Statement on Echo Publishing
A week and a day after the publication of my debut novel, The Last Resort, I received the devastating news that my publisher would no longer be acquiring new titles, effective immediately.
First and foremost, I want to say how much I love Echo. They have done a magnificent job with The Last Resort, and I am eternally grateful to them — and to the extraordinary team behind the scenes — for helping me bring this book into the world.
In particular, I want to thank Diana Hill, Samantha Miles, Cherie Baird, Cath Hayes, Maeve Carragher and Amanda Maclean. The people at Echo are talented, passionate and deeply committed to Australian publishing. I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with them.
For The Last Resort, life will go on. Echo will continue operating as normal this year to deliver the remainder of their titles. After that, The Last Resort will be held by Allen & Unwin as part of their backlist. Our audiobook will still be available from late February, please keep supporting it.
Echo’s list has always been small, bold, interesting and diverse. Their loss is a significant one for the Australian publishing industry. If we care about Australian stories, we need to support them by buying Australian novels and championing the writers who create them.
There are many remarkable authors this week who suddenly find themselves without a publishing home, uncertain about what comes next.
As for me?
It means I am, in many ways, back at the beginning. I’m holding a sequel to The Last Resort that may never see the light of day, which is honestly heartbreaking. I also have a standalone novel ready to go — but no agent currently championing it in the marketplace.
I had believed that if I worked hard and wrote a successful book, the next step would naturally follow.
Publishing, it turns out, is more complicated than that.
I’ll take a few days to mourn and recalibrate. Then I’ll get back to work — because stories don’t stop simply because the path changes.
If and when there is news about what comes next, you’ll find it here first.
Your support of my work is kind, heart-warming and making my dreams a reality.
Thank you.
Amanda
