Community Publishing in Regional Australia
@communitypubinaus.bsky.social
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Researching how community groups in regional Australia are using digital technology to publish and distribute books. 2023-2025. https://linktr.ee/communitypublishinginaus
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Interested in attending the symposium but don't feel like presenting? Keep your eyes peeled on our pages over the next few weeks - we'll have registration details for you soon 👀
The CFP for our upcoming online symposium has officially closed!

Didn't manage to get your abstract submitted in time? No worries! Caitlin will still accept abstracts until early next week - so you still have a few more days to get yours in.
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The text reads: Online Symposium. Reading, Writing and Publishing in Regional Australia Monday 24 November 2025 Abstracts Due: 10 October 2025
Reposted by Community Publishing in Regional Australia
Our latest journal article has been published and is available to read now!
The image is of the first page of a journal article published by Media International Australia. 
Title: Towards a comprehensive picture of Australian literature beyond the publishing capitals. 
Authors: Alexandra Dane, Beth Driscoll, Caitlin Parker, Sandra Phillips, and Kim Wilkins. 
Abstract: This article details the independent, small press and community publishing in Australia that is occurring outside the two major metropolitan publishing centres of Sydney and Melbourne. Guided by Mary Graham's articulation of the significance of place (2007) and drawing on a dataset constructed from the AustLit database from 2013 to 2023, we identify a high quantity of varied publishing activity in Australia's regions. The result is a comprehensive picture of writing and publishing that covers publishing location, form, and genre. Our findings illustrate that each state and territory has its own profile of activity: while there are some broad trends that characterise publishing across the continent (such as the popularity of children's picture book publishing) there are also differences, such as the high proportion of poetry published in South Australia and the relatively high number of reference works published in First Nations languages in the Northern Territory. Our research thus offers new understandings of regional and community publishing and demonstrates the central role of place and community as a driving force of writing and publishing.
The team also recently attended multiple academic conferences, and published our first peer-reviewed academic paper from this project.

Click through to read now!
Our newest newsletter is available on our Substack! We have many, many updates to share in this newsletter. Most excitingly, Kim officially launched our DIY Publishing Toolkit at the Outback Writers Festival in Winton!
This is the first peer-reviewed article arising from our Community Publishing in Regional Australia research project! The article is published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, and is co-authored by Beth Driscoll, Alexandra Dane, Sandra Phillips and Kim Wilkins.
Thrilled that our article 'The significance of place in book publishing: Insights from community publishing in regional Australia' is out and available to read now!

doi.org/10.1177/1367...
The image is a screenshot of the abstract of a scholarly article. The title is 'The Significance of place in book publishing: Insights from community publishing in regional Australia.' The authors are Beth Driscoll, Alexandra Dane, Sandra Phillips, and Kim Wilkins. 
Abstract: This article argues for the importance of place in the study of contemporary publishing activity. We offer insights from a research project into the production of books by community groups and individuals in regional Australia, with a focus on four sites: Alice Springs/Mparntwe, Broken Hill/Willyama, Winton (on the lands of the Koa people) and Ayr (on the lands of the Bindal people). Our design is informed by place- and relationality-centred Indigenous research epistemologies, and also makes use of Western methods including interviews. Our research findings confirm that place is highly significant for some kinds of publishing activity, as writers and publishers are motivated to tell local stories, draw on local print businesses as well as digital technology, and share the resulting books with family, friends and close networks. These findings demonstrate alternative power relations to those that structure the mainstream publishing industry, where power is supposed to concentrate in global literary centres such as New York and London and writers from the margins struggle for recognition. Our research demonstrates that a focus on local places and community publishing can tell a new story of the future of the book by recognising divergent and locally specific practices.
Go check out his latest book, Against the Tide, which promises river battles and burning cities and whispered alliances in the shadows—a relentless story of resilience, revenge, and the unbreakable will to defy fate. phillipleightondaly.com
Phillip Leighton-Daly
Bringing History to Life Through Words
phillipleightondaly.com
Phillip Leighton-Daly is an author based in Moss Vale NSW. Phillip writes meticulously researched books about local history, and YA fiction: ‘This isn’t just storytelling. It’s history, heart, and hard-hitting fiction—crafted by a man who’s lived a life worth writing about.’
The image has a bright yellow background with bold white text. The text reads: Phillip Leighton Daly Author Spotlight. In the centre of the image are three books, positioned so they progress diagonally from top left to bottom right. The books are: Against the Tide, The Prince who wanted to live forever, and The Crinkling on the Pie. Each book is by Phillip Leighton-Daly
So far, they have one publication out, Henry the Wombat Learns to Budget, an adorable picture book that can teach kids about responsible saving. We’re looking forward to seeing what else this new press achieves!

www.elephantpagepublishing.com.au
Elephant Page
www.elephantpagepublishing.com.au
Elephant Page Publishing is an exciting new publishing house in Perth (Boorloo). The press is run by students under the guidance of a team of publishing professionals, and their mission is to “to uplift new voices and talents on both sides of the publishing process.”
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We have a new article by team member Roseleigh Priest up on the Self-Publishing Australia blog! The article explores the experiences of indie authors, with insights from Kathleen Ryder, a wonderful indie romance author the team interviewed in Alice Springs.

selfpub.com.au/2025/06/we-s...
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It's here!!! Our DIY Publishing Toolkit is now freely available to read. If you're a writer getting ready to embark on your publishing adventure, this is the guide for you. Check it out!

hdl.handle.net/11343/356821
The image has text saying: "It's Here! Follow the link in our bio to read our new toolkit for aspiring authors." Next to the text is a book cover. It has a dark yellow background, and a circle in the middle with a yellow-to-orange gradient. The circle contains an illustration of an open book with flowers growing out of it (the Community Publishing in Regional Australia logo). The cover has text saying: "The community publishing in regional Australia project. DIY publishing Toolkit. Beth Driscoll, Kim Wilkins, Sandra Phillips and Alexandra Dane."
Get ready! On the 23rd of June we will be releasing a DIY Publishing Toolkit. If you're interested in publishing a book, no matter the genre, this toolkit will set you up for success!

Check back next week to read it for free!
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Swallows Part One is a fabulous graphic novel by Tasmania based artist Joshua Santospirito. The novel follows Joshua’s grandfather as he built his life from a working child in the streets of Melbourne to the King of Flowers on Flinders Street.

www.sankessto.com/product/swal...
The image has a light blue background decorated with white silhouettes of flying swallows. There are two white bubbles shaped like clouds, containing dark blue text that says: 'Swallows Part One, Joshua Santospirito, San Kessto Publications.' A book cover is on the right. It is illustrated in dark blue and has a sketched appearance. It contains a nautical wooden structure, resembling a frame or ship window. There is a circle in the middle containing text, which says: "Swallows Part One, Joshua Santospirito."
Based out of the Federal Box Factory in Adelaide, Friendly Street Poets is Australia’s oldest open mic, poetry reading and publishing group. Dedicated to promoting South Australian poetry, they host monthly readings and publish annual poetry anthologies.

friendlystreetpoets.org.au/publications...
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