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Speaker 1: There's going to be well. In fact, it's billed as

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Speaker 1: the biggest indie independent book festival in South Australia. It

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Speaker 1: is on on Saturday between nine and three point thirty

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Speaker 1: at Plant four third Street at Boden and it's all

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Speaker 1: about self published authors, who are the biggest group growing

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Speaker 1: around the world independent book market. Self published authors two

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Speaker 1: point six million self published titles compared to five hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty thousand traditionally published titles. I think that's in yes,

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Speaker 1: around the world, those figures. But anyway, this is local authors,

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Speaker 1: local authors who have self published and the biggest independent event,

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Speaker 1: as I said, in South Australia. One of those can't

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Speaker 1: say those authors is children's book author poet as well

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Speaker 1: Ian McIntosh, who joins me now. Ian, good evening, thanks

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Speaker 1: for coming on, Thank.

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Speaker 2: Thank you really good to be here. And yes, thanks

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Speaker 2: to Greenhill Publishing, we've got the Adelaide Indie Author Book

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Speaker 2: Festival happening this Saturday.

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Speaker 1: Tell me about this. It obviously brings a lot of

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Speaker 1: people together and for members of the public who might think,

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Speaker 1: well why should I go to this? Why should they?

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Speaker 2: Well, this is an event where you're going to see

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Speaker 2: books that you can't typically find in bookshops. And now

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Speaker 2: one of the hardest things about being an independent author

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Speaker 2: is that a lot of your big bookshops they're tied

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Speaker 2: up with the publishing companies, so they don't want to

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Speaker 2: deal with independent authors for whatever reason. And that means

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Speaker 2: a lot of these authors they go to events like

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Speaker 2: this to get their books out there. So this is

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Speaker 2: a place to go if you're looking for a gem

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Speaker 2: of a book. There's all kinds of different genres that

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Speaker 2: will be there. I'm specifically with children's books, so my

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Speaker 2: books you typically can't find in bookshops. I've got to

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Speaker 2: get out and do the hard slog and find people

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Speaker 2: that do have bookshops will take them on or I

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Speaker 2: go to events and festivals like this all around Australia.

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Speaker 2: I'm actually just an honorary Adelaidian for the weekend. I've

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Speaker 2: come down from Council in North Queensland to be here

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Speaker 2: because it's such a great event.

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Speaker 1: Okay, fantastic. We've held this before, have we here in Adelaide.

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Speaker 2: Look, I don't think you've held this particular festival. There

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Speaker 2: has been other festivals here, but this is the first

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Speaker 2: time for the Adelaide in the Author Book Festival that

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Speaker 2: I believe are certainly hosted by Greenhall Publishing.

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Speaker 1: I reckon there'd be so many books that are written

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Speaker 1: that for many of us fly under the radar because

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Speaker 1: when you walk into a Demis or Angus and Robertson

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Speaker 1: or whatever bookstore, you see the collection that are there,

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Speaker 1: the big names, you know, the authors from around the world,

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Speaker 1: and movies, books that have been made into movies, all

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Speaker 1: the other way around, and they're all there. But there'd

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Speaker 1: be some absolute beauties that we know nothing about, and

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Speaker 1: they'd be compelling, they'd be thrilling, they'd be I don't know, romantic,

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Speaker 1: they'd be the whole box, and and they just sneak

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Speaker 1: us by.

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Speaker 2: They just need to see the light of day sometimes

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Speaker 2: and it is difficult for that to happen sometimes, but

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Speaker 2: events like this help us to get out there and

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Speaker 2: showcase our books. And oftentimes when people with my books,

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Speaker 2: for example, when they see my books, they're surprised at

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Speaker 2: the quality and the content and all those kinds of things.

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Speaker 2: And really with published authors and go through publishing companies

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Speaker 2: and end up in endemics and bookshops like that their

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Speaker 2: books are great, but my kind of book might just

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Speaker 2: be still a great book, but it just wasn't quite

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Speaker 2: what the publishing company was looking for at the time.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't mean that it's not any good. And so

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Speaker 2: that's what happens with lots of books, is that the

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Speaker 2: publishing companies are just not looking for that kind of thing,

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Speaker 2: but there's still great stories.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely well that I mean, you put a lot

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Speaker 1: of effort into writing a book. I imagine whether it's

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Speaker 1: a kid's book or an adult's book, it wouldn't matter

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Speaker 1: that they'd be the same blood, sweat and teas that

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Speaker 1: go into it, I'm sure, and it must be you know,

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Speaker 1: given hours researching, writing, crafting, it must be devastating almost

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Speaker 1: to miss out on a lucrative publishing deal.

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Speaker 2: It used to be a lot harder without going through

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Speaker 2: a publishing company, but now there's businesses like Greenhill Publishing

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Speaker 2: that are set up that can take a person who's

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Speaker 2: had an idea for a story doesn't know what to

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Speaker 2: do with the next day can go to a company

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Speaker 2: like Greenhall and they will help them bring their books

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Speaker 2: to life. But then the biggest challenge for all self

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Speaker 2: published authors is what can you do once you've got

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Speaker 2: the book? How are you going to get it out

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Speaker 2: there and sell it?

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Speaker 1: How do you?

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Speaker 2: Well? For me, it's I spent a lot of time

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Speaker 2: on the phone and emails. My books have a lot

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Speaker 2: of my stories have a bit of distinctly idy content.

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Speaker 2: So my biggest sellers are my books that are visitor

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Speaker 2: information centers around the country really, and the great nomads

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Speaker 2: and the overseas tourists see my books and go this

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Speaker 2: is great. I want to take something home. It's regional

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Speaker 2: and it's unique, and I can't find in one of

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Speaker 2: the big bookshops and give it to my child or

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Speaker 2: my grandchild or somebody they know.

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Speaker 1: Okay, your books. I mean I'm looking at your website, which,

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Speaker 1: by the way, for people that want to have a

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Speaker 1: look Ianmacintosh dot com dot au and they look fun.

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Speaker 1: I mean their kids books, So the Bickie Monster, the

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Speaker 1: Little Kangaroo. There's books on bears and crocodiles and that

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Speaker 1: sort of thing. There is a hint of an Australian

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Speaker 1: theme running through. So when you say you know the

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Speaker 1: gift stops and tourism kind of places, well it kind

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Speaker 1: of makes sense.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. They've been really good for me and another great

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Speaker 2: place for independent authors to get their books out is

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Speaker 2: through public libraries as well. There are a lot of

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Speaker 2: public libraries like to support local and organic authors, and

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Speaker 2: so that's another place where you're will find them.

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Speaker 1: How many books have you written in I've written.

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Speaker 2: And self published eight books. I had book six and

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Speaker 2: seven come out just in August this year, and I

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Speaker 2: brought both of those books with me, so this is

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Speaker 2: really the first time they've been put out to the public.

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Speaker 1: Okay, brilliant and there's a chance to see them and

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Speaker 1: lots of others. Obviously at the event on Saturday. You

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Speaker 1: must compare stories with people and I'm sure everyone has

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Speaker 1: a story about how they got published first and finding

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Speaker 1: Now you talk about the crowd running this festival and

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Speaker 1: the work they do, and that's all excellent that they

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Speaker 1: do Greenhill, but there must be a lot of similar

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Speaker 1: companies perhaps that do this sort of thing.

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Speaker 2: There are a lot of different companies around Australia that

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Speaker 2: will do that kind of thing. For first time author

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Speaker 2: it can be a little bit of a mind field.

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Speaker 2: Some take better care of you than others do. For myself,

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Speaker 2: I literally did everything myself. I didn't have any help

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Speaker 2: from anybody else. I had an idea for my first book,

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Speaker 2: Watch Out for the Bickie Monster, and then just started

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Speaker 2: googling it and I managed to muddle my way through

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Speaker 2: and I found a print company, I found an illustrator

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Speaker 2: and an editor and sort of stuck it all together.

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Speaker 2: And that was nearly eleven years ago now that that

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Speaker 2: came out. So it was terrifying and fantastic at the

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Speaker 2: same time.

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Speaker 1: Is there money in it? If I can be so

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Speaker 1: bold to ask? And can you make a life out

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Speaker 1: of what you do? So?

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Speaker 2: I say the average self published author earns between five

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Speaker 2: and twenty five thousand dollars a year, which is definitely

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Speaker 2: not enough buy And for me, I've had to do

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Speaker 2: a few different things over time. I do mentor authors.

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Speaker 2: I help other authors get their books printed. I visit

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Speaker 2: schools and kidneys and daycres and libraries and things like that,

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Speaker 2: which I get paid for that, so that sort of

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Speaker 2: helps bump things up while I try and increase my sales.

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Speaker 1: With everything online, is that your competition, the stuff that's online,

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Speaker 1: whether it's or is it just other bookshops and the

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Speaker 1: bigger names, and the fact that when people want to

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Speaker 1: buy a book they go to a Dimmicks.

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Speaker 2: I think It's easy for people to go to places

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Speaker 2: like Demicks to buy a book, but there's a lot

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Speaker 2: of people now that will go straight to somewhere like

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Speaker 2: Amazon and just search for a book that has a

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Speaker 2: particular topic, and that can make it difficult. But look,

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Speaker 2: there's always going to be challenges out there. So for me,

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Speaker 2: I've just looked for what works for me, and I've

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Speaker 2: got out there and done the hard yards and it's

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Speaker 2: starting to pay off, all right.

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Speaker 1: So the literary talent, we must have a lot of people.

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Speaker 1: Any idea just how many people would be sitting at

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Speaker 1: home writing a book. I mean there must be thousands,

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Speaker 1: I suppose.

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Speaker 2: I've talked to so many people who've got ideas for stories,

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Speaker 2: So I think everybody's got a story in them. And

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Speaker 2: some people reach the stage where they think they're going

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Speaker 2: to give to go and that's where companies like Green

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Speaker 2: Hill are great that they can give them the information

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Speaker 2: they need to get their book out there. But you know,

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Speaker 2: I would encourage anybody who's got an idea for a

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Speaker 2: story to at least explore it. There's some stories some

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Speaker 2: books are just not really going to make it commercially,

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Speaker 2: but there's a lot of brilliant stories that probably never

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Speaker 2: get written because people don't know what to do or

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Speaker 2: they're too scared to do it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's probably exactly right. Ian. I hope you

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Speaker 1: enjoy Adelaide while you're here and get a chance to

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Speaker 1: look around as well. And I hope the event on

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Speaker 1: Saturday goes well for you.

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Speaker 2: Thanks very much. I'd love to see your listeners if

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Speaker 2: they come out. There's lots of things to see and

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Speaker 2: do there, so it would really appreciate any support that

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Speaker 2: you can give.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, And everything's for sale. I suppose everyone's going

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Speaker 1: to have copies and they'll be able to support you

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Speaker 1: all by they pick up a book and think this

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Speaker 1: look sounds interesting, they can buy it.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, And it's a free event. Lots of things to

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Speaker 2: do out there at plant for and sixty five different

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Speaker 2: authors there, and they've got all the workshops and those

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Speaker 2: kinds of the panels on as well, so lots of

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Speaker 2: interesting things to see.

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Speaker 1: Can people take part in those workshops? I mean I

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Speaker 1: imagine they're probably more to the authors, aren't they, or

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Speaker 1: for people coming by.

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Speaker 2: Anybody who's interested. They can come along and sitting on

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Speaker 2: one of the panels. Now they are ticketed and I

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Speaker 2: think they have been sewing quite well. But if you're

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Speaker 2: interested in self publishing, there's one on that, there's one

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Speaker 2: on history. There's memoir writing, which a lot of people

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Speaker 2: have ideas and memoirs but don't know what to do.

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Speaker 2: There's fiction sessions and also business and self help sessions too,

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Speaker 2: so people can come along and see if they can

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Speaker 2: get in to listen to authors who have written those

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Speaker 2: kinds of books.

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Speaker 1: Fantastic. I hope it goes welly and thank you so

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Speaker 1: much for your time. All the best with yours. Thank you.

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Speaker 1: Ian McIntosh, my guess children's book author, his website by

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Speaker 1: the way ian McIntosh dot com.

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Speaker 2: You know