Western Australian author Gerald Marcus Glaskin (GMG; 16 December 1923-11 March 2000) wrote from life, using his experiences to continually expand his creative repertoire. In one sense, this was to be his downfall, as his life was unconventional for his time. Because he mined own experiences so much in his creative writing, his works eventually moved out of mainstream markets. However, this paper focuses on his financial success as a writer, details of which can be documented through study of the meticulous records kept by both GMG and his publisher, Barrie & Rockliff of London. Other scholarly analysis of the income received by authors is limited. Katherine Bode (2012) does not deal with the subject in her otherwise comprehensive quantitative analysis of Australian publishing. What little is known about the income of professional authors from this or other periods, and whether they were able to survive on the proceeds of their writing, is incidental to other research.

The well-known mantra 'slip on a T-shirt, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat' articulates the Australian Cancer Council's mission to promote an awareness of the need to ensure protection against the harmful effects of the Australian sun. Of the three actions evoked in the above slogan, the one on which we will focus in this paper is 'the slap'. Christos Tsiolkas' novel 'The slap' (2008) builds on and breaks from a wide range of narratives about Australia, its people and preoccupations. These same elements of Australian culture are currently being explored in the adaptation of that novel - an eight-part drama series screened on ABC television which, like the novel before it, has elicited a variety of audience responses, expressed in a range of cultural forms and forums. In this paper, which constitutes a preliminary discussion of what is envisaged as a more extensive research project and research-informed teaching exercise, we focus on a short segment from the novel and a sequence from the television series to illustrate what rethinking, re-writing and re-viewing of Australia they provoke. In addition, we outline our notion of designing a new (replacement) English, Communication and Media (ECM) unit of study based entirely on and around 'The slap' - as prose and film narratives - and their cultural precursors and repercussions.

This paper has been prepared at the direction of the Committee of Management of the Australian Society of Authors (ASA). Faced with confusing and apparently contradictory information regarding the state of publishing from members and stakeholders, the Committee sought a comprehensive view of the Australian publishing industry and the different income streams available for authors. The Committee was concerned it lacked a broad overview of the current status of publishing in Australia as it related to a global context, analysis of the different segments and some forecasting of future directions. This paper attempts to address those concerns. The Committee was also concerned about flow-on effects on Australian culture with regard to reported cutbacks in the publishing of Australian fiction and other narratives.

Imagine for a moment you are a teacher preparing your student reading list for a university course on Australian realist writers of the 1940s and 1950s. You want a range of books representative of this interesting era when Australia began to transform from and agricultural monoculture to today's sophisticated multiculture. ... You send off your reading list to the bookshop and the text-buyer rings you next day to tell you they are all out of print. You cannot teach your course. The situation facing teachers of Australian literature is this serious. Too many Australian works of value and significance are out of print.

It's a widely held opinion that the printed book is a dying species. Journalist Hugh Rimmington, when guest hosting 'The 7pm Project', jocularly asked the author of a new book of horror stories why on earth he took the trouble to write and promote his printed book with Kindle and e-books taking over the world. Digital books are already here and have been with us for some time. They have replaced print versions completely in some areas of publishing. Those parts of publishing are largely invisible to general readers, whose view of publishing is framed by the books available through retail outlets, but have contributed significantly to the overall profitability and success of the Australian publishing industry has hived off its digital segments into separate companies as print has ceased to be the most common delivery mechanism. For example, Thomson sold off education to concentrate on its professional and news companies; and Reed Elsevier, the giant of science publishing, long ago dropped its trade companies, and it sold off its education arm to Pearson in 2007.

In these pages in December 2005 I described how Google was digitising in-copyright works held in United States university libraries without authorisation from the appropriate rightsholders. I mentioned that this had incurred the wrath of the American Publishers Association (APA) and the Authors Guild, as well as their international affiliates. These organisations instituted a class action against Google. Google set out to defend this action by claiming its actions were permissible under the doctrine of fair use in the United States (US) Copyright Act. This doctrine is not enshrined in statutory regulation, as is the case in Australian copyright laws. Because Section 107 of the US Copyright Act sets out four factors that need to be determined before a use can be considered fair, 'fair use' in the United States has developed over time through a substantial number of court cases. 'Fair use' is not recognised by the Australian Copyright Act, which instead grants certain exceptions to users, such as the statutory licence scheme for copying of work in educational institutions under which Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) acts as the declared collecting society. Google aimed to add its unauthorised copying of books to the range of 'fair use '. In order to accomplish a designation of its digitisation as 'fair use', Google would have had to have a US court determine that such use of copyright material could be justified in terms of its 'purpose and character, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for non-profit educational purposes; the nature of the copyrighted work; amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work'. This was always a tough call. Google has now chosen not to continue this course of action, though it denies it violated the copyrights of authors, publisher and other copyright holders. In doing so, Google has implicitly recognised that the digitisation of in-copyright works it undertook was 'unauthorised', and a settlement has been brokered with the APA and the Authors Guild.

By the time you will be reading this I will be dead... I'm speaking metaphorically, of course, the urge to channel Pauline Hanson running deep within me. Remember when she released that video claiming she would be killed as the victim of some weird conspiracy? That was before she showed her two left feet on 'Dancing with the Stars' and the 'Daily Telegraph' smeared egg over itself in the form of fake, raunchy pictures of Pauline. How disappointed we all were that the buxom babe was not Ipswich's favourite fish-and-chippie! Those were the days, my friend, I thought they'd never end, but they have. When I say I will be dead what I mean is that I will be dead as the Executive Director of the Australian Society of Authors. I have resigned and crossed over to the dark side and joined the world of academia to become a teacher of writing.

Writers expend considerable energy researching the details of time, place and character when developing their narratives. However, writers often neglect even most basic market research, to the detriment of publishing opportunities. When writing courses do not address fundamental issues related to writers making a living - contracts, copyright, legal issues - and do not encourage writers to consider themselves as part of an industry that survives on market forces they do students of writing a disservice. Writers need to know not only how to research a novel or a biography but also how to prepare a publishing proposal, what returns they are likely to get for their labours and the contractual obligations they'll be under. They also need to know how to avoid defamation or breaches of copyright. Professional organizations such as the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) provide this support. The ASA also researches and publishes information on the publishing industry. It uses this information to lobby for government support for writers and to develop opportunities for writers to develop extra income streams. The ASA is also making its pictorial and sound archives, which feature many prominent authors of the past 50 years, available for research.

As Executive Director of the Australian Society of Authors (ASA), I am often asked what the ASA does for its members. Despite the fact that the ASA sets minimum rates for pay and conditions for authors and illustrators, and publishes books, papers and lists for emerging and established writers, provides a contract advisory service, runs mentorships for new and emerging writers and offers advice about writing, copyright and publishing, its activities on behalf of individual members are not always visible. The important fact is that the ASA continues to strive to develop its members' professionalism and knowledge of publishing practices. We offer a number of resources and services to assist members in more fully understanding the ways and means by which they are entitled to benefit from their intellectual property. The ASA will also intervene on behalf of its members when these intellectual property rights are threatened. The ASA is regularly contacted by members who have come into conflict with publishers about their rights. Unfortunately, it is sometimes unclear whether the dispute has arisen because the publisher is misinformed or is acting deliberately to undermine the authors' rights. Either way it is important for the author to fully understand their legal position.

The collaborative creative process that occurs before a work is published often remains hidden. It can also be defined in different ways. While the role of the publisher's editor usually can be clearly identified, other aspects of collaboration are more nebulous, such as the role of readers and literary agents. However, these processes are pivotal to the development of written works. Through the analysis of archive material, this paper sets out to show how one writer, the mid-twentieth century Australian novelist GM Glaskin, collaborated with his peers, literary agent and publisher. The paper documents how Glaskin wrote, what use he made of other writers and the relationship he had with his publisher's editor. While this is an examination of the writing processes and editing of just one author, the paper sheds some light on the collaborative roles of peers and editors in that process. Through analysis of his works, the paper also seeks to return the works of GM Glaskin to the attention of Australian readers.