The new company will be called Australia's Heritage Publishing. It will have endorsement from prominent Australians, including former PM Bob Hawke and actor Jack Thompson.
Singleton will be a shareholder and his ad agency Banjo will run a multi-media advertising campaign to promote the new publishing house, which will print only books and e-books written locally.
Mr Weldon, known for a number of Australian publishing ventures, will put up the bulk of the initial funding.
"We're going to put great Australian books back on the bookshelf," Mr Weldon said. "It really is the re-launch of Australian books."
The move comes during the toughest year for book sales since the global financial crisis, with revenues falling in the first half of 2010 in particular. Estimates are that revenues from book sales were down by about 5 per cent in the June half.
The venture will include encyclopedias, dictionaries and reference books. It will also start with about 100 Australian classics, such as Marcus Clarke's For The Term Of His Natural Life and Albert Facey's A Fortunate Life.
The library will eventually increase to 1000 Australian classics and other new publishing titles. "We're going to publish six special reference books each year," Mr Weldon said.
Mr Weldon said that in the current tough environment for book sales, preserving the Australian culture through books was crucial. "This is all about great Australian books, by Australians, for Australians," he said.
Mr Weldon said the first book launched would be an encyclopaedic version of the Macquarie Dictionary.
Singleton said one of the venture's direct aims was to save printed books, as e-books become increasingly popular.
"We believe, rightly or wrongly, people still like to have a library," he said.
Singleton said the venture was also likely to look at reviving "great Australian books that are no longer in publication".
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