AustLit

'In 2001, as part of my teaching in the Graduate Program in Publishing Studies at RMIT, I provided students with a snapshot of the publishing industry as I saw it at the end of the twentieth century. Compiling it wasn't as easy as I'd thought it would be, because at the time the trade — as it was still quaintly referred to — was poorly served by 'real' data. There were the biennial Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures on publisher activity, and the APA (Australian Publishers Association, which had changed from being the Australian Book Publishers Association in 1995) compiled a list of its members' bestsellers after all returns had been processed. Other than these retrospective reports, a couple of reader- ship surveys done for the Australia Council and some copyright -related research from Copyright Agency Limited (CAL), the available information was largely anecdotal.This all changed in the early 2000s, as some of the $240 million GST compensation package was used to research the industry, and BookTrack (renamed Nielsen BookScan in 2002) entered the Australian market.' (Introduction 81)

'In 2001 the publishing and printing industries produced a landmark report on Book Production in Australia: A Joint Industry Study (JIS), funded by the Commonwealth. (For a brief summary of the JIS findings on the printing industry, see Chapter 7.) The publishing component, coordinated by respected consultant and former publisher Bill Mackarell, was arguably the most thorough analysis of the book publishing industry ever undertaken.The JIS surveyed a total of twenty-six publishers, including the major trade houses such as Penguin, Random and HarperCollins as the big educational firms including Pearson, Reed, Nelson and Wiley, although small publishers — and Australian-owned houses (often one and the same) — were under-represented.' (Introduction 85)

'In some ways little has changed. Our book market is still small compared with the United Kingdom and the United States, but large when compared with New Zealand, South Africa or Ireland. Australians are still enthusiastic book buyers, and support a wide range of retail booksellers. But in very relevant ways publishing has changed a great deal. We are all more businesslike these days, because we have to be. I suspect that all of us are better at reading a profit and loss statement than we were in the 1970s, and many of us can even fumble our way around a balance sheet. We have better tools and better information, but all the spreadsheets in the world won't help predict the next bestseller (or the next flop).' (Introduction 89)

'Allen & Unwin was established in Australia in 1976 and became an Australian-owned publishing company in 1990. It is regarded by some industry observers as the single most interesting publishing company in the recent history of Australian publishing. Renowned for a diverse list, a strong consumer and market orientation, and an efficient distribution agency representing an astute mix of overseas and Australian publishing houses, Allen & Unwin represents a lineage of dedicated publishers. It is also one of five major trade publishers in the Australian marketplace and one of the biggest independent publishers in the world.' (Introduction 93)

'Maureen and I arrived on Western Australia's North-West Cape in a rather shonky New Zealand yacht in early December 1972. When we waded ashore it was the first time we had set foot in Australia and we didn't plan to stay for more than a few months. Gough Whitlam had been in power for less than a week and we had no idea that his arrival was about to shake up Australian publishing. In fact we knew nothing about publishing.We certainly had no idea that less than twelve months later we would be Australian publishers, or that more than thirty years later we would still be here, with a turnover of $100 million, three offices around the world and nearly 500 employees. ' (Introduction 105)

'McPhee Gribble Publishers was a child of the heady 70s that saw a new generation of cultural entrepreneurs wanting to 'explore the possibility of being Australian', as Richard Walsh put it when he became editor of the weekly paper Nation Review in 1972. It was fun while it lasted, but by the end of the 80s both the paper and McPhee Gribble had disappeared.' (Introduction 108)

'In September 1974 there was a festival of Indigenous song and dance at Ngumpan, near Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia's north, and those attending voted to establish the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre.The aim was to support traditional leaders travelling to ceremonies, and to protect and develop the work of artists and craftspeople. From this initiative, Magabala Books was born. In 1990 it became an independent Aboriginal corporation, to record, promote and pass on Aboriginal traditions and culture in book form. This is a huge undertaking, since stories have in the past been told orally, or as song or dance.' (Introduction 111)

'An innovative, independent publishing house, Melbourne-based Text Publishing blends a tradition- al publishing ethos with shrewd business strategies. Following the sale of McPhee Gribble to Penguin in 1989, Diana Gribble joined forces with Eric Beecher, former editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Herald, to form the Text Media Group. Gribble took charge of book publishing, while Beecher formed a magazine enterprise aimed at the corporate sector. The company quickly expanded, with Beecher and Gribble setting up the glossy freebie Melbourne Weekly Magazine in 1992.' (Introduction 113)

'In August 2000 a group of top executives from Microsoft along with Barnesandnoble.com and several American book publishers organised a press conference in NewYork to usher in the coming age of the electronic book. Jack Romanos. president of Simon & Schuster, told journalists :‘We believe the e-book revolution will have an impact on the book industry as great as the paperback revolution of the 60s.’ Laurence Kirshbaum, chairman of the books division of AOL Time Warner, pledged to lead the charge: ‘We want to see electronic publishing blow the covers off of books'. Andersen Consulting estimated that by the year 2005 digital books would account for 10 per cent of all book sales.' (Introduction 118)

'Book publishing increasingly functions as a component of the larger media economy. Multinational media conglomerates with holdings in publishing look to their book divisions as providers of media ‘content'. Digitised content may arise out of a book property and be adapted for use in other, screen-based media such as film, television or computer games. Conversely, content may be incubated in screen formats and repackaged in book versions such as novelisations, film companion titles and tie-in editions. Occasionally the process works in both directions, sometimes simultaneously. In their enthusiasm for acquiring publishing houses, media multinationals are primarily in search of intellectual property in the form of copyright- and trademark-protected content. Once converted into the digital media industries' common binary language, such content becomes repurposable in any of the diverse media plat- forms controlled by the conglomerate.' (Introduction 126)

'The Internet has already significantly altered the established modes of production and distribution within the publishing industry. The initial response of Australian publishers, however. has been rather guarded, with many maintaining an intellectual and emotional commitment to the book in its traditional form. For consumers, by-passing established distribution channels with electronic delivery systems makes sense in a country where. physical distribution of stock has always been a challenge. Some sectors of the book industry will be better placed to make the transition to on-line publishing and most companies are re—examining their businesses in the context of both physical and virtual realms. Information-based publishers in particular have developed strategies to use different levels of technology. Butterworths, for example, a company specialising in law publications, legal databases and specialist legal services, now uses the new technologies as an active part of its distribution and marketing.' (Introduction 131)

'In recent years, copyright principles developed for paper-based works have successfully been adapted to electronic works, with existing rights expanded to include a right ‘to communicate works to the public’.This right allowed copyright owners to control the ‘making available' of their works on-line, including the digitising and uploading of material onto an Internet server. The defences available for paper-based texts, such as fair dealing, were also extended to cover works in an electronic form.' (Introduction 134 )

‘The decades since the war have seen the increased professionalisation of the business of writing, including the formation of the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) in 1963 and the advent of state-based writers centres. The exponential growth in literary awards, the study of Australian literature in universities the growth of festivals and tours celebrating Australian writing, and the increase in the number of writing workshops and mentorships have all led to a much livelier and more diversified market for Australian writers and their books. Yet the average income of a full-time writer has not really increased, hovering in the vicinity of $12000 per year. While some writers achieve wealth, acclaim and even notoriety, most rely on other income (often teaching) in order to continue writing. ’ (Introduction 139)

‘The provision of services for writers is a relatively recent development. Although there has been an Australian Journalists Association (now part of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance) since 1923 and a Fellow-ship of Australian Writers (FAW) since 1928, the two main professional organisations for writers are more recent. The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) was established in 1963 and has been responsible for such key initiatives as the Australian Copyright Council and the Copyright Agency Limited. The ASA has also lobbied tirelessly on issues such as rates of pay and recommended standard contracts. The Australian Writ-ers Guild (AWG), representing mainly film writers, was established in 1962 and has campaigned recently on digital rights protection and moral rights legislation.’ (Introduction 146)

‘As far as is known, the first Aboriginal writer to have a book published in Australia was David Unaipon, whose Native Legends appeared in Adelaide about 1929. A national award for unpublished Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers is administered annually, in his honour, by the University of Queensland Press (UQP) and funded by the state government. UQP also publishes in book form the winning entry, regardless of genre. After David Unaipon, it was several decades before the next book by an Indigenous writer appeared. We Are Going, a collection of poems by Kath Walker, later known as Oodgeroo Noonuccal, was published by Jacaranda Press in 1964.’ (Introduction 150)

‘In 1964 Australian expatriate writer Alan Moorehead gave the opening address at Adelaide Writers' Week and disconcerted everybody by announcing that he didn't believe in writers' conferences. Writing was a lonely job, he said, and he advised his colleagues to avoid publishers' parties, television appearances and meeting other authors. Fortunately for Writers' Week and all the similar festivals that have sprung up in its wake, his advice has been consistently ignored. During its 45-year history, virtually every Australian writer of consequence has appeared at Adelaide Writers' Week and, particularly in the last thirty years, they have been joined by significant international names. It is also a week when the national literary media gather in Adelaide.The combined benefits for everyone are obvious. In fact, the high profile that Australian writers now enjoy is attributable in no small part to the network of literary festivals around the country.’ (Introduction 156)

‘In the two decades following the Second World War, the promotion of books in Australia was at best spasmodic and uncertain. A few literary prizes became established, notably the annual Miles Franklin Award and the Grace Leven Poetry Prize. In the 1940s and 1950s the Sydney Morning Herald provided some well-publicised prizes for fiction and poetry, and the recipients (who included Ruth Park, Rosemary Dobson and, jointly, Charmian Clift and George Johnston) certainly benefited in terms of recognition.’(Introduction 159)

‘The Australian/Vogel award, administered by Allen & Unwin Australia, is a privately sponsored literary award which has been operating for twenty-five years. Now worth $20000, the award guarantees publication of the winning manuscript, which must be an unpublished manuscript by an Australian writer who is not more than thirty-five at the time of entry. The Vogel is popularly seen as an award for new novelists, but entries can include a work of fiction for adults or children, a work of non-fiction such as a biography or history, or a work of verse. Further, and this is often forgotten, the writer can have been published previously as long as the entered manuscript itself has not been published.’ (Introduction 162)