News | Books+Publishing

HarperCollins US reaches ‘tentative’ agreement with unionised employees, sales down in Q2

Monday, 13 February 2023
HarperCollins US has reached a tentative agreement with its employee union after three months of negotiations, reports Publishers Weekly. UAW Local 2110, which represents more than 250 HarperCollins employees in...

Pantera sells ‘Courting Samira’ to HarperVia, acquires fourth Awad novel

Monday, 13 February 2023
Pantera Press has sold world English rights (excluding ANZ) to Amal Awad’s novel Courting Samira to Gretchen Schmid at HarperVia, an imprint of Harper Collins. Courting Samira is a romantic...

Books in the media this weekend, 11–12 February

Friday, 10 February 2023
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper A Country of Eternal Light (Paul Dalgarno, Fourth Estate) The Matchmaker...

MUD Literary Prize increases to $10K, 2023 shortlist announced

Friday, 10 February 2023
The shortlist for the 2023 MUD Literary Prize has been announced. The five shortlisted works, chosen from 33 submissions, are: The Islands (Emily Brugman, A&U) All That’s Left Unsaid (Tracey...

Ultimo acquires ‘The Paris Cooking School’

Friday, 10 February 2023
Ultimo Press has acquired world English-language rights to a novel from Sophie Masson, writing as Sophie Beaumont, in a deal brokered by Margaret Connolly of Margaret Connolly & Associates. The...

Waterstones Children’s Book Prize shortlists announced

Friday, 10 February 2023
In the UK, the shortlists for the 2023 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Illustrated books The Fairy Garden (Georgia Buckthorn, illus...

UQP acquires new O’Keeffe novel

Friday, 10 February 2023
UQP has acquired world rights to The Sitter, a new novel by Angela O’Keeffe, from Shaw Literary. Described by the publisher as ‘startlingly accomplished and multilayered’, The Sitter is about...

BolognaBookPlus 2023 program announced

Thursday, 9 February 2023
Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) has announced its line-up of events and services for its BolognaBookPlus 2023 program, which takes place alongside the children’s book fair from 6–9 March. BCBF...

Reid steps down at PRH

Thursday, 9 February 2023
Karen Reid has resigned from Penguin Random House (PRH) after 30 years at the company. 'Reid first joined the Transworld publicity department after a stint in bookselling and very quickly...

Varuna: $815K for new ‘accessible venue’; Arts NT fellowship recipients

Thursday, 9 February 2023
Varuna will add a new multi-purpose building to its grounds after receiving $815,827 funding for the project as part of the NSW government WestInvest Community Grants Project. Varuna said the...

Five Mile owner Regency Media appoints administrators

Thursday, 9 February 2023
Regency Media, the owner of Five Mile Press, has entered administration. Regency Media managing director Fiona Horman told Books+Publishing the company has entered voluntary administration and is 'continuing to operate...

Kenny joins Affirm Press; Stannard completes sales team

Wednesday, 8 February 2023
Affirm Press has announced Paul Kenny has joined the company on a permanent basis. Kenny takes on the new role of product and data manager and will also fill the...

AWW 2023 program released; short story fest 2023 dates

Wednesday, 8 February 2023
Adelaide Writers Week (AWW) has announced the full program for its 2023 festival, which includes a total of 160 literary guests and 130 sessions across six days from Saturday, 4...

Huntley to leave Booktopia

Wednesday, 8 February 2023
Booktopia head of customer experience Alex Huntley is leaving his role after almost a decade with the business. 'I’ve chosen to say goodbye as part of Booktopia’s sad but necessary...

Higgins joins Hardie Grant as interim sales director

Wednesday, 8 February 2023
Sophie Higgins has joined Hardie Grant as interim sales director, taking over from Julia Kumschick who departed at the end of January for a yearlong sabbatical and will return to...

Chinese market down 12% in 2022

Wednesday, 8 February 2023
Overall book sales in China decreased 12% in 2022 according to Beijing OpenBook, reports Publishing Perspectives. While sales via short video ecommerce, such as on TikTok and other platforms, were...

Doris Brett recommends

Tuesday, 7 February 2023
I have been re-reading Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (Penguin). I first read, and loved it, as a teenager. It is a sharply written, laugh-out-loud-on-the-tram novel, satirising the doom-and-gloom,...

Doris Brett on ‘Philomella and the Impossible Forest’

Tuesday, 7 February 2023
Philomella and the Impossible Forest is Doris Brett's first fiction book for children. A 'playful take on the classic quest story' the middle-grade novel follows Philomella who stumbles upon a forest...

The Paperback Bookshop under new ownership

Tuesday, 7 February 2023
The Paperback Bookshop, located in Melbourne’s CBD, has been sold by Rosy and Bill Morton after 23 years of ownership. Anna MacDonald took over management on 1 January 2023, after...

NewSouth acquires Tan debut essay collection

Tuesday, 7 February 2023
NewSouth has acquired world rights to Cher Tan’s debut essay collection Peripathetic: Notes on (un)belonging, which blends ‘cultural criticism, experimental writing, autotheory, (inter)net writing and literary memoir’, according to the...

IndieBound joins Bookshop.org

Tuesday, 7 February 2023
In the US, the American Bookseller Association’s consumer-facing online bookselling and marketing platform, IndieBound.org, will switch to using Bookshop.org for sales and fulfilment, reports Publishers Weekly. Bookshop.org founder Andy Hunter...