Photo credit: Elleni ToumpasI first met Kate Eltham during one of the IDEAS Festival sessions.  I forgot the name of the session but it was pretty interesting - from what I recall we had to come up with a random story and act it out in front of the whole group (wondering if Kate remembers this?).  But I know of her before April 09 as I am always listing Qld Writers Centre events in the BCI Calendar and I also remember going to one of her talks at an intellectual property seminar a couple of years ago.  Whatever it may be, Kate is passionate about the professional development of others around her via the Queensland Writers Centre, Clarion South Writers Workshop and Fantastic Queensland.
 

Qld Writers Centre, Clarion South Writers Workshop, Fantastic Queensland, your own writing practice and not to mention the recent US trip.  How do you fit it all in?

 I have no idea. It’s a spinning plates kind of deal. You just have to remember to rush back and wobble a stick before the plate crashes down. Somehow they all stay spinning!
 

What did you get up to in the US?  I saw some snippets of tweets that seem to look like it relates to interesting events.

 I was attending the 2010 Tools of Change for Publishing conference, organised by O’Reilly Media (of web 2.0 fame). The annual conference explores publishing futures, digital media, e-books and new business models for book publishing. It’s aimed at trade publishers but attracts attendees from across the industry including tech companies like Google and Apple, retailers and distributors, agents and author organisations, and digital printing services.
 
This is the second time I’ve attended and, as with last time, I came away inspired, awed and motivated. There’s a mind-boggling amount of activity going on in the digital publishing space. So much of it affects authors and yet I feel that most authors have a poor understanding of these changes and opportunities and how they are affected by them. My mission through QWC and if:book Australia is to address that, and assist authors and small publishers to experiment with new models.
 

Both of us are on Twitter (@kate_eltham / @briscreative).  We communicate in tags and tweets, @'s and #'s, we are hyperactive with the hypertext, we like to Google it up and Facebook it out.  In 2007, I would have no idea what it's all about. Thoughts on this or what is the first thing that comes to mind?  

I think the key to enjoying and getting value out of these platforms is to be kind of zen about the fact that they change frequently. It took me a while to understand the value of Twitter, and now I consider it an essential tool for professional networking and idea exchange. Yet, I’m certain a completely new platform will be the dominant one in another 2-3 years. Remember how massive mySpace was? And yet hardly anyone mentions it anymore. Did anyone even use Friendster in Australia? It lived and died before parts of the world even heard about it. I don’t really spend a lot of time trying to figure out why or how we are so consumed by various new media platforms. I tend to let that wash over me and just concentrate on using the tools that are most valuable to me for communication at any given moment.

Queensland Writers Centre has recently moved to a new space at Level 2 in the State Library of Queensland and there are some exciting plans regarding new, strategic initiatives such as if:book and upcoming 2010 professional development programs.

Yeah, it’s all going on over here. 2010 is our 20th anniversary year and it seems like we’ve never been busier. if:book Australia is QWC’s new centre of excellence for digital literature. It joins an international fellowship with the original Institute for the Future of the Book in New York, founded by Bob Stein, and if:book London, led by Chris Meade. if:book Australia won’t officially launch until late May but we’re kicking off with a national event series called Next Text, which will feature seminars and workshops for writers about digital markets. The program for that will be available by the end of March, but it will feature a number of international guest speakers include Chris Meade and Richard Nash who will both be presenting here in Brisbane. We are just putting the finishing touches on the first three-year strategic plan for if:book and finalising partnerships.
 
Our move to the State Library is not so much about finding a new physical home as it is about building a vibrant strategic partnership with SLQ. We are having a lot of fun connecting with different sections of slq and imagining programs and initiatives we can pursue together to foster reading and writing cultures throughout Queensland. Underpinning all of that is a State of Writing, a new model for bringing the Queensland writing sector closer together as a network and nurturing cross-pollination between organisations, communities and projects.
 
On the professional development side, we continue to focus on partnerships with industry and will be announcing new manuscript development programs in 2010 with trade publishers, to help support pathways for Queensland writers.

Queensland: what is the state of publishing here in Queensland?  What can we do (as a state, as organisations, as business owners, as individuals) to further improve upon the creative industries within the writing space?

Writing and publishing is alive and well in Queensland, even though most of the traditional publishing infrastructure in Australia resides in Sydney and Melbourne. A lot of opportunities in creative industries come from the disintermediation of the supply chain, and there’s plenty of that going on in publishing right now. That creates niche opportunities for micro-publishers, digital distributors, authors who want to go direct to audiences and creative businesses who are supplying services and tools to individual producers. Digital distribution also makes it easier to reach out to international markets.
 
In Queensland, I think we should focus on enterprise skills for individual authors and small presses, particularly in the area of digital rights and licences and digital distribution. We should also encourage collaboration and cross-pollination between industries. There are professional writing roles emerging in creative industries that traditionally didn’t employ writers before, such as the games industry. There are also companies exploring transmedia storytelling projects that are pulling in writers but also film-makers, web developers, musicians etc. These have tremendous potential for writers who are looking to work outside the traditional book publishing model. I also think we should try to identify and support those start-up companies and entrepreneurs looking to exploit niches in the publishing value-chain. A big growth area in the publishing sector in the next few years will be software, tools and services that help authors and publishers to produce and distribute digital content.

Emerging writers (university level and recent graduates) - what are your top tips for this group?

The number one piece of feedback we get at QWC from publishers and agents is that they are rejecting manuscripts that “just aren’t cooked”, works that have the potential to be great but are not ready to be submitted yet. So my top tip for writers is usually to re-write the bejeezus out of their manuscripts before they even think about submitting to a publisher or agent. One or two drafts isn’t enough. Four or five drafts probably isn’t enough either. The bar is just so much higher for unpublished authors because the field is so competitive. It’s not enough for manuscripts to be good, especially fiction. They have be to excellent to get the attention of a publisher these days. QWC has intensive editing programs for people who are past the first draft stage with their novels, so give us a call.
 
Emerging writers really need to arm themselves with up-to-date industry knowledge and build professional networks. Submitting to the unsolicited manuscript slush pile at big publishing houses is a highly inefficient way to break into professional writing. This is an industry of relationships, so participating in events and programs that enable you to build relationships with publishers, editors, agents and influencers will open up more and better opportunities to get your manuscript in front of someone who can make a decision about it. Develop networks. Participate in communities and conversations, both face-to-face and online. Get to know who are the key people in your genre or area of writing. Keep in touch with those who are talking to publishing professionals on a regular basis and who can recommend you or put you in touch with the right opportunities. (That includes Queensland Writers Centre, by the way, so consider joining if you’re not already a member.) It’s amazing how many opportunities can come your way from this.
 
After that, it’s a case of persistence. Write and submit, rinse and repeat. It might be a cliché, but through my job at QWC I’ve seen it proven again and again. Those writers who submit regularly and stick at it are far more likely to get published, no matter what genre or type of writing.
 

Finish this sentence "In 20 years time, the type of [cultural/creative/urban/etc] space that I would like to see..."

seamlessly blends the physical and digital and enables creative expression by anyone at anytime through any medium.

Thank you Kate for these informative and inspiring responses! 

I attended the Queensland Writers Centre SLQ launch/20th birthday party (I wish my that 20th was as good as this) last night.  There was a really great point that was made last night which recognises the vision behind the founders of QWC in Queensland 20 years ago.  Congratulations on this new, strategic partnership with the State Library of Queensland and in the upcoming initiatives that will help foster the growth and development of the industry, community and the association. 

Hannah