Living in Australia

Living outside of the major publishing centres of the USA and UK lead to some unique challenges. Living in Australia, in particular, has posed unique challenges to me in varying aspects of my writing adventures. If you, like me, are outside of these hotspots, these are some challenges you might face and some possible ways around them.

The first thing writers usually do when entering the craft is begin to build a following for themselves and their work online. However, if you live far from the hotspots, like in Australia, it can be difficult to connect with people in the community due to the time difference. Often my time online is when people in the US and UK are fast asleep in the middle of the night.

Participating in writers lifts on twitter or beginning your own is a great way to get around this. People in the writing community are thankful and appreciative for a chance to promote their work and often retweet the post so more people get involved and follow your account. Once you get enough followers engagement becomes easier in the community and you’ll show up in people’s feeds more often and for longer.

Another challenge is trying to find an agent or publisher. As previously mentioned, the major publishing hotspots are in the US and UK, so it can be confusing for those outside these areas to embark on the publishing process. I haven’t yet began the publishing process myself, but I do know that a lot of publishing houses have offices here in Australia and around the world.