Bidding war as Emma Pei Yin publishes ‘When Sleeping Women Wake’

Emma Pei Yin has always loved stories, and she was constantly creating characters and worlds in her head. When she went looking for those stories on bookshelves, however, she discovered that there were hardly any Asian voices being published. So she decided to write her own – and the result is her debut novel, When Sleeping Women Wake – releasing in 2025 in Australia through publishers Hachette, in the UK via Quercus Books, and in the US through Ballantine.

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Ali Berg’s successful publishing double act remains on track

AWC courses completed:
Creative Writing Stage 1

When Ali (on the right above) gave up her job in advertising at the age of 24 to travel the world, little did she realise it would culminate in an innovative career built around books and a two-book deal with Simon and Schuster Australia and The Book Ninja (Ali Berg & Michelle Kalus, 2018) in bookstores around the world. Ali and Michelle’s second novel, While You Were Reading followed in 2019, and their latest book Fancy Meeting You Here launched with rave reviews.

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Tina Strachan’s wild ride to publication

For former zookeeper Tina Strachan, writing had long been a passion, but she never imagined she would ever see her own work published ‘in the wild’.   It would take a writing competition to reignite the spark and set her on track to telling stories that drew heavily from her own

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WIN ‘Audition’ by Katie Kitamura

This week, we’re giving away three copies of Audition by Katie Kitamura. In Audition, a lunch between an actress and a mysterious younger man becomes a quiet unraveling of identity and intimacy. Through shifting perspectives, Katie Kitamura explores how performance, memory, and desire shape who we are to others–and ourselves.

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This Week in Writing: Open doors, good news, and a brand new festival

From open submission windows to exciting success stories, here’s what’s making news in the writing world this week. Penguin Random House opens submissions for children’s and YA manuscripts during July 2025 Penguin Random House Australia is now accepting unsolicited submissions for children’s and young adult manuscripts throughout July. Submit 50–100

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COMP CLOSED: WIN ‘The Retirement Plan’ by Sue Hincenbergs

This week, we’re giving away three copies of The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs. In this wickedly clever debut, four longtime friends, fed up with their failing marriages and bleak retirements, hatch a deadly plan to cash in on their husbands’ life insurance policies. But the husbands have their own

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This Week in Writing: Competitions, festivals, and fresh reads

Richell Prize for Emerging Writers: deadline approaching The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers 2025 is nearing its submission deadline on 13 July 2025. This prize, established in memory of Hachette Australia’s CEO Matt Richell, offers unpublished writers of adult fiction and narrative non-fiction a chance to win $10,000 and a

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Q&A: The orgin of ‘boycott’

Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, cold shoulders and hot potatoes…

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Furious Fiction: June 2025 Story Showcase

Welcome to the June creative showcase –  a chance to celebrate some of the stories we received this month and to inspire you in your own writing. (Speaking of inspiring, check out our SALE happening right now!) June’s prompts were a little different: ALPHA, BRAVO, CHARLIE, DELTA, ECHO, FOXTROT, GOLF,

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This week in writing: BookTok changes the rules

From a Netflix reboot of a beloved Aussie classic to a national writing comp for young storytellers, the writing world has been busy this week. BookTok reshapes publishing strategy If you have been resisting TikTok, you might want to check it out. Although, I warn you that it’s a rabbit

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COMP CLOSED: WIN ‘The Wrong Daughter’ by Dandy Smith

This week, we’re giving away three copies of The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith. When a woman claiming to be Olivia reappears decades after vanishing, her sister Caitlin is forced to confront the traumatic night she disappeared—and the secrets she’s kept ever since. But is this really Olivia? And what

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Bidding war as Emma Pei Yin publishes ‘When Sleeping Women Wake’

Emma Pei Yin has always loved stories, and she was constantly creating characters and worlds in her head. When she went looking for those stories on bookshelves, however, she discovered that there were hardly any Asian voices being published. So she decided to write her own – and the result is her debut novel, When Sleeping Women Wake – releasing in 2025 in Australia through publishers Hachette, in the UK via Quercus Books, and in the US through Ballantine.

Read More »

Q&A: ‘Mettle’ vs ‘Metal’

Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, metal heads… Q: Hi AWC,

Read More »

Ali Berg’s successful publishing double act remains on track

AWC courses completed:
Creative Writing Stage 1

When Ali (on the right above) gave up her job in advertising at the age of 24 to travel the world, little did she realise it would culminate in an innovative career built around books and a two-book deal with Simon and Schuster Australia and The Book Ninja (Ali Berg & Michelle Kalus, 2018) in bookstores around the world. Ali and Michelle’s second novel, While You Were Reading followed in 2019, and their latest book Fancy Meeting You Here launched with rave reviews.

Read More »
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