Category: Features

  • Ivana Truglio on the inaugural Book Fair Australia

    Ivana Truglio on the inaugural Book Fair Australia

    The first ever Book Fair Australia will be held at Sydney Showground on 26–27 November. Independent Publishing spoke to founder and CEO Ivana Truglio about her inspiration, her plans to grow the event, and what authors and book lovers can expect from the fair. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your…

  • From the archive: How do bookshops find out about self-published titles?

    This article was first published by Independent Publishing in 2019. For the past few months, Books+Publishing has been asking Australian book buyers—the people responsible for selecting which books are stocked on a bookshop’s shelves—how they find out about new books from self-published authors, as part of its ‘book buyer spotlight’ series. So far, representatives from Big W,…

  • Lessons for social media: part three

    Lessons for social media: part three

    In this third and final article on social media marketing, RM Marketing Services director Rachael McDiarmid shares her advice on preparing and scheduling social media posts. Social media for independent authors can be quite daunting. Writing, producing and distributing your book has been your focus, but now it’s time to look at the social media…

  • Lessons for social media: part two

    Lessons for social media: part two

    RM Marketing Services director Rachael McDiarmid shares her advice on developing your social media strategy. As we discussed in our recent article, social media is about starting a discussion. We shared three important lessons: Don’t leave it to the last minute to develop a digital and social media action plan If you don’t think you…

  • From the archive: Stocking self-published books

    Most Australian bookshops acknowledge that stocking self-published books is important—in theory. In practice, however, store policies are often opaque or ad-hoc, and whether or not a book is stocked is dependent on a number of factors that can vary wildly from author to author—including design, subject matter and price. Unfortunately, despite best intentions, a lot…

  • Matt Galanos on the ‘Dane Thorburn’ series

    Matt Galanos on the ‘Dane Thorburn’ series

    Matt Galanos has a busy day job as chief financial officer of the Australian Turf Club, which owns and runs a number of racing and entertainment facilities across Sydney. He turned to writing—a personal passion of his—during the Covid-19 lockdowns, penning several fantasy fiction novels about a young knight called Dane Thorburn. The third and…

  • Ben Randall on ‘Sisters for Sale’

    Ben Randall on ‘Sisters for Sale’

    Ben Randall is a filmmaker and the author of the ‘Sisters for Sale’ nonfiction series of books, which focus on the trafficking of young Hmong girls from Northern Vietnam to China. Randall released an award-winning documentary by the same name in 2018 before turning to writing to expand the story. Randall is also the founder…

  • From the archive: Putting your publicity plan into action

    From the archive: Putting your publicity plan into action

    From 2018—2019, the novelist Ellie Marney wrote a monthly advice column for Australian Self Publisher. Below, we have reprinted the fourth instalment in the ‘Self-publishing essentials with Ellie Marney: promotion, marketing and all that jazz’ series, in which she provides tips on how to put your publicity plan into action. Get promoting! We’ve reached the fourth instalment…

  • Lessons for social media

    Lessons for social media

    RM Marketing Services director Rachael McDiarmid shares her advice on developing a social media strategy to create awareness of your books, with a focus on being prepared, setting goals and determining your audience. All the social media and marketing advice says if you are engaging with an audience—with consumers, with booksellers, with librarians and teachers—you’re…

  • Eight points to consider before signing with a hybrid publisher

    Independent Publishing asked Australian Society of Authors (ASA) CEO Olivia Lanchester whether the ASA had specific advice for authors considering making an agreement with a hybrid publisher. Lanchester’s response is below: Inspect books previously published by that publisher. What is the final editorial and production and printing quality like? Do some simple internet research. Read…