Our editors round up the best pieces about publishing—stories, think pieces, blog posts. If it’s good, it will go here.
While we endeavour to link to resources that are freely available to read, we strongly encourage subscribing to Australian literary journals to ensure their future. Articles behind paywalls will be noted.
Arranged thematically. Updated regularly. Australian-specific content.
Last updated: 17 July 2021
CONTENTS
- Diversity and racism in Australian publishing
- Unionising and conditions
- Climate
- Queer and trans publishing
- Small publishers and literary journals
- Open access and university publishers
- Editing craft
- Literary prizes
- Author contracts
- Digital publishing and audiobooks
- Inclusive publishing
Diversity, lack of editors of colour, reviewing books by Indigenous writers and people of colour, racism in Australian publishing
- 5 Questions with First Nations & People of Colour (FNPOC) in Publishing Network, Liminal, March 2021
- Why Slow Cooked Is the Best Recipe for Ethical Publishing by Bluff, ArtsHub, Dec 2020
- $ Publishing’s Meritocracy Myth by Radhiah Chowdhury, Books+Publishing, Dec 2020
- $ From Inertia to Action: Zeitgeists, Decolonisation and Structural Change in Publishing by Veronica Sullivan, Books+Publishing, Dec 2020
- Blind Judging and Authenticity: An Editorial Statement by Overland editorial team, Overland, Nov 2020
- Decolonising the Booker by Michael R Griffiths, Overland, Dec 2020, Nov 2020
- It’s hard to be what you can’t see: Diversity Within Australian Publishing, by Radhiah Chowdhury, report for the 2020-21 Beatrice Davis Fellowship, Australian Publishers Association, Nov 2020
- Why Culturally Aware Reviews Matter by Lisa Fuller, Kill Your Darlings, Oct 2020
- Stop Asking ‘Diverse Writers’ to Tell You About Their Lives by Kelly Bartholomeusz, Overland, Oct 2020
- In 20 years of award-winning picture books, non-white people made up just 12% of main characters by Helen Caple and Ping Tian, The Conversation, Oct 2020
- Where Are All the Editors of Colour? by Camha Pham, Kill Your Darlings, Aug 2020
- Representations by Eileen Chong, Meanjin, July 2020
- The Privilege of Common Sense by Tresa LeClerc, Overland, July 2020
- This Is Not a Critique. This Is a Condemnation by Likhain, Djed Press, June 2020
- The #PublishingPaidMe hashtag reveals how Writers of Colour are undervalued by Natalie Kon-Yu, SBS, June 2020
- Capital Writes White by Declan Fry, Overland, May 2020
- Why Australian YA Needs More Torres Strait Islander Writing by Jasmin McGaughey, Kill Your Darlings, Jan 2020
- Australian Writing Has a Blak Past and Future by Karen Wyld, ArtsHub, Aug 2019
- Whose Byline Is It Anyway? by Emmett Stinson, Kill Your Darlings, Jan 2019
- Decolonizing Lit Mags, Step One: Give Your Budget to Indigenous Editors, Danielle Geller interviews Tony Birch, LitHub, Jan 2019
- Literary Production Versus Institutional Whiteness, by Bobuq Sayed, Overland, June 2017
Unionising, pay conditions, privilege and unpaid internships
- Our Words Are in Their Hands: Authors for Better Read Than Dead Workers, Overland, July 2021
- Australian Publishing Pay Spreadsheet
- Why Organizing Workers in the Book Industry Is So Damn Hard by Bethany Patch and Joshua Barnes, Jacobin, August 2020
- Australian publishing workers share salaries to promote wage transparency, Books+Publishing, June 2020
- $ ‘Changes Start Small’: Behind the Union Push at PRH by Elena Gomez, Books+Publishing, Feb 2020
- Australian Publishing’s Pay Problem by Samantha Forge, Kill Your Darlings, Dec 2018
- The First Rung: How Unpaid Internships Perpetuate Privilege by Samantha Forge, Kill Your Darlings, Jan 2018
- You can be a successful writer, but only if you live in Melbourne or Sydney by Ben Walter, Overland, April 2017
Climate
Queer and trans publishing
- Why should trans people trust non-trans authors to lead the conversation about our identities? by Alex Gallagher, The Guardian, Oct 2020
- Being a Caretaker: A response to JK Rowling by Alison Evans, Overland, June 2020
- Examining queer young adult fiction: Systemic discrimination in the publishing world, by Jodi Kerr, Archer, March 2017
Small publishers and literary journals
- Literary magazines are often the first place new authors are published. We can’t lose them by Alexandra Dane, The Conversation, May 2020
- Friday essay: the remarkable, prize-winning rise of our small publishers by Emmett Stinson, The Conversation, May 2018
- The Miles Franklin and the Small Press by Emmett Stinston, Overland, August 2016
Open access and university publishing
Editing craft
- Editing Books: An Act of Individual Solidarity by Elena Gomez, Meanjin, Nov 2020
- $ Rewriting the Long Lunch by Veronica Sullivan, Books+Publishing, Oct 2020
- What we talk about when we talk about editing by Jennifer Mills and Toby Fitch, Overland, Nov 2017
- Death of the editor by Adolfo Aranjuez, Overland, July 2017
- Stet by Me: Thoughts on Editing Fiction by Mandy Brett, Meanjin, 2011
Literary prizes
- The trouble with poetry and literary awards by Clare Millar, Overland, August 2020
- An inherently stupid prize of our own? by Kirsten Tranter, Overland, August 2019
- And the winner isn’t: on the inherent stupidity of literary prizes by Emmett Stinson, Overland, August 2019
- The Myth of the Vogel by Ben Walter, Overland, April 2018
GST, author contracts, and public/educational lending rights
- Does Australia Really Need Author Rights? A Response to Industry Pushback by Rebecca Giblin, Overland, March 2019
- Not All Books are Created Equal by Samantha Forge, Kill Your Darlings, July 2018
- Fat Horses and Starving Sparrows by Rebecca Giblin, Overland, 2018
Digital age of publishing, audiobooks, Goodreads culture
- What Happened to the Digital Book Revolution? by Alexandra Dane, Kill Your Darlings, July 2021
- How Goodreads is Changing Book Culture by Beth Driscoll, Kill Your Darlings, July 2021
- The Availability of Miles Franklin Winners as Ebooks, Audiobooks and In Print by Rebecca Giblin, Authors Interest, March 2020
- On Audiobooks and Literature in the Post-digital age by Millicent Weber, Overland, Oct 2019