A few new covers, spanning a range of genres, colour schemes and type selections…
Sarah Martin's Author Website
If you’re new to Sarah Martin’s writing, her new website is the perfect introduction.
Sarah writes across a range of genres and age groups, but what ties all of her work together is heart — stories about people, belonging, resilience, friendship, and the natural world.
It’s a beautiful new online home for her books and writing life.
Visit: sarahmartinwriter.com
Beautifully designed by Michael Brimelow.
Author Luke Simon Reports from the Publishing Trenches
This past week was challenging as I got scammed by a Reading Group in Jersey City. I asked from the get-go “is this going to cost?” and was reassured that there’d be no fee. I sent them all manner of supporting materials including a video trailer and they even booked me for a Q&A that they would purportedly pay me for doing. But in the 10th email, the inappropriacy of the text and the sudden mention of 2 contributory fees alerted me I was probably speaking to a Nigerian scammer who had gone to great lengths to pass themselves off as Susan Geller, CEO of the Club, complete with a lovely photo and even a joyful city council banner from Jersey below their signature.
As I fought despondency and wondering what to do about my contact form on my web site which is where many suspicious types contact me through (offering dubious marketing services), the Universe took pity on me.
I had a milestone breakthrough.
When The Art in My Palm was published I sent ABR 2 copies.
I was told by a friend yesterday that they now have an extensive review of ART in their March issue.
It is a decent review. On first reading I presumed “muted prose” was a negative description but then I looked it up and saw it is a good thing.
Still, it is a significant milestone as it is my first ABR review albeit for my 6th book.
In other news: SWIMMING has garnered another accolade, announced as a Finalist in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards which are decided by reading groups in the UK and Sweden. Wishing Shelf is one of the Alli founders.
I’m still optimistic for good outcomes in several contests to be decided by November. My logic tells me that the more good contests outcomes next to my name the more chances I have for a US/UK publisher or agent to show some interest.
How to Rescue an Overhydrated Book...
Did you leave a favourite book on a table outside, only for a passing shower to turn it into a soggy mess? Despair not — a few simple steps can return your beloved tome to its previous dehydrated state… The State Library of NSW has posted a more detailed procedure.
Dinosaurs Still Walk the Earth: Not all Books are Sold Online
Bookstores still exist and some are thriving, but for an independent author, approaching dozens of stores individually gets old pretty fast. Perhaps distributors might offer a way of making your book available for ordering from many bookstores? Beware the steep fees (70% or the retail price), but worth considering…
John Reed Books via membership with the Australian Society of Authors
Libraries are also worth considering. Companies servicing the thousands of Australian public libraries include:
Australian Library Services (ALS)
ALS partners with Australian Public libraries in book acquisition and collection development. The staff at ALS work to bring Australian-based and international publications into both schools in public libraries throughout Australia.
James Bennett Pty Ltd
Like ALS, James Bennett is library supplier that works to make print and digital publications available throughout both Australia and New Zealand. They are known for their print and digital acquisitions as well as their collection services.
Peter Pal Library Supplier
Peter Pal partners with libraries to assist them with meeting the needs of their customers. They provide help for selections, acquiring, cataloguing, processing, and distribution for a wide range of collections.
Westbooks
Westbooks is a Western Australian-based library supplier that provides quality library resources and services.
Smaller Suppliers (for schools)
St Georges Bookseller
Network Educational Australia
Endeavour Education
Boomerang Books
Awards for Luke Simons' Books
Swimming in Words was recently announced as one of five finalists in the 8TH Eyelands Book Awards; it has been shortlisted in the LGBTQIA+ category.
The Eyelands Book Awards is an international book contest jointly established 9 years ago by Eyelands literary magazine and Greek publishing house, Strange Days Books. This year, submissions were received from 33 countries. The Grand Prize winner in each of 8 categories wins 5-days accommodation in Athens, and/or translation into Greek for their title.
Also, Good Reading Magazine have included a review for The Art in My Palm in their December issue.The Art in My Palm was a Quarter-finalist recognition in the Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize—both the Aust Soc of Authors and Books+Publishing mentioned the news.
Service Above and Beyond with Tenderprint
Taken from website, may not be an accurate depiction of Tenderprint staff…
Ganga Powell needed her book for a launch in Port Fairy. Mal from Tenderprint went somewhat more than the extra mile — he drove all the way from Melbourne to Port Fairy with Ganga’s books, handed them over and drove back to Melbourne. All for no extra charge. You know you are in good hands when you have a printer willing to do that!
Recent Cover Design Work
A small selection of recent cover designs, with the usual variety of subject matter.
NLA Pre-publication Data
Remember to register your new (or existing) titles with the National Library of Australia. Once you have completed your application, you can add the notice above to the imprint page of your book.
General Prepublication Data Service application process
Use the Prepublication Data Service to make the details of your upcoming publication available to Australian libraries, library suppliers, booksellers and the general public.
Text: The Once and Future King
Adam Mastroianni makes an optimistic case for the future of text. I certainly want this to be true, and the stubborn survival of many bookstores makes it feel at least plausible. Here are a couple of quotes to give the flavour of his piece.
“I think there is a deep truth here: human desires are complex and multidimensional, and this makes them both hard to quench and hard to hack. That tinge of discontent that haunts even the happiest people, that bottomless hunger for more even among plenty—those are evolutionary defense mechanisms. If we were easier to please, we wouldn’t have made it this far. We would have gorged ourselves to death as soon as we figured out how to cultivate sugarcane.”
“I didn’t always believe this. I was persuaded on this point recently when I met an audio editor named Julia Barton, who was writing a book about the history of radio. I thought that was funny—shouldn’t the history of radio be told as a podcast?
No, she said, because in the long run, books are all that matter. Podcasts, films, and TikToks are good at attracting ears and eyes, but in the realm of ideas, they punch below their weight. Thoughts only stick around when you print them out and bind them in cardboard.
I think Barton’s thesis is right. At the center of every long-lived movement, you will always find a book.”
Can Bookstores Make a Comeback?
Music writer and popular culture critic Ted Gioia highlights the surprising resurgence of bookstores in the United States, even in the face of a declining population of readers. Let’s hope that pattern repeats here — according to an ABC News report, the last ten years have been bleak:
“In the past decade, the number of bookstores in Australia has more than halved, going from 2,879 in 2013 to 1,457 to 2023, according to an independent research site.”
Books are hanging on, just, and still retain some cultural cachet, but the attention-monster they are battling is huge and many-limbed and has screens, games, music and money and coming soon, huge AI server farms in space beaming down infinite streams of slop tailored just for you…
So, let us hope that books become some sort of talisman, a symbol that a person has not outsourced all of their thinking to Large Language Models.
One of the comments to Gioia’s article:
“Barnes & Noble is succeeding because it is inefficient by design. By letting local humans choose books, the stores create "serendipity"—the joy of finding a book you didn't know you wanted.
In an age of digital fatigue, people are increasingly willing to pay a premium for human curation over a cold algorithm.”
Scammers Uber Alles
For some reason, publishing attracts a plethora of scammers, ranging from reasonable quality books produced at ridiculously high prices, to no books at all produced, funds and scammer vanishing into the ether. This Guardian article details AI-generated staff members, deliberate misrepresentation, services that never eventuated, zombie office spaces, the same business popping up under multiple names and much more. If you have suspicions about a publisher, do some research before committing any funds. And report any shady businesses to the National Anti-Scam Centre— you might be helping someone else fall victim to these unscrupulous charlatans.
Public Lending Right is Right On (ELR/PLR)
Authors: please do not forget to register your book/s with the Public Lending Right scheme.
“Australian book publishers or creators—authors, illustrators, editors, translators and compilers—can be compensated for the loss of income through the free multiple use of their work in Australian public and educational lending libraries.”
Eligible books are books:
with an International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
which have been published and offered for sale within five years from the year of publication
which have a catalogue record in a national bibliographic database, eg SCIS or Australian National Bibliographic Database
whose creators are individuals (companies or organisations are not eligible creators)
with no more than five eligible creators.
Note: “Book” includes ebook and audiobook formats
The Society of Other History Lovers
Many independent authors write histories both local and of broader scope, or use historical research to inform their fiction. Historical societies can be a good way to network with other researchers and writers and access useful resources.
The Royal Historical Society of Victoria has an excellent online bookshop filled with interesting titles on Australian and Victorian themed history, both from independent authors and established publishers.
The RHSV assists researchers, advocates on issues related to Victoria’s historical heritage and supports affiliated local history groups. It produces regular newsletters packed with information. Members receive access to RHSV resources, archives and special events. Membership fees are as follows:
$90 for Individual Memberships
$40 for Student Memberships (student ID required)
$100 for Family memberships
$210 for Library/School Memberships
Clunes Book Weekend
Why not head out to the pretty little goldfield town of Clunes in March for the Clunes Booktown Festival? The festival features many events and stalls are open to both publishers and independent authors. I am aware of at least two authors who regularly take a table at Clunes, with positive results.
“Growing steady since 2007, the festival has a theme each year so expect the town to be dressed for the occasion, with roaming street performers, live music and plenty of local beverages and baked and grown produce on offer.”
Just two hours by train from Melbourne.
Bookbub Mastery
If you prefer the quick ascent rather than the long slog, then BookBub might be the tool for you.
Bookbub summarises itself as follows:
BookBub is a free service that helps you discover books you'll love through unbeatable deals, handpicked recommendations, and updates from your favorite authors. BookBub doesn't actually sell books. We simply introduce you to books you'll love that are available on retailers like Amazon's Kindle store, Barnes & Noble's Nook store, Apple Books, and others.
Gemini enumerates four points regarding the author-centric view of the service (featured deals) :
Submit a Deal: Apply for a "Featured Deal," offering your book for free or at a steep discount (e.g., $0.99).
Meet Quality Standards: Your book needs a professional cover, strong reviews (often 4.0+), and the first book in a series does well.
Pay a Fee: If selected (only 10-20% of submissions), you pay a fee based on your book's price, genre, and target countries.
Get Exposure: BookBub sends your deal to millions of relevant readers, generating huge downloads/sales and boosting your author platform.
Kindlepreneur has this to say:
After seeing what BookBub can do for readers, this has got to be awesome for the authors behind their recommendations, right?
And that's absolutely true. BookBub offers a second-to-none premium book promotion service for those interested. As a matter of fact, USA Today best-selling author and creator of The Self-Publishing Formula Mark Dawson has this to say about BookBub:
“BookBub is the gold standard when it comes to finding new readers, and they provide some of the best author resources in the business…”
And when he says it's the gold standard, I wholeheartedly agree. Let's review the ways that BookBub goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to handling your book promotion–both pre-order and new release.
BookBub Mastery by Nick Thacker shows authors how to how to get a Featured Deal…
...If you have a plan. In BookBub Mastery, you'll learn what BookBub really wants, and you'll learn how to give it to them. As a marketing platform it can legitimately change the lives of authors, so it's worth putting your best digital foot forward. Take control of your book marketing and launch your author career, using the world's best-ever book-marketing promotional platform. It's all here in BookBub Mastery — get started today!
For a rather more skeptical take on BookBub by Australian author Peter Ralph, checkout BookBub Rules in ebook format.
If Emus Wore Shoes, Which Ones Would They Choose?
Ganga Powell’s latest book of charming, whimsical poetry for children is out now, the poems beautifully enhanced by Eileen Curd’s illustrations.
‘If you like a good laugh,
These poems are for you.
They will make your funny bone grow
And blow your cares away!’
The book will be launched at (and will be available from) Blarney Books, 37 James Street, Port Fairy on Sunday 14 December. Kid friendly afternoon tea will be served and readings from the book performed.
You Seem Quite Intelligent... for an AI
The head of Microsoft AI discusses the risks of an AI agent that is able to simulate intelligence, yet have absolutely no inner life. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent, new models released every week by a variety of players, but fundamental problems and limitations persist.
Leave No Bookseller Unturned
Murdoch Books want to make sure their customers know where to buy their books. An excellent idea for independent authors when setting up their own sites…
Publisher Rocket and You
Authors uploading to Amazon and looking into ways to promote their title/s will eventually hear about the Publisher Rocket service. Publisher Rocket is a book marketing tool focusing solely on Amazon (which is the dominant online bookseller for both print and ebooks).
In the words of an author reviewer:
Publisher Rocket is essentially a research tool. It helps self-published authors understand what readers actually want, and how to connect with them with your books. But it's not just for self-published or independent authors—traditional publishers use it too.
Here are some things you can discover in Publisher Rocket:
What phrases Amazon buyers are actually searching for.
The psychology of how readers choose to buy books.
How much money readers are spending on certain niches and topics.
How much money specific books are making per month (for example, books that might be competing with yours).
Reddit has an interesting thread discussing the pros and cons of the service. Reviews on Trust Pilot are quite positive. To be used in conjunction with Dave Chesson’s blog (Chesson is the founder of Publisher Rocket)