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Booker Prize 2020 longlist announced

Tuesday, 28 July 2020
The longlist for the 2020 Booker Prize has been announced. The 13 books longlisted for the £50,000 (A$90,000) prize are: The New Wilderness (Diane Cook, Oneworld) This Mournable Body (Tsitsi...

Scholastic revenue drops 10%

Monday, 27 July 2020
Scholastic has reported a 10% drop in revenue for the fiscal year to May 2020, after sales plunged in the fourth quarter due to Covid-19, reports the Bookseller. Revenue fell...

PA reports 2019 as best ever year for UK publishing

Thursday, 23 July 2020
In the UK, the Publishers Association (PA) has reported that 2019 was the best year for publishing in the market’s history, reports Publishing Perspectives. According to the PA’s 2019 yearbook,...

UK customers unsure about returning to bookshops

Monday, 20 July 2020
In the UK, a Nielsen survey has found 35% of regular bookshop customers are unsure about returning to bricks and mortar shops now that lockdown has eased, reports the Bookseller....

Frankfurt reveals virtual program details

Thursday, 16 July 2020
The organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair, which will run from 12–18 October, have revealed the details of the fair’s virtual program, reports the Bookseller. As previously reported, in May...

BA welcomes Gardners expansion

Tuesday, 14 July 2020
In the UK, the Booksellers Association (BA) has welcomed the news that wholesaler Gardners has bought assets of Bertrams, the book wholesaler that went into administration earlier this year. Last...

US half-year print book sales up 2.8%

Monday, 13 July 2020
In the US, print book sales in the first half of 2020 were up 2.8% on the same period in 2019 according to NPD BookScan, reports Publishers Weekly. In the...

Clanchy, Whitehead win 2020 Orwell Prize

Friday, 10 July 2020
UK author Kate Clanchy and US novelist Colson Whitehead have won this year's Orwell Prizes for political writing and political fiction respectively, reports the Bookseller. Each prize is worth £3000 (A$5435)....

German book sales down 8.3% in year to June

Thursday, 9 July 2020
In Germany, book sales are down 8.3% for the year to June, according to the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. The overall drop in sales represents a recovery from a...

Gardners owner makes Bertrams asset purchase 

Wednesday, 8 July 2020
The Little Group, owner of UK book wholesaler Gardners, has agreed to an asset purchase of book wholesaler the Bertram Group, which went into administration earlier this year. Books+Publishing understands...

Johnson wins 2020 PEN Pinter Prize

Wednesday, 8 July 2020
In the UK, poet and reggae artist Linton Kwesi Johnson has been awarded the 2020 PEN Pinter Prize. Prize judge Claire Armitstead said: ‘Once we had laid our nominations on...

Owusu wins 2020 £10,000 Desmond Elliott Prize

Friday, 3 July 2020
Derek Owusu has won the Desmond Elliott Prize for first-time novelists for his verse novel That Reminds Me (#Merky Books). Owusu’s book, the semi-autobiographical story of a British-Ghanaian boy called...

Furloughed UK staff return to work

Monday, 29 June 2020
In the UK, major publishers are planning for furloughed staff to return to work, with most saying they have no plans to make redundancies, reports the Bookseller. As previously reported,...

UK book sales up 30% as bookshops reopen

Thursday, 25 June 2020
In the UK, almost 4 million books were sold in the first six days after bookshops reopened last week, an almost 30% jump on the same week last year, reports...

Bertrams enters administration

Monday, 22 June 2020
In the UK, wholesaler Bertrams has gone into administration and will be making company-wide redundancies, reports the Bookseller. As previously reported, Bertrams was put up for sale in May after...

US bookshop sales down 65% in April

Wednesday, 17 June 2020
According to US Census Bureau estimates, bookshop sales fell 65.3% in April compared to the same month in 2019, reports Publishers Weekly. Physical sales at bookshops fell in April by...

Hickey wins Walter Scott Prize for ‘The Narrow Land’

Tuesday, 16 June 2020
Irish author Christine Dwyer Hickey has won the £25,000 (A$45,450) Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for her novel The Narrow Land (Atlantic). Hickey, whose novel explores the marriage of...

Revenue up, profit down at Wiley

Monday, 15 June 2020
In the UK, Wiley has reported a marginal gain in revenue and a drop in profit in the year to April 2020, reports the Bookseller. Wiley reported revenue of US$1.83...

US publishing sales down 16% in April

Friday, 12 June 2020
In the US, total publishing sales fell 16% in April compared to the same month in 2019 according to the AAP’s Statshot program, reports Publishers Weekly. The drop in total...

US publishers pledge to increase diversity

Wednesday, 10 June 2020
In the US, three of the Big Five publishers have pledged to diversify their workforce and publish more Black authors, following a collective action to protest the industry’s role in...

Book trade shows support for Black Lives Matter

Tuesday, 2 June 2020
The UK book trade is supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of protests following the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd by police in the US,...