Quick stats on the Australian book market thanks to Claire West of Nielsen IQ/Nielsen BookData speaking at the SPN Conference in Melbourne today: 11,559 Australian books were launched YTD 2022 (nb my note: this is why book visibility /book marketing matters so much).

In total incl AU and Int’l titles, 46 million print books have been sold in AU YTD via book retailers (nb my note: does not include direct sales which many indie authors use as a way to sell). The value of the market YTD is approx $AUD928 million.

New books ie: front list titles hold about 26% of the market, while backlist titles are responsible for 74% of sales. (nb: again, this shows why it can be difficult to break through for authors).

Some big growth in graphic novels. Also, art books launched by the big galleries are doing well. Local publisher Affirm Press has lots of top selling titles. Increase in AU travel book category.

More in my blog via bio.
#authors #books #bookstodon #Australia #IndPubCon22 #IndPubCon #AusLit #writingcommunity @auslit

Great discussions around the book industry's sustainability issues at the Small Press Network conference today. From the use of enormous resources for paper, inks, plus the shipping of books (and returns), plus servers (for ebooks) leading to more emissions. Plus laminate covers and the sheer numbers of books being produced. Solutions include being more mindful about what types of books are actually published, sizing of books, use of recycled post consumer waste, formatting efficiency etc. POD printing may also be part of the solution as can print on demand rather than overprinting/wastage. Presenters included @literaryminded #AngelaMeyer #LaurenConnell #EllenForget #HollenSingleton #IndPubCon22 #books #publishing #writingcommunity #author #SPN #AusLit #SmallPressNetwork #SmallPress #sustainability

"There has been an increased representation of POC in universities such as in being read as authors and as teaching staff but just because things are going well in universities, it doesn’t mean they are in the real world...for example, the rate of racial minority authors getting published at the Big 5 publishers to 2010 has been very flat (compared to books on race theory etc) and even into 2020, it’s still flat."

Richard Jean So, associate professor of English and data science at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and author of Redlining Culture
speaking 24 Nov 2022 at the Small Press Network’s Independent Publishing Conference. #IndPubCon22 #Publishing #author

“Publishers need to hire more POC editors…Also, the problem is that cognitively we focus so much on individual authors successes (such as Toni Morrison and Maxine Hong Kingston), but the success of a few doesn’t mean a broader success.”

Richard Jean So, associate professor of English and data science at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and author of Redlining Culture
speaking 24 Nov 2022 at the Small Press Network’s Independent Publishing Conference. #IndPubCon22 #Australia #Publishing

“Just 5% of fiction published since 1950 was written by people of colour...Racial inequality in the arts is unusually sticky and there is an accumulated force of whiteness in the publishing industry ... Academics serve society, I’m trying to do research that creates better conditions for POC writers to do their work.”

Richard Jean So, associate professor of English and data science at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and author of Redlining Culture
speaking 24 Nov 2022 at the Small Press Network’s Independent Publishing Conference.
#IndPubCon22 #publishing

In good news for writers, there's a thriving independent publishing scene in Australia of small yet mighty publishers such as Affirm, Black Inc , Brio Books, Fremantle Press, Giramondo, Griffith Review, Hardie Grant, Puncher & Wattmann, Scribe and more. Nov 24-26 the Small Press Network (SPN), of which these publishers are members, is running the annual Independent Publishing Conference. There will be some truly useful presentations/statistics/forecasts/workshops across the 3 days and you can attend online or in person at The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne. On Day 3 I'll be running a workshop on publishing timelines ie: what authors need to do when to successfully bring a book to market. So many great sessions. Check it out. https://smallpressnetwork.com.au/event/independent-publishing-conference-2022/

#writingcommunity #AusWrites #AusWriters, #publishing #IndPubCon22 #publishers #publishing #Australia #Melbourne #amwriting #literaryagents #indieauthors #selfpublishing #SPN #SmallPressNetwork #author #AuthorsofMastodon #authors #writers