URGENT! FREE IS NOT FAIR

ACT NOW to save the Australian Publishing Industry....Make your submission to the Productivity Commission by June 3.

The Australian government is about to make significant changes to copyright, threatening the future of our Australian stories. We need to highlight the impact the proposed changes would have on Australian creativity, on authors’ incomes, on a vibrant Australian publishing industry, on jobs, and on our education system.

Please read this link to find out what is proposed, why it is so damaging to our industry and what we can do about it. Read the draft proposals and make a submission to the commission here But hurry! Submissions are needed by June 3.

You can also read more here or sign the petition here. It is also really important that you are a member of the Australian Society of Authors who fights for the rights of Australian creators. You can find out more about their campaign here.

You can also read here more from the Copyright Agency.

Please find below two letters written to local members. One by author and ARA Deborah Abela and the other by author and President of the CBCA Northern Sydney Sub Branch, Wendy Fitzgerald. We urge you please to do the same.

Dear Minister Plibersek,

I am a children’s author of over 20 novels and have been part of the legion of Australian creators who have been speaking to kids in schools and at writers’ festivals for many years. I have seen first-hand how reading books and meeting their creators can change and enrich children’s lives.

I am very concerned about the Productivity Commission’s proposal to change the rules surrounding our Industry, which suggest allowing parallel imports, reducing the term of copyright and replacing the current ‘fair dealing’ laws with US-style 'fair use'.

I believe these changes will have a hugely damaging effect on our Australian publishing industry, making it almost impossible for authors to earn a living and for Australian publishing companies to continue.

As my local member, I urge you to help fight with us on this issue. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your reply.    

Yours sincerely,

Deborah Abela, Children’s Author, Dip Teach, BA Comm UTS

Dear Paul Fletcher,

I am very concerned about the Productivity Commission’s proposal to change the rules surrounding our Australian Children's Publishing Industry. I understand the proposal is to change from ‘fair dealing’ to ‘fair use’ for author’s work- allowing others to plagiarise. Also, if we abolish parallel import rules we will be allowing in a flood of cheap overseas books. This will have a detrimental effect on our Australian publishing – and it would be very unfair to bring down the copyright from the current 75 years to as little as 15 years. There are a lot of people in the Australian children's book industry who are very worried about this.

Do you think this is fair and in line with the government's innovation policies on jobs and growth for Australians? I am relying on your support in this and I look forward to your reply.    

Yours sincerely,

Wendy Fitzgerald.

SCBWI June gathering

Our next meeting is on 18 June.

 Our special guest speaker will be Marisa Pintado, Commissioning Editor of Children’s and YA fiction at Hardie Grant Egmont. And we're delighted that our member speakers for June will be Bernadette Kelly and George Ivanoff. 

Marisa Pintado: From Whoa to Go: The Acquisition Process

Marisa is Commissioning Editor of Children's and YA Fiction at Hardie Grant Egmont. Marisa was the founder of the Ampersand Prize for debut novelists and she's worked with a variety of emerging, commercially successful and award-winning writers. She recently spent a year in London with Egmont UK’s fiction team. 

Bernadette Kelly: Writing and Me – It's a Long Story

Bernadette has been a children's author for sixteen years and a member of SCBWI for eight years. Her published books cover a range of age groups and genres. Bernadette is a fellow of the May Gibbs Children's Literature Trust and a former council member and Marketing Coordinator for YABBA—Young Australians Best Book Awards. 

George Ivanoff: Engaging Kids as Readers

George is an author and stay-at-home dad. He has written over 90 books for kids and teens, including the RFDS Adventures, the You Choose series and the Gamers trilogy. As a kid, George loved reading interactive books, where he got to make decisions about the direction of the story. He has had more fun plotting and writing the You Choose books than pretty much anything else. Writing the RFDS Adventures has opened his eyes to the amazing work done by the Royal Flying Doctor Service. He's thrilled that You Choose: The Treasure of Dead Man's Cove won the 2015 YABBA for Fiction for Younger Readers. George will talk about Engaging Kids as Readers. http://georgeivanoff.com.au

Show and Tell

As usual, we will have a brief ‘Show and Tell’ segment, so if you have a recent publication to show us, or news of a recent success to share (such as an award or grant) we’d love to hear from you.

 Please note change of venue:

 Date: Saturday 18 June 2016

Place: Building 13, RMIT University, 379-405 Russell Street (corner Victoria Street). When you enter the building, follow the signs to room 13.2.29.

 Time: 2:00–5:00pm

Cost: $25 members, $30 non-members (includes afternoon tea). For further details and booking info, please visit the SCBWI events page.

 Payment: Click here to make your booking via Trybooking.com (Please don't hesitate to contact Caz if you experience any issues with this new system or you are unable to make payments using this method: Carolyn_Goodwin@bigpond.com)

 SCBWI VICTORIA COMMITTEE MEMBERS
 
Caz Goodwin: Assistant Regional Adviser, Victoria
Chris Bell: Assistant Coordinator and CBCA Liaison
Serena Geddes: Illustrator Coordinator
Betty Sargeant: Technology and Social Media Coordinator
Jo Burnell: Membership Coordinator

 REMAINING GATHERINGS FOR 2016

20 August   

12 November

 We look forward to seeing you all there.

Christina Booth Wows them in Canberra

SCBWI Act had a wonderful event in April. The very talented author illustrator Christina Booth spoke at our last event on her newest release 'Too Many Sheep'.

It was a fantastic evening with a large attendance and hosted at ALIA House (Australian Library & Information Association) by the lovely staff there. (Given we are currently 'homeless' due to the ACT Writers Centre being revamped, it was generous of ALIA to host this event.) 

It was wonderful to see so many keen members and guests turn out for the evening. Armed with coffee and snacks we settled in to listen to Christina talk us through her creative process in writing and illustrating this beautiful book. 

You can see the very cute trailer here: https://www.facebook.com/113682115389375/videos/992488047508773/

The insight and beginnings of how she designed her pages, including the small little insert of a sheep reading 'Where's the Green Sheep?' hidden in a corner of one page made us all laugh.  The creative process was of great interest as we learned about the varying mediums Christina used for her illustrations, inclusive of digital and hand drawn pages was utterly fascinating. Creating words for a book and then having the skill and talent to bring to life the story with the images and vision of what she wanted left us believing we had been a part of the creativity.  Christina is an engaging speaker with her boundless energy, enthusiasm and passion for her work. It was a brilliant night.

Plans for further events in the ACT are in the works.