Spotify adds audiobook-only subscription offer
Monday, 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%
Thursday, 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
Wednesday, 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
Tuesday, 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
Monday, 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
Wednesday, 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
Monday, 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...
B&N plans to open five stores in Chicago angers Volumes
Thursday, 15 February 2024
In the US, Barnes & Noble (B&N) has announced plans to open five new bookstores in the Chicago area from the coming US spring, after earlier sharing its goal to...
Amazon removes King Charles titles reportedly generated by AI
Wednesday, 14 February 2024
In the UK, Amazon has removed from its website several titles about King Charles, which reportedly were written using artificial intelligence and were said to contain false information about the...
Spears memoir most listened to as Spotify pays publishers ‘tens of millions’
Tuesday, 13 February 2024
Spotify said it has paid audiobook publishers ‘tens of millions’ since launching its limited-streaming audiobook offer to subscribers in the UK, Australia and the US last year, reported the Bookseller....
Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2024 shortlists announced
Monday, 12 February 2024
In the UK, the shortlists for the 2024 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Illustrated books The Queen Next Door (Marcela Ferreira,...
European publishers welcome EU agreement on AI Act
Thursday, 8 February 2024
In Europe, the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) has welcomed the European Union voting in favour of what the FEP calls the 'world's first concrete regulation of AI', reported the Bookseller....
Indigo considers offer to take chain private
Wednesday, 7 February 2024
In Canada, the board of the Indigo Books & Music bookselling chain, headed by former Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle, has established a special committee of independent directors to...
Hugo board members censured, resign, after Gaiman, Kuang, Zhao deemed ineligible in 2023 awards
Tuesday, 6 February 2024
In the US, science fiction authors and readers have been shocked by revelations that works by authors including Neil Gaiman, R F Kuang, and Xiran Jay Zhao were deemed ineligible...
Vivendi considers plans to put Hachette on stock market
Monday, 5 February 2024
In France, Vivendi, which acquired Hachette parent company Lagardère in 2023, has detailed plans to split Vivendi into four entities, each of which would be listed on the stock market,...
Children’s authors, editors sign open letter calling for ceasefire
Thursday, 1 February 2024
In the US, over 3500 children’s authors, illustrators, agents, editors, and other members of the children's literature community have signed an open letter to US President Joe Biden as the...
Inaugural Nero Book Award category winners announced
Wednesday, 31 January 2024
The four category winners of the inaugural Nero Book Awards have been announced. Winners are: Children’s fiction The Swifts (Beth Lincoln, illus by Claire Powell, Puffin) Debut fiction Close to...
Texas book rating law blocked in Court of Appeals
Thursday, 25 January 2024
In a development Publishers Weekly described as ‘a major victory for freedom to read advocates’, the Fifth Circuit of the US Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision to...
Newbery, Caldecott, Printz 2024 winners announced
Tuesday, 23 January 2024
In the US, the American Library Association (ALA) has announced the winners of its Youth Media Awards, including the Newbery and Caldecott medals and the Printz award, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). Dave...
Atria sends influencer on ‘ultimate world cruise’
Monday, 22 January 2024
In the US, Atria Books has explained its decision to sponsor non-reader Marc Sebastian to travel the Antarctica leg of an 'ultimate world cruise', after some BookTok users criticised the...
New organisation to ‘certify’ fair AI
Thursday, 18 January 2024
In the US, the Association of American Publishers is among those supporting a new nonprofit organisation called Fairly Trained that aims to ‘certify fair training data use’ in generative AI,...
Audible to cut staff
Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Audible CEO Bob Carrigan, in a memo to staff, said that Audible is cutting its workforce, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). PW said the cuts are believed to be about 5%...
Allen-Paisant wins 2023 T S Eliot Prize
Tuesday, 16 January 2024
In the UK, Jason Allen-Paisant has won the 2023 T S Eliot Prize, worth £25,000 (A$47,773), for his collection Self-Portrait as Othello (Carcanet Press), reports the Bookseller. Self-Portrait as Othello...
Harper launches YA imprint
Monday, 15 January 2024
In the UK, HarperCollins Children’s Books (HCCB) is launching a new YA imprint, Harper Fire, reports the Bookseller. HarperCollins said the new imprint would be a chance to 'publish standout,...
B&N aims to open 50 stores in 2024
Thursday, 11 January 2024
In the US, Barnes & Noble (B&N) CEO James Daunt has announced the chain has set a goal of opening 50 new stores in 2024, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). According...
Writers’ Prize 2024 shortlist announced
Wednesday, 10 January 2024
The shortlist for the 2024 Writers' Prize, formerly the Rathbones Folio Prize, has been announced. The shortlisted books in each category are: Fiction The Wren, The Wren (Anne Enright, Vintage)...
UK sales value up in 2023 as volume declines
Tuesday, 9 January 2024
In the UK, an increase in average selling prices meant the market was up by 1.3% in 2023, despite volume sales being down by 5%, reports the Bookseller. According to...
Hoover, Yarros buoy adult fiction as US print sales decline
Monday, 8 January 2024
In the US, print sales declined 2.6% in 2023, according to Circana BookScan figures, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). Sales were down 4.1% after the first nine months of the year,...
UK in-house staff turning to freelance work in ‘growing trend’
Thursday, 7 December 2023
In the UK, in-house publishing staff are turning to freelance work to avoid burnout, in what the Bookseller calls ‘a growing trend’. The publication spoke with several professionals in publishing...
Edmondson wins FT Book of the Year for ‘Right Kind of Wrong’
Wednesday, 6 December 2023
In the UK, Right Kind of Wrong: Why learning to fail can teach us to thrive (Amy Edmondson, Cornerstone Press) has won the 2023 Financial Times Business Book of the Year...
