Meet the Laneway Press team!

Meet the A-Team, AKA the brains behind Laneway Press ? (Aren’t we a gorgeous, clever looking bunch?).

It might seem crazy, but this is the first time all of us have gathered in person. This new world of working from home has made it the new normal to not meet (and while I’m not complaining about wearing PJs to work, it’s definitely a nice change to see everyone’s friendly faces, not just friendly emojis ?).

So what’s the occasion? Well, today we met to do a workshop on something that everyone’s doing, something that nobody can avoid … but it’s also something that nobody wants to talk about – marketing. (If your hackles went up reading this – you’re not alone!!)

But with marketing extraordinaire Heather’s help, we realised marketing isn’t actually that scary. Because we’re Laneway Press, we’re proud of it – and we want you to know about it too.

But first, you should get to know us. If you’ve been following our page and the Laneway Press journey, you will have seen all these social media and blog posts but no person. So who are the people behind the curtain?

Of course, there’s Regina (the woman behind Laneway Press!) – but you already know all about her and her passion for social justice. What you might not know is how much it feeds into her role as a publisher. Part of the reason Laneway Press stands out as a publisher is because of her compassionate streak, as we always want our authors to feel heard, supported and valued. Fun fact about Regina: she’s addicted to swimming in the ocean in the middle of winter!

Then there’s me (Liz). I started as an intern for Laneway Press, and (not to toot my own horn here) with my hard work, I was hired as a publishing assistant and editor. I’ve had a roundabout way of getting into this career (three uni degrees—history, teaching, publishing, and many random jobs besides), but ultimately, all roads lead to books. It’s where my happiness is. So being able to work for a publisher is, in many ways, a dream job! Fun fact about me: my hobby is macro photography, so if you love bugs and flowers as much as I do, take a look at my photography page here ?

Then there’s our new interns, Annaliese and Lauren. I met both of these lovely women studying RMIT’s Master of Writing and Publishing course.

Annaliese is our social media Queen. If you head over to our Instagram you’ll see Annaliese’s designer touch. With her sleek and minimalist aesthetic, she’s made our Instagram a feast for the eyes! Her design skills first caught our eye through her ‘bookstagram’ @farawayreading (which you should definitely go follow for her book reviews!). With her eye for design and, of course, love of books, we had to have her on our team! Before she studied publishing, she did her undergrad in Creative and Professional Writing (with Honours). She also manages the book department at her local Target. Sensing a pattern here? We’re bookish people at Laneway Press! Fun fact about Annaliese: she wanted to be Temperance Brennan (from Bones) so badly at fifteen that her mum dropped her off at the Appalachian State University in North Carolina for a Forensic Anthropology summer camp where she got to play with real human skeletal remains.

Lauren is our blogging intern. She’s written a bunch of awesome articles for us, including Common writing mistakes (that every writer makes) and Writing women (and how not to). Her sharp wit and cheeky sense of humour are infused in every blog. Before studying the publishing masters, Lauren had a literature undergrad. She nearly considered doing astrophysics but realised some skill in maths is required! She’s a treasure trove of cool and quirky book recommendations, especially if you love poetry and fiction. She’s also working on a vegan and gluten free cookbook called Thyme to Veg, which you can follow on Instagram here. Fun fact: she has a cat called Eugene who may, or may not, be a demon.

And let’s not forget our mascot, Lucy the Lab!