KEAN & Creative

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KEAN & Creative

Storytellers, image makers, agents, publishers, booksellers, educators, and literary organisations – we are KEAN to work with you!

Organising, supporting & nurturing creators in the publishing industry. Administrative services, organisational solutions, marketing & publicity strategy planning, event management and consulting.

21/08/2026

The KEAN & Creative Orchestra 🎼

This Book Week, we’re celebrating the KEAN & Creative ensemble — each playing a unique part in creating our own symphony while sharing a special connection to the world of children’s books.

🪄 Jennifer Kean — The Conductor
Guiding the vision and bringing the team together.
Founder and Director of KEAN & Creative, and CBCA Victoria Branch member.

🎻 Chiara ‘Chi’ Mastrilli — The Arranger
Bringing stories, people and ideas together.
KEAN & Creative Communications Lead and Early Childhood Educator in training.

🎹 Allison Kean — The Composer
Education Specialist shaping and bringing The KEAN Classroom to life, drawing on more than 20 years of teaching experience.

🎺 Romi Sharp — The Amplifier
Connecting stories and voices with audiences as a publicist, reviewer, writer, educator and marketer.

✍🏻 Cassy Polimeni — The Lyricist & Accompanist
An award-winning author and editor, including a CBCA Notable, who also lends her talents behind the scenes at KEAN & Creative.

KEAN & Creative warmly congratulates all the CBCA 2026 nominees, Honour Book recipients and Book of the Year winners, along with their dedicated publishing teams.

And to everyone who creates, champions, shares and loves children’s books - we wish you a happy and harmonious Book Week! 🎼📚✨

19/08/2026

💡 All it can take is the right conversation to unlock your next big idea.

Whether you’re developing a book concept, refining your creative direction, navigating the publishing process, or looking for guidance on bringing your ideas to life, we’re here.

Thank you, Tony Flowers Tony Flowers, for your lovely testimonial about your experience with our consultancy services.

You, Me, Community, Tony’s latest picture book, written by Zanni Louise Zanni Louise Arnot, is out now through Walker Books.

🔓 Get thoughtful advice, insight and support from a creative partner who understands the publishing world.

16/08/2026

We’re proud to announce that KEAN & Creative has been appointed the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation’s preferred social media and communications team. 📯

This partnership naturally follows from working with renowned authors Sally Rippin Sally Rippin and Andy Griffiths Andy Griffiths during their respective terms as Children’s Laureates.

Through our new role with the Foundation, we’re helping champion its mission: to promote the transformational power of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians.

“The Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation is committed to inspiring a lifelong love of reading and championing the value of children’s literature. Having dedicated social media support enables us to amplify our message, celebrate the work of our Laureates, and connect with educators, families, and readers across Australia. We’re delighted to be working with KEAN & Creative to help share these stories and strengthen our reach.”

— Bruce Ellis, Chair, Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation (ACLF) Australian Children's Laureate Foundation (the ACLF)

We’re excited to be part of this exciting new chapter for ACLF. 📚

— KEAN & Creative x

11/08/2026

✨ B is for Beginning… and for the stories that come full circle ✨

The Billie B Brown series holds such a special place in my heart. Seventeen years ago, I was lucky enough to work on the launch and publicity campaigns from its inception, before travelling around Australia and New Zealand in 2012 on tour with Sally Rippin and Aki Fukuoka.

I’ve always felt like I’ve played a supporting role in the Billie B Brown story — and Sally made that connection even more special when she surprised me by writing the character ‘Jen’ into a storyline in one of the books! 💛

Aki gifted me this special piece of personalised artwork all those years ago, and it has had pride of place in my home office ever since. It says “Jen’s KEAN publicity”… did she know something back then? ✨

Fast forward to today, and I find myself running KEAN & Creative, still working alongside Sally and Aki and continuing to be part of the Billie B Brown journey. Reuniting with Aki after all this time was such a lovely moment — our lives have grown and changed, we’ve both become mothers (our kids now read Billie and Jack!), but we’re still connected by this enduring series that brought us together.

And perhaps the most magical part… over a decade ago, I manifested becoming Sally’s personal assistant and somehow that wish became my reality. How lucky am I? 💫

B is for Beginning.
B is for Billie.
B is for Believing in the stories and dreams that grow with you. ❤️

Billie B Brown is now available as a graphic novel! Find Secret Mystery Club: Spooky House wherever good books are sold.

06/08/2026

Every great storyteller deserves a social presence that captures the same magic as their work—and we're excited to be part of that journey with Kristin Darell Writer.

Children's author, former broadcast journalist, and passionate advocate for children's literacy, Kristin has built a career around the power of storytelling.

At KEAN & Creative, we're proud to support Kristin with her social media as she continues to grow her author brand, expand her reach, and connect with readers, schools, and communities across Australia.

📖 Her latest book It’s a Twin Thing: The Big Switch is out now from Penguin Books Australia

30/07/2026

One last leap... the final instalment of Cassy Polimeni's award-winning Ella series is here! 🐸 🌿

We’re so excited to be working on the PR for Ella and the Call of the Wild – the fourth and final book in the junior fiction series.

We’re helping launch the final book to the kid-lit community and its readers with a book launch in Sydney, in-person events, bookstore window displays, blog features, and much more.

For the very first time, the talented creators behind the series, author Cassy Polimeni and illustrator Hykie Kwong Breeze, will be together in person at the Sydney book launch event — a fitting celebration of the creative partnership behind the Ella series.

Over the past two years, we’ve loved creating tailored campaigns for each release, with every book bringing its own story, themes and opportunities to connect with readers. Embraced by families, schools and libraries alike, it’s been incredibly rewarding to watch the series grow.

Along the way, Ella has received well-deserved industry recognition, including a place on the CBCA Australia Notables list and has been shortlisted for the 2026 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards (winners announced in October).

Ella and the Call of the Wild is out in August from UWA Publishing.

Pre-order now and collect them all! 💚💙🧡💜

07/07/2026

'Gumera' means love in Yugambeh. That's the word that Myra, the protagonist of Melissa-Jane Fogarty Nguyen Writer's latest picture book, ONE WORD, learns from her Pop.

Written and illustrated by Melissa inspired by her own experiences, ONE WORD is out today — a poignant and moving picture book of one little girl's discovery of her grandfather's first Aboriginal language, and the powerful journey they share towards reclaiming it. ❤️

We've been truly honoured to work with Melissa over the past few months, supporting her in building her online author presence and promoting her books through social media, website development, and publicity.

"I am so very grateful to KEAN & Creative for helping me with all the parts of being an author that felt overwhelming. Jen & Chi are incredibly professional while also being approachable and down-to-earth. Their understanding of the Australian publishing industry, combined with their areas of expertise and the way they tailored their support to my personal preferences has been invaluable. I am so pleased to have found KEAN & Creative and cannot thank them enough." – Melissa-Jane Fogarty

Melissa is of Mununjali descent, passionate about language, culture and education, also working as a freelance editor and writer, and running a newsletter where she explores and shares her journey of living a successful creative life, while studying and learning from the success of other creatives too.

ONE WORD is out now from Lothian Children's Books, an imprint of Hachette and follows Melissa's Our Lands series, an Indigenous history series about Australia's most iconic landmarks and the land on which they are built: TUBOWGULE: A SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE HISTORY and NARM-JAAP: A FLINDERS STREET STATION HISTORY, illustrated by Dylan Finney.

KEAN & Creative acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, live and play. We pay respect to and acknowledge the rich and living history of storytelling of all First Nations people.

14/06/2026

KEAN & Creative is proud to announce that we have been appointed as the Communications & PR agency across Australia and New Zealand for Exisle Publishing and its award-winning children’s imprint, EK Books.

For more than 20 years, Exisle Publishing has built a reputation for producing thoughtful, inspiring, and beautifully crafted books across health, wellbeing, memoir, gift, and children’s categories. Following the retirement of Exisle founder Gareth St John Thomas, his son Nathan Thomas and an experienced international team continue to champion stories and ideas that make a meaningful impact.

“Exisle books have always made noise. We're excited to have skilled Australian publicity support to put our local and international creators in the spotlight. Our publicity strategy combines deep reach into the specific communities our books serve as well as broad mainstream coverage to amplify our author's voices on the national stage.” — Nathan Thomas, Publisher

The Australasian rollout brings together the combined expertise of Jen Kean, leading publicity for the Exisle Publishing list, and Romi Sharp, overseeing the EK Books children’s list. Together, they’ll deliver tailored campaigns connecting each title with readers, media, and communities across the region, beginning with June releases Equine by Portland Jones and Spot the Dot by New Zealand-based creator Kris Herbert.

“This is an important milestone for our team. Exisle Publishing is a publisher with purpose, global reach, and an impressive roster of authors. This partnership is built on shared ambition, and we look forward to helping drive the next phase of growth and engagement across the ANZ region.” — Jen

From June 1, all Exisle Publishing and EK Books titles will be sold and distributed through Simon & Schuster Australia.

22/05/2026

Joining the expert panel for this year’s Australian Book Industry Awards, I helped judge the shortlist and winners for the Marketing & Publicity Campaign category.

Reviewing the entrants has been both inspiring and humbling. The calibre of work, innovation and dedication across the industry is truly exceptional.

With more than 15 years as an in-house publicist and continuing to lead publicity campaigns today, I have a deep understanding of the creativity, strategic thinking, persistence and passion required to deliver outstanding campaigns behind the scenes.

Within an increasingly competitive media landscape, I also have a particular appreciation for the work involved in securing meaningful coverage for children’s titles.

Congratulations to all entrants! Thank you to the ABIA for this opportunity and recognition. 📚

x Jen Kean

Books+Publishing Penguin Books Australia Hachette Australia Books

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