Speechless about the Walkley Awards!

Exciting news this morning is that Speechless: A Year in My Father's Business has been shortlisted for the 2013 Walkley Book Award!

I edited this book for Melbourne University Publishing last year. It was on a tight deadline, but James Button is a great writer and was wonderful to work with. I'm so pleased to see the book nominated for an award that recognises 'excellence in Australian non-fiction literature and long-form journalism'; it's a very worthy nominee.

The winner will be announced on 28 November — I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

Paleo Perfection!

Sometimes it happens that everything falls into place when you work on a book, and the end result is even better than you could have anticipated. This is certainly what happened to me this year when I worked on Optimum Health the Paleo Way.

My brief from Exisle Publishing was to find the right author to write the 'essential' paleo book. Contrary to popular belief, the paleo diet does not mean that you eat like a caveman. Instead, at its best, it's a return to a way of eating that puts the focus on seasonal, unprocessed, whole foods. It's all about eating 'real' food. I needed an author with the necessary knowledge and qualifications as well as someone with a passion for food and an ability to develop quick, easy and delicious recipes. After a lot of research, I found the perfect candidate: Claire Yates of Indi Nature. And luck was with me, as Claire jumped on board immediately!

Many months later — and after much liaising via phone and email — Claire delivered a truly brilliant manuscript, packed full of information on healthy eating, using food as medicine, reducing sugar cravings, boosting energy levels, etc, etc. You name it, she'd covered it! She also supplied over 100 tasty recipes and accompanying photographs. 

My editing and design team were top notch and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as, over the coming months, we put together a book we are all incredibly proud to have worked on. And now it's about to hit the shelves. So, if you're interested in great food that's good for you, check it out — you won't regret it.

Optimum Health the Paleo Way by Claire Yates, ISBN 9781921966262, RRP $35.00

Brumby Book Signing

This morning I had the pleasure of attending a book signing for a title that's definitely one of my favourites for the year. Brumby: A Celebration of Australia's Wild Horses was over a year in the making, but the end result is truly stunning.

I first came up with the idea for this book when I visited the Hunter Valley Brumby Association sanctuary. Founder Kathryn Massey works tirelessly, together with a team of volunteers, to rescue Brumbies that would otherwise be culled, then care for them and handle them until they are ready to be re-homed to their 'forever' owners. I thought it would be wonderful if we could put together a book that gave a brief history of the Brumby and then featured stories of people who have either experienced encounters with these magnificent animals in the wild or who have been lucky enough to adopt one. 

Kath jumped at the idea and together with co-author Mae Lee Sun, editor of the online Wild Horse Journal,  set about collecting the stories and images. It was a long and often difficult process, but I think both authors realised that all the hard work had well and truly paid off when they saw the finished book a couple of weeks ago! And today, Kath got to see the wonderfully positive response of others to the book at her first book signing.

This book has been a labour of love from start to finish and proceeds from the sale of the book go towards saving the Brumbies. It's the kind of project I love to be involved in!

Brumby is published by Exisle Publishing and is available in bookstores and online from September 2013.

Books Glorious Books!

I love books. I can't remember a time when I didn't love books. So it's probably not a big surprise that my professional life has taken me down the path of … working on books.

Some of my earliest memories are of sitting snuggled up to my mother as she read to me. Now, I get to do that with my own daughter and it's often one of the highlights of my day. The joy that I feel as she engages with the words, delights in the pictures, and lives what we're reading is pure magic. I would love to write, to create a book of my own that would give that joy to others, but while that may yet happen, for now I content myself with shaping other people's words.

My role as a publishing consultant, editor and proofreader is a privileged one. I am entrusted with the result of hours, days, weeks and sometimes years of creative struggle on the part of the author. And it is my responsibility to make that manuscript the best it can be. At every stage, I need to be mindful of the author — after all, it's a very vulnerable position to be in when someone is editing your work; your creation is being tampered with by another and the last thing anyone wants is to end up with a Franken-book! 

A lovely part of the process is that sometimes authors end up as friends. Collaborating so closely with someone over a period of weeks or months can often provide an insight into their world, and it's not unusual for common interests — beyond writing and books — to emerge.

Working with books is also a phenomenal tool for developing general knowledge. I am in high demand for trivia nights and quizzes as, while I may not know a lot about many things, I know something about most!

Books, whether printed or ebook, have brought so much to my life. Whether working on a manuscript or reading for pleasure, there is nothing better than becoming immersed in the world of words …