Sub-sector briefing for UK and Australian trade: New money on the table

Writing Australia (WA) – the literature arm of the federal “Revive” cultural policy – has ring-fenced AU$ 2 million for its inaugural Australian Publishing & Promotion Fund. Independent presses with fewer than 20 front-list titles a year can apply for up to AU$ 50k per project. Eligible costs include acquisition advances, print runs, marketing campaigns and overseas rights trips.

Applications opened 17 Feb; decisions six weeks later to let publishers hit Frankfurt catalogue deadlines.

Data, not just dollars

Alongside the fund, the Australian Publishers Association will run two competitive grants (AU$ 75,000 each) for analytics tools that map consumer demand and export potential. Think “BookScan meets StoryGraph” – the brief explicitly mentions benchmarking against Nielsen UK and the French ISBN agency’s Livre-Hebdo dataset.

Festivals re-opened

A dedicated Author Travel Fund will underwrite 200+ appearances at regional and capital festivals. Publishers can bundle three writers per tour, with 80% of trans-Australia airfares covered. The move reverses 2024’s cancellation of 40% of outback programme slots when Qantas slashed regional routes.

Journals get capacity cash

Forty-five literary magazines (Meanjin, Overland, Griffith Review) can apply for AU$ 5,000-25,000k sustainability grants. Benchmark: lift digital subscriptions by 30% inside 18 months or convert two issues to paid-pod formats.

Poet Laureate soft-launch

Nominations for the first National Poet Laureate open 3 March; the post carries AU$ 100,000 over two years and a remit to work with schools, libraries and “at least one international festival partner”. London’s National Centre for Writing has already expressed interest in a joint residency.

Existing pots grow

Literature Fellowships and Arts Projects streams rise 15% in 2026, taking WA’s total literature spend to AU$ 11.4 million – a record high, outstripping pre-Revive levels by 32% (Australia Council annual report, 2023).

The View From The Beach

WA will subsidise acquisition of Australian authors, co-production of audiobooks and half the cost of bringing writers to the 2026 Edinburgh International Book Festival. Expect a flurry of rights emails after the first funding round closes 31 March.

This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.