Sue Brockton – Publishing director
Jo Mackay – head of local fiction, HQ, Mira, Escape
Kita Kemp – Publisher Mills and Boon (ANZ)
Nicola Caws – Editor Global Acquisition Mills and Boon (UK)
Relaunched every series line with new look last year
Publishing, design, retail operations run in Australia (editorial run from overseas)
Jo Mackay – No one complains about reading for a living
This year more best sellers for ever before
Look for trends in publishing – don’t ask writers to write to trend, but look for what their writers are doing.
- Contemporary / women’s fiction
- Historical
- Australian suspense
- Rural romance
- Fantasy – particularly in digital
- 33% of books made best seller or fastest moving
- 11 debut authors
- 150 decorated windows
- 36 authors did hunters of events
- 100s of shop visits and signings
- 100% of books paid back investment
Audio is a massive growing area, international
In Australia :
- 50 new titles / month
- Republish 411 stories / year
- 1400 e-book titles annually
- Popular:
- Strong heroine
- Cinderella storylines
- Pets
Acquiring offices:
- New York
- London
- Toronto
Market research: what do we know about our reader
- Settling in lives
- Make time for themselves
- Thoughtful, kind, respectful
- All walks of life
Diversity and inclusion
Working with organisation to be inclusive (now partnered)
Constantly learning, growing and developing
So you think you can write
Contests and events
Partnered with Brain Power studio
So far have made 18 movies from novels
ASA has partnered with Harlequin for a Commercial Fiction contest
Publishing contract with $10k prize
Runner up – $3k digital revamp by digital agency Leading Hand (eg social media presence, website, metadata optimisation etc)
First Nations Fellowship
Short list of 3 authors, whole manuscripts have been judged.
- Melanie Saward – Barks and the City
- Judy Jansen – Desertlands
- Angie Martin – Melaleuca