AustLit

A small press publisher based in Perth since 1990, Eidolon Publications was founded by Jonathan Strahan and Jeremy G. Byrne in order to publish Eidolon: The Journal of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy. Initially a quarterly, the journal had become an annual by the late 1990s. In 2000, following the departure of Strahan the previous year, the journal was placed in hiatus while Eidolon Publications attempted to restructure its editorial and publishing operations. Although attempts were made to restart publication, this ultimately proved unsuccessful and Eidolon Publications officially announced the end of the journal in 2003.

Eidolon Books is the book publishing arm of Eidolon Publications. The decision to expand into non-magazine publishing began in 1992 with the release of Terry Dowling's short story The Mars You Have in Me. Published as a chapbook (a pocket-sized booklet) and distributed to subscribers as a Christmas gift, a limited number were also later made available through selected retail outlets. Eidolon Books' first official release was Robin Pen's collection of essays, The Secret Life of Rubber-Suit Monsters (1996). This was followed in 1997 by Going Home Again, a collection of short fiction stories from Howard Waldrop which was released to coincide with the American author's first visit to Australia. That same year Eidolon was contracted by HarperCollins to select and edit The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy Anthology Series (the volume was published in 1997). Other early Eidolon novels included Storm Constantine's The Thorn Boy and Terry Dowling's Blackwater Days.

Despite the closure of its founding magazine, Eidolon Publications has maintained and developed its website eidolon.net: Australian SF Online. The press also continues to publish Eidolon Books.