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Rights round-up 

Thursday, 12 March 2015
SalesFiction—A&U has sold Korean rights to the first five books in the ‘Phryne Fisher’ series (Kerry Greenwood); Finnish rights to The Distant Hours (Kate Morton); Dutch rights to two forthcoming...

Quote of the week 

Thursday, 12 March 2015
‘We have to reset our business to find how we reach bigger audiences to justify our investments in individual titles. We used to operate in local markets, now we operate...

‘Beloved Land’ wins ACT Book of the Year

Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Gordon Peake’s Beloved Land: Stories, Struggles and Secrets from Timor-Leste (Scribe) has won the 2014 ACT Book of the Year Award.Peake’s book, which explores nation-building in Timor-Leste following its independence...

Bestsellers this week

Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Big international fiction releases are dominating the bestsellers chart, with three new titles making it into the top 10 in their first week. While American Sniper (film tie-in) (Chris Kyle,...

Keneally wins OzCo Lifetime Achievement in Literature Award

Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Thomas Keneally is the recipient of the 2015 Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature.The award, formerly known as the Writers’ Emeritus Award, recognises ‘the achievements of eminent literary...

Craig Potton Publishing changes name to Potton & Burton

Tuesday, 10 March 2015
New Zealand publishing house Craig Potton Publishing has changed its name to Potton & Burton to ‘reflect the increasingly diverse range of New Zealand books’ it publishes.Robbie Burton, co-owner and...

No ‘B+P Daily’ on Monday

Friday, 6 March 2015
Please note that, due to the public holiday on Monday 9 March in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, the Books+Publishing Daily newsletter will not be published on that day.

St Leger to leave the Copyright Agency

Thursday, 5 March 2015
The Copyright Agency has announced that CEO Murray St Leger will leave the company in July.St Leger, a former managing director of McGraw-Hill Australia and former president of the Australian...

Avid Reader opens children’s bookshop 

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Brisbane’s Avid Reader has opened its specialist children’s, YA and giftware bookstore, Where the Wild Things Are Bookshop, located next to its West End store.Owner Fiona Stager told Books+Publishing that the new store,...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
SalesFiction—Giramondo has sold Chinese rights to The Tribe (Michael Mohammed Ahmad) to the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Company; and Latin American Spanish-language rights to Original Face (Nicholas Jose)...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
‘Newman condemned himself to being published outside of Queensland when he axed the Awards. Perhaps his future memoir will reflect on this with the benefit of hindsight’—Macquarie University creative writing...

‘WBN’ published Thursday next week

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Please note that, due to the public holiday on Monday in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, the next Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on Thursday 12 March.The deadline for classifieds and...

Burrell wins Ashurst Business Literature Prize

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Andrew Burrell has won the 2014 Ashurst Business Literature Prize for his book Twiggy: The High Stakes Life of Andrew Forrest (Black Inc.).Burrell was presented with the $30,000 prize at an event in...

New festival director, board chair for BWF

Tuesday, 3 March 2015
The Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) has appointed a new festival director and acting CEO for 2015.Julie Beveridge replaces current festival director and CEO Kate Eltham, who is taking maternity leave from mid-March. Beveridge has...

Petition against WA Premier’s Book Awards cuts

Tuesday, 3 March 2015
A petition against the WA government’s decision to cut funding and move the WA Premier’s Book Awards to a biennial format has been launched online.The petition, which is addressed to Liberal premier...

RiP Jess Ainscough 

Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Australian author and ‘Wellness Warrior’ Jess Ainscough has died, aged 30. Ainscough’s publisher, Hay House, writes: ‘It is with great sadness that we at Hay House inform you of the passing...

Baum wins 2015 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship

Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Caroline Baum has won the 2015 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship.Baum, a freelance journalist, broadcaster and editorial director of Booktopia, was announced as the winner at the Adelaide Writers Festival on 4 March. Writers...

‘Island’ magazine partners with MONA

Monday, 2 March 2015
Tasmania-based literary magazine Island has announced it will form a ‘literary partnership’ with Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).The partnership initially involves the magazine being promoted by the...

‘West Australian’ cuts book coverage

Monday, 2 March 2015
The West Australian newspaper will cut its Tuesday-edition book coverage by 50%, reducing the double-page spread to a single page.In a statement, writingWA said it was ‘dismayed’ to learn about...

Bestsellers this week

Monday, 2 March 2015
American Sniper (Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen & Jim DeFelice, HarperCollins) is back at number one this week as last week’s number one, The Ruby Circle (Richelle Mead, Viking), drops to...

Aurealis Awards 2014 finalists announced

Monday, 2 March 2015
The finalists for the 2014 Aurealis Awards, presented for science-fiction, fantasy and horror writing in Australia, have been announced.Among the categories are:Fantasy novel Fireborn (Keri Arthur, Hachette) This Shattered World...