Professional and Industry Updates

This page lists changes or updates to matters which effect writers and/or the publishing industry. If you wish place a listing, please check the format and word length below and email the details to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The AWG is calling for entries to the 46th Annual AWGIE Awards, to be held in Melbourne this October. For full details, please go here. Last date for entries: 17 May.

April 29: National Opportunity for Young & Emerging Playwright
PlayWriting Australia's latest RE-GEN project offers a young and emerging playwright a $5,000 seed commission to develop a new full-length play from idea to first draft. To be eligible, applicants may be from anywhere in Australia, must be aged between 18 – 30 and have not had their work professionally produced. Applications close 29 April 2013

The Australian Society of Authors has announced the launch of their new website, Authors Unlimited. This dedicated site is the latest achievement of the Authors Unlimited project: a showcase of the publications and achievements of ASA members, an eBook conversion service and eBook sales platform. With a 2010 an ASA survey finding that over 1000 members had backlist titles that were no longer available for sale, and that these members were interested in further commercialisation of those titles, Authors Unlimited was developed in response to this need to breathe new life into old works. The service offers a cost-effective avenue for digitisation of backlist titles (and new titles!) and an author-friendly sales platform for Australian eBooks.

In a David and Goliath scenario several independent bookstores in the US have taken on Amazon and the 'big six' publishing houses. Three book sellers are filing a class action against the world's largest online retailer and the following publishers: Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, Random House and Simon & Schuster. News of the legal action broke on the Huffington Post, pointing out that the giant retailer is seeking to enter into confidential agreements aimed at destroying independent bricks-and-mortar book sellers by fixing prices. 'The complaint centers on digital rights management, or DRM,' reports the Huffington Post. 'The technological lock that prevents consumers from transferring any eBook they buy on an Amazon Kindle onto, say, a Nook or Kobo eReader.' A similar article has appeared in The Guardian.

It seems Amazon are in the news a fair bit of late. Authors Guild president Scott Turow has objected to ICANN's plan to sell [dot]book, [dot]author and other generic top-level domains to private companies. ICANN are the US body that controls the coordination of the global internet's systems of unique identifiers. With Amazon bidding to be the exclusive custodian of the [dot]book and [dot]author domains and Google aiming to control the [dot]blog domain, placing 'placing such generic domains in private hands is plainly anticompetitive,' Turow announced in his letter. 'The potential for abuse seems limitless,' he said, in that it allows 'already dominant, well-capitalized companies to expand and entrench their market power.' Turow's letter can be read here.

Public Lending Right and Educational Lending
Australian creators and publishers are invited to submit title claims for the 2013–14 Public Lending Right and Educational Lending Right programs. The Public and Educational Lending Right programs make payments to creators and publishers in recognition that income is lost through the free multiple use of their books in public and educational lending libraries. If you are a book publisher or creator – author, editor, illustrator, translator or compiler – you may be eligible for a payment under these programs. Title claims should be submitted for books published after 31 December 2007 and up to 31 December 2012. Lodge a registration if you are a new claimant or submit a claim through Lending Rights online: https://lendingrights.arts.gov.au/lendingrights/ For more information visit www.arts.gov.au or Contact us via phone 1800 672 842 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Database of Publishers Currently Accepting Submissions
The My Perfect Pitch database isn't just a general publishers list, instead it focusses on imprints that are accepting submissions. Each link leads directly to the submissions page. With over 1,000 publishers worldwide, covering all genres, it's worth a look.

Sales of Books via Credit Card
This may be of interest to those of you who self-publish or to authors who can sell copies of their books directly to the public. PayPal are now offering an affordable way to accept credit card sales. As this is a new product the SA Writers' Centre has no experience of its usage, so we recommend that you read the 'terms and conditions' thoroughly. Go here for details.