The Team

Anna Solding
President
Anna Solding is the founder and director of independent publishing company MidnightSun Publishing. Anna is also the co-founder and director of the Australian Short Story Festival as she is passionate about short stories. She has a Masters and PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide and has travelled the world as a publisher, partaking in delegations to China, Korea, the USA and India. Over the years, she has published many books that have been shortlisted for or won awards, both in Australia and internationally. Anna thinks independent publishing is a vital part of the Australian publishing landscape and she is the current President of the Small Press Network. 

Sophie Masson
Board Member
Born in Indonesia of French parents, who are themselves of mixed ethnicity: Basque, Spanish, Portuguese and French-Canadian as well as French, Dr Sophie Masson AM was brought up in France and Australia and now lives in regional NSW. 

Sophie is the award-winning author of over 70 books, for children, young adults and adults, many of which have been published internationally. She is also a founding partner and publishing director of acclaimed small publisher, Christmas Press, which celebrates its 10^th anniversary in 2023. 

Sophie holds a PhD in Creative Practice from the University of New England and in 2019 she received an AM award in the Order of Australia honours list for her significant service to literature. 

A former Chair of the ASA, Sophie is the current Chair of the New England Writers’ Centre.

Marshall Vann
Treasurer
Marshall is a Chartered Accountant with extensive business experience in public and private companies.  He is an avid reader over a wide variety of genres.

Jess Gately
Board Member
Jess Gately is a freelance publishing professional based in Perth, Western Australia. She is a tutor in the Professional Writing and Publishing program at Curtin University, the President of Editors WA (a branch of the Institute of Professional Editors), and works with a variety of arts organisations and publishers to bring their projects to life. Jess is passionate about literature and the power of words to understand the present and shape the future. 

Rachel Bin Salleh
Board Member
Rachel Bin Salleh is descended from the Nimunburr and Yawuru peoples of the Kimberley region of WA. Rachel is passionate about Indigenous people telling their stories and started her career in publishing at Magabala Books in the 1990s.

Katherine Day
Board Member
Katherine Day is a Lecturer in Publishing Practice in the School of Culture and Communication at Melbourne University. Her research focuses on the intersection between publishing, law and policy—how author–publisher relationships are negotiated post contract and the incidence and impact of editorial mediation of texts both in print and online. Before becoming an academic, Katherine worked as an in-house editor at Penguin Books and then worked freelance for PRH, Allen & Unwin, Thames and Hudson, Rockpool Publishing, UQP and Working Title Press.

Michaela Skelly
Secretary
Michaela has over 20 years’ experience in the publishing world, working in NZ, Australia and the UK.

She previously served as the SPN secretary from 2014–2020.
Michaela runs publishing consultancy, Super M Press, which specialises in publishing project management and editorial work. She  teaches at RMIT in the professional writing and editing (PWE) associate degree.

Cristina Pase
Board Member
Cristina has been in the publishing industry for over 30 years. She has worked as a teacher, a bookseller, a sales rep and a sales and marketing manager. For the past 19 years she has been the Children’s Publisher at Windy Hollow Books. Cristina is passionate about the role small independent children’s publishers have in finding and nurturing new talent