Tuesday, 5 February 2013
The Auckland Writers & Readers Festival has announced its schools program for 15-16 May. International authors appearing at the event include US author Libba Bray, UK-based author Patrick Ness, UK...

Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Jan Ormerod, Australian author and illustrator, has died aged 67. Sarah Foster, managing director and publisher of Walker Books, writes: ‘One of the first things Jan Ormerod ever said to...

Monday, 4 February 2013
Former MasterChef host Sarah Wilson’s diet book I Quit Sugar (Macmillan) is at the top of the highest new entries chart this week. After Wilson developed a weight problem and...

Monday, 4 February 2013
Mary Masters has been appointed as the new general manager of the Small Press Network (SPN), replacing Zoe Dattner, who announced her decision to step down from the position in...

Friday, 1 February 2013
The Wheeler Centre has released its first program for 2013, kicking off the year with its Gala Night of Storytelling based around Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. The...

Thursday, 31 January 2013
Roberta Ivers has been appointed in the newly created position of managing editor at Simon & Schuster Australia. Managing director Lou Johnson told Books+Publishing that Ivers will assist head of...

Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel Bring Up the Bodies (Fourth Estate) has won the 2012 Costa Book of the Year Award. Mantel was presented with the £30,000 (A$45,147) award...

Wednesday, 30 January 2013
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is undertaking an ‘informal review’ of the proposed merger of Penguin and Random House. The ACCC is currently seeking ‘comments ... from interested...

Wednesday, 30 January 2013
The Sydney Review of Books, an online journal devoted to long-form literary criticism, has been launched. The pilot site, which can be found at www.sydneyreviewofbooks.com, was launched with reviews of...

Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Jan Ormerod, Australian author and illustrator, has died aged 67. Hardie Grant Egmont and Little Hare write: ‘Jan Ormerod grew up in the fifties, in a series of small towns...

Wednesday, 30 January 2013
‘It’s not going to save book shops or anything but you need to be able to demonstrate to your customers that you are up to date with what’s happening in...

Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Author and former journalist Ita Buttrose has been selected as the 2013 Australian of the Year. Buttrose, author of A Passionate Life (Viking) and A Guide to Australian Etiquette (Penguin), received...

Tuesday, 29 January 2013
In the ninth ‘Captain Underpants’ book, Tippy Tinkletrousers shows up on a post-apocalyptic Earth and appears to be crushed to death by Zombie Nerds George and Harold. In the 10th book, Captain...

Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Several Australian authors were among those recognised in this year’s Australia Day Honours. UK-based writer and broadcaster Clive James was made an Officer in the General Division of the Order...

Friday, 25 January 2013
Much-loved Australian children’s books author and illustrator Jan Ormerod has died in the UK. Ormerod died from a stroke on 23 January after battling cancer. Her daughter Laura announced the news...

Friday, 25 January 2013
Pan Macmillan’s digital imprint Momentum has launched a range of science-fiction, romance and erotic classics, each priced at $1.99. There are currently seven titles in the Momentum classics range: We...

Friday, 25 January 2013
Coming off the back of a relatively strong Christmas in 2011, close to 60% of booksellers surveyed in Bookseller+Publisher’s annual post-Christmas survey have reported a drop in sales this year....

Friday, 25 January 2013
This Christmas period has seen another drop in sales volume and value. According to Nielsen Bookscan, sales were down 4.5% in value and 2.7% in volume over the 13 weeks to 29...

Friday, 25 January 2013
Despite a generally lukewarm response to the fiction on offer from booksellers in our pre-Christmas survey, many respondents reported that fiction titles outperformed the traditional Christmas favourites of biographies and cookbooks this year....

Friday, 25 January 2013
Gone are the days when the majority of Australian booksellers only sold books in-store. A large majority of booksellers who responded to our survey (82%) reported selling books online, either...

Friday, 25 January 2013
Almost all the publishers surveyed by Bookseller+Publisher this year have reported a ‘good’ or ‘okay’ Christmas, though only a couple (Penguin, Simon & Schuster) have reported that sales were up on...