Here we go again, I thought, as I started to read this piece in "Overland" magazine about the current state of publishing in Australia. "Louise Swinn takes the temperature of Australian publishing" states the article - lukewarm and getting colder will be the conclusion, I thought. How wrong could I be?
In the course of the essay Swinn talks to such people as Mark Rubbo (ex Miles Franklin Award judge and bookseller of the Readings bookshop chain), Rod Morrison (Picador publisher), author Nick Earls, Sophie Cunningham (editor of "Meanjin"), agent Gaby Naher, and author Toni Jordan. There is a fair degree of concern expressed by all of them that the current Global Financial Crisis might mean a drop in the number of Australian titles being published, but all seem cautiously optimistic. Which is a pleasant surprise.
