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Bertelsmann appoints Coesfeld as chair and CEO for 2027 

Photo of Thomas Coesfeld. Monday, 17 November 2025
In Germany, Thomas Coesfeld has been appointed as the future chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of Bertelsmann, owner of Penguin Random House, by the company’s supervisory board. Current chair...

Szalay wins 2025 Booker Prize for “Flesh”

Tuesday, 11 November 2025
David Szalay has won the 2025 Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$100,800), for Flesh (Jonathan Cape). “Written in spare prose, and spanning decades – from a Hungarian housing estate to the mansions...

Baker & Taylor shutdown ripples across industry 

Baker & Taylor logo showing stylised books. Tuesday, 11 November 2025
In the United States, international library wholesaler Baker & Taylor’s recent trading problems and looming closure is impacting publishers, retailers and libraries, according to several industry professionals. B&T owner and...

Charkin to chair Thames & Hudson board

Closeup photo of Richard Charkin. Monday, 10 November 2025
In the UK, Richard Charkin has been appointed chair of the board of Thames & Hudson Ltd (T&H), effective 1 January 2026, the company has announced. Charkin has been a...

Comics anthology wins Brazilian Book Published Abroad

Thursday, 6 November 2025
The Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL) has announced the 2025 Jabuti Award for Brazilian Book Published Abroad. The award recognises both the Brazilian publisher and the foreign publisher of a translated...

Authors’ class action against OpenAI to proceed 

Exterior of the Thurgood Marshall US Courthouse in New York. Thursday, 30 October 2025
A New York federal judge has this week denied an OpenAI request to dismiss authors’ claims that the company’s ChatGPT infringes their copyrights. The suit consolidates lawsuits from a number...

Booker Prize launches £50K children’s prize

Monday, 27 October 2025
The Booker Prize Foundation has launched the inaugural Children’s Booker Prize, an award “celebrating the best contemporary fiction for children aged 8 to 12 years old”. The prize will open...

Elton named HarperCollins UK CEO 

a portrait of Kate Elton Monday, 27 October 2025
Kate Elton has been formally appointed as CEO of HarperCollins UK, after the recent departure of previous CEO Charlie Redmayne. Elton has been acting as interim CEO since Redmayne’s resignation....

HBG records strong third quarter 

Photo of man in his 40s in blue shirt. Thursday, 23 October 2025
Hachette Book Group (HBG) has recorded a strong third-quarter sales and revenue performance, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). “The encouraging third quarter follows a six-month period when HBG sales were up...

ThomsonReuters named world’s biggest publisher 

Thomson Reuters logo Tuesday, 21 October 2025
ThomsonReuters has taken the title of world’s largest publisher, reported Publishers Weekly. The Canadian-based legal and professional publisher replaces RELX, which has held the title for the last 7 years....

Donovan wins inaugural Novelry Prize

Tuesday, 14 October 2025
The Novelry has announced Stella Donovan as the winner of the inaugural Novelry Prize for her submission titled “Grace Labeille is turning 20 on top of a man who does...

Krasznahorkai wins 2025 Nobel Prize for Literature

Friday, 10 October 2025
Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai has won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature for “his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art”....

Bloomsbury expands dyslexia-friendly titles 

Thursday, 9 October 2025
In the UK, Bloomsbury Publishing has launched a new range of titles in their Dyslexia-Friendly Editions, reported BookBrunch. ‘The dyslexia-friendly format includes: Clear, sans-serif fonts, increased spacing and ragged-right alignment,...

Anthropic settlement website launched 

Tuesday, 7 October 2025
In the US, Judge William Alsup has given preliminary approval to the proposed $1.5 billion ($A2.27b) settlement in the Anthropic class-action lawsuit, leading to the launch of a settlement website....

Pluto Press announces Albanese collection 

Monday, 6 October 2025
US publisher Pluto Press has announced the acquisition of world rights to A Moon Will Rise from the Darkness: Reports on Israel’s Genocide in Palestine by United Nations special rapporteur on...

S&S UK, US launch new imprint 

Thursday, 2 October 2025
Simon & Schuster (S&S) US and UK have jointly announced the launch of new imprint Scarlett Press, reported BookBrunch and Publishers Weekly. Scarlett Press is envisioned as a ‘home for romance-forward...

Bulawayo wins Best of Caine Award 

A portrait of NoViolet Bulawayo Tuesday, 30 September 2025
Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo has won the 2025 Best of Caine Award for her short story ‘Hitting Budapest’, which originally won the Caine Prize in 2011, reported BookBrunch yesterday. The Best...

Hilary Mantel Prize launched

Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Literary agency AM Heath has launched a biennial prize for novel writers in the UK and Ireland, in honour of late author Hilary Mantel. ‘Hilary was a staunch supporter of...

PW revives Freedom to Read issue 

Monday, 22 September 2025
In the wake of ongoing threats to access to books in the US, Publishers Weekly (PW) has revived its ‘Freedom to Read’ issue. In a letter introducing the issue, PW...

Arthur Sze named US poet laureate

a portrait of Arthur Sze Tuesday, 16 September 2025
Arthur Sze has been named the 25th poet laureate of the United States, reported Publishers Weekly yesterday. Sze will serve for one year and succeeds Ada Limón, whose term in the...

National Book Awards 2025 longlists announced 

National Book Foundation logo Monday, 15 September 2025
In the US, the longlists for the 2024 National Book Awards have been announced. The longlisted fiction, poetry and nonfiction titles are: Fiction The Antidote (Karen Russell, Chatto & Windus)...

Anthropic agrees to settle book piracy lawsuit 

Monday, 8 September 2025
AI company Anthropic has agreed to pay US$1.5 billion (A$2.28b) to settle a class-action lawsuit by book authors who say the company took pirated copies of their works to train...

Donaldson sells 50 million units 

Photograph of Julia Donaldson Thursday, 4 September 2025
In the UK, children's author Julia Donaldson has become the first author to ‘sell more than 50 million units through British bookshops since accurate records began’, reported the Bookseller. According to NielsenIQ...

NEA cancels creative writing grants 

Tuesday, 2 September 2025
In the US, the National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) 2026 Creative Writing Fellowships have been cancelled, reported Publishers Weekly (PW). The annual endowments have historically offered grants up to...

‘Tentative agreement’ in Anthropic copyright lawsuit 

Monday, 1 September 2025
AI company Anthropic has reportedly reached a preliminary agreement with attorneys representing authors and publishers in a class action lawsuit, reported Publishers Weekly (PW). Anthropic has been charged with illegally using...

US publishing sales: ‘modest gains’ in 2024 

Thursday, 28 August 2025
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has announced its final publishing industry sales estimates for 2024. In 2024, total sales ‘rose 4.1%, to $32.5 billion (A$50b)’ from the 1281 publishers...