14 November
Whether it’s print or electronics that floats your boat, make sure you get your mits and the mits of your close book-reading friends and loved ones, on the titles we saw shortlisted in this year’s Most Underrated Book Award.
The Cook, by Wayne Macauley (winner, Text Publishing)
The Dark Wet, by Jess Huon (Giramondo)
I Hate Martin Amis et al., by Peter Barry (Transit Lounge)
Two Steps Forward, by Irma Gold (Affirm Press)
05 November
Due to the recent hurricane in North America, Thomas Minkus has very regretfully had to cancel his trip to Australia, where he was due to give a keynote address at the inaugural Independent Publishing Conference in Melbourne.
The Small Press Network is delighted to announce the new keynote speaker, Peter Donoughue – a stalwart of the Australian publishing and bookselling industry. Peter retired from the publishing industry in March 2009, after a 35-year career in the Australian book trade. His last position was Managing Director of John Wiley and Sons Australia Ltd, a role he held for 16 years. He held numerous industry positions during his career, including President of the Australian Publishers Association (1996/1997), and a Director of CAL (1993-2003).
After retirement Peter set up a small consultancy operation to offer advice and support to a range of Australian publishers, booksellers and wholesalers, and established a blog ‘Pub Date Critical’ through which he regularly comments on and debates industry issues and concerns. He was also appointed an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of English, Media Studies and Art History at the University of Queensland.
He has a special interest in the industry supply chain, and is widely acknowledged as an expert on the practices and dynamics of book importation across all industry sectors. In recent years he has made a particular study of digital publishing, including ebooks, and has written extensively on these and related issues.
Peter will be speaking this Friday, November 9th and tickets for the Independent Publishing Conference are still available. Click here for all the details.
25 October
We’re particularly excited about this year’s fiction edition, The Novella Project, because it celebrates one of the richest and most rewarding literary forms: the novella. Longer than a short story, shorter than a novel, novellas allow writers to experiment with longer stories that are intense, detailed, often grounded in the times, and perfectly designed for busy people to read in one sitting.
Ian McEwan, celebrated by many as England’s national author, has described novellas as the “supreme literary form”. “If I could write the perfect novella, I would die happy,” he told the audience at the recent Cheltenham Literature Festival.
The Novella Project, generously supported by the Copyright Agency Limited,sought original entries from Australian and New Zealand authors. We were astounded by the response, with more than 220 entries received.
Our panel of judges, Craig Munro, Estelle Tang and Julienne van Loon, helped select six of the best; gritty tales with unique characters that will live on in your imagination.
Mary-Rose MacCollexplores the rippling consequences of a single moment of distraction; Lyndel Caffrey poignantly recreates the bleak Melbourne winter of 1923; and Katerina Cosgrove combines a portrait of strife-torn Greece with a tale of tortured love.
Ed Wright tells the tragic story of a spirited teenager torn between love and duty in wartime Japan; Christine Kearney embraces the complexities of the mythic and contemporary reality of life in East Timor; and Jim Hearn cooks up a challenging and gritty tale of a junkie in trouble.
We would love you would join us at an event to celebrate the publication of The Novella Project at a city near you in coming weeks. See our events listed below for more details and register soon, places are limited.
visit the Griffith Review website for more details
25 October
The Stella Prize 2013 – Entries Now Open
The Stella Prize, Australia’s first major literary prize for women’s writing, will be awarded for the first time in April 2013.
The $50,000 Prize will be presented for the best work of literature published in 2012 by an Australian woman. The Stella Prize is open to fiction and non-fiction books published between 1 January and 31 December 2012. The entry form and guidelines are available from The Stella Prize website.
Please direct any enquiries to info@thestellaprize.com.au.
Entries close at 5.00pm AEST on Thursday 15 November 2012.
For regular updates about The Stella Prize, please sign up for our email newsletter.
— The Stella Prize info@thestellaprize.com.au www.thestellaprize.com.au
25 October
This weeks RRR highlights
Zoe Dattner and Estelle Tang shine a light on independent publishing in Australia. Talking with experts Amy Espeseth and Tim Coronel, they’ll showcase some of the most underrated local releases and take a look at the challenges the industry currently faces.
Join them as they discuss the future of independent publishing in Australia and why exactly, we should care.
Check the RRR website for more info.
17 October
The Most Underrated Book Award, sponsored by Kobo, aims to shine a light on just some of the fantastic titles that are released by independent publishers and members of the Small Press Network (SPUNC) that, for whatever reason, did not receive their fair dues. The inaugural shortlist for 2012 has just been announced, with judges Amy Espeseth, Bethanie Blanchard and Andrew Wrathall nominating The Dark Wet by Jess Huon (Giramondo), I Hate Martin Amis et al. by Peter Barry (Transit Lounge), Two Steps Forward by Irma Gold (Affirm Press) and The Cook by Wayne Macauley (Text). Both publisher and author are awarded, and the winner will be announced at the opening of the Independent Publishing Conference during a special gala night and literary debate on 8 November at the Wheeler Centre.
*Readings will also be offering a huge 20% discount on all shortlisted titles throughout November. *
For more information check out the Readings website
17 October
The Small Press Network announced this morning the shortlist for the first Most Underrated Book Award (MUBA) – a prize that was established earlier in 2012 to help showcase some of the outstanding books being published by small and independent publishers in Australia. The MUBA, sponsored by Kobo, is the only literary prize in Australia to reward both the author and the publisher, with a Kobo Vox Tablet plus $250 book credit going to the winning author, and $1000 worth of free ebook conversions awarded to the publisher. The shortlist, as well as the winner, will also be supported by a campaign throughout the month of November held instore at Readings.
Director of Vendor Relations at Kobo, Malcolm Neil says: “So much of what happens in book publishing gets missed or hidden by the weight and noise from major publishing houses. Kobo loves these books and is excited to be part of a prize that clears away the noise and helps the reader find these gems.”
The Shortlist is:
The winner will be announced at the gala night literary debate and official launch of the first Independent Publishing Conference, at the Wheeler Centre November 8th.
13 October
Described by the judges as an edgy, modern and refreshing approach to content that is challenging and confronting. Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry is engaging and well written, offering a variety of ideas, values and confronting issues that can be used across a diversity of subject areas within the curriculum.
For more information visit the Spinifex website
13 October
Judge, Carol Jenkins, is looking for small, clever pieces that take a sideways shove at the old, new and the yet-to-be-discovered Australian icons. ‘I’m looking for that leap of imagination and for de-cliche-isation. Those pieces that take a self-critical look at Australian life.’
Theme: Australian icons Length: maximum 800 words Entry fee: $7.00 Deadline: November 30th, 2012.
Prize money for the winner ($300) and two runners up ($100).
Finalists and longlisted entrants will be invited to be included in the Spineless Wonders Australian icon anthology, edited by Julie Chevalier and Linda Godfrey.
For more details visit the website
13 October
Among the great new releases on offer are Divine Vegan Desserts ; Holden Days – Don Loffler’s latest book in the fabulous old Holden series, from the FX to the HR: Master of Stillness: Jefffrey Smart paintings 1940–2011, coinciding with exhibitions opening this week; Mug Shots, literary reviewer, prize-winning novelist and playwright Barry Oakley’s witty memoir; Those Dry Stone Walls which picks up on renewed interest in this age-old, romantic walling technique and the stories behind them.
For more information check out the Wakefield Press website
Mail
176 Little Lonsdale Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Australia
Phone (613) 9094 7896
General Manager
Mary Masters (mailto: mary@smallpressnetwork.com.au)
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