this is such a small company, they couldn't possibly afford to buy a ticket and send someone,’ my friend reports.