The impact of prizes, commercial fiction and memoir marketing.
We are back for 2025. In this episode we cover a lot of ground, with insights into the writing and publishing journey of successful authors, plus Aussie publishing news and a catchup on how 2025 has started for Seana’s writing and for Ventura Press.
Join Jane Curry and Seana Smith for a candid insight into how to write and to publish your book.
00:00 Introduction and Ventura Press author Katherine Johnson’s wins inaugural HarperCollins Australian Fiction Prize.
01:24 Katherine Johnson’s publishing journey and the impact of literary prizes for authors.
05:53 Australian publishing news: Text Publishing sold to Penguin Random House.
06:20 The challenges of third-party distribution.
11:21 Independent and Ventura’s position in the market.
14:00 Commercial fiction and why we love it.
16:18 Current trends in memoir.
17:46 Promoting ‘Going Under’ in 2025, ongoing promotion mode and not needing the sugar hit of huge sales immediately
20:20 Simon and Schuster sales conference, coming up. Ventura Press upcoming books and sales strategies.
23:13 Seana’s current writing endeavours.
24:35 Seana and Jane’s recent reads and book recommendations
- Richard Charkin My Back Pages Marble Hill Publishers 2023
- All Fours by Miranda July
- We Are The Stars by Gina Chick
- Swimming Sydney by Chris Baker
- Trespass by Louise Kennedy
28:33 Farewell!
Listen to all of our podcast episodes about writing and publishing here!
Jane Curry Links
- Jane Curry Advisory: www.janecurryadvisory.com
- Ventura Press: www.venturapress.com.au
- www.instagram.com/venturapress__
- www.instagram.com/janecurry1
Seana Smith Links
