Snuggled tight between the blankets of her bed, the girl’s dad pulls out a book. Pages rustle, and they begin to read. These bedtime stories filled with adventure would go on to spark a passion for writing in a young girl’s mind. Now, at 28, aspiring author Gabby Downes sits in the comfort of her bedroom, editing the final chapter of her manuscript. “Reading and writing have always been closely intertwined,” Gabby says.
As a child, Gabby would sit in her home office and write stories. “I remember I saved my first ever story on a floppy disk, so I’ve come a long way,” Gabby says, gesturing to her laptop.
As Gabby grew up, the dream of becoming an author existed in the back of her mind. But it wasn’t until she completed her first manuscript that she considered pursuing a career as a writer. “My first story landed on the page,” she says. Gabby wrote the bulk of her manuscript during the first Melbourne lockdown in 2020. Five years and multiple re-drafts later, Gabby is querying her manuscript to publishers.
Despite being ready to pitch her work, Gabby admits the process hasn’t been easy. “The publishing industry in Australia is much more niche than that it is overseas,” Gabby says.
Most aspiring writers like Gabby don’t have a publisher, and often, they are writing as a side hustle. “I remember feeling so disillusioned when I first began pitching,” Gabby says.
In Australia, most literary agents only have a window of opportunity throughout the year for writers to submit their work for consideration. “I started to realise that working as just a fiction writer was not going to be a viable way to make money,” she says.
But Australia’s publishing industry hasn’t stopped Gabby from pursuing her goal, though. “I’d love to live in the ‘dreamland’ of I’m only going to write. But I also need an income,” Gabby says. Gabby admits that she needs to be realistic and not focus on other writers’ success. “At the end of the day, writing is a lot of bum in a seat, and if you value speed, you’re probably in the wrong industry.
