In somebody else’s shoes: Australian Children’s Laureate Morris Gleitzman’s plans for his term
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Prolific children’s author Morris Gleitzman has been chosen as the Australian Children’s Laureate. He spoke with Sarah Farquharson about his plans for his two-year term as laureate. What are you...
Oh! The Horror! The rise of horror in children’s fiction
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Danielle Binks explores youth literature’s reanimated interest in the horror genre. Stephen King once said, ‘We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones’, and it certainly...
Between the lines: Observations on the trade by Gladys Bembo
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Congratulations to Morris Gleitzman, who has been announced as the next Australian Children’s Laureate. The news made it to the UK in record time, with our colleagues at The Bookseller...
Book bites: Children’s bookseller L J Lacey offers a taste of books to come
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Picture this Picture books with ‘life lessons’ introducing little ones to new ideas are a growing trend, and Lessons of a LAC (Lynn Jenkins, illus by Kirrili Lonergan, EK Books,...
Shelf talk: Category round-ups of forthcoming titles by those in the know
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Fantastic fiction I find something exciting in science-fiction (SF) and fantasy every month, but there are a few forthcoming releases that are worth bringing to everyone’s attention. The biggest news...
Editor’s picks: 2018 highlights from the ‘Books+Publishing’ team
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Meet the B+P team. Jackie Tang, Andrew Wrathall and Sarah Farquharson share their top picks for the new year. Jackie Tang: I love reading about the underbelly of the food...
Your store: A round-up of retailing news, tips and titbits
Thursday, 19 April 2018
A complete transformation With nostalgic older fans and new fans alike still excited about all things Harry Potter, the Mad Hatters Bookshop in Manly, Queensland, tapped into the boy wizard’s...
Come together: Jemma Birrell’s career journey
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Tablo creative director Jemma Birrell has spent her career connecting audiences with books, whether it be in bookshops, at festivals or online. She shares her career journey. I started working...
Memory trick: Margot McGovern on ‘Neverland’
Friday, 13 April 2018
Debut author Margot McGovern was inspired by her favourite childhood reads to create Neverland (Random House, April), ‘a dark and compelling examination of memory, self-determination and the dangers of romanticising...
Publishing, fast and slow: Martin Hughes on ‘slow’ media
Wednesday, 11 April 2018
Martin Hughes is the co-founder and publisher of Affirm Press, the former editor of the Big Issue and, in 2018, a regular columnist for Books+Publishing. In his first column, Hughes...
When girls don’t read: Reaching reluctant girl readers
Thursday, 5 April 2018
Lorien Kaye asks how the book industry can connect reluctant girl readers with books. Mention kids who don’t like reading and most people immediately think of boys. Discussion of ‘reluctant...
Clued up: Jacqueline Harvey on ‘Breaking News: Kensy and Max Book One’
Thursday, 1 March 2018
‘Alice-Miranda’ and ‘Clementine Rose’ author Jacqueline Harvey assembles a world of espionage and mystery in Breaking News: Kensy and Max Book One (Random House, March), which reviewer Natalie Crawford says...
Beyond print: Exploring transmedia narratives
Monday, 23 October 2017
UQP nonfiction publisher Alexandra Payne explores the potential of transmedia narratives for publishers. (more…)
Write on: 2018 fiction preview
Monday, 23 October 2017
New books by Ceridwen Dovey, Kristina Olsson, Melissa Lucashenko, Lloyd Jones and Gerald Murnane, and a number of highly anticipated debuts, are among Australian publishers' local highlights for 2018, reports...
Write on: 2018 nonfiction preview
Monday, 23 October 2017
Andrea Hanke reports on Australian publishers' local nonfiction highlights for 2018. Click here for the fiction highlights and here for the children’s and YA preview. ‘Riffing on the Anh Do...
Flight of fantasy: Tracy Sorensen on ‘The Lucky Galah’
Monday, 23 October 2017
Tracy Sorensen’s The Lucky Galah (Picador, March) recounts the lives of ordinary Australians from the 1960s until the 2000s, as narrated by a galah called Lucky. The conceit is handled...
Shelf talk: A round-up of forthcoming books
Monday, 23 October 2017
Category round-ups of forthcoming titles by those in the know … Crime pays The reliably brilliant author Garry Disher’s new standalone novel Under the Cold Bright Lights (Text, November) stars...
Between the lines: Observations on the trade by Gladys Bembo
Monday, 23 October 2017
It’s that time of year again—the maddest week on the annual publishing calendar, as publishers and agents engage in what was once described to me as a ‘week-long speed-dating orgy’....
Editor’s picks: Summer reading
Monday, 23 October 2017
Jackie Tang rounds up her nonfiction highlights for the coming months. F*ck, sh*t … the compulsion to plop a naughty word with an attention-grabbing asterisk on the cover seems to...
Your store: A round-up of retailing news, tips and titbits
Monday, 23 October 2017
Analogue marketing At the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) conference in June, The Constant Reader’s Jay Lansdowne hosted a panel on analogue (ie in-store) marketing with Fiona Stager (Avid Reader), Jane...
Summer bestsellers: A look at the post-Christmas charts
Monday, 23 October 2017
When the Christmas frenzy has died down, what sells during the rest of the summer? Brad Jefferies explores the trends behind the post-Christmas bestsellers. (more…)
The millennial market: Publishing for a new generation
Monday, 23 October 2017
They’re a generation more talked about than listened to, but the collective spending power of millennials is set to grow. Sarah Farquharson investigates how publishers are tapping into the millennial...
Natural appreciation: Lex Hirst’s career journey
Monday, 23 October 2017
‘In all my roles I search for talented people with fascinating work and find them new audiences,’ writes Penguin Random House commissioning editor, festival director and arts programmer Lex Hirst....
Talkback: Authors and booksellers on stocking self-published books
Monday, 23 October 2017
With a number of traditionally published authors moving into self-publishing, there’s never been a greater demand for bricks-and-mortar bookstores to stock self-published titles. Andrea Hanke asked hybrid author Ellie Marney...
The reinvention of lit mags
Monday, 23 October 2017
In recent years, Australian literary journals have expanded into public events, unpublished manuscript prizes and even traditional book publishing, and are increasingly being seen as places that nurture vibrant literary...
Soaring twenties: 20 years of Hardie Grant
Monday, 23 October 2017
Hardie Grant Publishing celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Books+Publishing looks back over the publisher’s many highlights. When Hardie Grant Publishing was established in 1997, the company had two clear...
Warm welcome: Kyneton’s Squishy Minnie
Monday, 23 October 2017
When children’s bookstore Squishy Minnie opened in the Victorian town of Kyneton, it filled an important gap in the regional community. Owner and manager Kristen Proud shares her bookseller’s diary....
What next for school libraries?
Monday, 23 October 2017
Jackie Tang explores the changing nature of school libraries in Australia. In September 2017, Australian children’s laureate Leigh Hobbs voiced his concern that Australian school libraries and librarians are ‘disappearing’,...
A league of their own: Junior fiction about girls and sport
Monday, 23 October 2017
Following the success of the inaugural AFL women’s league, Meg Whelan explores the recent spate of junior-fiction books about girls and sport. TV and radio presenter and now children’s book...
From the heart: Shivaun Plozza on ‘Tin Heart’
Monday, 23 October 2017
In her second YA novel Tin Heart (Penguin, March), Shivaun Plozza tells the story of a teenage girl who undergoes an organ transplant. The book ‘cements Plozza as a writer with...
