Features | Books+Publishing

Your store: Non-book item of the month

Monday, 21 March 2016
While book-lovers are unlikely to be lost for conversation topics, these TableTopics conversation cards could liven up a retro dinner party or an awkward internet date. Each TableTopics cube has...

Shelf talk: Quirky tales

Monday, 21 March 2016
To talk about upcoming left-of-centre titles that I’m excited about and not start with Justin Cronin’s The City of Mirrors (Orion, June) would be ridiculous and punishable by … something...

Shelf talk: Women’s fiction

Monday, 21 March 2016
Booksellers looking to shore up their women’s fiction lists for Mother’s Day are spoilt for choice. Katie Rowney brings a fresh, contemporary voice to rural fiction with Front Page News...

Shelf talk: True to life

Monday, 21 March 2016
When investigative journalist Luke Williams started researching the world of crystal meth, he became addicted to the drug. Williams recounts the experience in The Ice Age (Scribe, May), combining reportage...

Shelf talk: Tasty titles

Monday, 21 March 2016
Pete Evans and Sally Obermeder both have new cookbooks out in April. Evan’s One Pot Favourites (Plum) features paleo recipes that can be made in one pot or wok, while...

Your store: Chris Currie’s guide to social media success

Monday, 21 March 2016
So you’ve set up your Facebook business page, Twitter and Instagram accounts and found someone willing to post on behalf of your business. So how do you get people to...

Shelf talk: Fantastic fiction

Monday, 21 March 2016
The second quarter of the year is a big one in sci-fi/fantasy circles. There are expos, conventions and the 50th annual Nebula awards all clamouring for attention. It’s also a...

Shelf talk: Craft corner

Monday, 21 March 2016
The following titles have an arty, crafty or inspirational appeal. Penguin—an abandoned, injured magpie chick—came into Sam Bloom’s life after a near-fatal fall left her paralysed. When Sam’s husband Cameron...

Working the crowd: The ins and outs of crowdfunding campaigns

Monday, 21 March 2016
Crowdfunding can be a smart way for small and self-publishers to raise cash and kickstart their marketing campaign, but the odds of success are slim, writes Brad Jefferies. Looking at...

Pearce and co: A history of the Hobart Bookshop

Monday, 21 March 2016
Christopher Pearce followed his father Cedric into bookselling, working first at Fullers and then the Papua New Guinea Bookshop before opening the Hobart Bookshop with his partner Janet, writes bookseller...

Colour by numbers: Shaun Symonds on 2015 and the year of the colouring book

Monday, 21 March 2016
This year Books+Publishing will publish a regular column from Nielsen Book Australia general manager Shaun Symonds on book data trends. In his first column, Symonds reflects on the year of...

Shelf life: Profile of Booktopia’s Christopher Cahill

Monday, 21 March 2016
‘Most people think I work in IT,’ writes Booktopia merchandiser Christopher Cahill. He shares his career journey. When I tell people I’m an online merchandiser nine times out of 10...

Terri-ann White: Is the book industry special?

Monday, 21 March 2016
UWA Publishing director Terri-ann White has written books, taught writing and literature, and owned a bookshop. She joins Books+Publishing in 2016 as a regular columnist examining the book industry and where...

A series of fortunate events: Australia’s first children’s publishing consultancy Stories Inc.

Monday, 21 March 2016
Australia’s first children’s publishing consultancy is helping publishers expand their children’s lists. Carody Culver spoke to Stories Inc. founders Susannah McFarlane and Louise Park. With Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton’s...

Talkback: Changes to penalty rates

Monday, 21 March 2016
Do you think penalty rates need to change for Australian retailers? Books+Publishing asked two booksellers. Given that penalty rates were established in 1947 to compensate people working outside ‘normal hours’, and that...

‘Four horsemen’ the focus of Digital Book World 2016

Thursday, 17 March 2016
This year’s Digital Book World conference was held in New York from 7-9 March. Books+Publishing’s Andrew Wrathall reports from the event: Digital Book World (DBW) organiser and The Idea Logical...

Nonfiction dominates at Taipei International Book Exhibition

Wednesday, 9 March 2016
A delegation of Australian rights sellers recently attended the Taipei International Book Exhibition. Nerrilee Weir, rights manager for Penguin Random House Australia, reports: The vibrant and energetic Taipei International Book...

Does publicity sell books? A case study

Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Last year, Captain Honey publishers Roz Hopkins and Natalie Winter successfully crowdfunded their illustrated children’s book Mummy and Mumma Get Married. In a recent blog post, reproduced below, Hopkins writes...

Alice Grundy on OzCo’s exploratory trip to India

Wednesday, 17 February 2016
The Australia Council for the Arts supported a delegation of publishers and writers’ festival programmers to travel to India from 13-25 January to ‘investigate artistic development, market and exchange opportunities...

Macquarie Uni report case study: Simon & Schuster Australia

Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Simon & Schuster Australia’s head of publishing Larissa Edwards was interviewed for the Macquarie University report ‘Disruption and innovation in the Australian book industry: Case studies of trade and education...

Black Inc. and Hachette: how the removal of PIR will affect our business

Tuesday, 1 December 2015
The federal government’s recent announcement that it plans to remove parallel importation restrictions (PIRs) on books has been heavily criticised by the publishing industry. Books+Publishing asked two publishers, Black Inc....

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