Category: Author Spotlight

  • Darwin bookseller Sean Guy on stocking self-published books, and handselling ‘The Firebringer’

    Darwin bookseller Sean Guy on stocking self-published books, and handselling ‘The Firebringer’

    Sean Guy is a bookseller at The Bookshop Darwin, and the author of 14 novels. He spoke to Independent Publishing about his experience selling his own titles at The Bookshop, shared his tips for writers wanting to get their titles into bookshops, and talked about his most recent novel, The Firebringer. Tell us a bit about…

  • Mike Nicholson on ‘This Imaginary Feeling of Being Australian’

    Mike Nicholson on ‘This Imaginary Feeling of Being Australian’

    This month, author Michael Nicholson spoke with Independent Publishing about This Imaginary Feeling of Being Australian—a political satire that imagines Australia as a naval superpower. Describe your book in under 50 words: A typographical error causes Australia to buy 150 submarines instead of 15. The nation is outraged and The Greens are swept into government with Bob Brown as…

  • ‘Snapchat in book form’: Celeste Morgan on ‘My Little Friends in the Mirror’

    ‘Snapchat in book form’: Celeste Morgan on ‘My Little Friends in the Mirror’

    Last month, Readings Kids manager Dani Solomon named Celeste Morgan’s My Little Friends in the Mirror as one of the store’s most popular self-published titles. The book, which began its life as a project on crowdfunding site Pozible, features a mirror on every page ‘to encourage play with their favourite friend—their own reflection!’ Morgan spoke…

  • Angela Ball on ‘ABC the ACT’

    Angela Ball on ‘ABC the ACT’

    This month, author Angela Ball spoke with Independent Publishing about ABC the ACT—which explores ‘the wonders of the Australian Capital Territory’. Describe your book in under 50 words. ABC the ACT takes readers on an alphabet adventure, moving from A to B, all the way to Z to discover the wonders of the Australian Capital…

  • Georgia Spanos on ‘When the Tomatoes Are Ready’

    Georgia Spanos is a Melbourne-based writer, editor and ‘advocate for all things food and culture’. When she’s not the digital editor at Halliday magazine, she is working on her second self-published cookbook. She spoke with Brad Jefferies about self-publishing her illustrated cookbook When the Tomatoes Are Ready—a collection of 27 of her Nonna’s classic Calabrian recipes, as well as a…

  • Drew Turney on ‘Falling’

    This month, author Drew Turney spoke with Independent Publishing about Falling—a ‘sweeping adventure of the paranormal in the technology age’ that’s 25 years in the making. Describe your book in under 50 words. Falling is a grand horror story set five minutes in the future when an iconic bridge shudders and collapses, taking over 600…

  • Matt Simon on ‘Dancing with the Bull’

    Matt Simon on ‘Dancing with the Bull’

    Matt Simon spent 25 years in senior executive roles for multinational companies like J P Morgan, Standard Chartered Bank, Merrill Lynch and NAB—but one day, he realised he’d had enough. This month, he spoke with Independent Publishing about self-publishing his first book, Dancing with the Bull, which draws on his experience in the corporate world.…

  • Rhea Dempsey on ‘Birth with Confidence’

    Rhea Dempsey on ‘Birth with Confidence’

    Rhea Dempsey is a counsellor, independent childbirth educator, trainer and author who works with women and families before, during and after birth. This month, she spoke with Independent Publishing about self-publishing her first book Birth with Confidence with the help of her editor daughter. Describe your book in under 50 words Birth with Confidence is for women yearning…

  • Dianne Blacklock on ‘Jack and Kate’

    This month, author Dianne Blacklock spoke with Independent Publishing about self-publishing her latest book, after having nine novels traditionally published. Describe your latest book in under 50 words. Jack and Kate is a story of first love and second chances, set against the backdrop of Sydney in the 1980s, the fashion houses of Paris, strife-torn…

  • Ebony McKenna on ‘The Girl and the Ghost’

    Ebony McKenna, winner of the 2018 Romance Writers of Australia’s Romantic Book of the Year, spoke with Independent Publishing about her book The Girl and the Ghost, and her experiences in self-publishing. Describe your latest book in under 50 words. In The Girl and The Ghost, publicity-shy student Morgan Parker has a family who lurch from…