Student signs eight-book publishing deal
RMIT University student and self-published speculative fiction author Darrell Pitt has signed an unprecedented eight-book deal with Text Publishing.
The third-year Bachelor of Arts (Creative Writing) student has written two series and a stand-alone novel.
Text Publishing will re-edit his self-published e-books and release them in bookshops from 2014, as well as releasing new books from the two series.
The three-book Steampunk Detective series tells the story of Jack Mason, a young orphan who is apprenticed to Ignatius Doyle, the world's most famous consulting detective.
The second series of four books, Diary of a Teenage Superhero, is about a teenager who discovers he has superpowers.
Mr Pitt's eighth book, A Toaster on Mars, is a science fiction humour work in the vein of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.
He attributes his success to his love of comic books and his mentor and RMIT teacher Toni Jordan, an award-winning novelist and lecturer in the creative writing program in the School of Media and Communication.
Mr Pitt said he only became serious about his writing after starting as a mature age student at RMIT in 2011, when he also started to make use of self-publishing technology to put out his work as digital e-books.
"I've long been a fan of speculative fiction and comic books - I suppose I'm a geek at heart!" he said.
"I had the good fortune to have Toni Jordan as a teacher in the first semester and she offered to look at one of my unpublished manuscripts.
"It was her suggestion that I submit the manuscript to Text Publishing.
"This whole experience has been amazing. I can't emphasise how important it is to have a mentor.
"Not only is Toni Jordan a wonderful writer, but she's a fantastic writing teacher - I think that's a rare package."
Ms Jordan said: "One of the best things about our course is the way our students can connect with publishing professionals, other writers, and most importantly, readers.
"Darrell is wonderfully talented and dedicated and I can't wait to see his books in print.
"There's never been a more exciting time to be an emerging writer."