the superyacht industry book

Subscribe to Our Newsletter!

Search form

• Advanced Search

The Superyacht Industry: The state of the art yachting reference (Hardcover)

• Description
• About the Author
• Reviews & Media
• Transportation - Boats, Ships & Underwater Craft

FOR ALL YOUR READING NEEDS

ISBN:  1716184355

  EAN:  9781716184352

By Marcela de Kern Royer (Author)

Pub Date:  February 04, 2021

     The first textbook is ever written about the superyacht industry. Yachts being the most expensive asset a wealthy individual can own. The book focuses mainly on motor yachts of over 50 meters long. In collaboration with 95 experts who design, build, buy, sell, equip, support, operate and manage the world's largest yachts. They are sharing their experience and true gold nuggets of information that will give you years of competitive advantage to understanding the superyacht industry. The state of the art reference for the yachting industry.

The Superyacht Industry: The state of the art yachting

• Teen & Young Adult
• Science & Technology

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera, scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

The Superyacht Industry: The state of the art yachting reference Hardcover – Import, 4 February 2021

Save extra with 3 offers.

• Free Delivery

10 days Replacement

• Amazon Delivered
• Pay on Delivery
• Secure transaction

Replacement Instructions

Purchase options and add-ons

• Print length 798 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Lulu.com
• Publication date 4 February 2021
• Dimensions 21.59 x 5.87 x 27.94 cm
• ISBN-10 1716184355
• ISBN-13 978-1716184352
• See all details

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lulu.com (4 February 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 798 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1716184355
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1716184352
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2 kg 760 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 21.59 x 5.87 x 27.94 cm
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ India

About the author

Marcela de kern royer.

Marcela de Kern Royer, has lived, worked and studied around the world, and is fluent in six languages. She is the founder and owner of Onboard, a consulting firm based in Monaco specialized in the sales to HNWI and luxury marketing in the yachting industry.

Author of the first textbook ever written about the Superyacht Industry. She has a passion for all things yachting and is known worldwide for being a trusted spoke person for the yachting industry.

More info about her and her business on: www.onboard.mc

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 49% 0% 14% 23% 14% 49%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 49% 0% 14% 23% 14% 0%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 49% 0% 14% 23% 14% 14%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 49% 0% 14% 23% 14% 23%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 49% 0% 14% 23% 14% 14%
• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from India

Top reviews from other countries.

• About Amazon
• Press Releases
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell under Amazon Accelerator
• Protect and Build Your Brand
• Amazon Global Selling
• Supply to Amazon
• Become an Affiliate
• Fulfilment by Amazon
• Advertise Your Products
• Amazon Pay on Merchants
• Your Account
• Returns Centre
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• 100% Purchase Protection
• Amazon App Download

• Conditions of Use & Sale
• Privacy Notice
• Interest-Based Ads

Companies Participating

In collaboration with more than 95 experts who design, build, buy, sell, equip, support, operate and manage the world’s largest yachts. They are sharing their experience and true gold nuggets of information that will give you years of competitive advantage to understanding the super yacht industry. 

This book is a celebration of knowledge offered by some of the most influential people in yachting.

Jonathan Beckett, CEO, Burgess

Our Partners

The contributors.

Copyright © 2022 THE SUPERYACHT INDUSTRY - All Rights Reserved.

• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data. Cookie Policy

The world’s first book on superyachts published in Monaco

In collaboration with over 95 superyacht experts, Onboard Monaco has published the first book on the yacht industry.

The publication is the result of author Marcela de Kern Royer’s collaboration with experts who design, build, buy, sell, equip, support, operate and manage the world’s largest yachts.

>> MORE ON THE TOPIC : How yachting escaped the Covid crisis by offering a ticket out of the pandemic

“A book like this was missing from our industry”

Matteo Magherini, naval architect at Lateral, predicted that the book would “become the de-facto reference guide” to the industry. “A book like this was missing from our industry.”

How many yachts are there? How to choose a broker? Marcela de Kern Royer’s work focuses on mainly yachts of over 50 meters long and talks about everything from superyacht market to maritime law.

>> MORE ON THE TOPIC: Riviera’s authorities crack down on superyachts to protect environment

An insight on yachting written by a Monaco resident

Yachting is at the heart of the Principality. In fact, there are so many yachts in Monaco that the Principality, running out of space, has now bought the dealership of the Port of Ventimiglia in neighbouring Italy.

>> MORE ON THE TOPIC: Monaco opens a third port… in Italy!

• Sign in
• My Account
• Basket  

Items related to The Superyacht Industry: The state of the art yachting...

Stock Image

View Larger Image

The Superyacht Industry: The state of the art yachting reference

De kern royer, marcela.

From GoldenDragon , Houston, TX, U.S.A.

(5-star seller) Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars

AbeBooks Seller since January 24, 2022

View this seller's items

Quantity: 1 available

30 Day Return Policy

About this Item

Buy for Great customer experience. Seller Inventory # GoldenDragon1716184355

Contact seller

Report this item

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Superyacht Industry: The state of the ...

Publisher: Lulu.com

Publication Date: 2021

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: new

Store Description

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

All books are shipped within 48 hours via usps

Payment Methods accepted by seller

BUSINESS CONSULTING

• SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY
• MARKETING & PR

YACHTING BLOG

• YACHTING MASTERCLASS
• YACHT FORUM
• SUPERYACHT INDUSTRY BOOK

Hello & Welcome on board!

The superyacht life, unparalleled superyacht expertise & intelligence.

Strategic consulting firm providing unique combination of business development and corporate strategy in the yachting sector.

MARKETING & PR

Creative Marketing Strategy, Public Relations & Social Media, Strategic Partnerships and Events.

THE SUPERYACHT INDUSTRY BOOK

The state of the art yachting reference.  The first book ever written about the yachting Industry.

Onboard with Marcela:  Monaco & Yachting Lifestyle, yachting insights, interesting articles, and travel tips for business travelers.

YACHTING FORUM

The first online forum for the superyacht industry. A platform to ask questions, share ideas, debate and learn!

THE SUPERYACHT ACADEMY

Pioneer educational academy to learn about the superyacht industry. Courses in Monaco and Masterclass available online.

YACHT OWNER'S CLUB

Exclusive Yacht-hopping events for yacht owners only! Private round table gatherings from owner to owner. Meeting like-minded individuals who share the same passion for the oceans.

YACHTING CAREERS

Careers in yachting: advice, coaching, recruitment, books & resources to excel in the superyacht world, weather for yacht crew onboard or land-based professionals.

Superyacht Industry books, e-books, children sailing book and more!

INSIDE YACHTING INFO! Join my newsletter where I share yachting insights, VIP events, and cool content!

We use cookies from third party services for marketing activities and to offer you a better experience. Read about how we use cookies and how you can control them by clicking "Privacy Preferences".

Privacy Preference Center

Privacy preferences.

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information through your browser, usually in the form of cookies. Since we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to permit data collection from certain types of services. However, not allowing these services may impact your experience.

• Kindle Store
• Kindle eBooks
• Biographies & Memoirs

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Buy for others

Buying and sending ebooks to others.

• Select quantity
• Buy and send eBooks
• Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Superyacht Captain: Life and leadership in the world's most incredible industry Kindle Edition

• Print length 273 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Adlard Coles
• Publication date April 14, 2022
• File size 2371 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details

Customers who bought this item also bought

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

About the author.

Brendan O'Shannassay grew up in Fremantle, Australia, and gained his degree and officer education with the Royal Australian Navy. In 2001 he joined his first superyacht as a deck hand, and worked his way up through the ranks to gain his first captaincy in 2006. His yacht racing career has also seen him participate in multiple Sydney Hobarts and the Fastnet Race, amongst others, Brendan is a Board Member of the International Superyacht Society, Chairman of the Captain's Committee, and has helped to establish superyachtcrewhelp.org – a charity working to support the mental health of yacht crews. Superyacht Captain is his first book.

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09FGNYH1W
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Adlard Coles; 1st edition (April 14, 2022)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 14, 2022
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 2371 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 273 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1472992660
• #253 in Boating (Kindle Store)
• #822 in Sailing (Books)
• #953 in Boating (Books)

About the author

Brendan o’shannassy.

I was a shy, bookish boy in a small Western Australian coastal town. By age 11 I was a little overweight, and the last to be picked for any team sports. Fortunately, a growth spurt during my 12th year helped me climb the sports social ranking, but I always carried the shadow of those days when I was a little on the outside and not quite expecting to be chosen.

I would never have thought that I would one day as the Captain of some of the World's Greatest Yachts I would be at ease with the wealthiest people on the planet and I would feel more at home in Monaco, Geneva, St Barths, Moscow and London than I did returning to my home town.

This is a captain’s story, my story, where I look back on the physical, emotional and professional challenges that I have faced working in support of the most exclusive client group in the world and their relentless demands. It also charts a journey into the ‘heart of brightness’ that is the superyacht environment. It took me 15 years to earn the title of Captain and I walk through the narrow lanes, the dead ends and the bumpy distractions to that place.

The world of superyachts is far removed from most of the planet’s ‘normal’. It is a world where boundaries blur and the everyday rules of life seem to disappear. A world where lessons and insights are not read about and studied, but lived in an environment of constant pressure, where the consequences of actions result in immediate success or failure. This high stakes, no-safety-net workplace provided me with rolling insights that transfer directly for anyone looking for that edge to be their best version of themselves. My lessons are not hypothetical, gathered from postgraduate studies and delivered in a TED talk; I lived through the glory (but mostly the pain) of the constant scrutiny and expectations of billionaire superyacht owners.

A superyacht is also a study in globalisation. Yacht captains do not speak of diversity as a slogan or a company goal: we live it. The crews are multinational and multilingual and disperse around the globe when not on board. The same is true of the owners. It is common for a conversation to cross multiple languages and for all parties to be speaking in their second or third languages. Many businesses operate globally – this is nothing unique – but not many businesses move their office every few weeks to a new country, a different language, a new climate, a different legal system, and are expected to be experts on arrival.

This is the expectation placed on a yacht and its captain. Whether it be Monaco, Miami, Palau or Papeete, there is an assumption that the captain will have the intimacy of a local by the time their feet are on the dock. They may have ducked an Atlantic hurricane (or two) during the office relocation, but this is not even considered.

The business must be open on arrival. Yes, there are leadership lessons for all from this environment.

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 54% 24% 12% 5% 5% 54%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 54% 24% 12% 5% 5% 24%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 54% 24% 12% 5% 5% 12%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 54% 24% 12% 5% 5% 5%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 54% 24% 12% 5% 5% 5%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

Report an issue

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Registry & Gift List

• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

• Young Adult
• Science & Technology

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

The Superyacht Industry: The state of the art yachting reference Hardcover – 4 Feb. 2021

• Print length 798 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Lulu.com
• Publication date 4 Feb. 2021
• Dimensions 21.59 x 5.87 x 27.94 cm
• ISBN-10 1716184355
• ISBN-13 978-1716184352
• See all details

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lulu.com (4 Feb. 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 798 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1716184355
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1716184352
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 21.59 x 5.87 x 27.94 cm
• 5,046 in Science & Technology Books for Young Adults

About the author

Marcela de kern royer.

Marcela de Kern Royer, has lived, worked and studied around the world, and is fluent in six languages. She is the founder and owner of Onboard, a consulting firm based in Monaco specialized in the sales to HNWI and luxury marketing in the yachting industry.

Author of the first textbook ever written about the Superyacht Industry. She has a passion for all things yachting and is known worldwide for being a trusted spoke person for the yachting industry.

More info about her and her business on: www.onboard.mc

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 53% 0% 13% 21% 13% 53%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 53% 0% 13% 21% 13% 0%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 53% 0% 13% 21% 13% 13%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 53% 0% 13% 21% 13% 21%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 53% 0% 13% 21% 13% 13%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings, help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyses reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• UK Modern Slavery Statement
• Sustainability
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell on Amazon Business
• Sell on Amazon Handmade
• Sell on Amazon Launchpad
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect and build your brand
• Associates Programme
• Fulfilment by Amazon
• Seller Fulfilled Prime
• Advertise Your Products
• Independently Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Make Money with Us
• Instalments by Barclays
• The Amazon Barclaycard
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Payment Methods Help
• Shop with Points
• Top Up Your Account
• Top Up Your Account in Store
• COVID-19 and Amazon
• Track Packages or View Orders
• Delivery Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Amazon Mobile App
• Customer Service
• Accessibility

• Conditions of Use & Sale
• Privacy Notice
• Cookies Notice
• Interest-Based Ads Notice

The half-a-million-dollar decision that still haunts the book industry 

Narrative Muse was awarded $500,000 to boost sales of New Zealand books. Three years later, industry insiders report that it has had little, if any, impact. What went wrong? 

The Spinoff Cover Story is our premier long-form feature offering, made with the generous support of our members. Read our other cover stories  here . 

I t’s 2021 and the Covid-19 pandemic has ruptured systems everywhere. The New Zealand government is working, at an unprecedented scale and pace, to hose out money to prevent economic and industrial collapse. 

As revenue from live events and commercial streams plummets, the arts sector needs funds, and fast. The sector is used to applying for funds from Creative New Zealand: they know its people, its processes, its values. But it’s the Ministry for Culture and Heritage Manatū Taonga that will administer most of the Covid recovery money. MCH receives an initial $150 million do llars, of an eventual $374 million, to disseminate via a series of contestable fund s. It creates, at great expense, a new funding platform to process applications and administer funds, and recruits shoals of staff, many of whom will be working in funding administration and alongside the arts sector for the first time.  

One of the contestable funds — the Innovation Fund — is designed “to support innovative projects that: improve the sustainability and resilience of the sector; provide commercial opportunities; improve access and participation.”  

There is urgency among arts organisations — including a strained books sector trying to maintain core operations while adapting systems to a new contactless reality and author events are wiped from the calendar — to adapt to the MCH processes and access what is described as a once-in-a-generation injection of resource. If successful, the level of investment would be transformational, particularly for organisations used to much smaller pools of money granted only when there’s a clear track record of success.

Enter Narrative Muse. The results of successful Innovation Fund recipients are posted and the arts sector learns that a little-known tech startup has been awarded the astounding amount of half a million dollars — enough to publish 50 books as a ballpark equivalent — “to help New Zealand content producers of books, movies and TV increase sales of content”. 

The response from within the books sector in particular was swift. Newsroom reported that members of the industry were “aghast”, that the decision was “a shocking undermining of the New Zealand books sector which works so hard to support authors and publishers.” The various responses essentially boiled down to: W hat the hell is Narrative Muse? And, They better have something excellent up their sleeve to justify all that money. 

This is the story of all that’s happened since.

T he public-facing prong of Narrative Muse is a digital arts recommendation platform for books, movies and TV. Users sign up, fill in a form to give their preferences, then Narrative Muse will give content recommendations. 

The other arm of the company is analytics: Narrative Muse takes user data insights and sells it to “content producers” (ie publishers, film distributors, TV producers, and funders) to help inform decisions on where best to direct their resources. 

In its application to MCH’s Innovation Fund, obtained under the Official Information Act, Narrative Muse Limited said it would improve sector sustainability and resilience by helping “content producers of books, movies and TV increase sales” by helping them understand their audiences with data insights; while also putting New Zealand content onto its audience recommendation platform. It said it would boost sales of books, movies and TV for underserved markets including Māori, Pasifika, Asian and rainbow, female, and gender diverse audiences. And it said it would improve access and participation in the arts, culture and heritage by helping New Zealand audiences find local content with a focus on those underserved markets. 

The how of that work revolves around the concept of “deep tech”, a hard-to-define term even for those committed to investing in it . In its application, Narrative Muse said its product was needed in Aotearoa because content producers here have “no access to audience insights and deep data”. It cited Netflix as a “big data player” whose content is driven by insights derived from its closely-guarded secret systems.

The list of funded activities in Narrative Muse’s agreement with MCH includes: grow New Zealand and global audiences with a focus on those underserved markets; add a minimum of content pieces to the matchmaker platform, and accelerate the development of the platform; commercialise audience and content insights; and strengthen relationships with key New Zealand content producer stakeholders. A budget that breaks down exactly how the half a million would be allocated to achieve this was either not included or not released to The Spinoff. 

A bold orange slide on the Narrative Muse pitch deck supplied to MCH reads: “every content producer we’ve approached has asked, ‘when can you start?’” There are no accompanying testimonials of support from either the literary or screen sectors (key content producer stakeholders) or evidence that those sectors had been consulted by Narrative Muse ahead of its application. 

For Narrative Muse to find success both financially and in meeting its MCH promises, a number of things had to happen: the company would need to form meaningful relationships with publishers, booksellers, literary organisations, producers and writers to understand the ecosystem and needs; the matchmaker website would need to grow its awareness across online platforms frequented by local readers (whether Goodreads, Booktok or plain old Instagram); and lots and lots of people would need to register and frequently use Narrative Muse.

Across almost all of their pillars and aspirations, Narrative Muse would struggle. 

‘We remain confounded about the role they are meant to play’

A fter securing funding, Narrative Muse representatives set about meeting with a number of stakeholders in the books industry, with mixed results.

A former employee of Penguin Random House NZ (made redundant in the recent restructure ), who wished to remain anonymous, said when they were at PRHNZ they held a number of meetings with Narrative Muse but didn’t end up using any of their services because it was never clear what their offer was. “I was interested in discussing ways we could use their platform for marketing,” the employee said, “but it quickly became clear that their NZ user base wasn’t large enough to warrant the spend.

“They were presenting themselves to us in very broad terms and then asking us to tell them how they might be valuable to us. Rather than presenting some actionable ideas with a clear value proposition.”

While publishers left meetings disappointed, others are still waiting for the call. Renee Rowland, association manager of Booksellers NZ, says “they [Narrative Muse] have never reached out to optimise — or even establish — their relationship with booksellers or libraries as far as I’m aware, and we remain confounded about the role they are meant to play in developing engagement with NZ authors and books.”

Rowland’s sentiments are echoed by others in the industry. As well as Booksellers NZ, The Spinoff spoke with the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ), The Coalition for Books, Read NZ, The Book Discussion Scheme, and publishers Penguin NZ, Allen & Unwin NZ, Hachette NZ, HarperCollins, Te Herenga Waka University Press, Huia Publishers, and the Māori Literature Trust about their engagement with Narrative Muse. At the time of writing, none of the above are in an active relationship with Narrative Muse, let alone a client. 

It’s a similar story for the screen sector. Film producers and distributors (Piki Films, Madman, Umbrella, Studio Canal), Spada (Screen production and development association), and a number of individual members of the screen industry spoken to for this article had not heard of Narrative Muse, apart from one person who had a vague memory of seeing their stall at Pasifika Festival one year.

NZ On Air confirmed it engaged with Narrative Muse over a series of meetings requested by the startup. A spokesperson said the meetings were focused on the analytics service aspect of Narrative Muse but didn’t evolve into a client relationship due to the lack of clarity around the model and its value.

One organisation did in fact collaborate with Narrative Muse. The Book Discussion Scheme (BDS) — a 50-year-old nonprofit supporting 1,300 book groups around Aotearoa — was contacted by Narrative Muse in 2022. Renee Blackburn, who heads up promotions for BDS, was interested in their aligned values of raising the profile of underrepresented creatives and audiences, and found her discussions with Narrative Muse to be friendly and enthused. Their collaboration took the form of a book club offer that 12 participants signed up to. Narrative Muse didn’t offer any financial support for the book club, but Blackburn was happy with the poster they designed for it. 

Despite the success of the initial NM x BDS book club, another is not yet planned as it’s been six months since Narrative Muse were in contact with BDS/Blackburn, and BDS are, like most literary nonprofits, tight on resources. Blackburn said that in the last email she received it was mentioned that her Narrative Muse contact’s tasks “were being reprioritised”. “At the time I just took it at face value,” said Blackburn, “but on reflection she said she was also picking up part time work elsewhere. I followed up twice after that but haven’t had a response.”

Co-CEO of Narrative Muse Brough Johnson (who declined to be interviewed by The Spinoff but did respond to some questions via email) described engagement with the book and screen sectors as “ so important”. 

“Our mission is representation and belonging in entertainment, and we’re doing this through our vision of building and strengthening connections between underrepresented audiences and content producers. To achieve this, we need to bring stakeholders on this journey with us.” Johnson went on to admit that “finding these partnerships locally has been challenging, but we remain committed to doing whatever we can to build local relationships and work alongside the Aotearoa book and screen industries to fulfil our mission.”

When asked why finding partnerships had been challenging and what “doing whatever we can” meant, Johnson answered in the macro. “Startups often face challenges when introducing something new to the market, and it takes time to educate on the ‘why’. This has been our experience, and it’s what we mean by the journey.”

N arrative Muse’s ability to generate monetisable data insights would depend on a critical mass of active, Aotearoa-based audience members, and Aotearoa content, to make its analytics truly valuable. From the time of the funding agreement through to the time of writing, Narrative Muse did not have a strong social media presence (575 followers on X; 2,963 followers on Instagram; 120 on TikTok as at 10 September 2024), nor is it part of niche or general bookish discourse which tends to thrive and proliferate in digital spaces (such as Good Reads, BookTok, Bookstagram). 

‘She has never heard of Narrative Muse and says she has never encountered a customer who uses Narrative Muse’

Bookseller at Unity Books, Melissa Oliver, has written about her avid use of online platforms for book recommendations and discussion. She has never heard of Narrative Muse and says she has never encountered a customer who uses Narrative Muse. 

When asked about the number of Narrative Muse users three years after its $500,000 funding award, co-CEO Brough Johnson said the company has “grown our overall user base by 200% to a total of 75,000 people. 6,500 of these users are based in Aotearoa New Zealand, marking a 333% increase.” In Sam Brooks’ recent article in Metro magazine about Narrative Muse, he clarifies that 6,500 users is the total number of registered users and is not an indication of current active users. 

Johnson said Narrative Muse’s analytics service was being used “by a variety of people and organisations” and that they were getting testimonials, but for now wouldn’t be disclosing specifics. 

One of the issues with Narrative Muse brought up by multiple stakeholders is the laborious nature of the platform. When the same ex-Penguin employee went away to test the platform, she was left unconvinced of its usefulness overall, “which isn’t a great start if you’re asking a publisher to spend money with you.” 

‘Local work rarely comes up’

In Metro, Brooks describes his trial of the matchmaker platform: “Unless a user’s preferences are specifically set as wanting to read or watch stories from Aotearoa (labelled here under the category ‘New Zealand, Australia, Oceania and the Pacific’) or that same user is from Aotearoa and desires to engage with stories from ‘Real countries similar to where they live’, local work rarely comes up. Those stories that do are ones that are well known already (the bone people, Michèle A’Court’s autobiography) — titles which would also come up after a quick, less laborious, Google search.”

Renee Rowland from Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand tried to work with Narrative Muse with regards to Booksellers-founded, owned and operated platform, BookHub , which aggregates information from bookshops all over the country so that readers can search the title they’re looking for, see which shop stocks it, and buy accordingly. In this article on Newsroom from October 2021 , published in response to the MCH funding, co-CEO of Narrative Muse Brough Johnson said: “One of our key struggles that we have here in Aotearoa is a core source for data of all of the content that’s available inside of each bookseller. We’re trying to find a way in which we can know for instance what’s at Unity, or what’s at the Women’s Bookshop, so that our readers will have an easy pathway to books that are available in their region.” 

BookHub, then, would appear to provide the solution to the above problem. However, Rowland’s conversations with Narrative Muse ran dry after it was discovered the the cost of developing a way to link BookHub with Narrative Muse was high, and Booksellers decided that “given Narrative Muses’s lack of influence, their inability to generate recommendations for NZ books and therefore to create foot traffic for bookshops, it wasn’t a worthwhile investment, and that we were better off investing in other optimisation”. Narrative Muse did not offer to invest in the cost of linking the two sites. 

When Rowland tested the Narrative Muse platform, the filter didn’t result in any Aotearoa a uthors being recommended to her.

The hefty investment by the New Zealand government in Narrative Muse is particularly sore for Rowland given Booksellers created BookHub (recent winner of the Innovation Award at the Industry Book Awards ) with quarter of the money Narrative Muse was given and yet the tangible impact of BookHub on the literary sector has been almost immediate.

“No member of Booksellers Aotearoa NZ has reported that Narrative Muse has had any discernible, traceable or material impact on book sales at all,” she said. 

In the funding progress reports obtained from MCH under OIA, Narrative Muse says that slower than expected progress was due to hiring delays, though there is no explanation of w hy hiring was difficult. 

W as MCH’s decision to fund Narrative Muse an error of judgement? Joe Fowler, d eputy chief executive te aka tūhono – investment and outcomes at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, says that the thinking behind the Innovation Fund — whose panel did see value in Narrative Muse — was that as Aotearoa moved out of the pandemic, it needed new ways of attracting funding to allow the sector to recover. “It’s worth clarifying that the Innovation Fund was different to the other funds,” he says, “in that it was explicitly designed to look for opportunities and to take some risk and support in projects and initiatives that could return significantly in the future. Obviously, when you do that, you may invest in some things that don’t achieve their full objectives.”

Fowler explained that when he was appointed to the role (following Anna Butler) in September 2021, he “was appointed with explicit direction to make sure support got out and quickly.” By the time he got the job his predecessor, Butler, had already led the design of the recovery funds. Butler’s previous portfolios included general manager building system performance at MBIE, and before that general manager housing, income support and employment, social change at MSD.

MCH’s Innovation Fund was articulated with startup language and shaped within a startup framework. A notable feature of startup culture is that failure is baked in. The rate of failure is well-documented: 90% is an oft-cited statistic. The resource-starved literary sector’s dismay at news that a tech startup got half a million dollars was tied up in the fact that the fund was a departure from the funding environment they knew, and the arrival of a system that enabled tech companies to apply for and receive arts and culture investment.

“We’ve got a tech-focused startup receiving funding on something based on its potential, and an art sector that’s used to getting funding based on a solid project,” explains Fowler, “where every business plan and every dollar in the future and every likely impact is kind of known in advance. You’re absolutely right, that is a clash.”

But Fowler has no regrets about the Innovation Fund. From MCH’s perspective, the fund performed as intended: some projects overachieved and some underachieved. But did they learn anything from the fund? “Absolutely. You learn, and you build on that and take it into your next work. I’m proud of what the team did with the Innovation Fund, and I know that there’s a lot happening on the ground because we were brave enough to make and design and implement our fund in that way.” 

Fowler says that for the Regeneration Fund, which followed the Innovation Fund as the last of the Covid-recovery funds, MCH created a mechanism by which anybody from the sector could comment on the proposals being considered. Fowler says that if they learned anything from the Innovation Fund it was that “you do need a way of engaging the sector, pre-decision, that has to be put into the design of the fund, which is what we did for the Regeneration Fund. That mechanism was not designed into the Innovation Fund, so it was not there for us to call on.”

In March 2023, the same month that the MCH funding contract with Narrative Muse ended, Narrative Muse launched a PledgeMe campaign inviting pledgers to purchase shares in the company at a minimum of $48.96 dollars, or 17 shares. The campaign successfully raised $390,369 from 105 pledges, which is an average of $3,171.8 per pledge; a striking number.

‘Close to one million dollars has been invested in the company’

The language of the PledgeMe campaign is aspirational, pitched in the future tense: “We’re building a technology that uses forward looking data to learn what diverse audiences would like to read and watch – even when these stories don’t exist yet.” 

A gold box states what Narrative Muse Limited has done so far, and includes the statements: “We have begun to receive customer queries from around the world, including in the US, UK, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.”

“We collaborate with organisations such as Book Discussion Scheme, The Ākina Foundation, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage and Pasifika Festival.”

“We are also in discussion with The Publishers Association of New Zealand/Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) and The Māori Literature Trust.”

Nobody in the literary sector spoken to for this article has heard from Narrative Muse since December 2023. PANZ told The Spinoff they were not in conversations with Narrative Muse. A nd while The Māori Literature Trust did have a series of meetings with the company, MLT concluded that the decision to sign up to Narrative Muse must be left up to individual writers and publishers, and no formal partnership was entered into.

More Reading

Narrative Muse Limited has also received funding from Callaghan Innovation and The Ākina Foundation. The Spinoff calculates that with those grants, the MCH amount and the PledgeMe campaign, close to one million dollars has been invested in the company.

In its final report to MCH, Narrative Muse was asked to reflect on the work undertaken with the $500,000 of Innovation Funding. “If your project failed, what did you learn?” was the prompt. Narrative Muse’s answer was short. 

“Our project hasn’t failed but we have learned so much! We’ve learned a lot about relationship-building and the challenges that come with building something new in a way that hasn’t been done before, all while being mindful of intercultural safety.”

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes

• Entertainment
• Non-Fiction Books

Alfred Hitchcock, Winona Ryder, Dean Martin and More Appear in Beverly Hills Noir: Crime, Sin, & Scandal in 90210 (Exclusive)

The new true crime anthology from journalist and PEOPLE contributor Scott Huver covers both famous and under-the-radar crime in America's glitziest zip code

Lindsey Foard; Post Hill Press

Think the 90210 is all glitz and glamour? Think again.

Veteran entertainment journalist and longtime PEOPLE contributor Scott Huver has taken his experience in the industry, which began at a local newspaper in Beverly Hills, to pen the new true crime anthology Beverly Hills Noir: Crime, Sin, & Scandal in 90210 , out Oct. 1 from Post Hill Press.

"I couldn’t resist digging back into my own experiences as a local newspaper and magazine reporter to recount some genuinely unknown 'only in 90210' crimes I covered in the 1990s and 2000s, in which the culprits slipped into character as intensely as any Hollywood actor," Huver says.

"There, while covering the local crime beat, I discovered the gilded city’s rich history of criminal acts as unique and extravagant as 90210 itself, where the rich and famous — as culprits, victims or concerned bystanders — face watching everything they’ve achieved and accumulated slip away."

"It's the dark side of having it all: jaw-dropping crime scenes, astronomically priced losses, celebrity appearances around every corner and consequences that still resonate today," he adds.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

The book covers some of the most well-known Hollywood crime scandals, including  Winona Ryder 's December 2001 arrest for shoplifting clothes worth $5,500 from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, Calif., but mostly addresses those that may have flown under readers' radar.

"For this first volume of Beverly Hills Noir, I wanted to take deep dives into less-frequently explored cases like the above stories," he adds.

Below, exclusively for PEOPLE, Huver offers a little taste of some of the crimes and characters readers will find in Beverly Hills Noir .

Alfred Hitchock's Arrest

Courtesy of Everett

Today still one of the most acclaimed directors in Hollywood history, thanks to his classic suspense thrillers like Rear Window , Vertigo and Psycho, and known for his stealthy cameos was taken away in handcuffs from a 1956 press luncheon celebrating his television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents , while reporters were also rounded up for questioning. The tale features a signature Hitchcockian twist and reveals the seeds of one of his subsequent triumphs, North by Northwest.

The Greystone Mansion Murder-Suicide

Everett Collection Historical / Alamy

The enduring mystery surrounding the 1929 murder-suicide at Beverly Hills’ Greystone Mansion is notable for its connections to one of the region’s wealthiest families — the Doheny name remains a fixture across Los Angeles — and the nation’s biggest political scandal pre-dating Watergate. The posh estate subsequently appeared in scores of films and TV show including The Big Lebowski , The Bodyguard , X-Men and Gilmore Girls ,

The circumstances and characters involved inspired popular storytellers ranging from pulp novelist Raymond Chandler and filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, and – with its theme of power and money triumphing over truth – the case is a Chinatown -esque tale of corruption and cover-up. 

Walter Wagner ambushes Joan Bennett

Imagine the scandalous headlines that would follow today if one of Hollywood’s most successful and respected movie producers confronted his glamorous movie star wife and her high-powered talent agent over their affair — at gunpoint. In the agency’s parking lot. Directly across the street from the Beverly Hills police station. Aiming for the agent’s groin.

That was the seamy scenario in 1951 when Walter Wanger, known for all-time classics like Stagecoach and Foreign Correspondent , ambushed Joan Bennett, a film noir femme fatale today remembered for her roles in Father of the Bride and Dark Shadows , and her representative-turned-lover Jennings Lang over their trysts in an apartment rented for Lang’s agency’s client, Marlon Brando. What followed was an master class in spin control, with repercussions later felt on screen in classic films including I Want to Live!, Cleopatra and even Billy’s Wilder’s The Apartment .

Pictorial Press Ltd. / Alamy

Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin's barroom brawl

In 1966, still-legendary Rat Packers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were already as iconic as the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel – the “Pink Palace” that has embodied the city’s luxurious image for a century and famously graces the cover of the Eagles’ Hotel California album — but they had to wonder if their superstar careers hit a disastrously sour note after a raucous late-night birthday celebration erupted into a barroom brawl, during which one of their millionaire opponents collapsed unconscious on the floor. But who punched out who, and how did it all impact Sinatra’s May-December romance with Mia Farrow?

A standoff on Rodeo Drive

The 1980s were the pinnacle of Rodeo Drive’s rise as one of the world’s most glamorous shopping streets — that heady, designer-conscious, wild-spending era of conspicuous consumption, as seen in films like Beverly Hills Cop and Pretty Woman . And the Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry boutique was — and remains — one of the hallmarks of avenue.

But in 1986, when drifter Steven Livaditis attempted to rob the shop and suddenly found himself trapped inside the nearly impregnable building, surrounded by fast-arriving police, a day-long hostage standoff resembling the film Dog Day Afternoon ensued, and the human cost was higher than any price tag Rodeo Drive had ever seen.

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Beverly Hills Noir: Crime, Sin, & Scandal in 90210 hits shelves Oct. 1 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.

Related Articles

Gary King’s Behavior Has Already Stained ‘Below Deck Sailing Yacht’ Season 5

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

All it takes is one rotten apple to taint the reputation of a beloved series . That’s the exact effect of Gary King ’s behavior on Below Deck Sailing Yacht . Bravo recently announced that Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 5 will reunite Captain Glenn Shephard , Chief Stew Daisy Kelliher , and King as they spend their charter season in Ibiza. The new installment, which comes after almost a year since the wrap of Season 4, has sparked controversy owing to the inclusion of King, who has been accused of sexual misconduct . A production member accused King of forcing himself on her while he was in an inebriated state during the filming of Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 4 in Sardinia, Italy.

While King has vehemently denied the allegations, considering his playboy ways since his debut on Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 2, viewers are leaning toward believing he is guilty. Given his reputation on deck, he often gets tangled in boatmances and love triangles , making viewers and those involved increasingly uncomfortable. His time on Parsifal III has nearly always led him into hookups with his fellow crew mates. Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 5 filming has been wrapped for over a year and was allegedly delayed due to the strong allegations against King . Given the gravity of the situation and the safety of women on board, the question arises: Why is Gary King being allowed to run wild as a part of the upcoming season?

Gary King’s Behavior Was Problematic From the Get-Go

Gary King joined the Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 2 cast in March 2021 as First Mate on Parsifal III and was later promoted to First Officer by Captain Shephard. King had 12 years of experience as a first mate and a captain on smaller boats, making him exceptionally good at his job. However, his sexual and romantic endeavors often led him into messy conundrums. From the get-go, King has been embroiled in boatmances and hooked up with fellow crew members, earning him the title of the resident f-boy on deck . Right from his debut season, King wasted no time hooking up with his deckhand, Sydney Zaruba , by the end of the second episode. However, eventually, King realized he was more interested in Third Stew Alli Dore , which resulted in his first love triangle on the show . Things got extra messy, and Dore broke things off with him shortly after the season wrapped. Interestingly, it must also be noted that Gary King had a long-distance girlfriend while pursuing both women on deck .

Season 3 saw King quickly move onto a new love triangle with Junior Stews Ashley Marti and Scarlett Bentley , before which he was also briefly pursuing Gabriela Barragan , who left early. Although it was evident that Marti was way more into King than he was, he continued his incessant, cringeworthy advances toward Bentley. In Season 4, things took a wild turn, with the prominent tensions between Daisy Kelliher and Gary King taking center stage . King was at a disadvantage that season as he arrived a few days later when Kelliher already had a thing going on with Chief Engineer Colin MacRae . King disregarded what the duo had going on and pursued Kelliher most uncomfortably, landing him in a third love triangle. When Daisy refused to give in to his advances, he immediately engaged in a situationship with Mads Herrera . He later accused Herrera of playing with his feelings despite her stating they were always casual.

'Below Deck Sailing Yacht' Crew Members Have Accused King of Sexual Assault

On August 24, 2023, Rolling Stone released an exposé where a production member of the show accused Gary King of sexual assault. Samantha Suarez , who first joined the makeup department on Below Deck Season 10, revealed in the article that King forced himself on her while filming Season 4 in Sardinia, Italy , in the summer of 2022. During that period, crew members stayed in the same hotel, and before filming charters on the yacht and on the few “dark days,” so did Below Deck cast members . Suarez, who did hair and makeup for the cast, was also responsible for carrying out everyday tasks like ensuring that the cast members were safely placed in their hotel rooms, bringing them food and water, and so on. She noted that King was being difficult from the get-go and not adhering to COVID protocols when they first arrived in Sardinia.

‘Below Deck’ Star Sinks Wedding Following Shock Split

"I think that this is the best decision for both of us."

While recounting the incident, Suarez revealed how she was given the responsibility of accompanying King back to his hotel room while he was visibly intoxicated after he filmed his interviews for the show. After much difficulty, she got King safely into his hotel room when he repeatedly asked her not to leave. Right when she was about to leave, King came up behind her, grabbing and pressing his body against Suarez , refusing to let her go. She managed to get him off after kicking and elbowing him, and by a stroke of luck, she received a call from a talent manager at that very moment. It should also be noted that King was just wearing his underwear at the time . Suarez immediately informed producers, and King was instructed to sleep on the boat for the remainder of the “dark days.”

Gary King’s Reputation Didn’t Help Matters Despite His Denial

Gary King’s behavior toward women has been problematic for years, which makes his denial of Suarez’s claims hard to believe. Be it the nature of his complicated relationship with Daisy Kelliher or his unhinged flirting with Stews Lucy Edmunds and Herrera, which made them visibly uncomfortable. King even made a snide and painfully uncomfortable comment on his sexual endeavors with Herrera related to her period, which was addressed on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen . The Rolling Stone article also revealed that several anonymous crew members came forward to recount incidents where King was being predatory and disrespectful, terming him “ next-level scary with women.” They also revealed other instances, such as when King had grabbed a female cast member’s butt despite her asking him to stop and where he grabbed a production crew member’s genitals.

According to US Weekly , King broke his silence on the incident in the comments section of one of his Instagram posts on the same day as the Rolling Stone story . In since-deleted replies to comments where viewers questioned the allegations, King stated that Suarez’s claims were far from the truth and accused her of making him an unlucky target while she sought a platform. He further expressed how she lied and threw shade at the anonymous accusers. King also doubled down on his denial by accusing Suarez and her boyfriend of targeting him as a revenge ploy for not being invited back on Below Deck over problems they had caused. In the same comment, King also addressed how the allegations have affected his career and his family , describing it as the most challenging period.

The Allegations Against King Should've Been Handled Better

Post the incident, both Bravo and 51 Minds Entertainment released statements to Rolling Stone which reiterated how they are committed to providing a safe working environment for the cast and crew with an update on the incident, “the concerns Ms. Suarez raised in July 2022 were investigated at that time and action was taken based on the findings.” King was also removed from his panel at BravoCon 2023, but he continued filming. However, the revelations made in the exposé insinuated how production often lets such issues slide, and crew members who were vocal about witnessing the harassment were not asked to return for the following season . It cannot be ignored that, despite Gary King’s denial, his behavior across seasons — even before the incident — was quite problematic.

Bravo’s sweeping of the matter under the rug didn’t do anyone any favors as, ideally, they should’ve resorted to an immediate termination like in the case of Below Deck Down Under where Captain Jason Chambers booted Luke Jones and Laura Bileskalne for sexual misconduct . Captain Shephard should’ve overlooked his longstanding camaraderie with King and resorted to taking strict action against him, keeping in mind the women on deck. While it can be understandable to some extent that King had to be a part of Season 5, as it was filmed in advance, it would be disappointing to see him return if the show gets renewed for another season. It would further stain the already tarnished reputation of the reality TV show and cause them to lose respect in the eyes of their fans. While it remains to be seen whether scenes featuring Gary King have been kept minimal or edited out, there’s no doubt that his actions have left a permanent smudge on Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 5.

Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 5 premieres on October 7 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo in the U.S. The episode will be available to stream the next day on Peacock.