Melanie Ostell is a literary agent. She advocates for her authors and their works, and helps them build a writing career. She has more than twenty-five years’ experience in the Australian book publishing industry across a range of roles, including editor, publisher and educator. In this interview, she considers the role of the literary agent, why she represents the writers she works with, and what she looks for when reading an unpublished manuscript.

Melanie mentions Tara June Winch, who she represents, in this interview. You can listen to Tara speaking about her phenomenal work The Yield here.

About The Garret

Follow The Garret: Writing and Publishing and our host Astrid Edwards on Instagram.

Explore our back catalogue (and transcripts) at thegarretpodcast.com.

Melanie Ostell is a literary agent. She advocates for her authors and their works, and helps them build a writing career. She has more than twenty-five years’ experience in the Australian book publishing industry across a range of roles, including editor, publisher and educator. In this interview, she considers the role of the literary agent, why she represents the writers she works with, and what she looks for when reading an unpublished manuscript.
Melanie mentions Tara June Winch, who she represents, in this interview. You can <a href="https://thegarretpodcast.com/tara-june-winch/">listen to Tara speaking about her phenomenal work The Yield here</a>.
About The Garret
Follow <a href="https://www.instagram.com/garretpodcast/">The Garret: Writing and Publishing</a> and our host <a href="https://www.instagram.com/_astridedwards_/">Astrid Edwards</a> on Instagram.
Explore our back catalogue (and transcripts) at <a href="https://thegarretpodcast.com/">thegarretpodcast.com</a>.

The Garret is a podcast for lovers of books and storytelling.

Always about Australian writers and their craft, in 2023 The Garret expanded focus and also interviews industry figures about what gets published (and why).

The Garret is educational in outlook. A defining feature of The Garret is our transcripts. Each interview is published with a complete transcript (so you don’t have to write anything down while you listen).

The Garret is a labour of love on behalf of all emerging writers. It does not operate for revenue or profit. If you would like to support The Garret, simply subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts and join the conversation on Instagram or Twitter.

You can also follow our host Astrid Edwards at astridedwards.com.

The Garret is a podcast for lovers of books and storytelling.
Always about Australian writers and their craft, in 2023 The Garret expanded focus and also interviews industry figures about what gets published (and why).
The Garret is educational in outlook. A defining feature of The Garret is our transcripts. Each interview is published with a complete transcript (so you don’t have to write anything down while you listen).
The Garret is a labour of love on behalf of all emerging writers. It does not operate for revenue or profit. If you would like to support The Garret, simply subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts and join the conversation on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/garretpodcast/">Instagram</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/garretpodcast">Twitter</a>.
You can also follow our host Astrid Edwards at <a href="https://astridedwards.com/" data-wpel-link="external">astridedwards.com</a>.

🎧 Interviews with writers about craft and industry figures about what gets published and why.

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