Welcome to The Sharpe Report
Everything Books and Publishing Australia
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
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The Guardian Australia has announced the winner of the poll they held for Australia’s best children’s book. The winner is Magic Beach by Alison Lester.
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The 2026 festival program for The Sorrento Writers Festival has been announced. More information can be found via their website.
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A new website called Folio has been launched that showcases Australian comics from 1980-2020.
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The Children’s Book Council of Australia has announced that there will be the introduction of the Middle Readers Book of the Year category from 2027. Independent readers will be recognised through age-based categories (Older Readers 13-18, Middle Readers 10-13, Younger Readers 6-9).
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Sydney author with the pen name Tori Woods, has been found guilty of child-abuse after her book was found to include child exploitation material. To read the full article see The Guardian.
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Andy Griffiths has been named as the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2026 and 2027.
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Hachette Australia has partnered with the Australian Publishers Association, Media Diversity Australia and Diversity Arts Australia for an event called ‘Belonging and Storytelling: Diversity in Publishing’. You can read more about the event hosted on 25 March 2026 here.
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Affirm Press, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing and Wild Dog Books have been shortlisted for the 2026 Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year.
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Readings has announced their Best Books of 2025 (picked by staff and public).
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Australian Fiction: Tenderfoot / Toni Jordan
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International Fiction: Heart of the Lover / Lily King
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Picture Books: The Bookshop on Lemon Tree Lane / Mike Lucas
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Junior and Middle Grade: Caring for Country / Bruce Pascoe, Bill Gammage & Jasmin McGaughey
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Young Adult Fiction: Lady’s Knight / Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner
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Queensland University of Technology will be the new custodian of literary journal Meanjin.
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As part of the Community Publishing in Regional Australia project, a took-kit has been developed for those that live outside of large cities, and processes that are different to traditional publishing.
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Vigil / George Saunders (Fiction)
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Bugger / Michael Mohammed Ahmad (Fiction)
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Might Cry Later / Kay Kerr (Fiction)
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Soft Serve / George Kemp (Fiction)
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Bugger / Michael Mohammed Ahmad (Fiction)
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Dare to be Wealthy / Melissa Browne (Self- Help)
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Dark Desert Road / Tim Ayliffe (Fiction)
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Iluka / Cassie Stroud (Fiction)
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Nature People / César Puechmarin (Photography)
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Riots / Fiona Skyring (History)
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So I Met This Guy / Alexandra Potter (Fiction)
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The Last Supper / Paul Elie (Religion)
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The Rot / Evelyn Araluen (Poetry)
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Attention / Anne Enright (Non-Fiction Prose)
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The Detective / Matthew Reilly (Fiction)
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The Last Encore / Rebecca Heath (Fiction)
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Strangers / Belle Burden (Memoir)
Featured Blog Posts:
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Self-publish your book by raising funds through crowdfunding
You can fully finance you project (and more) if you apply the necessary effort.
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Featured Blog Posts
If I was running a 45 minute training session for indie authors what would be on the curriculum?
Here an experienced indie author publisher shares 4 topics every aspiring self-publisher needs to know.
Self-publish your book by raising funds through crowdfunding
You can fully finance you project (and more) if you apply the necessary effort.
Is Goodreads good for authors?
Estimated reading...
What is typesetting?
Estimated reading...
Social media marketing for authors
Social media...
Have you got the book hierarchy blues?
Estimated reading...
The economics of selling your book
Estimated reading...
What 99.9% of authors don’t know.
Estimated reading...
Three tips for drafting your own work
Estimated reading...
Interested in publishing your book but unsure where to start or what is even involved? Tell us about your project and we will post you a copy of our:
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