Although I’d seen it before, it was BookJotter Paula’s latest Winding Up the Week (#110) post that reminded me of The Guardian Australia’s Unmissables series. Initiated last March, Unmissables aims to highlight 12 new releases they deem “significant”.
Before I share the books highlighted to date, though, I’d like to talk about the project’s funding because, as most of you know, how quality journalism is paid for is, currently, a critical issue. The Guardian, unlike some other newspapers online, is not paywalled. Instead, it asks readers to support them financially, by either subscribing, which I do, or, “contributing”, which, in effect, means donating without tax deductibility. Clearly, though, that’s not enough to produce the breadth and depth of content that we readers like. Consequently, they also turn to “outside” sources. They have at least three models: “supported by”, “paid content/paid for by”, and ‘”advertiser content/from our advertisers funding”. Unmissables comes under the first one, and is “supported by” the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund. This method is, unlike the other two, “editorially independent”. They say:
Before funding is agreed with a client, relevant senior editors are consulted about its suitability and the editor-in-chief has the final say on whether a funding deal is accepted. A client whose branding appears on editorial content may have a role in suggesting what kind of topics are covered, but the commissioning editor is not obliged to accept ideas from the funder. The content is written and edited by Guardian and Observer journalists, or those approved by GNM [Guardian News and Media], to the same standards expected in all of our journalism. GNM will not show copy to funders for approval.
I’ve written about the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund a few times before, including in a dedicated Monday Musings post. From my observer’s point of view, it seems like this fund is doing some good things to support and promote our literary culture.
Now, though, the books …
It would be interesting to know how the new releases are selected. Do they have criteria for plucking specific books out of the myriad published? Or is it more serendipitous? However they are chosen, Susan Wyndham’s article on the first book out of the blocks, Carrie Tiffany’s Exploded view, makes it clear why she thinks it’s a significant release and directly confronts what she sees as the value of writing such books, concluding her piece with:
Whispering Gums 
Thanks, Sue 🙂
No, thank YOU, Amanda 😀
Fabulous post, Sue. Many thanks for the mention. 😃
Thanks Paula… And it’s a pleasure to return the favour.
I could easily have missed The Weekend (but what would blog-life be without disagreements) and I have missed all the others. I like Tsialkos, but I’m not sure I’ll ever read his bible books. I would love the audiobook of Archie Roach reading Tell me why -I wonder if there’ll be one. And I probably should read one or two of the others, I might check out the essays.
Very true Bill, what would blog-life be without such discussions?
Do you plan to miss The yield? I certainly don’t. And, I would like to read or hear (that’s a good idea) the Archie Roach.
Hi Sue, I have read most of the ‘Unmissables” and liked most of them. Though I haven’t read the essays. I read the Age and Australian weekend papers for their selection of new books. And, of course, I look at your reviews and Lisa’s reviews. I also receive emails from publishers notifying me of their new books. I think I keep up with most of the new Australian books, and my attention is firstly drawn to the authors.
Thanks Meg. I think you do keep up very well. I think I look at the author’s name first too, but then we need to make sure we don’t miss debut authors don’t we?