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UK book sales down 11% for first half

Monday, 16 November 2020
In the UK, stats from the Publishers Association (PA) show that total book sales across the industry fell 11% in the first six months of the year, reports the Bookseller....

HarperCollins acquires Baird book on grace 

Monday, 16 November 2020
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Bright Shining by Julia Baird, from Amanda Urban at ICM Partners. Baird's nonfiction book on grace—what it is, what it looks like in our...

New Amplify Bookstore to specialise in BIPOC books

Friday, 13 November 2020
A new online-only bookshop, launched by masters of publishing and communications students Marina Sano and Jing Xuan Teo, will specialise in books by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC)...

WHSmith posts £69 million loss

Friday, 13 November 2020
UK book chain WHSmith has recorded a £69 million (A$125m) headline loss in preliminary results announced for the year ended 31 August. The company made a £31 million (A$56m) group...

Cover of new Heiss novel to feature title in Wiradjuri

Friday, 13 November 2020
Simon & Schuster (S&S) has revealed the cover for Anita Heiss's forthcoming novel Bila Yarrudhang-galang-dhuray (River of Dreams, May 2021). According to Heiss, it is the first Australian commercial fiction release...

Dymocks Book of the Year 2020 shortlist announced

Friday, 13 November 2020
The shortlist for the 2020 Dymocks Book of the Year has been announced. The six shortlisted books, as voted by Dymocks booksellers across the country, are: All Our Shimmering Skies...

Screen Canberra invests in book-to-screen adaptations

Thursday, 12 November 2020
Adaptations of Peter Papathanasiou's memoir Little One (A&U) and Kaaron Warren's fantasy novel The Grief Hole (IFWG Publishing Australia) are among several projects to receive investment from Screen Canberra. Papathanasiou's...

Leaf Mag launches to demystify book industry

Thursday, 12 November 2020
A new online publication that aims to 'demystify, equitise and diversify' publishing, bookselling, libraries and other book-related work in Australia has been launched by two university students and a recent...

‘Fathoms’ wins Nib Literary Award

Thursday, 12 November 2020
Rebecca Giggs’ Fathoms (Scribe) has won the Waverley Council’s $20,000 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award for 2020. Giggs’s work of narrative nonfiction blends natural history, science and philosophy...

Walkley Book Award 2020 shortlist announced

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
The Walkley Book Award shortlist for 2020 has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: We Can’t Say We Didn’t Know (Sophie McNeill, ABC Books) Fallen (Lucie Morris-Marr, A&U) The Altar Boys (Suzanne Smith,...

Gay YA rom-com wins 2020 Ampersand Prize

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Hardie Grant Children's Publishing (HGCP) has announced that Auckland teacher and writer Helen Valley has won the 2020 Ampersand Prize for her YA novel Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean...

A new leaf: 2021 nonfiction preview 

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
The first year of the new decade has been chaotic and unpredictable. However, readers can try to make sense of the year that's been with the many forthcoming releases that...

Riwoe wins inaugural $50k ARA Historical Novel Prize

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Brisbane writer Mirandi Riwoe has won the $50,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize for Stone Sky Gold Mountain (UQP). Selected from more than 185 entries and a shortlist of three announced in...

Thammavongsa wins Canada’s $100k Giller Prize

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
In Canada, Souvankham Thammavongsa has won this year’s C$100,000 (A$106,150) Giller Prize for her short story collection How to Pronounce Knife (Bloomsbury). Of Thammavongsa’s collection, the prize jury said: ‘How...

Chowdhury releases Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship report

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Penguin Random House Australia senior audio producer and commissioning editor Radhiah Chowdhury has released her Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship report on the experiences and perspectives of BAME (Black, Asian and...

Christmas closing list: Submissions due

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Publishers and distributors are asked to submit their Christmas closing dates by 5pm Friday, 20 November. A full list will appear in the Weekly Book Newsletter on Wednesday, 25 November....

Viva La Novella announces regional focus

Tuesday, 10 November 2020
Seizure has partnered with the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) for its annual Viva la Novella competition, and has announced one of the winners of the 2021 competition will...

FutureBook Conference to run as virtual event

Tuesday, 10 November 2020
This year’s FutureBook Conference, run by the UK’s Bookseller, will run as a virtual event from 16–20 November. The program includes more than 40 sessions and 100 speakers, including the...

Scribner acquires debut thriller ‘Unsheltered’ 

Monday, 9 November 2020
Scribner Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Unsheltered by Clare Moleta in a pre-empt from Jenny Darling at Jenny Darling and Associates. Moleta's debut thriller tells the story of Li,...

UK audiobook sales surge in lockdown

Monday, 9 November 2020
In the UK, audiobook sales are expected to show 15.8% growth in volume by the end of the year according to Nielsen, reports the Bookseller. Nielsen projected UK audiobook sales...

Smith wins 2020 Richell Prize for ‘Petrichor’

Monday, 9 November 2020
Aisling Smith has won the 2020 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers for her fiction manuscript ‘Petrichor’. The judges said ‘Petrichor’ ‘announces an assured and evocative new Australian literary voice’. ‘Smith,...

NZ book sector campaign to promote creative rights

Friday, 6 November 2020
The New Zealand Society of Authors, the Publishers Association of New Zealand, and Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) have launched a new campaign to promote creative rights. The ‘Creative Rights...

Mullane to join Ultimo 

Friday, 6 November 2020
Ultimo Press has announced the appointment of Brigid Mullane as commissioning editor. Mullane, who has been managing editor at Hachette for the past three years, said she was ‘beyond excited...

UQP acquires Behrendt’s ‘After Story’ 

Thursday, 5 November 2020
The University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired rights to After Story, the third novel by academic, broadcaster and author Larissa Behrendt. UQP said After Story is an ‘ambitious and...