For a long time, I’ve been a huge fan of writing communities such as WEbook. It’s a great place for writers to post their work and get fast feedback, collaborate with other writers and maybe even find a literary agent. We posted a project on WEbook last year to gather submissions for our Eve’s Harvest anthology (available 1 September) and were thrilled to be able to publish a few stories submitted by WEbookers.

Worthy of Publishing is another great writing community, and I especially like this one because of the connection to Australian and New Zealand writers. This site is quite strongly geared to connecting writers directly with publishers, and connecting authors with readers once their book is published.

As a publisher, I find both sites incredibly useful for discovering new authors and to be able to preview writing without having to write those horrible rejection letters that are inevitable when you open the door to unsolicited submissions.

Then today I discovered Pubmission via Twitter and immediately signed up as a Beta tester. What I like about the concept so far is that potential submissions come to me in a digest format once a week (I picked Friday morning) and I can then preview those that jump out at me. This will save me a lot of time browsing (especially when my internet connection slows down) and I hopefully won’t get too distracted by other stories once I’ve read through my shortlist. Authors can submit directly to Odyssey via Pubmission, and submit to other publishers at the same time. So even if the book isn’t right for Odyssey, it could get picked up by a publisher the author hasn’t considered or even heard of!

I have signed some great authors via direct submissions, and haven’t ruled out re-opening to unsolicited submissions completely. But this could be an interesting opportunity to explore, and I will share my findings over the coming Fridays.

I’d love to hear from any authors who have been involved with any writing communities or slush pile services, and what your experiences have been like.

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Ambiguously themed ‘One’, the anthology contains a selection of short stories, poetry and artwork. The editors challenged contributors to share a poem to their one true love, an attempt at capturing their one favourite memory, the one and only time they travelled overseas, the one day they felt truly alive…

More news and previews will be available closer to the release date (1 September 2010).

“Imagine having to leave everything behind you on short notice, including most of your possessions, your friends and your planet!” – Steven Hobbs (p. 160)

Okay, so our troops aren’t leaving the planet, but it’s sure to feel that way at times. They’re a long way from home — far away from their families and friends.

This book is a warm reminder of what’s waiting for them when they return. There are stories to put a smile on their face and photos to give them something familiar to look at while they’re deployed to a world so very different from our own.

When you buy this book you are sharing our thoughts and prayers for our troops — you are sending the message they are not forgotten back home and that we look forward to their safe return.

More information and reviews are available here.

Available from 26 January 2010.

Order your copy (Aus $32.95):

StormSage Central is an Australian based creative collective with a global membership base. Their mission is to “deliver a quality, contemporary, free site; that will enable easy networking for and promotion of creative talents from around the world.”

Odyssey Books has come on board as an SSC sponsor, starting from Contest Creative 6. We will be donating book packs, vouchers, free manuscript appraisals, and various other prizes to contest winners. All members of StormSage Central are welcome to compete in the Contest Creative, and membership to the site is free. Visit: http://sites.google.com/site/stormsagecentralmembersarea/ for more info

What’s SPUNC?

The Small Press Underground Networking Community (SPUNC) is a representative body for small and independent Australian publishers. It was formed in 2006 to promote independent publishing and support the principle of diversity within the publishing industry as a vital component of Australian literary culture. More…

We’re really excited to be a part of this network as it means greater visibility of the Odyssey imprint as a small publisher in the marketplace, increased sales opportunities for the authors we represent, valuable networking opportunities, and it will allow us to play an active role in improving the interests of the small and independent publishing sector.

An open-planned initiative to enable readers from all over the world to connect with the Aussie author of the day via Twitter, to chat and answer questions and field discussion on Australian writing.

- from the brand-spanking new Tweet an Australian Author website at http://austliterature.net/tweet/

How does it work? Using a tweetchat by following a specific hashtag (in this instance it will be #TweetAnAustAuthor), it will be a lot like hanging out at your favourite cafe or pub and watching a conversation unfold between author and readers.

Watch the AustLiterature website for more details soon.