Guest speakers include Michelle Cameron, Berkelouw Books senior buyer; Alex Craig, editor; Sophie Green, author and publisher; Wendy James, author; Hazel Lam, book designer; Lara Wallace, HarperCollins campaign manager; and Tara Wynne, agent at Curtis Brown.

What do you need to know about publishing a book and when do you need to know it? What do agents, publishers, editors, marketers and designers bring to the process? And how has the traditional model of publishing been affected by the growth of digital publishing, small presses and self-publishing?

In this two-day course, you will meet publishing experts and veterans – and get a sense of what it takes to get your manuscript from the bottom of your desk drawer to a reader’s bedside table.

Schedule
Day One

10am-12.30pm:  The Publisher – Joel Naoum
Introductions and overview: What do publishers do all day? Who does what, what are publishers looking for, and are they all the same? What is a list, how is it put together? What have been the big changes and how do they affect you as a writer? Which publisher is right for you? Who are the other key players in the publishing world – agents, editors, assessors, mentors?

12.30-1.15pm – Lunch

1.15–2.00pm: The Agent – Tara Wynne, agent at Curtis Brown
Approaching an agent: at what stage should you do this? How do you find the agent who is right for you? What are agents looking for and what will they do for you? Do you always need one – or can you go straight to a publisher? What questions will an agent or publisher ask? What about money? Fiction and non-fiction, fantasy and romance; which one are you writing? The pitch: what works and things to avoid. Doing your research beforehand.

2.00–3.00pm: The Editor – Alex Craig
When you send your manuscript to a publisher, is it in the best shape? The difference between getting a call back and going straight to the reject bin can depend on a few basic things. Get some tips on the essentials of editing.

3.00-3.45pm: The Marketplace – Michelle Cameron, Berkelouw Books senior buyer
Where do books sell and what does that mean for authors? How does a book get into a bookstore? What are the different markets for a book? We discuss the changing nature of bookstores, online stores and bookselling.

3.45–4pm: Day one wrap up and questions – Joel Naoum

Day Two

10.00-10.30am – Intro and a brief overview

10.30–11.45am: The Publishing Landscape – Joel Naoum
There are a lot of different publishers out there. Find the one that’s right for you and your manuscript.

11.45am-12.30pm: The Book Designer – Hazel Lam
People read and take in information visually. The cover, the font, typesetting, layout are vital to a good book. Too often they are misunderstood or overlooked. Get a lesson on what works – and what doesn’t.

12.30-1.15pm – Lunch

1.15-2.15pm: Marketing – Lara Wallace, HarperCollins campaign manager
If a book falls in a store and nobody hears it, does that mean it exists? Reviews, extracts, posters, word of mouth campaigns, Twitter, Facebook, social media, creating platforms – how to make sure your book gets the attention it deserves.

2.15-3.30pm: The Authors – Sophie Hamley and Wendy James
Hear from people who have been published: what they did right and what they wished they’d known starting out.

3.30-4.00pm: Wrap up and questions – Joel Naoum

About the speakers

Joel Naoum is a publisher, bookseller, editor and consultant. He is currently the non-fiction category manager at Booktopia and runs Critical Mass, a publishing consultancy. Joel previously ran Momentum, Pan Macmillan Australia’s digital-first imprint.

Michelle Cameron has been lucky enough to have worked in the book industry for the past ten years, both in Australia and the UK. Starting on the frontlines as a bookseller, she then moved into publishing as a publicist and is now the Senior Book Buyer for the Berkelouw Book Face group.

Alex Craig worked in magazines for editor years (including as the editor of HQ magazine) before moving to book publishing. In her 12 years at Pan Macmillan she commissioned fiction and non-fiction before becoming Picador Publisher in 2011, where she published Hannah Kent (Burial Rites), Emily Maguire (An Isolated Incident), Carrie Tiffany (Mateship with Birds), Brendan Cowell (How It Feels) and Sam de Brito (The Lost Boys) among numerous others. In 2016 she left Picador to pursue her own creative projects. She has written and photographed two travel guides, New York and Paris, under the name Alexandra Carroll. She is currently working at Hachette Australia as Fiction Publisher (maternity leave cover).

Sophie Green is an author and publisher who lives in Sydney. She has written several fiction and non-fiction books, some under other names. In her spare time she writes about country music on her blog, Jolene. Her novel, The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club, a top ten bestseller, was shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards for General Fiction Book of the Year 2018, longlisted for the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year and longlisted for the Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction 2018. Her latest novel, The Shelley Bay Ladies Swimming Circle, will be published in August 2019.

Wendy James is the author of eight novels, including The Golden Child, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Ned Kelly Award, and the bestselling The Mistake. Her debut novel, Out of the Silence, won the 2006 Ned Kelly Award for first crime novel.

Hazel Lam is an award-winning Senior Book Designer at HarperCollins ANZ, where she entered the publishing industry in 2013. Her experience includes fiction, non-fiction, illustrated books, children’s picture books and YA. In her previous life she worked in motion graphics, broadcast design, magazine publishing and advertising for clients in both Sydney and London. Hazel won the Australian Book Designers Association’s Emerging Designer of the Year Award in 2018.

Lara Wallace is a communications professional with over ten years’ experience in the Australian publishing industry. She has worked on campaigns for a variety of fiction, non-fiction, children’s and young adult books. During the last four years she has managed media campaigns for bestselling authors Jimmy Barnes, Liane Moriarty, Scott Pape (The Barefoot Investor) and Johnathan Thurston. She is currently Campaign Manager (Local Non-Fiction) at HarperCollins Australia, and has previously worked at Pan Macmillan Publishers and Allen & Unwin.

Tara Wynne joined Curtis Brown UK in 1998, and moved to Curtis Brown Australia as a literary agent in 2002.

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Participant Requirements

Pen and paper or preferred device for writing. Please ensure your device is charged.