Local authors shortlisted for UK Dagger crime writing awards
Monday, 1 June 2026
Local authors Sam Guthrie, Laura McCluskey, and Zoë Rankin are among those whose works have been shortlisted for the UK Crime Writers’ Association’s (CWA) 2026 Dagger Awards. The authors were...
Aotearoa New Zealand 2026 Book Industry Awards finalists announced
Monday, 1 June 2026
The finalists in Aotearoa New Zealand’s 2026 Book Industry Awards, presented by Booksellers Aotearoa NZ and the Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ), have been announced....
DANZ Children’s Book Award 2026 shortlists announced
Monday, 1 June 2026
The 2026 shortlists for the DANZ (Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand) Children’s Book Award have been announced by the Australian School Library Association (ASLA). Chosen from previously announced longlists,...
Ractliffe joins The Pilkington Agency, expanded role for Cottrell
Monday, 1 June 2026
The Pilkington Agency has announced that former Hachette Australia managing director Justin Ractliffe has joined the business as a literary agent, while rights agent Alice Cottrell’s role “will be expanded”....
Simon & Schuster acquires Vasiliou’s “Better Man”
Thursday, 28 May 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to Better Man by Ben Vasiliou, in a deal negotiated by Daniel Pilkington of The Pilkington Agency. The “practical guide to...
ABC Radio National countdown to focus on Australian books
Thursday, 28 May 2026
This year, ABC Radio National’s annual Top 100 Books Countdown will focus on the theme “Australian books”, both fiction and nonfiction. The ABC said the countdown’s definition of Australian was...
French book chains file for receivership amid falling sales
Thursday, 28 May 2026
In France, the owner of two bookstore chains has announced it will file for receivership, reports the Bookseller. The news that Nosoli, the owner of bookstore chains Le Furet du...
NT Writers Festival 2026 festival opens
Thursday, 28 May 2026
The NT Writers Festival will return to Garramilla/Darwin today, running from 28 to 31 May under the theme “Navigating”. Panels, workshops and conversations will include appearances by writers Omar Musa,...
Pink Shorts Press acquires Ball’s “A Map and Other Parts”
Thursday, 28 May 2026
Pink Shorts Press has acquired world rights to Timmah Ball’s A Map and Other Parts. The publisher described the work as “a poetic interrogation of Australia’s relationship with the built...
Simon & Schuster acquires three Hammer novels
Thursday, 28 May 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) imprint Summit Books has acquired ANZ rights to 3 novels by Chris Hammer from Grace Heifetz at a4 Literary, with UK rights sold to Rachel...
Hachette launches new Letterwing imprint
Thursday, 28 May 2026
Hachette Australia has announced the launch of a new imprint, Letterwing, that “brings together its local publishing under a distinct new identity”. The new imprint will be led by publishing...
Bancroft receives 2026 Red Ochre Award for lifetime achievement
Thursday, 28 May 2026
Bundjalung writer and artist Bronwyn Bancroft is one of the recipients of the 2026 Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Artistic Excellence in the First Nations Arts and Culture...
There’s a lot happening at Thames & Hudson
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia is rejoining HarperCollins New Zealand for field sales representation in Aotearoa; Thames & Hudson (T&H) has made some staff changes; the ALS Gold Medal shortlist has...
S&S Australia rejoins HarperCollins for Aotearoa field sales representation
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has announced it has “re-joined HarperCollins New Zealand [HCNZ] for field sales representation” across Aotearoa New Zealand for its entire publishing list, effective immediately. S&S...
Staff changes at Thames & Hudson
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Thames & Hudson Australia commercial director Justin Ractliffe and senior campaign manager Lucy Inglis have left the business, with sales manager Bianca Jafari promoted to the newly created role of...
Allen & Unwin acquires Wills’s “Dopamining”
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Allen and Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Dopamining by Samantha Wills, via Samuel Bernard at Zeitgeist Agency. Part memoir and part cultural commentary, Dopamining examines “how we became...
ALS Gold Medal 2026 shortlist announced
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
The shortlist for the 2026 ALS Gold Medal, awarded by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, has been announced. The shortlisted works are: Discipline (Randa Abdel-Fattah, University of...
Riveted Press acquires Sandhu middle-grade fiction
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Riveted Press has acquired world rights to Khet and the Medallion of Ra by Jo Sandhu, via a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Queensland pitch event. The...
The changing shape of the pathway: The entry to entry-level roles in publishing
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Nonie Trainor is completing their Work Integrated Learning at Books+Publishing as a second-year student of the Master of Writing and Publishing program at RMIT University. During this period, Nonie is...
Spotify to add higher-hour audiobook plans, AI tools for self-publishers
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Spotify has revealed audiobook listening hours on the platform have increased 60% year on year, as it promised to introduce higher‑hour Audiobooks+ plans later this year, alongside family and student...
SWF 2026 “the most successful” ever
Tuesday, 26 May 2026
The 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF), which this year ran 17 to 24 May, recorded a second consecutive year of record-breaking attendance and ticket sales, making it “the most successful...
US court orders pirate site to pay publishers
Tuesday, 26 May 2026
In the US, a federal court has ordered the pirate site Anna’s Archive to pay 13 publishers a total of US$19.5 million in damages, “in a case that targets the...
Allen & Unwin acquires James’s “The Wreck”
Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to crime novel The Wreck by Riley James in a deal brokered by Caitlan Cooper-Trent of Curtis Brown Australia. In 1998, researchers...
“Hoods Landing” sells to Pushkin Press
Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Āporo Press has announced the sale of world all language rights (ex Aotearoa NZ in English and te reo Māori) to Hoods Landing by Laura Vincent to Pushkin Press, in...
RWAG acquires “The Weight of Witness”
Monday, 25 May 2026
Readers and Writers Against the Genocide (RWAG) has acquired the anthology The Weight of Witness: The experiences of Australian and New Zealand medics in Gaza. The collection of essays about...
Story Factory opens Bidwill centre
Monday, 25 May 2026
Creative writing not-for-profit Story Factory has opened a new centre in the western Sydney suburb of Bidwill, New South Wales. Having previously established centres in Redfern and Parramatta, the Story...
Bloomsbury results: AI licensing agreement boosts academic division
Monday, 25 May 2026
In the UK, Bloomsbury profits rose 7% for the fiscal year ended 28 February 2026, reported the Bookseller. The publisher reported group revenue of £325.9 million, down from £361 million...
HarperCollins Aotearoa appointments
Monday, 25 May 2026
As reported by Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ), HarperCollins Aotearoa has announced two new appointments. Sarah Yankelowitz has been promoted into the role of commissioning...
MWF 2026: Almost 60% of audiences were first-time attendees
Monday, 25 May 2026
Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) reported attendance at its 2026 festival, which ran from 7 to 10 May, was up 16% on the previous year. MWF said more than half of...
AWF26 breaks box office, bookstall records
Monday, 25 May 2026
Ticket sales for the 2026 Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki (AWF26), held in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland from 12 to 17 May, were up 15% on the previous year, representing...
