Publishing industry events go online

October 28, 2020

The Small Press Network (SPN) and Australian Publishers Association (APA) are taking two key industry engagement opportunities online in November.

Independent Publishing Conference

The SPN will hold the ninth Independent Publishing Conference – the only annual industry-wide event for Australia’s book publishing sector – from 26 to 27 November.

The conference will foreground important discussions on Women of Colour in publishing, publishing opportunities in South East Asia, and metadata best practice. There will also be a roundtable on the university press sector, and a state of the industry discussion with the APA, ASA, ABA and ALIA.

Copyright Agency’s Nicola Evans (Head, Cultural Fund and Reading Australia) will appear on a panel to discuss funding options at 11am on Friday 27 November. This will follow the shortlist reveal for the inaugural Book of the Year Award, to be announced at a free event at 5.30pm on Thursday 26 November.

Founder of The Empowered Author Sam Missingham will give this year’s keynote address on themes of resilience and recovery in the wake of COVID-19. The rest of the program is soon to be announced. To learn more and book tickets (with discounts for SPN members, students and the unwaged), visit the SPN website.

REP seminar

With the APA’s 2020 Residential Editorial Program (REP) postponed until 2021, the REP Committee have decided to offer an alternative program for editors working in all sectors of Australian publishing.

This exciting new initiative takes the form of an online seminar, specifically designed to create awareness and increase competencies when working with writers identifying as First Nations or People of Colour.

Paula Abood and Hannah Donnelly from Diversity Arts Australia (DARTS) are running the seminar, which will be held over 30 November and 1 December.

The seminar aims to increase representation of First Nations and People of Colour among writers and editors, and to create best practice solutions for editors to set up and share in their workplaces.

Guest speakers include Terri Janke, Grace Heifetz, Ellen van Neerven, Jeanine Leane, Zoya Patel, Robert Watkins, Evelyn Araluen and Radhiah Chowdhury.

The seminar (two half-day sessions) costs $50 for APA members and $100 for non-members.

To learn more and to register, please visit the APA website.


The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund is pleased to support these important industry events.

We also recently supported the APA’s BookUp Online conference, which ran from 20 to 22 October. Speakers shed light on the challenges of COVID-19, international rights, the importance of data and diversity and inclusion. You can read the highlights from these sessions on the APA website.

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