Does the title of your book matter? Yes, it most certainly does. But is the author the person best qualified to choose it? Not in my...

Have you ever had to find a photo of yourself, maybe to put on your work webpage or to go on the cover of a newsletter or a book? Here’s...

Not long after I became an academic, more years ago than I care to remember, I was invited for the first time to review a book in my...

Should you read if you want to write? Maybe you’ve been told that reading someone else’s work will stifle your unique voice. If they...

All writers are familiar with the adage “write what you know”. But what does it actually mean? Should it be taken literally? Or does it...

It is well known that the number of bookshops in Australia is dwindling. What is less well known is that the Australian book and...

Narrative tension is vital in a novel and writers often struggle with how to introduce it. Can it be done with shorter chapters? Can it...

A good literary agent is a bridge between the novelist and publication. He or she understands the publishing industry, knows who the most...

Probably every school child has seen the words purple patch scrawled in red pen on her essay. When I was in Year 5, I found the phrase in...

Life expectancy at birth was 50 years in 1890s Britain. Now it stands at 80. In this month’s Literary Review John Sutherland has an...