What are our Publishers looking for?

 Allen & Unwin

Allen & Unwin is Australia's leading independent publisher and has been voted ‘Publisher of the Year’ thirteen times including the inaugural award in 1992 and eleven times since 2000. In this year's Varuna Publisher Introduction Program, we're looking for commercial and literary fiction hoping to find writers whose books will sit aside some of our bestselling authors such as Charlotte Wood, Kate Morton, Alex Miller, Holly Throsby, Chris Hammer and Michelle de Kretser. We're also searching for compelling narrative non-fiction particularly in areas such as history and biography.

Black Inc.

We're particularly interested in ideas-driven nonfiction, whether biography, reportage and investigative journalism, popular science or politics, as well as high-calibre literary fiction with a distinctive premise and a strong, original voice. Our award-winning list includes many of Australia's best contemporary writers, including Ben Law, Bruce Pascoe, David Marr, Anna Krien, Josephine Rowe and Margaret Simons. A sample of our upcoming list: in 2020, we will be publishing a debut memoir from Queensland writer Lech Blaine, a debut nonfiction book on solving the world's biggest development challenges by policymaker Andrew Wear, and the first novel for adults from the acclaimed Alice Pung. We also consider proposals for accessible, lively general-readership books by academics for our La Trobe University Press imprint. https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books

Hardie-Grant Publishing

For Varuna’s Publisher Introduction Program, our adult list is not looking for fiction but instead is keen to read narrative non-fiction of all sorts – creative, investigative, memoir, biography, current affairs, cultural commentary, history and more.

HarperCollins Publishers Australia

 HarperCollins is Australia's oldest publisher, with a rich literary legacy behind us. We are looking to continue that legacy by publishing fresh new Australian voices across fiction and non-fiction. In fiction, we're after strong voices and compelling stories across all adult genres, and authors we can work with to build a career. In non-fiction, we are looking for stories that make us think, make us question and make us feel.

Pan Macmillan

Pan Macmillan Australia publishes a wide range of bestselling, award-winning and high quality titles. We publish under the imprints Macmillan, Pan, Picador, Plum and Macquarie Dictionary Publishers. We are committed to investing in Australian authors and stories, and our local publishing program covers a broad range of genres. From the Varuna Publisher Introduction program we are particularly looking for adult literary works of fiction and non-fiction showcasing ambitious voices and ideas.

Penguin Random House

 Varuna's Publisher Introduction Program is a wonderful opportunity to read new voices. We’re looking for fiction (no science fiction or fantasy) and narrative non-fiction featuring a strong voice, interesting ideas and confident storytelling. 

University of Queensland Press (UQP)

UQP is a leading independent publisher with over 70 years’ experience of publishing the finest Australian literature across literary fiction and non-fiction, children’s and young adult fiction, and poetry. We were also the first mainstream Australian publisher to start an Indigenous publishing list, which remains central to our focus on Australian stories. Our authors include Melissa Lucashenko, Tony Birch, Matthew Condon, Ellen van Neerven, Julie Koh, Claire Zorn, Nova Weetman, Steven Herrick and Pete Carnavas. For our adult list we are looking for distinctive and quality fiction, including short stories, and issues-based and narrative non-fiction. Across our childrens and YA list we are looking for: inventive non-fiction; big-hearted, funny middle grade; and contemporary, bright and literary YA.

 UWA Publishing

UWA Publishing is particularly interested in fiction and non-fiction for adult readers, with a big interest in genre-crossing and literary works that may be hard to categorise. It is the quality of the language and expression and the play associated that interests us most. And on that note, we are spending a lot of our time handling and cherishing volumes of poetry (including verse novels) and so we are open to poetry at Varuna!