News | Books+Publishing

Value of top 10 up 39% in lead up to Christmas 2020

Monday, 8 February 2021
It appears Australian book buyers heeded the message to shop early ahead of Christmas 2020. Book sales in Australia were up 17.5% in the 10 weeks to 5 December 2020,...

Major UK publishers’ ebook sales up 15%

Monday, 8 February 2021
In the UK, the top six trade publishers recorded a total 15.5% rise in ebook sales in 2020, the first double-digit percentage bump in seven years, reports the Bookseller. Collectively,...

Echo to publish new Morris novel

Monday, 8 February 2021
Echo Publishing has acquired Heather Morris's third novel Three Sisters, which concludes The Tattooist of Auschwitz trilogy. Three Sisters tells the true story of Cibi, Magda and Livia, who were...

PRH acquires Hickey crime debut ‘Cutters End’

Friday, 5 February 2021
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired world rights to debut novel Cutters End by author and playwright Margaret Hickey. In a statement, PRH said Cutters End was a captivating...

Low joins Christchurch WORD festival

Friday, 5 February 2021
The WORD Christchurch festival has appointed Nic Low as program co-director. Originally from Christchurch, Low is a Ngāi Tahu author and arts organiser, who has recently returned to the city...

Fremantle Press launches podcast aimed at writers

Thursday, 4 February 2021
Fremantle Press publisher Georgia Richter has launched a new podcast series ‘aimed at making the Australian publishing industry more accessible to new writers’. Richter, who co-wrote How to Be an...

Transit Lounge acquires Rabin novel

Thursday, 4 February 2021
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Sean Rabin's second novel The Good Captain, via Jessica Craig at Craig Literary. Rabin's debut novel Wood Green, published by Giramondo in Australia...

Waterstones staff petition for furlough raise

Thursday, 4 February 2021
In the UK, a group of current and former Waterstones staff is calling on the bookselling chain to top-up furloughed booksellers’ pay to the minimum wage, after accounts showed the...

Inaugural Little Hare Prize for Illustration shortlist announced

Wednesday, 3 February 2021
The shortlist for Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing’s (HGCP) inaugural Little Hare Prize for Illustration has been announced. The shortlisted artists are: Jennifer Goldsmith Jake Minton Meg Rennie Hyo Young Yim....

A year of transformation: The industry reflects on 2020

Wednesday, 3 February 2021
The challenges of 2020 affected the Australian publishing in myriad ways, from accelerating digital transformation to disrupting the book supply chain. Here, five industry figures reflect on the ways the...

Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO

Wednesday, 3 February 2021
In the US, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has announced he will step down from the role and become executive chairman, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Under the transition, Amazon Web...

Nat’s What I Reckon wins 2020 Booktopia FAB Award

Wednesday, 3 February 2021
Un-cook Yourself: A ratbag's rules for life by YouTube cooking star Nat’s What I Reckon (Ebury) has won the $5000 Booktopia Favourite Australian Book (FAB) Award for 2020. The author...

Thames & Hudson Australia revenue up 47% in 2020

Wednesday, 3 February 2021
Thames & Hudson Australia (THA) has reported a 47% increase in revenue in 2020, with overall sales of $17.6 million, as ‘consumer price barriers appeared to come down’ during the...

March reviews round-up

Tuesday, 2 February 2021
March looks to be a strong month for nonfiction, with a couple of big-name releases receiving glowing write-ups from Books+Publishing's (B+P) reviewers. Sarah Krasnostein's follow-up to her juggernaut biography The...

Australia Reads becomes ‘always on’ campaign, seeks 2021 ambassadors

Tuesday, 2 February 2021
The Australia Reads initiative will become an ‘always on’ campaign in 2021, extending beyond its key Australian Reading Hour event. ‘Australia Reads will now focus on championing reading and book...

Authors groups ask DoJ to halt PRH acquisition of S&S

Tuesday, 2 February 2021
In the US, the Authors Guild, Open Markets Institute and five other writers’ groups have sent a letter to the Department of Justice, asking the government to block Penguin Random...

Ultimo first title to be Smith book on China

Tuesday, 2 February 2021
Ultimo Press has acquired world rights to The Last Correspondent: Dispatches from the Frontline of Xi’s New China by Michael Smith, one of the last Australian journalists to leave China...

McKay wins $100k Victorian Prize for Literature

Tuesday, 2 February 2021
Laura Jean McKay has won Australia’s richest literary prize, the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature, for her debut novel The Animals in That Country (Scribe), at this year’s Victorian Premier’s...

Newbery, Caldecott 2021 winners announced

Monday, 1 February 2021
In the US, the American Library Association (ALA) has announced the winners of its Youth Media Awards, including the Newbery and Caldecott medals, reports Publishers Weekly. Tae Keller’s When You...

Scott to represent Australia in Literature Live Around the World event

Monday, 1 February 2021
Writing WA will present a session featuring multi-award-winning Noongar author Kim Scott in conversation with writer and journalist Gillian O’Shaughnessy, as Australia’s contribution to a multi-country Literature Live Around the...