The Magic Pudding turns 93!

One of Australia's best-loved children's books - The Magic Pudding: Being The Adventures of Bunyip Bluegum and his friends Bill Barnacle and Sam Sawnoff by Norman Lindsay - turns 93 this year.

It's a book close to my heart, as it formed a part of my childhood library and captured my imagination in a way few other books did.

Talking koalas, a self-replenishing cheeky pudding, a pants-wearing penguin and a salty old sailor hit the road to see the world, but when Albert, the pudding, is taken by 'pudding thieves' - a wily wombat and possum - his friends Bunyip Bluegum, Bill Barnacle and Sam Sawnoff are forced to launch a rescue mission.

A special 90th anniversary edition of the book has been released with a special afterword by his granddaughter Helen Glad. The original black-and-white artwork has also been rescanned.

The book has inspired an animated movie, a stamp, and a play, but most importantly it has fired many a young imagination.

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Sydney Writers' Festival 2011

The program for the Sydney Writers' Festival has been made available via its website www.swf.org.au, and there are some not-to-be-missed opportunities for writers and readers alike.

Would-be authors will love the When Preparation Meets Opportunity session with writer Phillipa Fioretti, which will give writers plenty of tips on how to get noticed by publishers.

And then there's the unmissable So You Think You Can Write international session, where audience members have three minutes to pitch their work to a panel of agents and publishers.

Readers will love any number of talks, organised by genre, featured on the website.

My picks include a session with Australian crime author Garry Disher, Tightening the Screws: Creating Tension and Suspense in Crime Fiction, and Lawyers, Guns and Money with bestselling US crime writer Michael Connolly.

From Harry Potter to Tim Winton: How to Write for Young Adults with Belinda Jeffrey sounds promising, as does Reporting from the Inside with journalists Elisabeth Wynhausen and Anna Krien.

Of course there are many, many more talks and workshops of interest - some free, some for a fee - so get in quick and book your tickets!

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Stieg Larson's 4th book to be printed?

A close friend of the Swedish crime writer has revealed the plot for what he says is the fourth book in the Millennium Series - and it'll have protagonist Lisbeth Salander's estranged sister Camilla in a key role.

Larsson, 50, died suddenly in 2004 before his books The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest were published.

The crime trilogy - about anti-heroine, punk computer hacker Salander - has sold more than 45 million copies worldwide and were made into films.

But Larsson's friend Kurdo Baksi, who wrote My friend Stieg Larsson last year, said the author had more books in the pipeline, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported.

Baksi told the Expressen the fourth book in the series was set on Banks Island, a remote island off the west coast of Canada, and features Camilla, who was last seen briefly in the second novel The Girl Who Played With Fire . The deepening relationship between Salander and investigative journalist Mikael Blomqvist would also be explored.

Baksi said Larsson had completed the introduction and finale to the fourth, untitled, book - rumoured to be part of a planned six-book series.

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Consumers chase ebook titles

Apparently interest in e-readers (Kindles, iPads and the like) has jumped measurably since Borders and Angus & Robertson slipped into administration.

Is this signaling a new chapter (pardon the pun) in publishing?

Data from web traffic tracking company Experian Hitwise backs up claims of a recent rise in e-book interest.

The share of searches on e-books rose nearly 5 percentage points for Amazon from mid-January to March 19, and 29 per cent since Borders and Angus & Robertson fell into voluntary administration.

For Kobo, in the No. 2 spot after Amazon, the share of web traffic searching on the term e-book rose about 3 percentage points, or as much as 46 per cent.

University of Melbourne publishing and communications lecturer Emmett Stinson said e-books were likely to generate around 7 to 8 per cent of all book sales by the end of the year, but might even come close to 10 per cent.

Mr Stinson said his guess was "based on Australia's adoption of other new media: ... slow at first, but quick to catch up".

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Self-Published author gets contract

St Martin's Press, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, has secured a four-book deal with US author Amanda Hocking, who shot to fame by selling more than a million copies of her self-published books.

Amanda's best-selling works include the Trylle trilogy and the My Blood Approves series.

St. Martin’s Press will publish Ms. Hocking’s 'Watersong' series, four books in the young-adult paranormal genre, after paying a rumoured seven-figure sum for the deal, announced this week.

Exciting news for Amanda, and further proof that self-publishing can be a great springboard for writers keen to get their work published. We look forward to seeing the new series!

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