Copyright Agency awards 2018 Fellowships to two publishers
May 3, 2018
The Copyright Agency has awarded two Publisher Fellowships at the Australian Book Industry Awards in Sydney.
The Fellows, Spineless Wonders Publisher Bronwyn Mehan and Monash University Publishing’s Nathan Hollier will investigate what local publishers can learn from international business models in publishing in the United States and Asia.
Copyright Agency CEO, Adam Suckling, said, “The Publisher Fellowships support the pursuit of innovation and advanced learning from global experiences which can deliver benefits to the Australian publishing sector. This year we received some outstanding applications from publishers around the country working in trade and scholarly publishing for both small and large publishers.”
The Copyright Agency awarded $15,000 each to:
- Bronwyn Mehan (Director at Spineless Wonders) to travel to New York to interview producers, curators and multi-disciplinary practitioners to explore multiplatform publishing, such as podcasts, interactive installations and live performance, especially for short stories. The project looks to overcome revenue challenges faced by publishers where new technologies have affected consumer behavior.
- Nathan Hollier (Director at Monash University Publishing) to research opportunities for and obstacles to book publishing in key emerging world markets across the Asia Pacific and to explore publishing partnerships within these nations.
As is the usual practice, the Fellows will prepare comprehensive reports on their activities which will be published on the Copyright Agency’s website and shared with the broader publishing industry. The work of previous fellowship awardees has proved to be popular, and instructive, with members.
“The Copyright Agency is committed to supporting our dynamic publishing industry which drives Australia’s place as a thinking nation. This is the only funding of its kind, specifically aimed at supporting Australian publishers to build deep knowledge of international markets, and assist them in sustaining and strengthening the Australian publishing industry now and into the future,” added Mr Suckling.
Judges for the Publisher Fellowships were Joint MD of Hachette Australia, Louise Sherwin-Stark, Chief Executive of UNSW Press Kathy Bail and Publisher at Black Inc, Chris Feik.
Louise Sherwin-Stark said she was impressed by the breadth of interesting ideas proposed and by the great talent within the industry. “Congratulations to the winners of the fellowships, I very much look forward to reading your reports. The Publisher Fellowships support investment in training and allow recipients to innovate, which is very valuable for the industry as a whole.”
The Copyright Agency’s Fellowship programs now provide unprecedented financial support to authors, publishers and visual artists in recognition of their creative endeavors that enrich and promotes Australia’s literary and arts communities. This is in addition to the payment of more than $100 million in copyright licence fees to publishers, writers, visual artists and surveyors every year.