Local news | Books+Publishing

Parliament passes legislation to impose GST on low-value online imports

Tuesday, 22 August 2017
Federal parliament has enacted legislation to impose a 10% GST on low-value imports purchased from online overseas sellers from 1 July 2018. As previously reported by Books+Publishing, the government first...

NZ Book Industry Awards 2017 winners announced

Tuesday, 22 August 2017
The winners of the 2017 New Zealand Book Industry Awards were announced in Auckland on 19 August. The winners in each category are: Bookshop of the Year Time Out Bookstore,...

Mem Fox receives CBCA Nan Chauncy Award

Monday, 21 August 2017
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has presented Mem Fox with the 2017 CBCA Nan Chauncy Award for her contribution to Australian children’s literature. The award was presented on...

S&S acquires debut novel by Australian ‘book ninjas’

Monday, 21 August 2017
Simon & Schuster Australia has acquired world rights to the debut novel by Australian ‘book ninjas’ Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus. Berg, a copywriter and co-founder of Melbourne advertising agency...

Hardy appointed MWF artistic director

Friday, 18 August 2017
Writer and producer Marieke Hardy has been appointed artistic director of the Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF), with general manager Shona Barrett to take on the role of CEO. As previously...

CBCA Awards 2017 winners announced

Friday, 18 August 2017
The winners of this year’s Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards have been announced. The winning titles in each of the categories are: Older readers...

Giramondo to publish series of ‘innovative fiction and nonfiction’ by southern hemisphere writers

Friday, 18 August 2017
Giramondo has published the first title in its ‘Southern Latitudes’ series, which focusses on ‘innovative fiction and nonfiction by writers of the southern hemisphere’. The first book in the series,...

‘SRB’ announces recipients of Emerging Critics fellowships

Friday, 18 August 2017
The ‘Sydney Review of Books’ has announced the recipients of this year’s Copyright Agency-SRB Emerging Critics fellowships. The recipients are: Rita Horanyi (SA) Darius Sepehri (NSW) Robert Wood (WA). Each...

Nielsen NZ report: reading the second most popular leisure activity

Thursday, 17 August 2017
A Nielsen Consumer and Media Insight survey has found about 1.9 million New Zealanders aged over 10 read a book every week, making reading the second most popular leisure activity...

Black Inc. to publish the ‘Cook’s Companion’ of mental health

Thursday, 17 August 2017
Black Inc. will publish Mental: Everything You Never Knew You Needed to Know about Mental Health, a guidebook to mental health by psychiatrist and broadcaster Steve Ellen and comedian and...

Inky Awards 2017 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 16 August 2017
The Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria has announced the shortlists for the 2017 Inky Awards for young adult literature. The shortlisted books in each category...

Robertson wins 2017 ‘ABR’ Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

Wednesday, 16 August 2017
UK author Eliza Robertson has won the Australian Book Review’s (ABR) 2017 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize for her story ‘Pheidippides’. Dominic Amerena placed second for his story ‘The Leaching Layer’ and...

Fox Searchlight options ‘Two Steps Forward’

Wednesday, 16 August 2017
Fox Searchlight has optioned the film rights to Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist’s novel Two Steps Forward (Text). Ellen DeGeneres and Jeff Kleeman will produce the film through their company...

‘KYD’, ACWA announce shortlist for S D Harvey Short Story competition

Tuesday, 15 August 2017
Kill Your Darlings and the Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) have announced the shortlist for this year’s S D Harvey Short Story Competition. The shortlisted stories are: ‘Rules to Live By’ by Louise...

Longlists for Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Prizes announced

Tuesday, 15 August 2017
The longlists for the Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Prizes have been announced. The longlisted works and their authors are: Tasmania Book Prize for the best book with Tasmanian content in any...

Dymocks launches Books for Kids charity campaign

Tuesday, 15 August 2017
Dymocks bookstores are running a two-week Books for Kids charity campaign, with 50 cents from every children’s book sold to be donated to literacy support programs through Dymocks Children’s Charities....

Ngaio Marsh Award 2017 shortlists announced

Tuesday, 15 August 2017
The shortlists for the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Award for New Zealand crime fiction have been announced. The shortlisted works in each category are: Nonfiction Double-Edged Sword (Simonne Butler & Andra Jenkin,...

‘Snark’ takes out top prize at 2017 NZ Book Awards for Children and YA

Tuesday, 15 August 2017
David Elliot’s illustrated book for ‘grown-up children of all ages’, Snark: Being a True History of the Expedition that Discovered the Snark and the Jabberwock … and its Tragic Aftermath...

RWA awards 2017 winners announced

Monday, 14 August 2017
The winners of the 2017 Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) Romantic Book of the Year awards, known as the ‘RUBYs’, were announced on 12 August at the RWA conference in...

Ned Kelly Awards 2017 shortlists announced

Monday, 14 August 2017
The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced the shortlists for this year’s Ned Kelly Awards for Australian crime writing. The shortlisted works in each category are: Best fiction Crimson...

Environment Award for Children’s Literature 2017 winners announced

Monday, 14 August 2017
The Wilderness Society has announced the winners for the 2017 Environment Award for Children’s Literature. The winners are: Picture fiction Chooks in Dinner Suits (Diane Jackson Hill & Craig Smith,...

‘The 91-Storey Treehouse’ launched at sold-out Melbourne event; sales record broken at Dymocks

Friday, 11 August 2017
The latest instalment in Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton’s ‘Treehouse’ series, The 91-Storey Treehouse (Pan), was launched by Readings at a sold-out event at the Melbourne Town Hall on 8 August....

Copyright Agency signs three new publishers to LearningField

Friday, 11 August 2017
The Copyright Agency has signed three new publishers—National Educational Advancement Programs, Edrolo and Titan Education—to its etextbook subscription service LearningField for a further three years. The deal adds about 250...

Australian bestsellers in July: McInerney, Pape top fiction, nonfiction charts

Friday, 11 August 2017
While Liane Moriarty continues to dominate the Australian fiction bestsellers chart in July, with five titles in the top 10, Monica McInerney’s The Trip of a Lifetime (Michael Joseph) and...

Booksellers prepare for Love Your Bookshop Day

Thursday, 10 August 2017
Preparations are underway for the Australian Booksellers Association’s (ABA) Love Your Bookshop Day this Saturday 12 August, with stores around the country hosting events and promotions. More than 80 stores...

Transworld acquires rights to Wilson’s ‘First, We Make the Beast Beautiful’

Thursday, 10 August 2017
UK publisher Transworld has acquired Commonwealth rights (ex-ANZ) to Sarah Wilson’s First, We Make the Beast Beautiful (Macmillan) via Peggy Boulos Smith at Writers House, reports the Bookseller. Transworld editorial director...