The Professional Author: Researching creativity and reality

Writers expend considerable energy researching the details of time, place and character when developing their narratives. However, writers often neglect even most basic market research, to the detriment of publishing opportunities. When writing courses do not address fundamental issues related to writers making a living - contracts, copyright, legal issues - and do not encourage writers to consider themselves as part of an industry that survives on market forces they do students of writing a disservice. Writers need to know not only how to research a novel or a biography but also how to prepare a publishing proposal, what returns they are likely to get for their labours and the contractual obligations they'll be under. They also need to know how to avoid defamation or breaches of copyright. Professional organizations such as the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) provide this support. The ASA also researches and publishes information on the publishing industry. It uses this information to lobby for government support for writers and to develop opportunities for writers to develop extra income streams. The ASA is also making its pictorial and sound archives, which feature many prominent authors of the past 50 years, available for research.