Article written by Lauren Johnston (guest writing for culture).
Let me just begin by saying please bear with me as I kind of have no idea what direction this article is going in, nor do I know much about the topic, but I promise you that I have done my research and that I will try my best and let's pray for a miracle.
There are tons of different types of writers; journalists, bloggers, newspaper journalists, authors, poets and so on, and there’s heaps of big names that we all love and adore like John Green, Stephen King, Dan Brown, J.K Rowling or James Patterson. All those names came from places such as the United Kingdom and America, where there is an abundance of publishing companies and agents. It’s a one-stop shop to get your books out there, and start making a name for yourself. Now, what if you lived in Brisbane or somewhere like that? There are a lot fewer publishing companies here than on the other side of the world, which makes it increasingly more difficult to find someone willing to publish your work. Not only that, but there’s fewer stores here, equating to fewer places to promote and sell your book. That’s only if the shop owner lets you, however, and with technology rapidly growing day by day, it increases the pressure on authors to find other ways to get their name out into the world.
I googled ‘List of Brisbane Authors’ during my research to find some names. I honestly didn’t know all but maybe two, and that’s because I had books from those authors on my bookshelf and recognised their names. Susanna De Vries has written over 20 books, for example. Now, some of you might know this guy if you read books as a child. I knew the books but didn’t know that Michael Gerard Bauer wrote the ‘Ishmael’ books like ‘Don’t Call Me Ishmael!’, ‘Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel’ and ‘Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs’. Another Brisbane author who is also a poet is Steven Herrick, who has published 22 books for adults, young adults and children. I didn’t know any of those names until I looked up 'Brisbane Authors', which got me thinking. Aside from all of the other factors I spoke about before, what makes it so different publishing here compared to other countries?
After much thought and research, I found that the answer is quite simple, but that there is more than one reason behind it. It’s to do with how you approach it all. The whole journey and task of writing a book is incredibly difficult, which I had no idea about. First of all, it takes a lot of money, a lot of time and a lot of patience. When you have that lightbulb moment in your head one day of 'I’m going to write a book', it may all sound amazing. You're sitting at home, snuggled up with a blanket and coffee on the couch with your laptop roaring to go, jotting down notes frantically in that cute little notebook you brought solely to write ‘book ideas’ down in. What you need to know is that while you can do all that, you need to make sure your ideas are clear, that the story line is clear, and once you have put it all together, you need a publisher.
Sure, you can self-publish your book, but having a publisher makes things a little easier. There are heaps of big names like Rosetta Books and Scholastic Corporation you can go to, as well as many more in New York and cities similar, but in Brisbane the choice is limited and the companies aren’t as big as the others, such as InHouse Publishing, Copyright Publishing and The Magazine Publishing company.
It also comes down to the fact that Brisbane doesn’t have a very big readers and writer’s social community. Sure, we have writer’s conferences and festivals but they are not that well-advertised and, in some cases, you only find out about the event once it has happened. Even the book groups or writer’s groups that you can sometimes see in cafes or mainly libraries are only small and often not that frequent.
No one can really put their finger on why this might be. Is it because Brisbane isn’t suited to a literary community? Is Brisbane more for family fun, friendly outdoor activities and music festivals and markets? Or is it because writing is just not that popular anymore?
I personally believe, when it comes down to it, it really comes down to the publishing opportunities. Writers need outlets to share their ideas, and Brisbane is lacking in these. Most of us don’t pick a book by the location of the author or the company it is published through; we read the back and decide based on how intrigued and captured we get. For writers, however, publishing is important and it is vital that Brisbane writers are able to use these outlets.
Comments