How to pitch a book idea to a literary agent or book publisher
If you've landed on this page, chances are you want to write a nonfiction book and you're wondering how to pitch a book idea to a literary agent. While it’s possible your idea occurred to you overnight in a flash of inspiration, it’s more likely you’ve been nurturing...
Submissions to Hachette Australia
If you're researching Australian book publishers accepting unsolicited manuscripts and have decided to prepare a submission to Hachette Australia, you need to pay careful attention to the guidelines on the publisher’s website. This post is designed to help you prepare...
A list of Australian literary agents
While it's not essential to get a literary agent in Australia to land a traditional publishing deal, you'll have a much stronger chance of success if you do. Consider this list of Australian literary agents a companion piece to my post listing Australian publishers...
A silver lining in the time of coronavirus
As someone who's worked from home for a long time now, my challenges with self-quarantine are about juggling homeschooling with earning a living, more than keeping my job in the first place. Every day, as I hear the sirens course through my neighbourhood, I'm...
Truganini biography from my client Cassandra Pybus publishing March 2020
Truganini: Journey Through the Apocalypse, by my client, the eminent historian Dr Cassandra Pybus, will be available next week. Her biography of Truganini, erroneously known in the popular imagination as 'the last Tasmanian' of her race, is a significant work of...
Getting published: The Talking Cure
The path to getting published took much longer than my clients Professional Gillian Straker and Dr Jacqui Winship expected, but their wonderful book The Talking Cure is now available in Australia and South Africa. About The Talking Cure 'Until you make the unconscious...
Australian publishers accepting manuscript submissions: Updated November 2021
LAST UPDATED: NOVEMBER 2021 If you're ready to approach an Australian publisher directly with your unsolicited manuscript, here’s an alphabetised list of Australian publishers currently accepting submissions of unsolicited manuscripts. If you’ve looked around my...
Writers with unsolicited manuscripts: think twice before diving into publisher slush piles
One of my most popular posts, I've given my take on unsolicited manuscript submissions a makeover. The post is focused on submissions to Australian book publishers but is relevant to any writer seeking a traditional book deal who is considering direct submission to a...
Dogs and books and happy authors
My client Guy Hull's wonderful book telling the story of the dog in Australian history, The Dogs that Made Australia, launched last weekend in the picturesque surrounds of Bowral in the southern highlands. Here I am with Guy at The Bookshop Bowral, 309 Bong Bong Road....
Limelight magazine interview for Girls at the Piano now online
I'm pleased to report that this link is now available to the interview I conducted with Limelight magazine's Angus McPherson for its May issue. The upside is that the first paragraph is terrific. The downside is that it's all you can see without a subscription to the...
Upcoming events for Girls at the Piano
Radio has been very kind to my new book, Girls at the Piano. I've gathered here links to all the radio interviews I've had so far. I wanted to alert you to a new interview airing on Monday 30th April on the Arts Monday program on Eastside Radio (89.7fm), which...
My radio interview on ABC Conversations
I was thrilled to talk to the lovely and charming Sarah Kanowski today on radio for ABC Conversations, one of the national broadcaster's most-downloaded podcasts. The interview was a sheer delight, made particularly enjoyable for me knowing that Sarah genuinely...