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US 2020 bookstore sales down 28%

Thursday, 18 February 2021
In the US, full-year data for 2020 shows bookstore sales fell 28.3% from 2019, according to preliminary estimates from the US Census Bureau, reports Publishers Weekly. Bookstore sales were down...

Folio Prize 2021 shortlist announced

Thursday, 11 February 2021
In the UK, the shortlist for the £30,000 (A$53,700) Rathbones Folio Prize has been announced. The eight shortlisted titles are: handiwork (Sara Baume, Tramp Press) Indelicacy (Amina Cain, Text) As...

Major UK publishers’ ebook sales up 15%

Monday, 8 February 2021
In the UK, the top six trade publishers recorded a total 15.5% rise in ebook sales in 2020, the first double-digit percentage bump in seven years, reports the Bookseller. Collectively,...

Waterstones staff petition for furlough raise

Thursday, 4 February 2021
In the UK, a group of current and former Waterstones staff is calling on the bookselling chain to top-up furloughed booksellers’ pay to the minimum wage, after accounts showed the...

Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO

Wednesday, 3 February 2021
In the US, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has announced he will step down from the role and become executive chairman, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Under the transition, Amazon Web...

Newbery, Caldecott 2021 winners announced

Monday, 1 February 2021
In the US, the American Library Association (ALA) has announced the winners of its Youth Media Awards, including the Newbery and Caldecott medals, reports Publishers Weekly. Tae Keller’s When You...

Roffey wins Costa Book of the Year 2020

Wednesday, 27 January 2021
In the UK, Monique Roffey has won the £30,000 (A$53,000) Costa Book of the Year for her novel The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story (Peepal Tree Press). The Mermaid...

Kapil wins T S Eliot Prize 2020

Wednesday, 27 January 2021
In the UK, Bhanu Kapil has won the £25,000 (A$44,330) T S Eliot Prize for Poetry for her collection How to Wash a Heart (Pavilion Poetry). Drawn from a performance...

UK print market up 5% in volume, value

Monday, 25 January 2021
In the UK, Nielsen BookScan has estimated the 2020 print book market rose 5.2% in volume and 5.5% in value compared to 2019, reports the Bookseller. BookScan used its Books...

UK indies struggle with Brexit costs, delays

Friday, 22 January 2021
In the UK, indie publishers are struggling with increased costs and delays caused by Brexit, reports the Bookseller. Among the most pressing is the extra costs from increased bureaucracy, while...

Naver to acquire Wattpad

Thursday, 21 January 2021
South Korean internet platform Naver will purchase online social writing and reading platform Wattpad for more than US$600 million (A$775 million) in cash and stock, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). Naver,...

Chinese book market down 5% in 2020: Beijing OpenBook

Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Beijing OpenBook has reported a 5% downturn on book sales in the Chinese market in 2020—the first drop in value since OpenBook began its tracking in 2001, reports Publishing Perspectives....

UK supply chain hit by border delays, Brexit issues

Wednesday, 13 January 2021
In the UK, booksellers are facing issues with goods coming into and out of Europe due to border delays and Brexit red tape, reports the Bookseller. Waterstones has suspended deliveries...

German book market down 2.3% in value

Tuesday, 12 January 2021
The German book market was down 2.3% in value and 5.3% in volume in 2020, reports the Bookseller. The market was hit by two Covid lockdowns, the second of which...

US print book sales up 8% in 2020

Monday, 11 January 2021
In the US, NPD BookScan has reported that print sales in the US rose 8.2% in 2020, making it the bestselling year for print in a decade, reports Publishing Perspectives....

PRH Canada to split Knopf, Random House divisions

Friday, 11 December 2020
Penguin Random House (PRH) Canada has announced it is dissolving the Knopf Random House Canada Group, to allow the two imprints, Knopf Canada and Random House Canada, to operate independently...

BA, Bookshop.org respond to criticism from booksellers

Monday, 7 December 2020
In the UK, the Booksellers Association (BA) and Bookshop.org have responded to criticism about how effective the website will be at supporting indie bookshops, as well as the BA’s role...

‘Hamnet’ named Waterstones book of the year

Thursday, 3 December 2020
UK bookselling chain Waterstones has named Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet (Tinder Press) as its book of the year, reports the Bookseller. Waterstones fiction buyer Bea Carvalho said Hamnet­—which is inspired...

Reed to retire BookExpo

Wednesday, 2 December 2020
BookExpo, the largest publishing trade show in the US, is being retired by Reed Exhibitions, reports Publishers Weekly. Book-focused events BookCon and Unbound will also be retired. Organiser ReedPop, a...

PA to aggregate diversity statistics

Wednesday, 25 November 2020
In the UK, the Publishers Association (PA) will aggregate publisher statistics on the diversity make-up of their books, reports the Bookseller. After a number of big publishers confirmed they were...

National Book Award winners announced  

Monday, 23 November 2020
In the US, the winners of this year’s National Book Awards have been announced. The winning titles in each category are: Fiction Interior Chinatown (Charles Yu, Europa Editions) Nonfiction The...

Pan Mac, Nosy Crow among FutureBook Awards winners

Monday, 23 November 2020
In the UK, the winners of the FutureBook Awards: Best of Lockdown have been announced, reports the Bookseller. The winners include publishers Nosy Crow and Pan Macmillan, Bath-based bookshop Mr...