News, Advice & Skill-Sharing
Keep up to date with the latest news, opportunities and expert perspectives through SPN’s discussion groups, emails, and networking events.
Documents & Resources
Get access to documents that help you as a writer or publisher, including the ASA Model Publishing Agreement for Full Members.
Discounts & Services
Discounts on core services like advertising, digital distribution, B+P subscription, Australian Booksellers Association membership and Australia Post discount —
Welcome to SPN
Small publishers: a vital component of Australian literary culture
Australia’s small publishers produce award-winning fiction, critical non-fiction, acclaimed journals and magazines, and serve as the launching pad for some of our favourite authors.
Booksellers, librarians and readers: find out what’s new from Australian small and indie publishers!
Awards
SPN Book of the Year Award
Uncovering and celebrating the hidden gems of Australian publishing.
The Small Press Network (SPN) is excited to announce the winner of the 2023 Small Press Network Book of the Year Award (BOTY): Against Disappearance: Essays on Memory, an anthology by Liminal and published by Pantera Press. The award was presented at the Wheeler Centre as part of its Next Big Thing series by Meanjin […]
The Shortlist Find out more about this year's award
Upcoming SPN Events
We have no upcoming events!
News
In conversation with BOTY winning editors Leah Jing McIntosh and Adolfo Aranjuez
Against Disappearance: Essays on Memory (Pantera Press) is exactly the kind of invigorating non-fiction that small, risk-taking publications like Liminal, excel at. It is a physically beautiful collection, presented with an understated sophistication that reflects those same qualities in the works. Edited by Leah Jing McIntosh and Adolofo Aranjuez, this collection brings together writers from across […]
In conversation with BOTY shortlisted author Nornie Bero
Mabu Mabu (Hardie Grant Books) is an intricately crafted cookbook that melds together a perfect balance of memoir and recipe. In between stunning graphics and mouth-watering recipes, Nornie Bero recounts how her upbringing fostered a love for food and explores the deep connection between culture, identity and food. —BOTY 2023 judging panel We were lucky enough […]
In conversation with BOTY shortlisted author Andrew Sutherland
Paradise (Point of Transmission) (Fremantle Press) is beautifully layered collection of poems that explores the realities of a HIV diagnosis on home, community and freedom. It complex but inviting, an act of generosity and transformation. In his first poetry collection Andrew Sutherland simultaneously captures the stigma of a HIV-positive identity and the deep love of Queer community. […]
Podcast & Audio
Judging the Book of the Year Award
In this episode of the Small Press Network’s Podcast, we had a chat to the Book of the Year Judges Penni Russon, Marina Sano and Jing Xuan Teo to discuss their experience of judging the award. The winner of the Book of the Year Award will be announced on Friday 26 November.
The 2021 Academic Day: In Conversation with Alexandra Dane and Claire Parnell
In this episode, we chat to Alexandra Dane and Claire Parnell to discuss this year’s Academic Day for the Independent Publishing Conference 2021. This year’s theme is Publishing and the Environment.
In Conversation with Robbie Egan
In the lead up to this year’s Love Your Bookshop Day, Associate Producer Chloe Agius sat down with Robbie Egan, CEO of the Australian Booksellers Association, to talk all things bookshops.
Members Only
Templates & Fact Sheets
IpEd guide to working with self-employed editors
Click here to view the guide. IpEd’s freelance editor list is here.
Access this benefit
Getting ebooks and audiobooks registered for Lending Rights
With thanks to our board chair Sophie Masson, who has put together this guide on how to add ebook and audiobook records to the Lending Rights scheme
Members OnlySign up or login to access this document
Guidelines for ethical publishing of Indigenous authors and stories
The following sets of guidelines from the Australia Council and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) outline key considerations in the ethical publishing of Indigenous Australian writers: Protocols for producing Indigenous Australian writing (Australia Council) Guidelines for the ethical publishing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and research from […]
Members OnlySign up or login to access this document
SPN publishing terms glossary
Commonly used acronyms and terms of the book industry Acknowledgement/sources: Publish It! (Thorpe-Bowker), Style Manual (Wiley), Australian Booksellers Association, Australian Publishers Association, Australian Copyright Council, American Publishers Association, student research/contribution. Additional contributions are welcomed. Not to be reproduced without written permission
Members OnlySign up or login to access this document
Members Only
Member Benefits
Member benefit: SPN Book of the Year Award submission
Building on the success of the Most Underrated Book Award (founded in 2012), SPN’s annual book award is now known simply as the SPN Book of the Year Award. Books published by all SPN members are eligible. Thanks to generous sponsorship from the Australian Booksellers Association and ArtsHub, the winning book’s author and publisher each […]
Sign up or login to access this benefit
Member benefit: Ingram Content Group offer to SPN members
Ingram Content Group provides a wide range of services to sell your print books, eBooks, and audiobooks globally. If you have 50 titles or more or are printing more than 5,000 units per annum, then Lightning Source may serve you best. For publishers with fewer titles, and lower annual volumes, please see our IngramSpark offer. If you have 50 […]
Access this benefit
BookData Publishing Webinar 2024
Tuesday 5 March 2024 @ 10:00 AEDT BookData will be hosting opportunity for small publishers, literary agents, authors and those curious about the Australian Book Market to learn more about how our services fit within the book supply chain. Register your interest by emailing InfoBookScanAus@nielseniq.com Nielsen BookData also offers SPN members generous discounts when subscribing […]
Sign up or login to access this benefit
Content collection:
Book of the Year Award
In conversation with BOTY winning editors Leah Jing McIntosh and Adolfo Aranjuez
Against Disappearance: Essays on Memory (Pantera Press) is exactly the kind of invigorating non-fiction that small, risk-taking publications like Liminal, excel at. It is a physically beautiful collection, presented with an understated sophistication that reflects those same qualities in the works. Edited by Leah Jing McIntosh and Adolofo Aranjuez, this collection brings together writers from across […]
In conversation with BOTY shortlisted author Nornie Bero
Mabu Mabu (Hardie Grant Books) is an intricately crafted cookbook that melds together a perfect balance of memoir and recipe. In between stunning graphics and mouth-watering recipes, Nornie Bero recounts how her upbringing fostered a love for food and explores the deep connection between culture, identity and food. —BOTY 2023 judging panel We were lucky enough […]
In conversation with BOTY shortlisted author Andrew Sutherland
Paradise (Point of Transmission) (Fremantle Press) is beautifully layered collection of poems that explores the realities of a HIV diagnosis on home, community and freedom. It complex but inviting, an act of generosity and transformation. In his first poetry collection Andrew Sutherland simultaneously captures the stigma of a HIV-positive identity and the deep love of Queer community. […]
In conversation with BOTY shortlisted author George Haddad
For a novel about violence, Losing Face is surprisingly tender. George Haddad is a writer with a talent for voice and place, vividly capturing the intensity of Western Sydney. Haddad uses layered intergenerational storytelling to demonstrate the complexity with which lives intertwine and unravel around a violent crime. He avoids delivering neat and easy answers but instead […]
Content collection:
Meet the Publisher
The Small Press Network Interviews: Terri-ann White, Upswell Publishing
As she prepares for her keynote speech for this year’s 2021 SPN Independent Publishing Conference workshop day, Terri-ann White speaks to Holly Hendry-Saunders on launching Perth-based publishing house Upswell Publishing during a pandemic. Her life before Upswell’s inception White, a veteran in the book industry, began her career as a bookseller at eighteen, and at […]
Meet the Publisher: Duncan Felton, Grapple Publishing
When and how were you established? After many years of semi-organised pondering and planning, Grapple Publishing started late in 2013, making itself known to the world with a call-out for submissions to The Grapple Annual No. 1. At that point it was just me sitting at my computer with some ideas, some savings and a […]
MEET THE PUBLISHER – Lacuna Publishing
Linda Nix, Publisher and Editor, Lacuna When and how were you established? I have a long-standing fascination with how words and ideas are disseminated and become part of society’s cultural fabric. After years working in the industry, I realised my dream was to run a small press. In 2010 I set up a freelance editing, […]
Meet the Publisher – coeur de lion
When and how were you established? As with all good ideas, coeur de lion was born in a pub. The speculative fiction scene goes through boom and bust cycles and at the time there weren’t a lot of local independent presses catering to a sci-fi, horror, fantasy audience. Myself and fellow author Andrew Macrae were […]