On 14 July 2009, Odyssey Books became an incorporated publishing company, with its first title—Operation Trooplift: Postcards From Home, an anthology of short stories, poetry, photos and illustrations—published in January the following year.
Ten years later, Odyssey will publish its 100th title—a feat for any small press when you consider many shut down within a few years, for various reasons.
“When I first started Odyssey Books, it was very much a passion project. I had big goals to build the company into a full-time
“I started slowly, only publishing a handful of titles for the first few years while I found my feet in the trade publishing industry, and this has grown gradually to over a dozen titles each year.”
Michelle’s inspiration to start Odyssey Books came from a long career in magazine and academic publishing, before turning her hand to publishing books.
Odyssey mostly publishes fiction, with a focus on Australian and New Zealand authors, but occasionally publishes narrative non-fiction and books from international authors as well.
“Ultimately we want to share good stories with our readers, whether they be real or imagined, from within our own shores or far abroad—and beyond into invented worlds.”
“We’re very proud to reach this milestone of 100 titles in 10 years, and we have exciting plans for the future. We’ve launched two new imprints and will start producing audiobooks this year as well.”
Publisher Obscura focuses on chimerical illustrated books for adults and children, and the brand new Ensorcellia imprint will publish postcard-sized novellas and chapbooks, starting with a collection of nineteenth-century short stories translated from French by Canberra author Patricia Worth.
The Odyssey team join with their authors and friends from the past decade to celebrate this landmark birthday and look forward to a rewarding future in publishing.