An emerging Sunshine Coast author has won a large cash prize and secured a book deal with a major international publisher.
Alexandra Headland author Donna Fisher took out top gong in The Libraro Prize 2026 for her unpublished novel, Sheep’s Clothing.
Ms Fisher’s manuscript was one of six works shortlisted from around 2,000 submissions made by authors worldwide.
The win netted her a $94,000 prize package and a book deal with leading publisher Hachette UK.
The judging panel was chaired by internationally bestselling author Joanne Harris and included bestselling authors Elly Griffiths and Bobby Palmer, award-winning book blogger Zubs J. Malik, and LoveReading CEO Deborah Maclaren.
It was described by judges as: “a lyrical fable that handles questions of sexual power, cancel culture and consent, and draws out where love and morality collide”.
The novel’s protagonist singer Harriet Hollen had believed for decades that her ‘will-they-won’t-they’ friendship with bestselling author Jed Grayson would have a happy ending.
But when Jed is accused of sexual assault on the eve of her career comeback, Harriet is expected to denounce him. As she faces public outrage and private doubt, Harriet must make an impossible choice: cancel him, or cancel her dreams.
More than 15,000 readers helped shape the shortlist by engaging with submissions over the past two months.
The value of the role that readers play is recognised with two reader prizes: The Libraro Reader Referral Prize and The Libraro Reader Engagement Prize worth £10,000 each where readers are incentivised to refer writers and engage with entries.
Ms Fisher said Libraro was “a gamechanger” for emerging writers like her.
Speaking from London prior to the awards, Ms Fisher said: “It’s a real honour, and very exciting, to be shortlisted for the inaugural prize”.
It’s not the author’s first attempt at fiction writing. In 2021 she self-published her debut novel, Queentide. It’s set in a dystopian Australia where a feminist movement decides protest is not enough to challenge an authoritarian government.
Since then, Ms Fisher has written three novels and one of them, The Lastings, is published on the Libraro platform.
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Ms Fisher is currently undertaking a Master of Creative Writing at Edith Cowan University. She lit upon the idea for Sheep’s Clothing after a comment from her tutor.
“I had to write a dramatic scene between a man and a woman as an assignment,” she said.
“I wanted to look at a dynamic I’d not seen before, so I decided that the woman had just found out the man – her best friend – had been publicly accused of sexual assault.
“My tutor commented that it seemed implausible that she would still have affection for him.
“I hadn’t actually said he was guilty, and I found it really interesting that the assumption had been made that he was, and his best friend should act a certain way.
“It got me thinking about cancel culture, and how it affects people just outside of the scandal – the friends and family of the accused person.”
Ms Fisher said she heard about the prize via a newsletter she subscribes to.
“I had a look at the Libraro platform and really liked what they were trying to do – make the publishing process more democratic and remove gatekeepers and also get your work in front of engaged readers to give you feedback,” she said.
“I put The Lastlings on there and really enjoyed getting feedback from readers on it, so I decided to throw my hat in the ring and enter Sheep’s Clothing.”
Ms Fisher attended the winner announcement ceremony, held at Hachette UK’s headquarters in London on May 13.
The author said the publishing deal with Hachette was “a big gamechanger” and the generous cash prize meant she could now dedicate more time to her writing.
“I’ve been writing stories and learning how to improve my storytelling for nearly 30 years and I’ve started to build a little bit of a readership via Substack, so a book deal would feel like the final piece of the puzzle falling into place.”
The opening of Sheep’s Clothing can be read now on Libraro.
