Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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Bestsellers this week

Monday, 11 May 2015
Nora Roberts’ The Liar (Hachette) continues its run as Australia’s number one bestseller for the third consecutive week, followed by Truth or Die (James Patterson, Century) in second spot and...

UK publishers’ revenues flat in 2014

Monday, 11 May 2015
In the UK, the Publisher’s Association (PA) Statistics Yearbook has found publishers’ annual sales totalled £4.3bn (A$8.4bn) in 2014, the same as in 2013, reports the Bookseller. The figure combines publishers’...

St John Mandel wins 2015 Arthur C Clarke Award

Thursday, 7 May 2015
Canadian author Emily St John Mandel has won the 2015 Arthur C Clarke Award for science-fiction writing for her novel Station Eleven (Picador). St John Mandel’s book was chosen from a shortlist of six,...

PRH UK Children’s division creates one editorial team

Thursday, 7 May 2015
In the UK, Penguin Random House (PRH) has restructured its children’s division to create one editorial team, reports the Bookseller. Editors at Random House Children’s Publishers and Puffin will continue...

Affirm Press, Varuna launch new mentorship award

Thursday, 7 May 2015
Affirm Press and Varuna, the Writers’ House, have announced a new publisher partnership.The Affirm Press Mentorship Award offers up to four local writers at any stage of their career the chance...

Krien shortlisted for British Sports Book Awards

Thursday, 7 May 2015
Night Games: Sex, Power and a Journey into the Dark Heart of Sport (Black Inc.) has been shortlisted for the British Sports Book Awards.The title has been shortlisted in the...

QWC appoints Woods as new CEO

Wednesday, 6 May 2015
The Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) has appointed Katie Woods as its new CEO, replacing Meg Vann, who stepped down from the position in February.Woods joins QWC from the State Library...

Gideon Haigh’s ‘Certain Admissions’

Wednesday, 6 May 2015
One evening in December 1949, young Beth Williams accepted an invitation to dinner from John Bryan Kerr, a former radio star she originally met in her native Tasmania. Later that...

Victorian government announces library funding

Wednesday, 6 May 2015
The Victorian government has allocated new funding to libraries in its 2015-16 state budget.In addition to the $55.4 million to support a major redevelopment of the State Library of Victoria...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 6 May 2015
‘As a reader, venturing only to the front of the bookshop is a bit like visiting Europe or Asia or Africa in five days. Exploring ideas takes time’—Spinifex Press director...

On tour: Meet the author Sara Farizan

Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Sara Farizan is the author of the YA novels Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel and If You Could Be Mine (both Algonquin Books). She is attending the...

On tour: Meet the illustrator Priya Kuriyan

Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Priya Kuriyan is a cartoonist and illustrator based in Delhi. She recently contributed to Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean (A&U), a YA speculative-fiction anthology featuring writers and artists from...

ALS Gold Medal 2015 shortlist announced

Tuesday, 5 May 2015
The shortlist for the 2015 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal has been announced.The shortlisted titles are: The Golden Age (Joan London, Vintage) Drones and Phantoms (Jennifer Maiden, Giramondo) Earth...

Locus Awards 2015 finalists announced

Tuesday, 5 May 2015
The finalists for the 2015 Locus Awards for science-fiction and fantasy writing have been announced, and include several Australians.Garth Nix has been nominated in the young-adult category for Clariel (A&U);...

Scholastic to move Omnibus to Sydney office

Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Scholastic will move its Adelaide-based children’s book imprint Omnibus to its Sydney office over the next eight months.A Scholastic spokesperson would not say why the imprint was being moved but...

Ondaatje Prize 2015 shortlist announced

Monday, 4 May 2015
The shortlist for the 2015 RSL Ondaatje Prize, an annual award of £10,000 (A$19,361) for ‘a distinguished work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry evoking the spirit of a place’, has...

Bestsellers this week

Monday, 4 May 2015
Fiction and health-related cookbooks are dominating this week’s bestseller charts, with six fiction titles and three health books in the top 10. The fiction list is led by The Liar...

New Zealand Book Council launches books podcast

Monday, 4 May 2015
The New Zealand Book Council (NZBC) is producing a new monthly podcast discussing new release and classic New Zealand books.‘Talking Books’ is hosted by novelist Catherine Robertson, who will speak...

Cunningham wins 2015 Calibre Prize

Friday, 1 May 2015
Sophie Cunningham has won the ninth Australian Book Review (ABR) Calibre Prize for an Outstanding Essay. Cunningham’s essay ‘Staying with the trouble’, which describes ‘an epic walk up Broadway in New York, and...

Kobo signs first publishing deal

Thursday, 30 April 2015
In Canada, Kobo has signed its first publishing deal, acquiring a book by Kevin Donovan on radio presenter Jian Gomeshi, who is awaiting trial in Canada for sexual assault, reports the Bookseller. Kobo has...

Edgar Allan Poe Awards 2015 winners announced

Thursday, 30 April 2015
In the US, the Mystery Writers of America has announced the winners of the 2015 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, which honour ‘the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television’ published...