Secrets from the Green Room

Karen and Irma chat about the pros and cons of online writing courses. Then they chat to Marion Halligan about how Sylvia Plath inspired her to get started, what she bought with her first earnings, how writing is a kind of madness, the challenge of writing a memoir about her late daughter, good and bad editing experiences and what it was like being edited by her sister, why essays are her favourite form, the controversies while serving as Chair of the Australia Council Literature Board, why the government should pay writers a salary, and why she got angry at Bill Bryson at the Melbourne Writers Festival.

Karen and Irma chat about writing residencies. Then they talk to bookseller and sales rep Deb Stevens about what goes on behind the scenes in the book trade, how books are sold into bookshops, if and when and how authors should contact their sales reps, preparing for your book’s release, how authors can work maximise promo of their books, the most wonderful authors Deb has worked with and the divas, and how a puppy rescued Jodi Picoult on tour.

Irma and Karen chat about a new writing book, The Writer Laid Bare by Lee Kofman. Then Karen speaks with Inga Simpson about why choosing a character’s name to boost a word count ended up in a prize and her debut novel, how a childhood spent in nature influenced her writing, her determination not to let the second-book pressure derail her, the risks and challenges around telling stories involving Australia’s first peoples, how she measures success and the value of prizes, the politics of green rooms, and the highs and lows of appearing at writers festivals.

Irma and Karen chat about how organised (or disorganised!) they are with their writing. Then Irma chats to booksellers Katarina Pearson (Harry Hartog), Alison Page (Dymocks) and Peter Arnaudo (The Book Cow) about how to get friendly with booksellers – what to do (when and how) and what not to do, how long you can expect your book to stay on the shelves, how sales and returns work, the important role of sales reps and how they impact book selection, why relationships with local authors are key, when and how to sign books, how to organise events with bookshops, nightmare experiences with authors (and amazing ones too!), and the bizarre things that have happened in their stores. About KatarinaKatarina Pearson helped develop and subsequently owned Electric Shadows Bookshop over 25 years. Since March 2019, Katarina has been Literary Events Coordinator for Harry Hartog Bookshop at the Australian National University and is on the Board of the ACT Writers Centre.About PeterPeter Arnaudo established the Book Cow Bookshop in Kingston, Canberra in December 2020 and it’s his first bookshop. Prior to that he was a senior public servant for 25 years. About AllisonAllison Kay and her husband Richard bought Dymocks, Canberra 19 years ago. It was their first bookshop and they worked as a team to make it a huge success. They have just retired from the business.

In a special series direct from the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival, Irma chats with Natasha Lester about how utter despair before an award ceremony preceded the best moment of her life, the lightbulb moment that changed the course of her career, the rewards of constructive sulking after rejection, how a fraught editing process almost destroyed her current book, how she manages three books at a time in different stages of writing, editing and promoting, the high of hitting the New York Times bestseller list, and why the Muse doesn’t actually exist.About NatashaNatasha Lester is a New York Times bestselling author of ten novels who lives in Perth. Her books have been translated into many different languages and are published all around the world. She is also former marketing executive for L’Oreal and has a love of vintage fashion. The Age newspaper has described her as a ‘remarkable Australian talent’. And we’re very fortunate to have her on the podcast today. 

In a special series direct from the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival, Irma chats with Craig Silvey about the author school visit as a child that changed his life, the careful considerations around writing characters from marginalised communities, why he thinks writing to word counts is unhelpful, how writing is like an illness, the hardest manuscript he had to abandon, and the most frightening library display of his book.About CraigCraig Silvey is an author and screenwriter from Fremantle, Western Australia. His critically acclaimed debut novel, Rhubarb, was published in 2004. His bestselling second novel, Jasper Jones, was released in 2009 and is considered a modern Australian classic. Published in over a dozen territories, Jasper Jones has won plaudits in three continents, including an International Dublin Literary Award shortlisting, a Michael J. Printz Award Honor, and a Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlisting. Jasper Jones was the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year for 2010. Honeybee, his latest novel, won the Fiction prize at the 2021 Indie Book Awards and was shortlisted for the 2021 Literary fiction book of the year at the Australian Book Industry Awards. 

In a special series direct from the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival, Irma chats with siblings Rhett and Brooke Davis about what it’s like sharing the world of publishing with a sibling, their very different paths to becoming published authors, the downsides of a worldwide tour when your book is a smash hit, the childhood books that shaped them and are now echoed in their writing, how grief led to them both publishing novels, the pressure of writing a second novel when your debut has been an international bestseller, seeing famous writers in the green room and realising how petrified they are, and horrifying realisations gleaned from diary writing.About Brooke and RhettBrooke Davis is author of the internationally bestselling novel Lost and Found which sold into 25 countries. And Rhett Davis won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2020 for his novel, Hovering. Rhett and Brooke grew up in Bellbrae, Victoria, but Brooke now lives in Perth and Rhett in Geelong. 

In a special series direct from the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival, Irma talks to Claire G. Coleman about how poetry influences her non-fiction style, the downsides of book touring, how she deals with Twitter trolls, the complications of working with two publishers, her love-hate relationship with the editing process, and how she responds to criticisms that she’s ‘not blak enough’.About ClaireClaire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman whose family have belonged to the south coast of Western Australia since long before history started being recorded. Her debut novel, Terra Nullius, won a Black&Write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship and a Norma K. Hemming Award. Her latest book is a non-fiction work, Lies, Damned Lies. She also writes poetry, short fiction and essays, and lives mostly in Naarm (Melbourne). 

Craig and Irma unpack the role Amazon plays in the book world. Then Irma chats with Ultimo Press publisher Robert Watkins about why diverse publishing is so important to him, how to nab an editorial job, the way that authors should own the publicity stage and be proud, what makes him want to publish a manuscript, what good sales mean in terms of hard numbers, the impact of Covid on the publishing landscape, and a case of mistaken identity in the green room.About RobertPublishing Director of Ultimo Press, Robert Watkins, has over 20 years’ experience in the Australian book industry having worked in book retail, sales, marketing, publicity, publishing and most recently as Head of Literary at Hachette Australia. His love for a good story well told has led to publishing some of Australia’s most acclaimed contemporary authors, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Claire G. Coleman, Dr Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Sarah Schmidt and Peter Polites, to name just a few. 

Craig and Irma talk about books that have wowed them. Then Tony Birch chats to Irma about the sensitivity around fictionalising family, the importance of First Nations writing, who has the right to tell certain stories, the problems with teaching writing at university, the rejections that have really stung, the time his mum threatened a radio host, and the famous writers who have snubbed him in green rooms.About TonyTony Birch is an author of three novels, four collections of short stories and two collections of poetry – which have won or been shortlisted for many of Australia’s most prestigious literary awards – including winning the Indigenous Writers Award for both the NSW and Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. He was head of the Honours program for creative writing at the University of Melbourne before becoming the first recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University in 2015. In 2017, he became the first First Nations writer to win the Patrick White Award, and his most recent book is Dark as Last Night, a collection of short stories.