An acquisition, a shortlisting and a scholarship!
Writers Victoria has announced the shortlist for the 2024 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship, and I’m beyond delighted to have made the cut; ‘for a biography of Louisa Lawson, newspaper proprietor, poet, suffragist and mother of Henry Lawson.’ What a strong list and what an honour to be included in it. Although those of you who’ve…
Book Review: Flames by Robbie Arnott
Evocative. Intriguing. Compelling. Flames is a wonderful novel, and Arnott is a terrific new young voice in Australian fiction. In this assured debut, Arnott immerses the reader in the Tasmanian landscape, in weird and often uncanny ways. At a superficial level, we follow the story of twenty-three-year-old Charlotte McAllister. Charlotte’s mother has just died and…
Inside the publishing industry
How do books get from the publisher’s hot little hands onto the shelves of bookstores? No, I don’t really know either but yesterday it became a little clearer. Traditional publishers are part of a logistical chain. From the sale of each book, every player in the chain takes their cut. However online sales, self-publishing and…
What do publicists do for authors anyway?
This week I met with my publicist, Alice Lewinsky. A few weeks earlier she’d sent me four pages of questions: about me, my career, my writing experience, and about the background to my book. She also wanted to know about the likely readership, my marketing and promotional ideas, and the names of people who might…