Small Press

What’s on for the second half of 2024

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After a busy start to the year where we sold many books at market stalls, we then had a table for the weekend at the 16th Continuum Convention. We had a blast there and met many people who liked and bought our books.

We have launched only one book this year so far – the wonderfully funny Lightbridge Method by R.H. Polden. It is a short prequel to Stewards of Octarma which we will be launching in November. The best comparison for these books is the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series, so if you liked those you like these too.

Last year we put out the call for submissions for an anthology which we are calling Showcase: Spark. It is an anthology with a difference – authors are given ten thousand words to showcase their writing and can do so in one, two or three stories. We whittled down the submissions to 8 authors from all over Australia who we have chosen to celebrate in the anthology. It will be on sale on the 1st of September.

We also have a new memoir by Gordon Smith. This will be his third with us, and we are delighted that he is still going strong with his writing at 96 years of age. The release date is still being determined, but the manuscript is in hand, so it will be this year.

We have a few other books we are discussing with authors, but they are not at the stage where we are ready to make announcements about them. So, stay tuned for more news later in the year.

Call for submissions.

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Australian Showcase: Spark

A new themed anthology to be published in 2024.

Tale Publishing is asking for authors to submit stories of ~10,000 words (+/- 10%) which incorporate the theme of “spark”.

The aim is to showcase your writing so you may submit 1, 2 or 3 stories to reach the 10,000 word total. However, this is a good chance to get that awkward length longer short story out there.

There is no set interpretation of this theme so authors may write about a bright spark, electricity, fire, an event being generated, the kindling of a friendship/partnership or any other context where the word spark might be used.

The main requirement is that each story must contain the word spark.

The book will be published in paperback and e-book formats.

Contributors will be paid $50 and receive a copy of the e-book. Tale Publishing will retain print and ebooks rights (only) to the story for two years from publication, after which they revert to the author.

Submissions should include:

A synopsis of your story/stories.

The completed story/stories.

There is no need for a cover letter beyond a simple here’s a submission for the Spark anthology. Submissions will be assessed on their merits, not the author background.

Rules for submissions:

Please format submissions in English (AU) according to standard format.*

Reprints are acceptable if you hold the rights, but must be identified as such as the places for these will be limited.

Stories that are x-rated or exclusively romance will not be accepted (romance is okay if it is combined with another genre).

Authors must be Australian citizens or permanent residents, but we welcome authors from any background.

Deadline for submission is the 15th of October 2023. Submissions will be acknowledged. Notification to successful authors will be sent in December.

How to submit:

Email your submissions to submissions@talepublishing.com with the word spark in the subject line (a filter will be set-up so these emails receive priority attention). Emails should be addressed to the submissions manager, Michael Ryder.

*ie: A4 paper size, Times New Roman Font, 12-point font, Double-spaced lines of text,   2.54cm margins, Paragraph indentation of 1.27cm.

Find out more about Tale Publishing at our website.

Cover Reveal for Intelligence Horizon

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We are very excited to announce that the sequel to R. Andrew Russell’s Intelligent Consent, the aptly named Intelligence Horizon will be released in time for Christmas. Here is the blurb for the book:

The future for Anastasia and Robert is balanced on a knife-edge. They are key developers of scanning technology used to copy the structure of the human brain and load it into intelligent robots. Their malevolent employer, Augustin, plans to kill them if they try to leave, but also when they outlive their usefulness. They also come under threat from an organisation intent on the elimination of all advanced robots. Meanwhile, two intelligent robots, Rob and Sam-renamed-Penny, have been sent to Mars to help Augustin achieve his all-consuming dream. Can they fend-off attacks by trans-planetary bandits, and use all of their cunning to outwit Augustin?

R. Andrew Russell is a former Professor of Robotics and brings both the human and robot characters to life with an eye for what makes us human. Perhaps echoing Russell’s own thoughts, a character in the novel says: ‘We’re limited in how far into the future we can predict human attitudes to robots. I like to think of this as the intelligence horizon … Hopefully, beyond this horizon, intelligent robots may be accepted as having at least some rights.’

It is an interesting idea and one which is explored in the novel. We are thrilled to be able to give a sneak peek of the cover, which is once again designed by Cathy Larsen. So, without further ado, here it is!

What lies ahead? 2022 releases.

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We have been thrilled and honoured to have several of our authors ask us to consider their next books.

Christine Hoy has followed up her thrilling memoir, Secret Sibling with a ‘fact-ion’ telling of her family’s history, called This Other Eden. It will was released this month.

We are working with our friends at Spineless Press to create our first audiobook which will be of Robert New’s Colours of Death: Sergeant Thomas’ Casebook. We anticipate a May/June release.

The Monash Writers Group have written a follow-up to their anthology Unprecedented Times called The Way Forward. This collection is aiming for a May/June release.

After his debut book, Colours of Hope and Despair, Bala Mudaly published his memoir Colour-Coated Identity in September. He hasn’t rested on his laurels though, and will have a third book, For All Seasons out in the second or third quarter this year.

Rachel New and her father, Robert, have written a new picture book, called Lost in the World of Dragons. The artwork is being created at the moment and the book should see a third-quarter release. It is being illustrated by Magdalena Almero Nocea who also illustrated their previous book, Unicorn’s Egyptian Rescue.

R. Andrew Russell has written a much anticipated sequel to his debut Intelligent Consent. The follow-up is called Intelligence Horizon and follows the main characters after the events of the first part. This will join our third quarter releases.

Not confirmed yet, so we have to be discreet, but we’re also in talks to publish the debut non-fiction book of a new author later this year.

We also have an idea for a very special project we’d like people to submit to, so in the second half of the year we will reopen our submissions for that… more details to follow closer to the time.

All in all, it looks to be a busy year for Tale Publishing.

The First Line Launch

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Last week it was Tale Publishing’s privilege to launch the Monash Writers Group Anthology, The First line. This was their second anthology after last year’s View from the Hill. This time, fifteen authors contributed to the anthology and, for about a third of them, it was their first time having something published. Giving new authors the chance to be heard is something we love doing, and the enthusiasm for the publication was infectious on the night.

Helping launch the event was Monash Councillor Lynnette Saloumi. Pictured here with the Chair of the Monash Writers Group, Robert New and again with the contributors to the anthology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This anthology involved each writer taking the first line of a story they like and using it as the starting point for a new tale. Some lines are famous, others obscure, but the works they have inspired are original and entertaining. From historical fiction, drama, science fiction, mystery, adventure and literary there is a story in this collection for every reader.

Copies can be purchased from https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/0648327337/
https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-first-line-monash-writers-group/prod9780648327332.html

For stockist inquiries please contact Tale Publishing’s distributor, Woodslane, on +61 2 8445 2300 or email info@woodslane.com.au.

New Author

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We are delighted to announce that Peter Lingard has joined Tale Publishing.

Peter is the author of over a 150 published short stories, the novel Boswell’s Fairies and a placegetter in a dozen writing competitions. His debut with Tale Publishing has the working title The Book of Dave. The novel is a series of reminiscences of a bartender named Dave. Each chapter/story is triggered by scraps of paper and business cards as Dave transfers information from one diary to another. It’s an entertaining book and the novel is written with humour and an understanding of the spectrum of social interaction.

We look forward to bringing it to you mid 2019.

something new… (?)

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Recently Tale Publishing was invited to meet with a local community writing group about a potential partnership. They’d heard about our work with the Monash Writers Group* (who have a new anthology being launched in February) and wondered if we could work together on a new project. The project is subject to a grant application so while we’d all like it to come to fruition, it’s not a certainty.

Similarly, at the book launch for Colours of Hope and Despair by Bala Mudaly, we were approached by an author who’d written over three hundred short stories and a novel. He had a new manuscript he thought we might be interested in. We exchanged details and have since received a manuscript which does indeed interest us. Again, it’s not locked in yet but we’re hopeful.

So why are we writing about uncertainties? To answer that we need to go back to Tale Publishing’s beginning.

Recently we had our third anniversary as a Small Press. When we started we set four simple goals:

  1. Publish 2 or 3 books per year.
  2. Publish stories that have something interesting about them regardless of genre or author experience.
  3. Form partnerships that enable our publications to reach the widest possible audience.
  4. Be a publisher of choice for authors, retailers and readers.

These anecdotes illustrate how we are meeting the latter two goals which is why we’re mentioning them. We’ve also formed the basic necessity partnerships too: Woodslane (Australia) & Gazelle (Europe and Asia) for distribution, the Small Press Network and Australian Publishers Association as industry groups and Ingram Spark for printing. Additionally, we’ve previously worked with the Krishnamurti Foundation to publish a translation of Beyond Violence, but things like potential community partnerships signify a degree of growth and recognition which is encouraging. As for the former two goals, they’re being met too. We’ve published four books a year, from a mix of previously published authors and first timers, who’ve written in genres including memoir, urban fantasy, satire, speculative fiction, literary and non-fiction.

We’re still young and still finding our place in the publishing world, but it’s nice to think we’re building some momentum and meeting the targets we set ourselves when we were founded. Here’s to the next three years!

* Tale Publishing was founded by members of this group and also published their previous anthology, The View from the Hill.