Behind the book Deal : Getting Published in Australia

Event Description

Meet author Madeleine Cleary, whose debut novel The Butterfly Women (29 April 2025, Affirm Press), was chosen as Dymocks Fiction Book of the Month and was inspired by her family history. She has appeared on ABC Radio Melbourne, Better Reading Podcast, Sorrento Writers Festival, WillyLit Festival and her writing has featured in The Australian Weekend Magazine. In 2024, her writing was shortlisted for The Australian Fiction Prize, a major unpublished manuscript prize in Australia. Madeleine is the co-host of The Book Deal Podcast, a popular podcast where she interviews traditionally published writers about how they got their book deals. Before she became a published author, Madeleine was a bookseller and served as an Australian diplomat in China. Madeleine is from Melbourne and lives at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges.

Whether you are a reader or writer or both, if you'd like to know what steps writers take to get a novel traditionally published in Australia, this talk is for you. You can be a writer at any stage of the process, whether you have a story in mind or if you have a draft ready to go. Or you might just be interested to know more about the publishing industry! As Madeleine has interviewed more than 15 writers to date about their paths to publications, she has a lot of information to share.

This talk is for emerging writers who may have written or are writing a manuscript, and are thinking they'd like to get it traditionally published (not self-published). Topics covered will include:
What does the Australian publishing landscape look like?
How do I know when my manuscript is ready to submit?
Do I need an agent?
Where should I submit my manuscript?
What is the difference between a pitch and synopsis?
What are comparison titles?
What about prizes?
Is social media important?
Madeleine will talk about some of the writing process and inspiration behind her novel, The Butterfly Women, which was set in colonial Melbourne and features brothel madams, female journalists and a Jack-the-Ripper style murder mystery.

Madeleine will be selling and signing books after the session.