Welcome to The Sharpe Report
Everything Books and Publishing Australia
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
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First of all, our very own Keely MacKinnon has been longlisted for the Deb Brash Emerging Designer of the Year by ABDA! We are so so so excited and proud of Keely and her achievement!
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The shortlist for the Penguin Literary Prize 2026 has been announced. The winner will be announced on the 11th of June. “Launched in 2017, the Penguin Literary Prize was ‘established to discover, nurture and develop literary fiction writers, providing a platform for new and diverse voices to emerge’. It offers the winner $20,000 and the opportunity to publish with PRH.”
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The program for the Manly Writers’ Festival has been released. The event will run from 19 to 22 March and bring together writers, journalists, historians and more. To see the full program see here.
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Novel Insight has announced the winners of their Reviewers’ Choice Award for children’s books.
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Junior Primary (4 to 8 years old): Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra / Cassy Polimeni & Hykie Breeze
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Upper primary (9 to 13 years old): Trapped! / Julia Lawrinson
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Secondary (13 to 17 years old): Anna’s War / DJ Taylor
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The Stella Prize for women and non-binary writers longlist has been announced for 2026 too.
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The Sydney Writer’s Festival Program has also been announced. The event will run from 17-24 May and you can see the full program here.
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Howl / Howard Jacobson (Fiction)
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Sorocidal / Edwina Preston (Fiction)
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A Beautiful Loan / Mary Costello (Fiction)
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In Bloom / Liz Allan (Fiction)
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When Books Go Bad / Alex Johnson (Non-Fiction)
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Tradecraft: Writers on John le Carré / ed by Federico Varese (Autobiography)
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Pink Easter / Tanya Hennessy (Children’s Fiction)
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Kin / Tayari Jones (Fiction)
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Crux / Gabriel Tallent (Fiction)
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Feminism, Defeated / Kate Phelan (Philosophy)
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Two Islands / Ian Kemish (Fiction)
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The Gambler / JP Pomare (Fiction)
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Vigil / George Saunders (Fiction)
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On the Edge / Kate Horan (Fiction)
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Wild Dark Shore / Charlotte McConaghy (Fiction)
Featured Blog Posts:
The Cathartic Memoir – I’ve journeyed from contempt to enthusiasm
Why write and publish a memoir? Will anyone be interested?
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.
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Have you got the book hierarchy blues?
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The economics of selling your book
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What 99.9% of authors don’t know.
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Featured Blog Posts
The Cathartic Memoir – I’ve journeyed from contempt to enthusiasm
Why write and publish a memoir? Will anyone be interested?
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:
The Little Book of
Big Publishing Tips.
In just a quick 8,000 words, this little book will equip you with the knowledge you need to successfully publish your book.
The Little Book of Big Publishing tips goes into the essentials of self-publishing a book, outlining the business and financial side of publishing, legal issues, design, editing, sales and marketing. There's even a section on how to identify a vanity-publishing scam.
