Spotify reports 25% of Premium users ‘engaging’ with audiobooks
18 April 2024
Data released by Spotify shows that 25% of the platform’s Premium users are ‘engaging’ with its audiobooks offering, reports the Bookseller. Spotify said users aged 18 to 34 make up...
Remaining big five publishers join PRH in Iowa lawsuit
17 April 2024
In the US, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, along with Sourcebooks, have joined Penguin Random House (PRH) as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Iowa to block the book...
Ondaatje Prize 2024 longlist
16 April 2024
The longlist for this year’s £10,000 (A$19,321) Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize has been announced. The longlisted titles are: The Britannias: An island quest (Alice Albinia, Allen Lane) Falling...
A third of translators report losing work due to AI
15 April 2024
In the UK, a survey of members of the Society of Authors (SoA) has found a quarter of illustrators (26%) and over a third of translators (36%) have lost work due...
International Booker Prize 2024 shortlist announced
10 April 2024
The shortlist for the 2024 International Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$95,600), has been announced. The titles in the running for this year’s prize, chosen from a longlist of 13 announced...
Puffin UK to launch graphic novel imprint
9 April 2024
In the UK, Penguin Random House has revealed the logo and publishing program of its new graphic novel imprint, Puffin Graphics, reports the Bookseller. The new imprint is aimed at...
China: book market up 4.72%; e-commerce, short-video platforms drive growth
4 April 2024
The value of the book market in China increased by 4.72% in 2023, with sales revenue at list price of 91.2 billion yuan (A$19.3 billion), according to Beijing OpenBook, reports...
Windham-Campbell Prizes 2024 recipients announced
3 April 2024
In the US, the recipients of the 2024 Windham-Campbell Prizes, worth US$175,000 (A$268,500) each, have been announced. For fiction, the prize recognised Irish author Deirdre Madden, whose work—including Molly Fox’s Birthday...
Small Press Distribution closes in the US
2 April 2024
In the US, independent book distributor Small Press Distribution (SPD) has closed, effective immediately, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). SPD executive director Kent Watson said SPD staff are in the process...
Women’s Prize for Nonfiction 2024 shortlist announced
28 March 2024
The shortlist for the inaugural Women’s Prize for Nonfiction, worth £30,000 (A$58,000), has been announced. The six titles shortlisted for the award are: Thunderclap: A memoir of art and life...
PRH 2023 results flat, despite revenue rise
27 March 2024
While Penguin Random House (PRH) recorded a 7% revenue rise worldwide for the full year 2023—to €4.53 billion (A$7.51b), up from €4.22 billion (A$7.00b) in 2022—profit dropped slightly, down by...
Dylan Thomas Prize 2024 shortlist announced
26 March 2024
In the UK, the Swansea University has announced the shortlist of the 2024 Dylan Thomas Prize. The shortlisted titles, chosen from a longlist announced in January, are: A Spell of...
‘Greenwild’ wins 2024 Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year
25 March 2024
In the UK, Greenwild: The world behind the door (Pari Thomson, illus by Elisa Paganelli, Macmillan) is the overall winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, reports the Bookseller. Now...
Crewe wins 2023 Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award
20 March 2024
In the UK, Tom Crewe has won the 2023 Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award, worth £10,000 (A$19,404), for The New Life (Vintage). Crewe’s novel was chosen from a...
Publishers ask court to uphold finding against Internet Archive
19 March 2024
In the US, publishers Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House and Wiley have filed a brief in the Second Circuit court of appeals asking that the court uphold Judge...
‘The Bee Sting’ wins Nero Book Prize
18 March 2024
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (Hamish Hamilton) has won the overall Nero Book Prize, worth £30,000 (A$57,684). Murray’s novel was chosen unanimously as the winner by a judging panel chaired...
Carnegie Medal 2024 shortlists announced
14 March 2024
In the UK, the 2024 shortlists for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration (previously known as the Kate Greenaway Medal for Illustration) and the Carnegie Medal for Writing have been announced....
Berry wins overall Writers’ Prize for ‘The Home Child’
14 March 2024
Poet Liz Berry is the winner of the 2024 Writers' Prize overall Book of the Year award, worth £30,000 (A$58,000), for The Home Child (Vintage). Berry’s novel-in-verse was inspired by the...
Global book report highlights growing book prices
13 March 2024
A new Nielsen BookData-GfK study of the global book market has found that publishing revenue and book prices grew in many countries in 2023, reports Publishing Perspectives. The Global Book...
International Booker Prize 2024 longlist
12 March 2024
The longlist for the 2024 International Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$96,900), has been announced. The titles in the running for this year’s prize are: Crooked Plow (Itamar Vieira Junior, trans...
Former PRH, Macmillan executives launch new profit-share publishing venture
7 March 2024
In the US, three former high-level staff from Penguin Random House (PRH) and Macmillan have launched a new publishing company, Authors Equity, reports Publishers Weekly. Former PRH US CEO Madeline...
Amazon ebook anticompetition lawsuit to proceed
6 March 2024
In the US, a federal judge has formally adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation that a consumer class action against Amazon for anticompetitive conduct in relation to the ebook market be...
US diversity baseline survey shows ‘incremental’ gains
5 March 2024
In the US, results from Lee & Low’s 2023 ‘Diversity Baseline’ survey of the publishing workforce have been released, finding the industry ‘has made incremental gains in broadening its workforce...
Spotify adds audiobook-only subscription offer
4 March 2024
Music streaming platform Spotify has announced a new subscription category ‘for literary enthusiasts who are looking for more audiobook-specific content’. The new audiobooks access tier, available only in the US...
Lagardère global publishing revenue up 2.2%
29 February 2024
Lagardère, the parent company of Hachette, has reported its publishing revenue for 2023 came in at €2.8 billion (A$4.7b) for 2023, up 2.2% on 2022 as reported and up 1.9%...
Self-publishing platform secures funding for AI-powered publishing
28 February 2024
Publishing figures Stefan von Holtzbrinck, the owner of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, which owns Macmillan, and former Penguin CEO Michael Lynton are among those investing in Inkitt, a self-described data-driven publishing...
Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award 2023 shortlist announced
27 February 2024
In the UK, the shortlist for the 2023 Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award has been announced, reported the Bookseller. The prize money for the award is £10,000...
PRH to turn Grantham facility into new hub for PRH US in Europe
26 February 2024
In the UK, Penguin Random House (PRH) UK’s Grantham Book Services warehouse will be retrofitted to become a new operational hub for PRH US to fulfil orders from customers in...
UK indies struggling to find distribution post-Grantham
21 February 2024
In the UK, independent publishers are finding distribution ‘particularly challenging’ following last year’s announcement that Grantham Book Services (GBS) will close in 2025, reported the Bookseller. ‘The reality is that...
Glasgow Worldcon chair promises transparency following Hugo censorship
19 February 2024
In the US, a report by science fiction and fantasy writers Chris M Barkley and Jason Sanford on the 2023 Hugo Awards—which draws on leaked emails from a member of...
