Kon-yu, Natalie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2023-6910 and Booth, Emily ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8154-6747 (2026) The State of the Industry: Australian Publishing as Seen from the Margins. Publishing Research Quarterly, 42 (2). ISSN 1053-8801

Abstract

The Australian publishing industry, although smaller than some international counterparts, is nevertheless a vital contributor to the local artistic culture. Like many other industries, it is facing increasing pressure from readers and writers alike to become more inclusive in its practices, from the books it publishes to the people it employs. This research examines the current state of the Australian industry from the perspectives of First Nations and culturally diverse authors who have achieved publication, considering both their personal experiences as well as their perspectives of the industry at a structural level. We find that these authors, regardless of their success and passion, often feel that the industry and its adjacent organizations (e.g. writing festivals) devalues them as artists. Instead, they often felt—or were openly told—that their acceptance was to fulfil a kind of “cultural ambassador”–type role for an audience. We contextualize our discussion by examining how the Australian publishing history has evolved in such a way that it creates a narrow concept of who can be an “Australian author,” and argue that in order for these writers to be truly included, the perception of who can be an Australian author must also evolve.

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