Ian Callinan
Ian is a retired Justice of the High Court of Australia and a Companion of the Order of Australia. He still practises law as a QC in Brisbane and has completed a number of post-judicial inquiries on behalf of State and Federal Governments, Corporates and Non-Profit Organisations. In his spare time he is a prolific author of fiction including Betrayals and Appointment at Amalfi.
Vicki Bennett
Vicki Bennett is an author, artist and corporate trainer. She has written 27 books, including: The Effective Leader, I’ve Found the Keys Now Where’s the Car? I’ve Read the Rules, Now How Do I Play the Game? Signposts for Life and Life Smart. She has also written, directed and co-produced a documentary, Never Forget Australia.
Her recent books are Oliver's First Big Spy Advneture (Boolarong Press), The Little Stowaway (Scholastic) Two Pennies and Dreams Can Come True (Boolarong Press). Dreams Can Come True is designed as a workbook for parents, grandparents and teachers to assist early primary school children in developing a growth mindset through expanding children’s skills of visualisation and setting goals. Two Pennies is a story about a little boy called George, who after World War I, decides to work hard and raise two pennies to help rebuild a school in Villers-Bretonneux, France. This town had been flattened by war and the school destroyed.
Gail has over 25 years experience in the communications field, including writing, editing, proofreading, book design, desktop publishing, indexing and publishing support. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Editing and Publishing.
She is an Acccredited Editor (IPEd) and a member of the Institute of Professional Editors for over 18 years. Her experience covers fiction and non-fictions books, science and technical manuals and both government and corporate reporting.
Dan Kelly is the General Manager and Publisher of Boolarong Press. He has been in the publishing industry for over 20 years. Boolarong Press was established in 1976 to assist Queensland authors publish their books in a very competitive market. Boolarong has published many of the most significant Queensland history books. Boolarong has over 450 books in print. It continues to publish 30-40 books per year.
Dan also manages book printing company, Watson Ferguson & Company which was established in Brisbane in 1868.
Nielsens
Nielsens is an international big data company. They gather weekly sales data from a number of retailers and provide manufacturers, retailers and consumers important data such market share, segment as well as total growth trends, pricing and top sellers. Relevant to the book industry, they gather sales data from book shops, department stores and chains. The publishers utilise that data to determine their market share, consumer purchasing, opportunities to publish books and growth trends. The booksellers use this data to analyse store layout, genre or author sales gaps and futher opportunities.
Sheila Drummond
Sheila Drummond has over three decades of experience in the
publishing industry in both small independent companies (where you do
everything), multinationals (where you are a cog in the wheel) and as a
literary agent (where you make dreams come true). Twelve years ago she founded The Drummond
Agency. This is a small boutique agency which now represents over 40
authors from all states and territories. Her client list includes award winners
in most genres. Their works are sold overseas and optioned for film and TV. Her
extensive international network has developed by attending many book fairs over
the years: in the US, Singapore, Bologna, London and Frankfurt.
Sheila is a committee member and convenor of the Words &
Ideas program for the acclaimed Woodend Winter Arts Festival. She has been an
occasional presenter at Duneira and various literary festivals and professional
development programs.
Phil Cook
Phil is the owner of Dymocks Carindale and Garden City.
Mocco Wollert
Mocco has published a number of books including poetry that have sold very well. Her latest book, Bloody Bastard Beautiful, is an autobiographical account of her and her husband's journey from post war Germany to Darwin in the 1950s. It is hilarious while being inspirational. Mooco is a master of selling her books to the public. Few would leave Mocco without buying her books.