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Big W closes ebookstore 

Thursday, 30 July 2015
Discount department store Big W has closed its ebookstore.The ebookstore closed on 15 June. A Big W spokesperson told Books+Publishing the company ‘will look to re-establish ebooks at an appropriate time...

Debut novel ‘The Lost Swimmer’ optioned for film

Wednesday, 29 July 2015
Film rights to Australian author Ann Turner’s debut thriller The Lost Swimmer (S&S) have been optioned by producer Sue Maslin from the production company Film Art Media.Turner will write the...

James Patterson Oz bookshop grants announced

Wednesday, 29 July 2015
The Australian recipients of James Patterson’s Australian and New Zealand bookshop grants have been announced.In total, 70 bookstores received grants of up to $5000 to spend on projects to get...

Quote of the week 

Wednesday, 29 July 2015
‘It seems strange that, given our geographical nearness and many cultural similarities, there aren’t stronger links between Australian and New Zealand writers and readers’—New Zealand writer Elizabeth Heritage on the tendency...

Industry responds to Lantern cuts 

Wednesday, 29 July 2015
The Australian book industry has rejected reports that the Australian cookbook market is in decline following Penguin Random House’s announcement last week that its Lantern illustrated books imprint would be...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 29 July 2015
SalesNonfiction—Spinifex Press has sold Brazilian-Portuguese rights to Bibliodiversity: A Manifesto for Independent Publishing (Susan Hawthorne) to Libre Book Publisher and online magazines Opera Mundi and Painel Academico.Children’s—Alex Adsett Publishing Services...

RiP Hugh Stretton 

Wednesday, 29 July 2015
Australian author and social theorist Hugh Stretton has died, aged 91. Stretton was the author of several works on social theory and economics, including Australia Fair (UNSW Press), as well...

NZ company Booktrack raises US$5m in funding

Tuesday, 28 July 2015
New Zealand company Booktrack, which adds soundtracks and ‘ambient audio’ to ebooks and sells them from its website, has received US$5m (A$6.87m) in funding from investors COENT Centure Partners and Sparkbox...

PRH to publish new Tim Winton book in September

Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Penguin Random House imprint Hamish Hamilton will publish Island Home: A Landscape Memoir by Tim Winton on 23 September.The collection of nonfiction writing explores Winton’s relationship with the Australian landscape and ‘how it...

UWA Publishing launches unpublished manuscript prize

Monday, 27 July 2015
UWA Publishing, in partnership with Copyright Agency and 720 ABC Perth, has launched a new award for an unpublished manuscript.The Dorothy Hewett Award, named after the Australian novelist, poet and...

Bestsellers this week 

Monday, 27 July 2015
Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman (William Heinemann) was the top-selling book in Australia in the week ending 17 July, landing in the number one spot on both the top 10...

Brisbane Writers Festival 2015 program launched

Monday, 27 July 2015
UK author and journalist Jon Ronson will deliver the opening address at the Brisbane Writers Festival on 2 September, joining international guests Sarah Waters, Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, among...

Writers Victoria launches prize for migrant writers

Monday, 27 July 2015
Writers Victoria has launched a new prize for emerging writers from migrant backgrounds.The Deborah Cass Prize will be awarded to an early-career Victorian author who was born overseas or has at...

The Wheeler Centre launches children’s illustration prize

Friday, 24 July 2015
The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne has launched the inaugural Ullin Prize for children’s illustration. The prize, named after the founder of The Little Bookroom Albert Ullin, will be presented annually at the Children’s...

Scribe announces new children’s book imprint 

Friday, 24 July 2015
Melbourne-based publisher Scribe has announced the launch of its new children’s book imprint, Scribble.The imprint, which will be led by Scribe art director Miriam Rosenbloom as commissioning editor, will publish around...

Melbourne Writers Festival 2015 program launched

Thursday, 23 July 2015
British author Will Self will deliver the closing address at the 2015 Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF), which launched its full program on 24 July. As previously reported by Books+Publishing, UK...

Maramenides leaves The Five Mile Press 

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
The Five Mile Press managing director Alexandra Maramenides has left the company, effective from 14 July.Maramenides was in the position since January 2010, having previously been children’s rights director at...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
‘The draft [National Program for Excellence in the Arts] guidelines—released earlier this month—do not seem to have been created with literature and publishing in mind. In fact, they don’t mention literature,...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
SalesFiction—Sandy Wagner Creative Agents has sold ANZ and foreign and translation rights to The Ties That Bind (Lexi Landsman) to Penguin Random House Australia. S&S has sold UK rights to The...

Randolph Stow’s ‘Tourmaline’ to be adapted for film

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
A film adaptation of Randolph Stow’s 1963 novel Tourmaline has received funding in the latest round of Screen Australia grants.Stow’s post-apocalyptic novel, which will be re-issued as a ‘Text Classic’...

Educational Publishing Awards 2015 shortlists announced

Tuesday, 21 July 2015
The titles shortlisted for the Australian Publishers Association Educational Publishing Awards have been announced.The shortlisted titles in each category are:Primary EducationStudent Resource: Mathematics (Numeracy) Nelson Maths Australian Curriculum NSW K-6+...