Fellowship July Newsletter
Pitch to Publish and Write a Book in a Day!
Great news! The writing centres - FAWWA, KSP, Poets Inc, OOTA and PCWC are hosting ‘Pitch to Publish’. Whether you’re polishing your manuscript or dreaming of seeing your book in print, Pitch to Publish will inspire and inform your next steps.
Are you interested in publishing your work?
Click on the ‘Pitch to Publish’ banner above and buy a ticket to the online session. There will be representatives from Fremantle Press, Atria Books Australia (an imprint of Simon and Schuster), Upswell, New Dawn and Elephant Page.
🗓️ Date: Saturday 26 July 2025.
⏰ Time: 1:00pm – 3:30pm AWST.
📍 Location: Online via Zoom.
🎙️ Moderator: Holly Craig - author of The Rip, The Shallows, and Audible exclusive Mayday.
Designed for writers ready to take the next step in their career, this seminar will equip you with crucial insights into the publishing world, what publishers are looking for, how to stand out, and how to position yourself, and your work, professionally.
🗂️ Program Outline:
Welcome & Introduction.
Pitching That Stands Out.
Effective Structure of Query Letters.
Professional Conduct & Expectations.
Trends, Market Readiness & Fit.
Live Audience Q&A.
Housekeeping:
o The final 30 minutes will be reserved for questions from the audience.
o Please post your questions in the Zoom chat during the session.
o The moderator will select a range of questions to ask the panel. Please bear in mind that not all will be answered.
o Overly specific or personal questions may be disregarded to ensure the discussion remains broadly useful.
⚠️ Please note: Pitching your story during the seminar is not permitted. This session is purely educational and designed to prepare you for future pitch opportunities in a professional, industry-informed way.
Don’t miss your chance to learn directly from the publishers shaping today’s literary landscape.
We’re looking forward to seeing you there.
In this newsletterGet your ticket for the ‘Pitch to Publish’ event.
From Tom’s Desk - New committee member, Writers’ United representative and Pitch to Publish organiser, Soraya Acosta Sanchez.
Donate! Sign up for ‘Write a Book in a Day’ with committee member Bronwen Channon.
From Tom’s Studio - Screenwriter and film maker, Zack Inglis and writer Martin Abbott.
Come along to our reading group - Still Words at Tom’s.
The Australian Fairy Tale Society - West of the Moon submission call
From the Tom's DeskHello FAWWA members,
Welcome all! And a special welcome to new members.
In July we are joining with the other writing centres to put on a special Zoom ‘Pitch to Publish’ session moderated by Holly Craig. Booking links are available on Substack, the FAWWA website and Instagram. We can’t wait! It’s going to be a fantastic event.
FAWWA is delighted to welcome a new committee member Soraya Acosta Sanchez. Soraya ran workshops on writing at Matties in February and March this year. She represents FAWWA at Writers United, the combined writing centres of KSP, Peter Cowan, WA Poets Inc and OOTA. Soraya is in the current Emerging Writers’ Program. It is a privilege and a joy to have Soraya join the committee. Welcome Soraya.
Furphies at Collins - Write a Book in a Day
Co-ordinated by Committee member, Bronwen Channon, you can join Furphies at Collins, the FAWWA team raising funds for childhood cancer research by doing their part in the Write a Book in a Day project.
There are six on the team, but it would be great to have two more writers!
Email FAWWA at fellowshipaustralianwriterswa@gmail.com if you are available to write for a day!
🗓️ Date: Saturday 12 July 2025.
⏰ Time: 8:00am – 8:00pm AWST.
📍 Location: Tom Collins House
🎙️ Co-ordinator: Bronwen Channon
Joining Bronwen is founder of the competition, Chris Oakley. He began ‘Write a Book in a Day’ back in 2002 in partnership with Katherine Susannah Pritchard writers’ centre and Princess Margret Hospital.
Chris is convenor. He’ll be running the brainstorming session when the parameters are read, working out the story, deciding who will write which chapter, checking the story flows and completing final edits for entering.
Ricky Arnold is also joining the team! Ricky did the illustrations for the book that Chris and Bronwen’s team created - The Not so Secret Garden in 2023. Their book won Highly Commended.
FAWWA are collecting sponsorship from you, our members, and the FAWWA community. The team has raised $240 which means their book will be eligible for judging, but more is needed for The Kids’ Cancer Research Project. All funds go directly to Kids’ Cancer Research.
Help us win a great prize for being a top fundraiser!
Writers Working in Tom’s Studio - Zack Inglis 
Zack is a screen writer and film maker. He is listed on the International Movie Data Base and is known for The Light (2019), Rose (2014) and Hell Night (2023).
Zack is working on a new project in Tom’s Studio and he very kindly agreed when I ask if he would write about it for the newsletter.
‘I had a wonderful time on Friday the 16th of May, writing at Tom Collins house.
I worked on structuring a horror-thriller coming-of-age feature film – X On The Door, that follows a community in a safehouse, escaping a serial killer. Big progress was made. In 2019, I released The Light, in the same genre, set in Kalgoorlie, following teenagers fighting a criminal cult. X On The Door feels different; more complex. Piecing it all together is a tricky task.
It was inspiring to be in a place with such history… and to feel facilitated and supported by a writing community: the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA.
I really can’t wait to be back again.
I was kicked into gear recently… realising that I had to put the phone down, and put energy, focus and time towards writing…. that it makes my life more full and meaningful, makes me happier, and that setting up your environment/space for success really helps.’
FAWWA Member, Martin Abbott
Martin has also been writing in Tom’s Studio.
‘Nestled amongst the trees by the side of Allen Park in Swanbourne, Tom Collins House contains a small room, the Writer’s Studio, with a desk, a desk lamp, and a comfortable chair, perfect for spending time doing what we all love, writing.
Rent the studio for the day, and as you write, notice the way the light changes and plays into different parts of the room, encroaching but never quite filling the space. It creates a half-light that is perfect for creative endeavou.
For breaks, the bench on the veranda out the front of the house is the perfect place to read and refresh.
Whether the sun is shining or the rain is playing off the tin roof, there is a stillness to the place that calms the mind and gives you space to think and write.’
Martin has come along to our new reading club, Still Words at Tom’s. His book recommendation is Before the Coffee gets Cold, a 2015 novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.
The book is about a mystical café in Tokyo, Funiculi Funicula, offering customers the chance to travel back in time, but of course, there are specific rules. The most crucial rule is that the time traveller can only stay in the past until their coffee gets cold. Martin is another book in the series, Before we Forget Kindness.
Still Words at Tom’s
FAWWA have a new club, it’s a club where you can choose your own book and read it silently in the company of others. We’re calling the group ‘Still Words at Tom’s’.
Come along at 6pm on the second Tuesday of the month at Tom Collins House, 88 Wood St Swanbourne (in Allen Park). This is a free event.
This club will suit you if you like to have your own choice of book and read in companionable company.
The format is:
6pm - turn up at Tom’s and pour your cup of tea and get settled.
6.30pm - read silently in the company of others.
7.45pm - continue to read silently, or break for a quiet chat.
8.00pm - close.
Call for Submissions
The Australian Fairy Tale Society are calling for submissions for their next anthology, ‘West of the Moon’.
They are looking for original and unpublished work including poems, flash fiction and short stories. These can be aimed at young adult or older adult readers, but must be G-rated.
There is a $10 submission fee for each entry.
Notes - extracted from the full submission guidelines -
We will buy non-exclusive rights to include the work in the print and digital anthology. All other rights remain with contracted authors. Your piece must not be published elsewhere for twelve months after the release of the anthology.
It will be a blind judging process, and the selected authors will join high-profile guest contributors paid an honorarium. Further details are on the attached flyers. Those interested can also visit: https://australianfairytales.com
Queries can be sent to ausfairytale.anthology@gmail.com.