Collection: Blog

From the Socceroos squad announcement on 1 June to the final on 20 July (local time), we're opening the Reading Room: a new themed shelf every week, with 26% off all our World Cup Reading Room titles (26% for 2026 - it seemed only right), mystery boxes, and a competition we're rather excited about.

That thought has been very much on our minds lately, and it is the reason we begin this newsletter with Natalie Scott.

Looking for author events in NSW and Queensland this month?

Over the coming weeks, Fair Play Publishing authors will appear at writers festivals, book launches and literary events across NSW and QLD, from the Sunshine Coast to Sydney and the Southern Highlands.

Award-winning novelist Sue Woolfe returns with a powerful, lyrical novel about memory, music, and the things families cannot say, entitled The Girl Who Climbed on Rooves.

Digital is unmatched in reach. It is fast, accessible, and everywhere. But print does something different. It’s where value settles.

Former Kangaroo and Balmain legend Garry Jack will celebrate the launch of his autobiography Jumping Jack, written with Adam Hawse, on Wednesday, 18 March at the historic Red Lion Hotel.

From 19-22 March, the Manly Writers' Festival brings together writers, readers and ideas across Manly, and several Fair Play Publishing authors will be part of the conversations. Here’s where to catch them.

It’s been a busy start to the year, building toward the Manly Writers’ Festival in March and preparing a strong new line-up of books for 2026. If you enjoy thoughtful sports writing, history, memoir, and books about life, this season is for you.

Continuing our list of Top 10 Reads of 2025, here are our books 7-10.

We are proud to have published writers with their first books, as well as extensively published authors who have multiple books to their name, ranging from 26-year-old Amy Coomer, with a YA novel, through to 97-year-old Natalie Scott, with a moving memoir. 

As the year draws to a close and we all begin to wind down for the holidays, we’re celebrating a wonderful year of books, storytelling, and Australian voices with our Top 10 Reads of 2025 – the ten titles Fair Play Publishing proudly released this year. Here's 1-6. 

At Fair Play Publishing, we’re not naturally inclined towards retail frenzies, countdown timers, or panicked online carts. But once a year, the entire country seems to get swept up in yet another imported shopping ritual, and — well — here we are.

We believe all our stories matter. That is why we publish them, and why we publish for a purpose. 

Our Spring books continue with the release today of A Secret Grief, a memoir by 97-year-old author Natalie Scott. 

Our latest release, Light and Shadow, is a sweeping new historical novel by acclaimed Australian author Candida Baker, inspired by real events that began in 1874.

Plenty is happening across Sydney and Queensland — come along, meet the authors, and celebrate new Australian stories.

Told with honesty and heart, Amy Coomer’s latest novel is a deeply moving exploration of identity, grief, and belonging. It’s about what happens when the life you’ve known falls apart, and you have to find out who you are all over again.

In Big Con, acclaimed journalist and author Trevor Thompson unearths the astonishing life of Thomas Shortel, who fled Australia under a cloud of scandal and reinvented himself as Con Jones—Canada’s most influential sporting figure of the early 20th century.

What dad really needs for Father's Day is a cracking good read. We've got plenty of them! 

From Dave Mitchell’s trailblazing move to Rangers to Ange Postecoglou’s history-making run at Celtic, Socceroos in Scotland, by Paul Murphy, charts four decades of Australian footballers’ growing impact in Scotland and the surprising two-way bond between the two footballing cultures.

Throughout this week on social media, we've been highlighting three of our books relevant to the aim of NAIDOC Week, which runs from 6th-13th July. This year's NAIDOC is of special significance as it is the 50th anniversary of the celebration, with the theme of The Next Generation: Strength, Vision, and Legacy.

As the Women’s EUROs kick off, there’s no better time to read a book that helps keep the game honest. 

Radicalised by FIFA – Football, History and Feminism is a fiercely intelligent, unexpectedly funny, and deeply personal memoir from English academic Professor Jean Williams.

100 years ago today, Australia played its first football match against England at the 'Ekka' (Exhibition Ground) in Brisbane. It was the first of a five-match series played in Sydney, Melbourne and Maitland. We figure if we didn't tell you about it, who would? 

Shoutout to the Socceroos fans in Jeddah on Wednesday morning who acknowledged the work of Simon Hill. Simon has always been a big supporter of Fair Play Publishing, our work, and the efforts of our authors, for which we are grateful. 

Baby, it may have been cold outside, but it was worthwhile getting up early this morning to watch the Socceroos (and Maty Ryan in his 100th match) make yet more history.

Their sixth consecutive World Cup.