Publisher Scam Spotted

Euan Mitchell, musician, author and editor extraordinaire reports on a fairly sophisticated phishing scam:

Today I got a personalised email that claimed to be from Hachette Book Group wanting to know if I was currently working on another book. It mentioned the titles of some of my books as well as OverDog Press, so it wasn't a bulk email. Then I checked whether the alleged sender Gabrielle Gambrell is actually a legit employee of Hachette Book Group. She is.

However, I was still suspicious because the email address had an extra 'h' in the company's usual email domain name. So I Googled the email address and the word "scam" and Google AI confirmed it IS a scam. I don't want you or any of your authors caught out by this, so I've copied below what Google AI replied to my enquiry.

The email address gabrielle.gambrell@hhbgusa.com is a scam.

This is a classic phishing and typosquatting attempt designed to impersonate Gabrielle Gambrell, who is the legitimate Chief Communications Officer at Hachette Book Group (HBG). [1]

Here is why you should not interact with this email:

• Fake Domain: The legitimate, official domain used by Hachette Book Group for all employee communications is @hbgusa.com. The scam email uses @hhbgusa.com (with an extra "h"), which is a malicious domain registered by scammers to trick you. [1, 2]

• Impersonation Tactic: Scammers frequently spoof the names of real executives and editors at major publishing houses. Their goal is usually to bait writers into fake publishing contracts, request "advance fees" for editing or marketing, or steal sensitive personal and financial data. [1]

According to the official Hachette Book Group Fraud Alert page, legitimate employees will never email you from alternative domains or solicit payments to publish a manuscript. Block the sender immediately and do not reply or click any links. [1, 2]

So beware of unsolicited emails, even ones that appear legitimate or plausible. If only the scammers used their obvious creative talents for good rather than evil…

Donald Robertson discusses his new book

Donald Robertson discusses his recently published memoir with John Schumann, noted Australian musician and former member of Redgum. Bookings are open and the event will take place at the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel in SA on 28 October.

Donald Robertson in conversation with John Schumann

ByRoadrunnertwice

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Governor Hindmarsh Hotel (Balcony Bar)Hindmarsh, SA

Wednesday, October 28  •  6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Overview

Former Roadrunner and Countdown Magazine editor Donald Robertson talks to John Schumann about his new memoir/anthology 'My Back Pages'

‘Resigned as I am to the fact that neither Redgum nor I will rate anything more than a passing mention in this book, truth compels me to say this: as a writer, Donald has always been able to find his way from the uppercase to the period with elegance, insight, erudition and what passes for humour among the Scottish.’ —John Schumann.

The Governor Hindmarsh's Balcony Bar is a private upstairs room with its own bar, sound system and staff. Note - access to the Balcony Bar is by stairway only.

Signed copies of 'My Back Pages' will be available to purchase on the night.

Details of the book, including a list of contents, are available on the roadrunnertwice website - https://roadrunnertwice.com.au/2026/08/my-back-pages/

Main image above: Donald Robertson in the Roadrunner office, Kent Town, 1981. Photo by Eric Algra.

Advocating for Authors: Anna Featherstone

Marketing is a fraught issue for many indie authors: a mysterious area of the publishing process neglected at their peril. I often encourage author clients to seek professi0nal help with the complexities of book marketing, steering away from the many scams and time and money-wasting activities that lie in their path.

Anna Featherstone has much experience in the indie publishing world, and excellent feedback from Indie authors. Here’s an outline of her approach as taken from her website:

Think of me as YOUR author advocate. I work for you. With you. I want you to succeed!

I’ll give you:

• immediate ideas

• tips and tools

• action plans

• honesty and encouragement (one client called me a ‘jellybean on steroids’)

• industry insights

I guarantee I’ll be generous with ideas, knowledge and support, and will tell it to you straight.

I can assist you during these stages:

• book planning and focus

• writing and manuscript assessments

• proposals/pitching

• finding suppliers/contacts

• publishing (indie or trad)

• marketing/publicity

• and the entrepreneurial side and leveraging.

Anna also has a book filled with useful resources for Indie authors of non-fiction.

Shane Worrell's books now available

Shane Worrell recently worked with us on design and layout for six of his novels (see image above). All are available from his website and at very reasonable prices from IngramSpark.

“I write emotional realism and satirical fiction in multiple formats — novel, novella, short story, poem, play and news parody.

My books are published in paperback by Eve Street Press.

You can walk into your local bookshop and order copies of these books or buy them online here through distributor Ingram:”

— Shane Worrell

https://www.shaneworrell.com/books/

Book Marketing: You are Running a Marathon, Not a Sprint

YouTube channel The Guerilla Publisher has some excellent, practical advice for authors. Watch the whole video!

She summarises her overall argument: “Most books vanish shortly after release. Learn why book marketing fails during that critical window and how to keep momentum going. Many authors pour energy into their launch week, only to see sales flatline immediately after. This video breaks down why that happens and the common traps writers fall into when trying to sustain interest in their work. We analyze the lifecycle of a book release to help you understand what actually keeps readers engaged beyond the initial hype cycle. Whether you are a debut author or a seasoned writer, understanding the mechanics of book promotion is essential for long-term visibility. We look at real-world examples, including lessons from popular culture, to explain the difference between a fleeting moment of attention and lasting author success. Stop relying on short-term spikes and start building a strategy that keeps your writing relevant.”

Essentially — be focused, be patient and think medium to long-term. This is not the old world of books being weeded from bookstores because the latest releases are coming in. Your book will be perpetually available online, so plan and act accordingly…

Been There, Done That Book Launch...

Alistair Smith reports back on the launch of his amusing travel book Been There, Done That:

“The launch went very well, and my presentation was well received.  Lots of laughter all round as we made it an afternoon of fun rather than a traditional book launch, with some door prizes, a trivia session and other competitions as well as my talk about my life as a travel writer.

It was held at Bayswater Bowls Club where I am a life member, and I don’t know how these numbers stack up in the normal course of things but we had more than 60 people there and I sold more than 40 books.

Very happy with the outcome.”

Available from all reputable online online bookstores, and possibly a few disreputable ones as well…

How to Prepare a Word Doc for book layout

Here are some simple and practical tips for preparing a word document for successful formatting in a layout package (in this case, InDesign)

Use Word's built-in Styles, not manual formatting

This is the single biggest time-saver for you and the easiest habit for them to learn.

• Apply Heading 1 for chapter titles, Heading 2 for subheadings, Normal/Body Text for paragraphs — using the Styles panel, not just changing font size/bold manually

• Avoid pressing Enter multiple times to create space — that space won't map cleanly to InDesign; space should come from paragraph spacing settings, not blank lines

• Avoid pressing Tab or the spacebar to indent the first line of paragraphs — set a first-line indent in the paragraph style instead, since InDesign will import tab characters as literal characters that need cleaning up

• Keep italics/bold as actual character formatting (Ctrl/Cmd+I or B), not a different font

Keep the structure clean and consistent

• One consistent style for chapter breaks (e.g. always start a new chapter with a page break, not a bunch of manual returns)

• Turn off Word's automatic numbered/bulleted lists for anything except true lists — autonumbering can behave unpredictably on import

• Remove any manual page breaks except where they're structurally meaningful (end of chapter, part divisions)

• Strip out multiple consecutive spaces (a Find & Replace for two spaces → one space catches most of this)

Indicating images, illustrations, and diagrams

• Don't embed the final high-resolution image in the Word doc — file size bloats and quality often degrades on paste

• Insert a low-res placeholder or simply a clearly labelled placeholder line, e.g. [IMAGE: Figure 3 – map of settlement, see file "fig03_map.jpg"] on its own paragraph

• Supply the actual image files separately as a numbered folder (fig01, fig02, etc.) matching the placeholder labels exactly

• If captions are needed, have them type the caption text directly under the placeholder so you're not guessing at wording later

• For diagrams/tables built in Word, note whether they want it recreated in InDesign or supplied as a separate image — Word tables often need to be rebuilt anyway rather than imported directly

Other useful to-do items

• One file, not a fragmented one-file-per-chapter approach — easier to manage styles consistently across a single document

• Turn on Track Changes off / all changes accepted before sending — a manuscript full of tracked edits will import as a mess

• Remove headers/footers/page numbers from the Word file — these get rebuilt in InDesign to match the final trim size and design anyway, so leaving them in just adds clutter to strip out

• Confirm front matter is included but flagged: title page, copyright page text, dedication, table of contents (you'll rebuild the ToC in InDesign, so they don't need to format it — just needs the correct chapter titles listed)

• Ask them to do a final spelling/grammar pass before sending, since fixing typos after layout is far more time-consuming (text reflows, page counts shift)

• Save as .docx (not .doc or Google Docs export) to avoid style-mapping issues

Why?

Word styles are like labelled folders — InDesign reads the labels, not the way it looks on your screen. If you manually make something look like a heading without labelling it as one, InDesign won't recognise it as a heading. And if there are multiple levels of headings, determining the heading’s place in the hierarchy can be diffiicult.

Be Your Own Bookstore with IngramSpark's Share and Sell

IngramSpark Australia has reportedly begun a gradual rollout of the direct ecommerce storefront and "Share and Sell" feature to selected Australian author accounts.

How IngramSpark users can Check and Prepare for Access

• Check Your Dashboard: Log into your IngramSpark Account and look at your title features. Some Australian indie authors report seeing the basic storefront and shareable link options added to their accounts as of mid-2026.

• Verify Contact Settings: Ensure your account email is fully updated in your account settings. IngramSpark pushes regional feature updates to active users directly via email as rollouts expand. [1]

• Review the Terms: Once active, keep in mind that while the feature handles sales tax and fulfillment directly out of the local Australian printing facility, it does have a standard processing fee per transaction. Unfortunately, it does not pass down reader data or conversion tracking, which would have been a very useful feature for more data-driven authors.

If it has not turned up yet, you can contact IngramSpark Support to request beta integration for your author portal.

Launch of Colossus of the Goldfields in Castlemaine

Historian Dr Bob Marmion is launching his biography of J.E.N Bull, a major figure in the history of the Victorian goldfields. The launch is being held in Castlemaine on 30 August 2026, and anyone interested in Victorian colonial history is encouraged to attend. Tickets available here.

Dr Bob Marmion is a full member of the Professional Historians Association (Vic). He is an accomplished historian and educator with many years of experience. He has a special interest in Australian military history and Victorian colonial history and has spent many years researching and writing about Victoria's defence history from 1803 through to 1945.

Back cover description of Colossus of the Goldfields:

Colonel John Edward Newell Bull was one of the most influential people on the Victorian goldfields in the 19th century. He was a real man of the times – Imperial soldier, social reformer, engineer, magistrate, goldfields administrator and civic leader.

Born into a British Establishment family in 1806, he was heavily influenced by his Christian faith, his father’s military service and the prevailing liberal thinking of the time.

In the 1840s, he was responsible for building the main western highway across the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. After leaving NSW in 1852, he went onto have a stellar career on the central Victorian goldfields, initially at Bendigo and then at Mount Alexander.

During the early 1850s, the goldfields were a hotbed of unrest, crime and change. John Bull took a very liberal approach to digger agitation. He recognised that the miners were not anti-Establishment but rather they were complaining about the conditions on the goldfields. He listened to the miners and attempted to address their grievances. This approach avoided the rebellion and bloodshed at Eureka a year later.

Bull was to play a major role in the establishment of Castlemaine as a town. He was involved in setting up the local municipalities, hospitals, schools, churches, sporting clubs and the local Volunteer Rifle Corps to name a few. Records show that he was involved in at least 32 organisations.

John Bull was caught up in a number of legal disputes in later years which eventually led to him being declared bankrupt. He eventually lost all his property and possessions.

He died at Goulburn in New South Wales in 1901.

Butchers of Colac Sold Out (for now)

Alan Doyle’s very specific local history has found an enthusiastic audience at a book launch in Colac. The following post is from the Colac and District Family History Group:

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗮𝘄𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 — 𝗔 𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗰 𝟭𝟴𝟰𝟵–𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

Five years of research, countless phone calls, interviews, photographs and stories… and now the first print run has sold out. More copies of Butchers of Colac 1849–2026 will be available soon.

It was a wonderful afternoon at the History Centre as members, friends, butchers past and present, and their families gathered for the launch of Alan Doyle’s remarkable book.

Amy Baudinette, President of the Colac Chamber of Commerce, officially launched the book, speaking warmly about the hard work of small businesses and the importance of preserving local histories before they are lost.

Robyn Currie then joined Alan “In Conversation”, exploring why he chose Colac’s butchers as his subject, the five years of research involved, and the memorable stories uncovered along the way.

Over afternoon tea, memories came flooding back — the sawdust on the floor, the worn chopping block, the butcher rhythmically sharpening his knives while carrying on a conversation, then the familiar clang and rattle as they dropped back into the metal pouch at his waist.

More than just a history of butcher shops, this beautiful book captures the people, personalities and traditions that shaped Colac for generations.

Photographs: Alan Doyle and Robyn Currie "in conversation" discuss the process of researching and writing the book

Amy Baudinette, President Colac Chamber of Commerce - officially launches the book

Alan signing one of the last copies of his book. If you missed out the good news is that there are going to be more books printed.

Larisa and the Speaker of Truth by Maria Stefanidis

Neos Kosmos has an interesting article on Maria Stefanidis and her latest novel Larisa and the Speaker of Truth.

“The catalyst for the novel was the Cretan hero Manolis Bikakis, dubbed the Greek Rambo.

“Manolis’ courageous resistance in defending the constitutional and self-governing rights of my birthplace Cyprus in the 1974 war offered me with a substance to create my own fictional character in commando Dimitri Geogiou,” Stefanidis told Neos Kosmos.”

Larisa and the Speaker of Truth will be available at the Bilingual Book Shop in Kogarah, Sydney, various Dymocks bookstores and on Amazon as a paperback, hardcopy or eBook. The ISBN is: 978-1-7646890-0-7

Authors Finding Audiences in New Ways

Queensland author and science communicator Toby Hendy has posted a very interesting video about promoting her first book. She discusses the tsunami of AI generated slop books on Amazon, the difficulties of discovery on bookselling platforms, the low returns for authors in traditional bookstores, and how she went about producing her own book, finding an audience, using Shopify, finding a reliable warehousing solution and negotiating the intricacies of international shipping and duties. All very practical and interesting, and a genuine alternative to the Amazon POD route… Some links to her online bookstore and an article on the uses of crowdfunding for authors:

A Guide to Making Friends in the Fourth Dimension - Paperback Paperback

Learn more about Shopify by visiting: https://shopify.com/tibees

My bookstore: https://tibees.com/

Kevin Kelly's article: https://kk.org/thetechnium/everything... When publishing this way (printing in bulk) it's important to do pre-orders or crowdfunding to know how many books to print. Kevin's article talks about his crowdfunding methods. In case you're wondering, it is possible to do print-on-demand and sell directly. Ingram Spark offers selling direct as a service only to US and UK authors.

He Read 200 Self-Published Books...

The narrator of this video does a pretty good job of highlighting some of the common errors that independent authors make, even if they are quite competent writers. Keep in mind that the video is essentially an ad for his publishing service, but useful nonetheless.

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…

• Alliance Distribution Services

• Peribo

• Simon and Schuster

• John Reed Books via membership with the Australian Society of Authors

• Woodslane

• 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 

    1. Network Educational Australia 

    2. Endeavour Education 

    3. Boomerang Books 

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.”

— Office for the Arts

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