Australian Society of Authors Issues Guidance After Writers' Complaints About Starfish Bay Publishing

What happened? The Australian Society of Authors has published guidance for writers caught up in complaints about Starfish Bay Publishing, an Adelaide-based hybrid publisher of children's picture books. In an industry update dated October 14, 2026, the ASA says creators have contacted it with concerns that include "a lack of communication between the publisher and its creators, unfulfilled contracts, and unpaid royalties and loans."

The ASA did not make findings of its own. It said the concerns had recently been raised by the Nine Network's A Current Affair, said it understands affected creators are "frustrated and distressed," and set out what they can do next.

What the broadcaster reported

A Current Affair reported on October 1 that more than 100 children's book authors and illustrators around the world had joined forces over their dealings with the company. The program said the publisher allegedly accepted upfront fees from aspiring authors while failing to deliver illustrations, finished books or royalty payments.

The report included several authors speaking on the record. Taylor Roberts told the program she signed deals for two books at $6,000 each, one of them written in memory of her late son, and that the book was never published; she said the illustrator she was promised never signed a contract. Danielle Camer said she was cut off months before the scheduled release of a book she wrote with her daughter to honour her late husband. Karyn Miller, a Queensland bookstore owner, said two of her picture books came out through the publisher but that she never received royalties, even though sales statements were issued.

Miller told the program that the affected group includes writers in the United States, Canada and Europe, some missing royalties, some waiting on books, some waiting on loan repayments. A Current Affair also reported that many writers remain tied to exclusive contracts, which stops them from self-publishing the same manuscripts or taking them elsewhere.

These are allegations. The program said the company operates from a virtual mail-handling office in Adelaide and that its director did not respond to repeated phone calls and written questions. The publisher's website carried no statement about the complaints when PT checked it on October 14, and its catalogue pages still list picture books with release dates running into 2027.

The ASA's advice

The ASA's guidance is aimed at anyone in a dispute with a hybrid publisher that has stopped responding, not only Starfish Bay authors.

Before you sign. Get any contract reviewed by a lawyer, the ASA says, "especially if you are being asked to contribute towards the cost of publishing your book." Its warning is blunt: "if you are paying the publisher an upfront fee, it is not a traditional publishing contract." It points writers to its subsidiary law firm Authors Legal, to Arts Law, or to a commercial lawyer.

If your book is not yet published. The best course may be to try to terminate the contract and get your book files back, so you can take the project to another publisher while that is still possible. The ASA explains why timing matters: once a book is out, especially with few sales, other publishers rarely pick it up, because the work is treated as "market-tested." It suggests checking contracts for an auto-termination clause that may apply to unpublished work, and says members can then use its free advice service for help pitching elsewhere.

If your book is already published. If the publisher still won't answer, the ASA recommends lodging complaints with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the relevant state or territory fair trading body, and reporting the problem to an authors' watchdog desk so other writers hear about it. Legal action is an option, it says, but could cost more than an author gets back.

The ASA also acknowledges the human side. It says the damage is "both financial and emotional," and points creators to Support Act's free, confidential wellbeing hotline.

Why it matters for authors

Paying to publish changes the relationship. The ASA's line about upfront fees is worth taping above your desk. A hybrid deal can work, but the money is flowing from you to the company, so the contract has to protect you.

Exclusivity can trap a book. The most painful part of these complaints is not the lost fee. It is manuscripts stuck behind exclusive contracts. Before you sign, know exactly how you get your rights back if the publisher goes quiet, and put a reversion or termination clause in writing.

Act before publication, not after. If you are in a stalled hybrid deal, the ASA's advice suggests the window to move a book elsewhere closes once it is published. Check your contract now.

Keep records. Emails, invoices, sales statements and payment receipts are what regulators, lawyers and authors' groups will ask for first.

Sources

• Australian Society of Authors: Industry update: Concerns about non-responsive publishers (October 14, 2026)
• A Current Affair / Nine.com.au: 'Smooth-talking' Australian publisher accused of taking thousands and ghosting children's authors (October 1, 2026)