Our publishing journey- Black Cockatoo Magabala Books

The story emerged out bush in Halls Creek in the Kimberleys. Snippets of remote life flowed onto the page. It was strange to take a breath after the last word- it was like the story had written itself. Sending to Shel Sweeney at A Worded Life was one of the scariest things we had done. Both of us had never really written anything for publication before so we felt it was important to send it to an editor to have a objective opinion on our new book baby. It was scary waiting for feedback on something you had poured your heart and soul into.

Shel Sweeney was very helpful and super supportive through the editing process. She had a long list of publishing contacts and directed us on who best to submit our story to. It was picked up by the first publishing house we submitted to- Magabala Books.

Originally Magabala were eager to push our story through for an immediate launch to fit in with the NAIDOC topic of Our Languages Matter… however as we were soon to realise ‘things change’. Our book was then scheduled early in the next year… but another delay. A few weeks before our publishing date we were asked to bulk up the book a little more to make sure we had a spine for shelf presence. So then we set about working with A Worded Life again to shape another three chapters. All sent and done… it was time to wait. During that time we shaped a comprehensive teacher resource package to support our book.

And now… our book baby has launched. We are super excited to share it with you all!