@communitypubinaus.bsky.social
Researching how community groups in regional Australia are using digital technology to publish and distribute books. 2023-2025. https://linktr.ee/communitypublishinginaus
We are excited to announce that the CFP has opened for our upcoming symposium: Reading, Writing and Publishing in Regional Australia! It will take place online on Monday 24 November 2025.
Abstracts are due 10 October 2025.
tinyurl.com/ReadingWriti...
'Towards a comprehensive picture of Australian literature beyond the publishing capitals' is the culmination of years worth of work analysing data from the @austlit.bsky.social database. It's available open access from @mediaintaus.bsky.social - follow the link to read!
doi.org/10.1177/1329...
The image is of the first page of a journal article published by Media International Australia. Title: Towards a comprehensive picture of Australian literature beyond the publishing capitals. Authors: Alexandra Dane, Beth Driscoll, Caitlin Parker, Sandra Phillips, and Kim Wilkins. Abstract: This article details the independent, small press and community publishing in Australia that is occurring outside the two major metropolitan publishing centres of Sydney and Melbourne. Guided by Mary Graham's articulation of the significance of place (2007) and drawing on a dataset constructed from the AustLit database from 2013 to 2023, we identify a high quantity of varied publishing activity in Australia's regions. The result is a comprehensive picture of writing and publishing that covers publishing location, form, and genre. Our findings illustrate that each state and territory has its own profile of activity: while there are some broad trends that characterise publishing across the continent (such as the popularity of children's picture book publishing) there are also differences, such as the high proportion of poetry published in South Australia and the relatively high number of reference works published in First Nations languages in the Northern Territory. Our research thus offers new understandings of regional and community publishing and demonstrates the central role of place and community as a driving force of writing and publishing.
Our latest journal article has been published and is available to read now!
02.10.2025 02:47 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
We are excited to announce that the CFP has opened for our upcoming symposium: Reading, Writing and Publishing in Regional Australia! It will take place online on Monday 24 November 2025.
Abstracts are due 10 October 2025.
tinyurl.com/ReadingWriti...
The team also recently attended multiple academic conferences, and published our first peer-reviewed academic paper from this project.
Click through to read now!
Our newest newsletter is available on our Substack! We have many, many updates to share in this newsletter. Most excitingly, Kim officially launched our DIY Publishing Toolkit at the Outback Writers Festival in Winton!
12.09.2025 05:53 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0This is the first peer-reviewed article arising from our Community Publishing in Regional Australia research project! The article is published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, and is co-authored by Beth Driscoll, Alexandra Dane, Sandra Phillips and Kim Wilkins.
25.08.2025 06:12 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
The image is a screenshot of the abstract of a scholarly article. The title is 'The Significance of place in book publishing: Insights from community publishing in regional Australia.' The authors are Beth Driscoll, Alexandra Dane, Sandra Phillips, and Kim Wilkins. Abstract: This article argues for the importance of place in the study of contemporary publishing activity. We offer insights from a research project into the production of books by community groups and individuals in regional Australia, with a focus on four sites: Alice Springs/Mparntwe, Broken Hill/Willyama, Winton (on the lands of the Koa people) and Ayr (on the lands of the Bindal people). Our design is informed by place- and relationality-centred Indigenous research epistemologies, and also makes use of Western methods including interviews. Our research findings confirm that place is highly significant for some kinds of publishing activity, as writers and publishers are motivated to tell local stories, draw on local print businesses as well as digital technology, and share the resulting books with family, friends and close networks. These findings demonstrate alternative power relations to those that structure the mainstream publishing industry, where power is supposed to concentrate in global literary centres such as New York and London and writers from the margins struggle for recognition. Our research demonstrates that a focus on local places and community publishing can tell a new story of the future of the book by recognising divergent and locally specific practices.
Thrilled that our article 'The significance of place in book publishing: Insights from community publishing in regional Australia' is out and available to read now!
doi.org/10.1177/1367...
Go check out his latest book, Against the Tide, which promises river battles and burning cities and whispered alliances in the shadows—a relentless story of resilience, revenge, and the unbreakable will to defy fate. phillipleightondaly.com
01.08.2025 04:00 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The image has a bright yellow background with bold white text. The text reads: Phillip Leighton Daly Author Spotlight. In the centre of the image are three books, positioned so they progress diagonally from top left to bottom right. The books are: Against the Tide, The Prince who wanted to live forever, and The Crinkling on the Pie. Each book is by Phillip Leighton-Daly
Phillip Leighton-Daly is an author based in Moss Vale NSW. Phillip writes meticulously researched books about local history, and YA fiction: ‘This isn’t just storytelling. It’s history, heart, and hard-hitting fiction—crafted by a man who’s lived a life worth writing about.’
01.08.2025 04:00 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
So far, they have one publication out, Henry the Wombat Learns to Budget, an adorable picture book that can teach kids about responsible saving. We’re looking forward to seeing what else this new press achieves!
www.elephantpagepublishing.com.au
The image has a lavender background decorated by white splotches like paint strokes. In the centre, there is a black logo of a stylised elephant head that resembles a capital 'E'. Next to it is text saying: Elephant Page Publishing.
Elephant Page Publishing is an exciting new publishing house in Perth (Boorloo). The press is run by students under the guidance of a team of publishing professionals, and their mission is to “to uplift new voices and talents on both sides of the publishing process.”
18.07.2025 04:41 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
The image has a turquoise background and white text saying: "Article Publication! Click the link in our bio to read. 'We should be paying more attention to indie authors - here's why' Roseleigh Priest." In the middle of the image, there is an illustration of a white picture frame containing the logo for Self-Publishing Australia. It is a white square with large black text saying: "SP Aus"
We have a new article by team member Roseleigh Priest up on the Self-Publishing Australia blog! The article explores the experiences of indie authors, with insights from Kathleen Ryder, a wonderful indie romance author the team interviewed in Alice Springs.
selfpub.com.au/2025/06/we-s...
The image has text saying: "It's Here! Follow the link in our bio to read our new toolkit for aspiring authors." Next to the text is a book cover. It has a dark yellow background, and a circle in the middle with a yellow-to-orange gradient. The circle contains an illustration of an open book with flowers growing out of it (the Community Publishing in Regional Australia logo). The cover has text saying: "The community publishing in regional Australia project. DIY publishing Toolkit. Beth Driscoll, Kim Wilkins, Sandra Phillips and Alexandra Dane."
It's here!!! Our DIY Publishing Toolkit is now freely available to read. If you're a writer getting ready to embark on your publishing adventure, this is the guide for you. Check it out!
hdl.handle.net/11343/356821
The image has a yellow and teal cartoon of a calendar page. The text says: "Get Ready! 7 Days Left Until our DIY Publishing Toolkit."
Get ready! On the 23rd of June we will be releasing a DIY Publishing Toolkit. If you're interested in publishing a book, no matter the genre, this toolkit will set you up for success!
Check back next week to read it for free!
The image has a light blue background decorated with white silhouettes of flying swallows. There are two white bubbles shaped like clouds, containing dark blue text that says: 'Swallows Part One, Joshua Santospirito, San Kessto Publications.' A book cover is on the right. It is illustrated in dark blue and has a sketched appearance. It contains a nautical wooden structure, resembling a frame or ship window. There is a circle in the middle containing text, which says: "Swallows Part One, Joshua Santospirito."
Swallows Part One is a fabulous graphic novel by Tasmania based artist Joshua Santospirito. The novel follows Joshua’s grandfather as he built his life from a working child in the streets of Melbourne to the King of Flowers on Flinders Street.
www.sankessto.com/product/swal...
The image has a dark blue background and is decorated with three cartoon roads. In the middle of the image, there is a squiggly black line containing green text that says: "FRIENDLY STREET POETS."
Based out of the Federal Box Factory in Adelaide, Friendly Street Poets is Australia’s oldest open mic, poetry reading and publishing group. Dedicated to promoting South Australian poetry, they host monthly readings and publish annual poetry anthologies.
friendlystreetpoets.org.au/publications...
Our newest newsletter is available on our Substack! In this issue we share exciting news and a special sneak peek at our (soon-to-be-launched!) DIY Publishing Toolkit 👀🥳
communitypubinregionalaus.substack.com/p/community-...
Have a read of this Australian Society of Authors article by team member Roseleigh Priest! Roseleigh is exploring why regional authors write short stories.
www.asauthors.org.au/news/short-s...
So, if you’re looking for something to read that will brighten your day, this is the book for you. ‘Let the grin become a laugh, then let it grow to a real belly-laugh, because it doesn't only feel good - it's good for you!’
24.04.2025 07:32 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The image has a white background. On the right, there are two brown lines resembling paint. They contain text that says: "Duncan Russell, Laugh Out Loud." There is also a cartoonish 'HA!' A book cover is on the left of the image. It also has a white background, with brown text saying: "Laugh Out Loud, Duncan Russell." The 'O' in 'Out' is an illustrated donut.
Laugh Out Loud - Funny Things DO Happen is a collection of true, funny short stories by author Duncan Russell. Duncan lives in Milang, South Australia, and the stories in this collection capture the fantastic humour of everyday life, the funny things that happen to all of us.
24.04.2025 07:32 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Check out this new article by team member Roseleigh Priest on the Grattan Street Press blog! Roseleigh writes about childrens publishing in regional Australia, with a spotlight on some amazing small publishers in Armidale, NSW.
grattanstreetpress.com/2025/04/02/i...
Have a read of this Australian Society of Authors article by team member Caitlin Parker! Caitlin is sharing her observations about the amazing writing groups the team encountered in the Burdekin during fieldwork last year.
www.asauthors.org.au/news/the-val...
Have a listen to this great ABC Radio interview by team member Professor Kim Wilkins! Kim talks about how more older Australians are achieving their dream of becoming an author, largely thanks to digital technology giving them a way to bypass mainstream publishing.
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Curious about what CPRA is up to? Head over to our substack to keep up-to-date - this year is the last year of the project, and we'll have a lot of exciting news to share!
communitypubinregionalaus.substack.com
The publisher also celebrated an Aurealis Award finalist for the Science Fiction Novel of the Year in 2024, Mark Newman’s Dronikus, a story about malignant technology, morality, survival, and love.
21.02.2025 04:26 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1Many of their titles are about Brisbane itself, with topics ranging from the Brisbane punk and post-punk scene, John Sinclair’s fight to save K’gari, the history of Brisbane bookshops, the brutal Bjelke-Petersen era, and the 1919 outbreak of Spanish Flu.
21.02.2025 04:26 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
The image has a dark teal background. It is decorated with two groups of light green diagonal lines, and three white irregular circles. Two of the irregular circles, one in the top left corner, the other in the bottom right, have text in them. The text says: "Publisher Spotlight. AndAlso Books." Featured in the middle of the image is the logo of AndAlso Books. It is a black circle containing a connected white ampersand and 'a'.
AndAlso Books is a Brisbane based small publisher with an amazing catalogue of fiction and non-fiction revolving around art, history, and music culture.
21.02.2025 04:26 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
