Amazon criticised for removing online book reviews from website
29 June 2018
Amazon has drawn criticism from authors, bloggers and publishers for removing reviews from its online book listings, reports the Bookseller. According to reports, some Amazon customers have had all their reviews removed or...
Upcoming events
29 June 2018
June Kids and YA Festival, (30 June) Sydney, NSW July Children’s and Young Adult Writers and Illustrators (CYA) Conference, (7 July) Brisbane, QLD Telling Tales in Balingup, (7-8 July) Balingup,...
Amazon launches Prime in Australia
27 June 2018
Amazon has launched its subscription service Prime on the company’s Australian website, offering users free delivery and subscription access to ebooks, videos and games. The service will include free ‘expedited...
Upcoming events
25 May 2018
May NT Writers Festival, (24-27 May) Darwin, NT. Big Sky Readers and Writers Festival, (25-27 May) Geraldton, WA. Feminist Writers Festival, (25-27 May) Vic. Latrobe City Literary Festival, (25-27 May)...
EWF 2018 program launched
25 May 2018
The Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) has announced its 2018 program, which runs from 19-29 June in venues across Melbourne’s CBD and surrounding suburbs. Timmah Ball, Tony Birch and Neil Morris...
Self-publishers among 2018 RWA ‘Ruby’ award finalists and Ngaio Marsh 2018 longlist
25 May 2018
Five self-published books are among the finalists for the Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) Romantic Book of the Year Award, also known as ‘the Ruby’. Ruining Miss Wrotham by Emily Larkin...
Authors create #SelfPubIsHere campaign to amplify self-publisher voices
17 May 2018
A number of self-published Australian authors, including Dionne Lister, A B Patterson and Lisa Fleetwood have pledged their support for a campaign to have self-publishing recognised and included in Australian...
Subbed In Chapbook Prize expands in 2018
26 April 2018
Sydney-based literary organisation Subbed In is expanding its Chapbook Prize—previously open to NSW residents only—to writers across Australia. Launched last year, the Subbed In Chapbook Prize aims to support emerging...
Upcoming events
26 April 2018
April Unearthed Pemberton, (26 April – 6 May) Pemberton, WA. Supanova, (27-29 April) Gold Coast, Qld. Speculate: the Victorian speculative writers festival, (28 April) Melbourne, Vic. Sydney Writers Festival, (30...
2018 Australian/Vogel Literary Award winner announced; Entries open for 2019 Award
26 April 2018
Emily O’Grady’s The Yellow House, a story about ‘the legacies of violence and the possibilities of redemption’, set in semi-rural Queensland, has won the 2018 Australian/Vogel's Literary Award. The winner was...
UK audiobook sales double over past five years; men drive growth
24 April 2018
Audiobook sales in the UK have doubled over the last five years, reports the Bookseller. While book purchases across all formats in the UK last year fell by three percent compared to...
Upcoming events
23 March 2018
March Swancon, (29 March – 2 April) Perth, WA. Conclave 3, (30 March – 2 April), Auckland, NZ. April Editors NSW: Unreadability, (3 April), Sydney, NSW. Newcastle Writers Festival, (6-8...
Digital deposit service for publishers to be launched in 2019
23 March 2018
National edeposit (NED), an online service for the deposit, archiving, management, discovery and delivery of published electronic material across Australia, will be launched in early 2019. The service is a...
SWF 2018 program announced
23 March 2018
The program has been announced for this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF), which runs from 30 April to 6 May. Sixty international guests and 400 Australian writers, academics and public...
Lending rights title claims closing soon
22 February 2018
Australian book publishers or creators—including self-publishers—can be compensated for the loss of income through the free multiple use of their work in Australian public and educational lending libraries through the...
Barnes & Noble announces large cuts to store positions
22 February 2018
US book retailer Barnes & Noble has announced large cuts to store positions as part of a ‘new labour model’ after reporting disappointing holiday sales results in early January. ‘The new...
Adult sales up, kids sales down in US
22 February 2018
In the US, estimates from the AAP’s StatShot program show that sales of adult trade books increased slightly (0.4%) in the first nine months of 2017 compared to the same...
Sue Liu on ‘Accidental Aid Worker’
22 February 2018
Author and communications professional Sue Liu self-published her travel memoir in 2015. She has since released two new editions of her book, and has run self-publishing workshops through the State...
Upcoming events
22 February 2018
February Perth Writers Week, (19-25 February) Perth, WA. Woollahra Poets’ Picnic, (27 February) Sydney, NSW. March Dunedoo Bush Poetry Festival, (1-4 March) Dunedoo, NSW. Adelaide Writers' Week, (3-8 March) Adelaide,...
Adelaide Writers’ Week 2018 program announced
22 February 2018
The full program for Adelaide Writers’ Week, which runs from 3-8 March, has been announced. This year’s festival is dedicated to children’s author Mem Fox, who will be in conversation...
Full program announced for 2018 Perth Writers Week
24 January 2018
The full program has been announced for the 2018 Perth Festival Writers Week, which runs from 19-25 February. Events at the festival include the pairing of 'literary giants' Kim Scott...
Upcoming events
24 January 2018
January ABPA Golden Damper Awards Bush Poetry Performance Competition, (23-27 January) Tamworth, NSW. February Association for the Study of Australian Literature Conference, (8-9 February) Darwin, NT. Australian Comic Arts Festival,...
Amazon Createspace to close author services division; 58 jobs cut
24 January 2018
Amazon's self-publishing service in the US, Createspace, is cutting 58 jobs and closing its author services division this year, according to the Post and Courier. 'After a thorough review of...
Self-publishing podcast ‘Go Publish Yourself’ launched
24 January 2018
IngramSpark has launched the first season of its self-publishing podcast Go Publish Yourself. The podcast was launched earlier this month to provide self-publishing information in an alternative format, with four episodes...
‘Australian Self-Publisher’ reader survey results
19 January 2018
When the Australian Self-Publisher newsletter was launched in November 2017, we put together a reader survey to obtain a snapshot of our audience and to ask for feedback on the...
Twenty-six writers and organisations among latest OzCo grants recipients
17 January 2018
Twenty-six writers and literary organisations are among the 196 recipients of the latest round of Australia Council funding grants, worth a total of $6.4m. Fifteen writers and groups received arts...
Sweatshop launches program for Western Sydney culturally diverse women writers
17 January 2018
Western Sydney literary group Sweatshop has launched the Writers' Collective for Diverse Women, a new program of workshops for Indigenous and culturally diverse women writers residing in Western Sydney's. Funded...
Upcoming events
18 December 2017
December Gulgong Folk Festival (28-31 December) Gulgong, NSW. January ABPA Golden Damper Awards Bush Poetry Performance Competition, (23-27 January) Tamworth, NSW. Watch for SCBWI Books From Your Backyard February Association...
New Goodreads giveaways program in 2018
18 December 2017
Goodreads has introduced a new US giveaways program which will replace the current giveaways program on 9 January 2018. Under the new program, giveaway entries are only open to US...
ipage® to launch in Australia in early 2018
18 December 2017
In exciting news for Australian authors and self-publishers, IngramSpark is set to officially launch ipage® in Australia early next year. ipage is an online platform that allows retailers and libraries...
