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Von Reinhold, Ní Ghríofa win James Tait Black prizes

Thursday, 26 August 2021
In the UK, Shola Von Reinhold and Doireann Ní Ghríofa have won the James Tait Black prizes for fiction and biography respectively, reports the Bookseller. Von Reinhold won the fiction prize...

Ned Kelly Awards 2021 winners announced

Thursday, 26 August 2021
The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced the winners of the 2021 Ned Kelly Awards. Crime novels released by Text Publishing swept the fiction categories, with the winning titles...

S&S acquires two books by Heiss 

Thursday, 26 August 2021
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired two new books by First Nations writer and cultural activist Anita Heiss. The first book is a picture book for young readers about...

WA Premier’s Book Awards announced

Thursday, 26 August 2021
The winners of the 2020 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards have been announced. Chosen from shortlists announced in June, the winners in each category are: Premier’s Prize for an Emerging...

Pantera acquires Scott book on mental health 

Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About by journalist, writer and presenter Elfy Scott. Scott's debut nonfiction book is, according to the publisher,...

Nielsen: Indies ‘key to supporting local authors’ 

Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Nielsen BookScan data prepared for the Australian Booksellers Association shows that Australian authors account for over half of the top 50 fiction bestsellers sold through independent bookshops this year to...

Malwatta wins 2021 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize

Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Queensland Poetry has announced that Janaka Malwatta has won the 2021 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize for his manuscript blackbirds don’t mate with starlings. Malwatta receives $2000 and a publishing contract...

Ultimo acquires new Featherstone novel 

Tuesday, 24 August 2021
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to My Heart is a Little Wild Thing by Nigel Featherstone, in a deal brokered by Gaby Naher of Left Bank Literary. My Heart...

Rooney ARCs sell for hundreds of dollars online

Tuesday, 24 August 2021
Uncorrected proofs of Sally Rooney’s upcoming novel Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber) have fetched hundreds of dollars on trading sites eBay and Depop, reports the Guardian. A copy listed on...

Bookselling in a pandemic: 18 months later 

Monday, 23 August 2021
Brunswick Bound manager Ellen Cregan travelled to the United States in March 2020 as part of Melbourne City of Literature’s Bookseller in Residence program. Although her trip was cut short...

Amazon reportedly plans to open US department stores

Monday, 23 August 2021
Amazon is planning to open large department-style stores in the US, reports the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). According to the WSJ, the retail spaces will be around 30,000 square feet...

CBCA Book of the Year 2021 winners announced

Friday, 20 August 2021
The winners of the 2021 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards have been announced. The winning titles and honour books in each category are: Older...

Sharjah Book Authority launches pro-reading campaign

Friday, 20 August 2021
In the United Arab Emirates, the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) has launched a new pro-reading campaign with the slogan ‘If you’re into something, you’re into books’, reports Publishing Perspectives. The...

Morrow appointed Murdoch Books publishing director 

Thursday, 19 August 2021
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has announced that Murdoch Books publisher Jane Morrow has been appointed publishing director of the company, replacing Lou Johnson in the role. A&U said Morrow's 'well-honed...

MWF cancels live events, brings forward MWF Digital

Thursday, 19 August 2021
The organisers of the Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF), which was scheduled to run from 3–12 September at various locations across the city, have cancelled the live components of its program....

Aotearoa Booksellers NZ conference postponed 

Thursday, 19 August 2021
The 2021 Aotearoa Booksellers NZ conference, which was due to be held at the Park Hyatt in Auckland this weekend, 21–22 August, has been postponed due to the country’s current...

Corey Tutt recommends 

Wednesday, 18 August 2021
My dear friend Terri Janke has just released a book called True Tracks (UNSW Press), which features a number of friends and distant relatives. I loved it because IP in...

Corey Tutt on ‘The First Scientists’

Wednesday, 18 August 2021
Kamilaroi STEM advocate and founder of Deadly Science Corey Tutt is the author of The First Scientists (illus by Blak Douglas, Hardie Grant, October), which explores early and contemporary First...

S&S to expand local editorial team 

simon & schuster logo Wednesday, 18 August 2021
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) is expanding its local editorial team, with two new full-time editorial positions intended to streamline the publisher’s production.  S&S managing director Dan Ruffino told Books+Publishing...

Queensland literary projects funded

Wednesday, 18 August 2021
The University of Queensland will receive $20,000 ‘to provide time and space to emerging writer Ellen van Neerven for their creative development of new work enhanced by access to unique...

US half-yearly bookstore sales up 30%

Wednesday, 18 August 2021
In the US, bookstore sales in the first half of 2021 rose 30.3% compared to the same period last year, reports Publishers Weekly. Bookstore sales rose from US$2.82 billion (A$3.9b)...

Nielsen launches local ebook sales tracking service 

Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Nielsen Book Australia has launched a new ebook sales tracking service. Collecting ebook sales data directly from publishers, PubTrack Digital Australia & New Zealand is, according to Nielsen, ‘the first...

Hachette Book Group to acquire Workman Publishing

Tuesday, 17 August 2021
In the US, Hachette Book Group (HBG) will acquire independent publisher Workman Publishing in a US$240 million (A$327m) deal, reports Publishers Weekly. Workman Publishing, which has about 300 employees across...

SLQ 2021 Young Writers Award winner announced

Tuesday, 17 August 2021
The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) has announced that Ellen Vickerman is the winner of the 2021 Young Writers Award. Vickerman wins a $2000 cash prize for her story 'Sun...