Entries Tagged 'Festivals' ↓

Yesterday’s ‘Whole Shebang’ session at MWF was a full day of professional development for about 110 folks building a career in writing and publishing. Guests included publishers, agents, editors and authors who dished amazing facts and information about the Australian writing and publishing industry. I was honoured to provide a presentation too, and sat in on the whole day, absorbing the wealth of wisdom shared. Highlights? Let’s start with the publishers sessions:

Bob Sessions, the gentlemanly publisher of Penguin, gave an overview of Australian book publishing ‘at this crucial moment in its evolution’. He acknowledged the rise and rise of eBooks, but pointed out that last year in Australia, Penguin sold 7 million books compared to 500,000 eBooks – ‘we are not experiencing the end of the book, but a watershed in the history of publishing and writing’. While acknowledging the instant gratification of one-click eBook purchase, Sessions championed the pBook as a cultural artefact of enduring value: ‘our books on our shelves in our homes says something about our culture.’

Sessions shared a fascinating insight: multinational media conglomerates, which own newspapers, magazines and film studios, try to ensure that they also own a publishing house – like Murdoch with Harper Colllins – because they are hoping to mine gold: the million dollar success story that often begins with an author’s brilliant idea. ‘Some of the best ideas start in books – writers are the best ideas people.’

So for Sessions, no matter the format, a publisher is still an ‘ideas facilitator’ or a ‘cultural business person’, who must filter, tailor and fund ideas – ideas which begin with the author.

Sue Hines, Publishing Director from the Australian-owned Allen&Unwin made an impression, striding up to the lectern claiming: ‘I’m a revolutionary – bring on the future!’ Allen & Unwin now produce an eBook version of every book they publish (except pictorial rich ones, due to tech constraints). Their business model is that eBooks staff will be integrated throughout the publishing house, resourcing another process in the complex series of interlocking steps involved in publishing. She is adamant that the role of the publisher and editor will continue.

Hines sees the real challenge for publishers as how to sell into the electronic market, without the bricks’n'mortar shopfronts for customers to browse. Publishers need to develop ways to get customers’ attention online: ‘the revolution is here – now we just need to work out what the new world will look like.’

Hines’s shared an interesting observation from her international experience in publishing. Publishers tend to describe their roles in metaphors: in Australia, it used to be that publishers compared themselves to caring professions – handmaidens and midwives. When Hines asked her New York colleagues, no one used caring metaphors – instead they saw themselves as generals, quarterbacks and gamblers. But when she returned to Australia, she found it a rougher and tougher place. Australian publishers now see themselves as orchestra conducters, team players – gone are the midwives of Australian books.

Ending on a positive note, Hines stated that the ‘new world’ will give writers more chance of getting published.

Aviva Tuffield also had positive news and useful insights for Australian authors. Tuffield was hired as Fiction Acquistions Editor at Scribe in 2006 specifically to build an Australian fiction list, and has achieved incredible success. After spending the first 5 years just getting Scribe on the fiction publishing landscape, Tuffield has gone on to develop an amazing list: 3 out of 5 of Scribe’s top bestsellers last year were fiction.

Tuffield reported that Henry Rosenbloom, founder and publisher of the independent Scribe, has a philosophy of publishing ‘books that do good as well as doing well’.
Tuffield works to a broad brief of finding and publishing ‘quality fiction’. She said for her, it’s the writing that matters, especially that ‘the narrative voice is very important for a writer to find – it’s about communication with readers– a sense of audience’. Tuffield hunts for promising manuscripts via literary agents, but also scours literary journals and competitions (and not just the winners). She urged authors to get their work out there – ‘it’s both an art and a craft.’

Tuffield is also a big believer in ‘late-bloomers’: the Scribe CAL prize for over-35s closes on Sept 15. Last year, out of 530 entries, the winner was chosen – and a 72 year old woman from rural NSW achieved her lifelong dream of being published – and Scribe then chose to publish the two shortlisted winners as well. These odds are much better than those facing unsolicited manuscripts.

Tuffield concluded by emphasizing that one major strength of small publishers is the care and attention they give their authors. Small publishers have limited marketing budgets, so they rely on good reviews and word-of-mouth to drive sales – which means they will take the time and effort to work with each author on each project to make it the best possible book it can be.

All up, The Whole Shebang provided a great industry overview from the publishers presenting. Next, I’ll share the highlights from amazing presentations by Clare Forster, literary agent, and Tom Cho, author and grants write, among others.

But right now I have to head in to MWF to catch a crime panel!

Byron Bay turned on the charm for its most successful writers festival yet. It was wonderful to see the vision and talent of outgoing (in every sense of the word) Festival Director, Jeni Caffin, and her team so well rewarded. New Director, experienced arts journo and author Candy Baker, was introduced at the launch party, where the AWM crew also had the chance to meet a swag of authors, including Simon and Darren Groth, Amy Barker, Angela Meyer, Steve Cannane, Krissy Kneen…

Festival highlights included Brett Easton Ellis behaving badly with Ramona Koval, then dishing the goods on his craft and process in conversation with ABC’s Simon Marnie. BBWF 2010 was Ellis’s first ever appearance at a writers festival – anywhere, ever -  and he did not disappoint.

Singapore was well represented at BBWF again this year, with the lyrical charm of poet Alvin Pang, and the  firecracker wit of multi-talented Shamini Flint, author of the wonderful Inspector Singh series, as well as many CYA titles…

The AWM crew also had the chance to deliver an authors’ publication primer workshop, Nuts and Bolts 2010: a jam-packed day with 50 or so emerging writers in attendance. The content was great, from presenters such as Hachette Australia’s Vanessa Radnidge and Red Hill Publishing’s Rob Collings – I’ll share the notes here over the next couple of days.

A writer has brought this to my attention: a recruitment notice on the job site Seek for writers of children’s books. While it certainly seems to be an exciting opportunity, this approach raises a few questions: how does a publisher responsibly handle the potentially high number of submissions resulting from such a wide call out? How does a writer investigate the suitablity and credibility of the publisher involved, when so little information is supplied? And note, the burden of proof here is on the aspiring author, who must provide a CV and a sample, while the publisher provides only an email address. I’m interested to know, would you respond to this type of call out for manuscripts?

Over at Publishers Weekly there’s an amazing example of how digital publishing is both challenging and complementing traditional publishing: Kemble Scott released an e-reader edition of his second The Sower through scridbd.com, and quickly gained interest from a range of publishers. Since it was available as print-on-demand, The Sower did not have to wait the standard year or more to work it’s way through the traditional publishing process, which kept its contemporary cultural references fresh. Scott clearly understands marketing very well, and has great relationships with independent booksellers in the Bay Area. Now published in a limited hardcover edition, The Sower has reached the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list. Says Scott, "This book was completely done outside all of the traditional gatekeepers of publishing… [P]eople can read the book for its merits and its content and not for the way it was published.”

Lastly folks, TINA is nearly upon us! This Is Not Art: Independent, Emerging and Experimental Arts Festival includes the National Young Writers Festival, as well as the Crack Theatre Festival, Sound Summit, Electrofringe and Critical Animals. So if you like writing, poetry, spoken word, zines or comics, get involved! TINA runs from 1-5 October in Newcastle Australia, so go for the festivals, and check out the beaches while you’re there…

Write on!

Melbourne Writers Festival update:

Robert Sessions left the UK for Australia looking for the promised land, or at least a gig in publishing. He found both, and 47 years later has headed publishing in Penguin Australia for 20 years. He spoke for nearly an hour at The Whole Shebang this morning. I wish he’d spoken for two, because he only had time to hint at issues on the horizon like digital publishing and the parallel importation of books.

He gave a brief history of Australian publishing. Did you know that, back in the day, Penguin attempted to open a bookstore? Nobody came, because readers don’t want the restriction of one publisher and its imprints – they want to graze across the full range of titles published. A sage lesson for contemporary publishers who seek to establish their house brand over author recognition.

Sessions told us about the halcyon days when the ratio of front list (new titles) to back list was 40%-60%. Nowadays it’s more like 70-30%. That means venerable old titles are written off, and vulnerable new titles have a crucial window in which to Sell or Die.
Sessions’s top tip: Penguin likes to hear from you by email. Send your synopsis through, when your project is ready, and you’ll hear back reasonably promptly as to whether they want to read more. (This from a man who carries around 60+ manuscripts on his eReader – I wonder when publishers have time to read for, y’know, pleasure. Methinks it is an enjoyment foregone by those who love the artform most – quite a sacrifice).

The next Whole Shebang presenter, Louise Swinn from Sleepers Publishing, is a younger but no less invaluable contributor to the Australian publishing landscape. Louise spoke with Brendan Gullifer (debut author of Sold) about the journey of his book. Louise, Zoe (publisher with Sleepers also) and Brendan all still have their day jobs – and perhaps we would expect this of an author, but to think of a respected literary publishing house being fueled by the passion and dedication of a pair of moonlighters is as surprising as it is inspiring.

Most fascinating insight from this panel: Louise sees books in colour, a synaesthesiac editor – her explanation of how she comprehends and develops manuscripts was like hearing Michelangelo discussing his plans for the ceiling of the Cistine!
‘There’s only one thing more painful than being a writer, and that’s being married to one.’ Brendan Gullifer’s wife approved the sale of the family home to support his writing. They have three kids. Such are the sacrifices writers are willing to make to develop their career.  And his novel sounds like an interesting window into the real estate idealism dominating the Australian psyche.

That’s a plug, folks…

So many books in the festival bookstore, so little cash to spend. I’m going with Lisa Lutz, but that’s cos I’m a crime fic fan girl. Did I mention I bagged an invite to the Davitt Awards tonight? Squeeeeeee!

Okay, Now I’ve finished my Borek (Turkish spanikopota) and my blog post, I’ll get back into The Whole Shebang. It’s another incredible opportunity  to learn about the Australian literary community. Arts VIC, City of Lit, VWC … more juicy facts and figures about what’s available for writers.

Byron Bay Writers Festival has been and gone for another year. The writers, the weather, co-chairing the Nuts&Bolts professional development seminar , doing vox pops with authors, and chairing a session on historical fiction in the SCU Marquee – it all added up to an immersive experience in the world of writing and publishing that will nourish me for months to come.

Now I am preparing for Melbourne Writers Festival. Busy month. But before I move on from Byron enitrely, I want to continue the wrap up. I had the chance to speak at length with Peter Bishop, Creative Director of Varuna, a man I am dubbing Australia’s least known and most important contributor to literary culture.

Peter spoke about his life, and how he did not follow the beaten track to get where he is. Writing is an industry of a million written and unwritten rules, but he argues that following them does not guarantee results. Rather, Peter encourages writers to be rebels, not to kotow to any particular rules or guidelines for success, but to devote your energies to challenging yourself and finding your voice. It was thought-provoking stuff for one to hear who had just spent a day involved in delivering a professional development seminar for writers. Had I just spent a day involved in telling writers the rules to follow, the recipe for success?

Upon reflection, I realise that my passion for community and professional development for writers is more about linking people together – online writing peers, industry leaders, regional writers, etc – than providing instructions. There is a wealth of resources available for writers to tap into to develop themselves and their craft, but at different points in a writer’s career, it can be difficult to know where those resources are. Writing is a craft: there are masters, apprentices, cohorts. There are a raft of tools and approaches that different writers can select for their toolkit, tailored to their own interests, genres, and stages of career.

Beyond that, Peter’s final point is one that struck a deep chord in me. There is a crucial and lively conversation, between writers and on writing, extending through the whole literary world from publishers to readers. I encourage every writer to nuture their imaginative space by finding ways to connect with this broader conversation: through festivals, writers groups, courses, writers centres, fellowships … Wherever and however you can, find your peers, your buddies, your mentors and teachers - because that will help you find your own stories and develop your own voice.

Tristan Bancks is running a BBWF 09 workshop You’ve got to be kidding! on writing novels for children. He has also co-authored a YA novel its yr life with former Home and Away co-star Tempany Deckhart. They teamed up between Australia and LA via email to write a suspense novel filled with links, web references and partly written in text-speak: interesting that the online collaboration method of writing is reflected in the composition and digital enrichment of the book itself.

The Write Around the Murray Festival offers events, workshops, school programs and more, reflecting the vibrant literary culture around Albury City and region.

Check out SavingAussieBooks – go for the lols, but stay for Darren Groth’s irrefutable ’stache-tastic logic in The Magnum PI Arguwrite Against PI.

Today was the final day for submissions to Hachette Australia and QWC’s national manuscript development competition, with QWC receiving close to 200 submissions. To everyone who submitted, hearty congratulations for taking that big step and putting your manuscript out there… Give yourself a pat on the back, and enjoy a glass of your preferred celebratory beverage!

Have a happy writing weekend, all.

A lucky Speakeasy reader is on a writer’s retreat in Fiji with Australian fantasy author, Kate Forsyth. Katrina has taken the time to drop us a line and let us know how it’s going…

Hi Meg!

Katrina

Thanks, Katrina – sounds inspiring! Speakeasy is always happy to hear from writers about how you develop your craft.

Byron Bay Writers Festival Special Price
Feeling inspired to nurture your knowledge about the art and busines of writing? Byron Bay Writers Festival is offering AWMonline subscribers the special price of $55 (normal price is $75) if they book into the all-day seminar ‘Nuts and Bolts: so you want to be a writer’ at the Bryon Bay Writers Festival, presented by The Australian Writer’s Marketplace on Thursday 6 August. 

Please note: This discount is a special one-off offer for the Nuts and Bolts seminar only and does not include entry to the full festival.

Hula Hoop virtuosa, Judith Lanigan

Did you know the hula hoop was first sold in Australia?

Hula Hoop virtuosa and ASA Mentorship Award recipient, Judith Lanigan, writes for and about circus, and will be attending her first Byron Bay Writers Festival this year to discuss her forthcoming book A True History of the Hula Hoop. I recovered from my flu/school holidays double whammy sufficiently to catch up with Judith, to find out her top tips for festival fun, and how her unique book came into being…

MV: What is it you look forward to most about BBWF 09?

The release of my first novel, and also talking on a panel with Louis Nowra about historical research for historical fiction, having read his book Ice, about a man’s attempt to bring an iceberg to Sydney before refrigeration, towed behind a ship. It was fascinating and the thorough research he so obviously did into the time made it a very evocative story.

MV: I will be chairing that session (Sunday 12.15pm SCU Marquee) – can’t wait! Did attending writers festivals help develop your writing craft/career when you were a developing writer?

I found that listening to writers talk about their development process informed me as to opportunities to take advantage of, like the Australian Society of Authors mentorship award, which led to me being published by Picador, and the Varuna Award, in the early stages of the book, which allowed me to have a consultation with Peter Bishop, who gave me very valuable advice.

MV: What are your Top Tips for making the most of Byron Bay Writers Festival?

The Writers Cabaret!

MV: What other sessions are you doing at BBWF ‘09?

I will be speaking on a panel about transitions from the stage to the page. For me, as a performer you learn (eventually) that the state the audience is in is the responsibility of the performer. There is no such thing as a bad audience. The performer should be able to take them to the mood or emotion, where the audience is then open to being taken where the performer wants them to go, and I think that is the same for a book. If I get the chance I would also like to disucss the theories of modern clown as it applies to constructing characters for story. The way the essential vulnerability of the character is essential to the story arc, and the emotional involvement of the audience/reader. And I am interested in hearing what Denise Scott and Tristan Bancks have to say about their experience. 

MV: Your book sounds like an amazing project – part personal experience, part history, part fiction. How did you develop the idea for your book?

A True History of the Hula Hoop is a bit of a documentation in fiction, of the work I have been doing during the past ten years. I originally started it as three separate stories, and after discussing them with Peter Bishop of Varuna, I mentioned that I usually lied to people about what I did because it was hard to answer all the questions – for example from taxi drivers etc. He suggested that a combination of my stories could answer all those questions, in a fictional novel.

I had become fascinated at one point with the origin of the hula hoop, not believing that it was "invented" in America in the late 50’s, so I set out to trace its development, and found that it was actually first sold in Australia.

At the same time I was researching the history of female clown, and found the first mentions of a company of clowns that were kidnapped on their way to do a gig for the KIng of France in 1572. And in writing my own personal history of the hula hoop in a fiction form, I found what ties those stories together.

MV: Thank you so much, Judtih, for sharing your thoughts with our Speakeasy readers. I look forward to chatting with you more at BBWF’09!

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A quick reminder that the Writing Race is on again tonight for AWMonline subscribers. Log in at 7.45pm to let us know your writing goals, then Race to get as much as you can done between 8-9pm. Last week, John Birmingham joined us to provide inspiration and motivation – he gave some great feedback to our beginner writers to help them move forward through their writing projects. Thanks, John!

For current updates on celebrity guest Racers, follow AWMonline on twitter, or join our Facebook group.

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Alice Hoffman (Practical Magic) has discovered a creative new application for Twitter: revenge, After a less-than-glowing review of her new book, she tweeted critic Roberta Silman’s phone number and email address, urging fans to communicate their displeasure with ’snarky critics’. Fortunately, Hoffman got the number wrong, and Silman enjoyed her weekend away uninterrupted. Neither was her inbox inundated with complaints. Hoffman has apologised, her reputation in tatters. Here’s a good article summarising the spat, with links to sites that still have some of the original tweets (Hoffman’s Twitter account is no more). It certainly gives pause to consider the issues this has raised in terms of an author’s online presence.

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The Queensland literary scene is on fire this year, with ten (and counting) debut authors launching their books across a range off genres. One of the reasons for this surge in publications has been the mentoring and fostering of new writers by established authors, and a prime mover in establishing this supportive literary community has been author Nick Earls. Today we talk with Nick , fresh from his rocking book launch at the Powerhouse last night, about Byron Bay Writers Festival.

Sp: Have you attended/appeared at BBWF before – if so, what is your favourite BBWF moment?

NE: Yes. The time I was on a panel with a major TV star who is now also a writer, and he appeared to be hungover after the night before but turned out to be still drunk. The panel was unchairable, but compelling. I’d always heard about the panels at previous festivals where someone had gone feral. Finally I was part of it.

Sp: What is it you most value or look forward to about BBWF 09?

NE: The environment is hard to beat. The audience members behave like they love to be there. And there’s a beach to run on.

Sp: Did attending writers festivals help develop your writing craft/career when you were a developing/emerging writer?

NE: Yes, I quite often learned something, and not always from the big-name novelists. Once I heard Wendy Harmer (back when she was a comedian and hadn’t written books) talk about writing comedy, and about when to be general and when to be specific, and how differently they worked. Sometimes you should say biscuit, sometimes it just has to be Tim Tam. She’s right, and what she said still has a bearing on my writing. 

Sp: What are your Top Tips for making the most of Byron Bay Writers Festival?

NE: For authors: eat and drink anything free that comes your way. Okay, eat everything, but maybe don’t drink everything. Do try to deliver when it’s your turn to speak.

For audience members: make the most of the laid-back atmosphere. If you see a writer you want to talk to, go up and talk to them. 

Sp: Can you please select a topic from your BBWF session/s, and briefly share your thoughts on it?

NE: ‘Meet Nick Earls’ – surely that topic’s irresistible. I hear sometimes he throws cash into the audience. (Okay, maybe not …)

SP: Please tell us about your current book/project.

NE: This year’s story, The True Story of Butterfish, exists as both a novel and a play. The central character, Curtis Holland, is 35 and after his band breaks up he moves back to Brisbane to reconnect with his brother and work out what’s next in his life. I realised he wanted a small world and that the best way to tell the story was with as few characters as possible. I ended up with six and, as I got to know them, they felt like a more natural fit as a play cast than any of my four novels that have been adapted for theatre. So I wrote the story as a play as well as a novel, and I alternated drafts. The novel’s out now, the play is on at the Powerhouse in Brisbane in Oct.

You can follow Nick on Twitter at twitter.com/nickearls. He’s as hilarious as he is generous.

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Also at Nick’s book launch last night was author John Birmingham, who took a break from his Spartan writing regime to enjoy the festivities. John will be joining us at AWMonline next Tuesday night to lead us on to great word counts at the Writing Race: log in around 7.45pm AEST for an hour’s dedicated writing time from 8-9pm. If John’s tweets are anything to go by, the man is a (fabulous) writing machine. Can’t wait!

Have a lovely weekend, folks, and happy writing.

Writers festivals, that is. Our festival roundup today includes a peek at the Voices on the Coast youth literary festival line-up, as well as a brief interview with the wonderful Australian author Linda Jaivin about the Byron Bay Writers Festival.

Byron Bay Writers Festival runs from 7-9 August 2009 (Workshops from 3 August). BBWF guest Linda Jaivin’s first novel, the comic-erotic Eat Me became an international bestseller, published in a dozen countries and almost as many languages. Now an internationally published novelist, essayist, cultural commentator, playwright, specialist writer on China and translator (from Chinese), Linda shares with us her thoughts on BBWF past and present.

Sp: Have you attended/appeared at BBWF before – if so, what is your favourite BBWF moment?

LJ: Probably the conversation I did with Di Morrissey in which she told a hilarious story involving her lawn, a cage, a nightgown, and a delivery boy. Also, the rather evocative signing by the interpreter for the deaf during a rather racy conversation about erotic literature; we kept upping the ante just to see how what we were talking about would be translated.

Sp: What is it you most value or look forward to about BBWF 09?

LJ: The chance to see old friends and make new ones, and to watch the sun come up over the ocean. Cages, nightgowns, delivery boys.

Sp: What are your Top Tips for making the most of Byron Bay (or any) Writers Festival?

LJ: Go to hear at least one author about whom you know nothing. Find some time to sit down with a good book. Eat, drink, be merry.

Sp: Can you please select a topic from your BBWF session/s, and briefly share your thoughts on it?

LJ: I’d like to talk about the insights that the writing of my new book, A Most Immoral Woman, gave me into the possibilities and limitations of historical fiction, women’s sexuality at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, and the portrayal of China in fiction. 

[You can hear Ramona Koval of The Book Show interview Linda about A Most Immoral Woman here.]

Sp: Please tell us about your current book/project.

LJ: I’ve started a new novel which, like A Most Immoral Woman, is largely set in the waning years of Qing Dynasty China. I’m also writing the libretto for an opera based on a Ming Dynasty story which, if all goes to plan, will premiere in Beijing with a leading Peking Opera company next year.

Sp: Thank you for sharing these BBWF insights with us, Linda. I have the good fortune to be chairing a BBWF session featuring Linda on Sunday 9 August – it will be a fantastic opportunity to explore the issues she mentions here. Joining Linda will be Keven Rabalais, Louis Nowra, and Judith Lanagan, so it will be a fun and fascinating session!

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Voices on the Coast (Buderim, Qld) presents an interesting line-up of wonderful YA authors, including Morris Gleitzman, Shaun Tan, James Moloney, Maureen McCarthy and Hilary Badger (associate to the author H.I. Larry of Zac Power fame).

The dates for the festival are Wednesday 15 July – Secondary School Day and Thursday 16 July – Primary School Day, Week One of Term Three. Talks will be priced at $6.50 and workshops will be $12.50 per person.

View the winners of the Voices on the Coast writing competition here.

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