The Amazon Australia launch has finally happened, which is great news for Australian creatives trying to sell their books in their home market.

At Old Mate Media, we make books for people all over the world, but we’re inspired by our home. We come from Australia; the land down under. Like many creative people in our modern, digital world, Amazon is a major channel through which we sell our products. As a result, today’s Amazon Australia launch is quite exciting. It brings our local readers a little bit closer to the purchasing experience our international readers enjoy.

With the Amazon Australia launch so fresh, the company still appears to be ironing out many of the kinks. Take the first book in The Wild Imagination of Willy Nilly series, The Little Green Boat – that’s an image from it above. It’s available on both the Amazon Kindle app and as a paperback in many territories around the world. At the outset of the Amazon Australia launch, both versions were showing as available. However, at the time of this writing, just the Kindle version is appearing.

Still it’s a moment worth celebrating by buying an Australian Amazon book. As you can see, the Australian lifestyle is clearly evident in this scene from The Little Green Boat. The star, Willy Nilly, has just arrived with his family at the beach on a hit summer’s day. He is yet to realise how wild his adventure will be, and the dolphins, monkeys, bats and crocodiles he’ll meet. There are two other Willy Nilly books available in The Fastest Kid in the World and Follow the Breadcrumbs, too.

Hopefully that paperback option will appear again shortly.

More Australian Books on Amazon

One particularly Australian children’s book experience you can enjoy is Can You See the Magic (see the above image). It was written by award winning writer and Sydney-sider Chris Stead with illustrations by Els Dirickx, a resident of the Southern Highlands. This talented artist uses photos of Australian nature and typical items around an Aussie farm as the backdrop for her art. You can basically smell the eucalypts! We totally suggest reading up on how it was made and Els’ unique reverse art concept.

There is plenty more to discover in our shop. There’s children’s books Trouble at the Zoo, My Birthday Cake Needs a New Home and A Very Strange Zoo. Plus we have a great sci-fi novel, Adam Exitus, by Melbournian Nicholas Abdilla. There’s a cookbook, a video games guide, a comic and more!

So why not celebrate the Amazon Australia Launch by celebrating Australian made creations? Buy an Australian made book from a local independent publisher!