The Centre for Youth Literature has picked the brains of Australia’s YA publishers to gain insight into their work, and their titles. For the next few weeks we will be featuring interviews with a number of individuals on their work in YA publishing.

Let’s welcome Susannah Chambers, the Senior Editor for Books for Children & Teenagers at Allen & Unwin.

As a Senior Editor, I provide editorial feedback and support to the author; develop ideas and take part in discussions and brainstorming regarding list-building and commissioning; read and read and read manuscripts; manage production from manuscript to printed book, including liaising with authors, designers, typesetters, printers, and in-house staff; direct design of cover and text; write cover blurbs and other marketing copy as required. I am responsible for helping the author make the book the best it can be. The process of shepherding a book from manuscript to beautiful new book can be quite mysterious for writers being published for the first time. On our blog Alien Onion we have attempted to demystify this process by a series of posts entitled What do Editors Do All Day.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Centre for Youth Literature has picked the brains of Australia’s YA publishers to gain insight into their work, and their titles. For the next few weeks we will be featuring interviews with a number of individuals on their work in YA publishing.

 Now to introduce….Claire.

I’m the children’s publisher at Pan Macmillan Australia, based in Sydney and responsible for commissioning, developing and producing a boutique list of titles, from junior fiction through to young adult.

Read the rest of this entry »