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Hachette UK to merge children’s divisions

Monday, 29 September 2014
Hachette UK will merge its three children’s divisions into the one business on 1 January 2015, reports the Bookseller. The new Hachette Children’s Group will combine Hachette Children’s Books, Orion...

Patterson gives grants to 73 UK indie bookstores

Friday, 26 September 2014
More than £130,000 (A$241,280) has been allocated to 73 independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland in the first round of UK grants funded by author James Patterson, reports the...

Amazon launches Kindle Unlimited in the UK

Thursday, 25 September 2014
Two months after Amazon launched its ebook subscription service Kindle Unlimited in the US, the service has arrived in the UK. According to the Bookseller, none of the UK’s major...

Amazon planning crowd-sourced publishing program

Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Amazon is planning to launch a crowd-sourced publishing program, reports the Bookseller. The retailer has told authors who self-publish using Kindle Direct Publishing that they will be invited to submit...

Penguin Random House Canada distribution to merge

Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Distribution for Penguin Canada books will move from Pearson Canada’s warehouse in Newmarket, Ontario, to Random House’s Canada warehouses, reports Publishers Weekly. The move is expected to take place in...

Canadian ebook sales plateau

Tuesday, 23 September 2014
In Canada, digital publisher BookNet has ‘paused’ its consumer survey on ereading because of a plateau in ebook sales, reports Publishers Weekly. ‘The numbers we’re hearing for ebook unit sales is...

Amazon announces ‘Family Library’ Kindle feature

Monday, 22 September 2014
Amazon has announced it will allow users to link their accounts with family members to share content on the company’s Kindle ereaders. The announcement comes after Apple announced a similar...

Penguin US launches Cartoon Network imprint

Monday, 22 September 2014
In the US, Penguin Books for Young Readers will launch a Cartoon Network Books imprint in mid-2015, with books tied to shows owned by television company Cartoon Network, reports Publishers Weekly....

National Book Award longlists announced 

Friday, 19 September 2014
In the US, the National Book Award has announced the longlists in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people’s literature. Titles on the fiction longlist are: An Unnecessary Woman...

BBC National Short Story Award shortlist announced

Thursday, 18 September 2014
In the UK, the shortlist has been announced for this year’s BBC National Short Story Award. The shortlisted writers and their short stories are: Zadie Smith for ‘Miss Adele amidst the Corsets’; Rose...

Blackwell’s launches academic ebook platform

Wednesday, 17 September 2014
In the UK, academic bookseller and library supplier Blackwell’s has launched a new e-book platform for students in Beta. The platform, which the Bookseller reports is a ‘multi-million pound’ investment for...

Kobo partners with Bol.com in Netherlands and Belgium

Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Kobo has partnered with Bol.com, the largest provider of ebooks in the Netherlands and Belgium. The partnership means Kobo’s ereaders and tablets are available from the bol.com site and bol.com...

HarperCollins introduces watermarking for ebooks

Tuesday, 16 September 2014
In the US, HarperCollins is using watermarking technology to increase the security of its ebooks, reports Publishers Weekly. According to chief digital officer Chantal Restivo-Alessi, HarperCollins has adopted Digimarc’s Guardian...

Naipaul dropped from Ubud after ‘11th hour requests’

Monday, 15 September 2014
VS Naipaul has been dropped from this year’s Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) after the festival was unable to meet his ‘11th hour requests’, organisers have announced. UWRF founder...

Vook acquires Byliner

Monday, 15 September 2014
In the US, digital publishing service provider Vook has acquired digital publisher Byliner, reports Publishers Weekly. Byliner’s catalogue of 60-70 longform nonfiction and fiction titles and small team of staff will be...

‘NYT Book Review’ adds 12 new bestseller lists

Friday, 12 September 2014
The New York Times Book Review has announced it will publish 12 new bestseller lists, reports Publishers Weekly. The new categories, which will be rotated in groups of four on a weekly basis,...

New office, more staff planned for Amazon UK

Friday, 12 September 2014
In the UK, Amazon has announced plans to move into a new office in London and increase its head office staff to 5000, ‘nearly trebling its head office workforce’, reports...

PRH to close teen book community

Thursday, 11 September 2014
In the UK, Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced that it will close its teen book community Spinebreakers, saying it needs to move to online spaces where ‘our audiences are...

UK to be guest of honour at Mexico’s Guadalajara book fair

Wednesday, 10 September 2014
The UK will be the guest of honour at next year’s Guadalajara International Book Fair in Mexico, reports the Bookseller. A delegation of editors, writers and artists will represent British culture and literature...

‘Forbes’ releases list of top-earning authors

Tuesday, 9 September 2014
Forbes has released its annual list of the world’s top-earning authors. James Patterson is at the top of the list earning US$90 million (A$97 million) over the past 12 months,...

Atwood manuscript to be locked away for 100 years

Monday, 8 September 2014
Margaret Atwood has been chosen as the first contributor for the Future Library art project, which will see her ‘unpublished, unread’ manuscript locked away for 100 years, reports the Guardian....