Ask Me Anything: Book Publishing 101

Melanie Ostell has worked in trade publishing as an editor, publisher, educator and now literary agent. In 2002, she spent three months in-house in London and New York on a Churchill Fellowship. A senior editor at Text Publishing for over ten years, Ostell has since freelanced with all major Australian publishers and held publisher positions in Perth and Sydney. She has led writing workshops across the country and taught at several universities. Ostell's current focus is on building her client list.

Vanessa Radnidge is Head of Literary at Hachette. She has published fiction and non-fiction and is very proud to have worked with Favel Parrett, Mark Brandi, Stephanie Bishop, Brooke Davis, Catherine Therese, Deng Adut, Michael Brissenden, Madonna King, Hilde Hinton, Miranda Tapsell, Sean Doherty, Dr Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Ellidy Pullin and Claire G. Coleman to name just a few.

Jeanne Ryckmans is a literary agent with The Cameron Creswell Agency (Cameron's Management), and a former senior publisher at Random House and HarperCollins Australia. Prior to joining the publishing world, she worked in arts television and was features editor at ELLE Magazine and books editor for Vogue Australia. She is the author of two books and is the former Artistic Director of the Canberra Writers’ Festival.

Jessica Alice is a poet and writer. She is Artistic Director of Byron Writers Festival and formerly CEO of Writers SA. Jessica’s poetry, commentary, and criticism is published in the Guardian, Meanjin, Overland, fine print magazine, The Lifted Brow, Metro Magazine, Cordite Poetry Review and Australian Poetry Journal, among others.