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Goldsmiths Prize 2015 shortlist announced

Monday, 5 October 2015
In the UK, the shortlist for the 2015 Goldsmiths Prize has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Beatlebone (Kevin Barry, Canongate), Acts of the Assassins (Richard Beard, Harvill Secker), Satin...

Bestsellers this week 

Monday, 5 October 2015
New release title Golden Lion (Wilbur Smith & Giles Kristian, HarperCollins) has debuted third on this week’s top 10 bestsellers chart, sitting behind The 65-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths, illus by...

Cleave wins second Ngaio Marsh Award

Monday, 5 October 2015
Paul Cleave has won the 2015 Ngaio Marsh Award for his novel Five Minutes Alone (Penguin NZ). This is the second time Cleave has won the award, named after Christchurch...

Ex-S&S MD Lou Johnson launches ‘The Author People’ 

Monday, 5 October 2015
Former Simon & Schuster (S&S) Australia managing director Lou Johnson has launched a new publishing venture, The Author People. Johnson, who stepped down as S&S managing director in 2014, cofounded the...

Overland Story Wine Prize 2015 shortlist announced

Monday, 5 October 2015
The shortlist for Overland’s Story Wine Prize 2015 has been announced. The shortlisted stories are: ‘I am Ali’ by Clint Caward ‘417—BVB—820’ by Lauren Foley ‘Woodsmoke’ by Melissa Manning ‘First fish’...

New NZ bookstore to stock only small press titles

Thursday, 1 October 2015
A new bookstore in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, will exclusively stock small press titles, including print-on-demand and some self-published books, to showcase local authors, reports Stuff.co.nz.   Writer’s Plot, Readers...

Apple launches iBooks in China

Thursday, 1 October 2015
Apple has launched iBooks, iTunes Movies and Apple Music in China, reports Reuters. Paid iBooks start at 0.5 yuan (A$0.11), although free iBooks are also available. iTunes movies range from...

Smith Street Books to launch in 2016 

Thursday, 1 October 2015
New publisher Smith Street Books will launch in 2016, specialising in quirky, illustrated titles. The Melbourne-based press will be run by founder and publisher Paul McNally, former publishing director of...

Forward Prize for Poetry 2015 winners announced

Thursday, 1 October 2015
In the UK, the winners of the 2015 Forward Prize for Poetry have been announced at a ceremony in London. Jamaican-born writer Claudia Rankine won the £10,000 (A$21,570) Forward Prize...

UK Folio Prize will not run in 2016

Thursday, 1 October 2015
In the UK, the Folio Prize has announced it will not run in 2016, following The Folio Society’s decision to end its sponsorship of the award. The prize is currently...

No ‘B+P Daily’ on Friday

Thursday, 1 October 2015
Please note that, due to the public holiday on Friday 2 October in Victoria, tomorrow’s Books+Publishing Daily newsletter will not be published.

Fresh blood: Ben Sanders on ‘American Blood’ 

Thursday, 1 October 2015
In New Zealand author Ben Sanders’ American Blood (A&U, January), an undercover cop in witness protection stirs up elements of his past as he investigates a local woman’s disappearance. The...

Robotham wins CWA Gold Dagger

Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Australian author Michael Robotham has won the 2015 UK Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Gold Dagger for his novel Life or Death (Sphere). Life or Death was one of seven books...

UK children’s book sales up 3.2% YTD

Wednesday, 30 September 2015
In the UK, children’s book sales are up 3.2% this year thanks to strong sales in picture books, fiction and colouring-in titles, reports the Bookseller. According to Nielsen BookScan data,...

Australian public library stats report released 

Wednesday, 30 September 2015
The National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) has released its annual Australian Public Libraries Statistical Report for the period 2013-2014. The report found that total expenditure on public libraries increased...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Sales Fiction—Text has sold ANZ audio rights to The Trap (Melanie Raabe) to Audible; Turkish and world English audio rights to Wake in Fright (Kenneth Cook) to Ayrinti and Bolinda,...

International library news 

Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Mobile access to US libraries on the rise In the US, a new survey from the Pew Research Centre has found that while physical library visits are decreasing, mobile access...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 30 September 2015
‘A really cool author would tell you that literary prizes don’t mean very much—they’re like baby pageants where everybody thinks their little darling should win—but I’m not very cool. Tonight...

Egyptian bookshop chain expands to the UK

Tuesday, 29 September 2015
Egyptian bookshop chain Alef Bookstores will open its first international branch in London next month, reports the Bookseller. The store, which will be located next door to 221B Baker Street,...

UK book industry launches Buy Books for Syria campaign

Tuesday, 29 September 2015
Waterstones and the UK book industry are launching the Buy Books for Syria campaign, with the aim of raising £1 million (A$2.2 million) for Oxfam’s Syria Crisis Appeal, reports the...

Bestsellers this week 

Monday, 28 September 2015
This week’s top 10 bestsellers chart shows little change at the top, with The 65-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths, illus by Terry Denton, Pan) in first place, The Girl in the...

UK Publishers Association chief executive to step down

Monday, 28 September 2015
UK Publishers Association chief executive Richard Mollet has announced he will step down from his position in 2016, reports the Bookseller. Mollet, who has been the association’s chief executive for...