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US audiobook sales up 13.5% in 2014

Tuesday, 28 July 2015
In the US, audiobook sales have increased by 13.5% from 2013 to 2014 according to the Audio Publishers Association’s (APA) annual sales survey, reports Library Journal. According to the survey,...

NZ company Booktrack raises US$5m in funding

Tuesday, 28 July 2015
New Zealand company Booktrack, which adds soundtracks and ‘ambient audio’ to ebooks and sells them from its website, has received US$5m (A$6.87m) in funding from investors COENT Centure Partners and Sparkbox...

PRH to publish new Tim Winton book in September

Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Penguin Random House imprint Hamish Hamilton will publish Island Home: A Landscape Memoir by Tim Winton on 23 September.The collection of nonfiction writing explores Winton’s relationship with the Australian landscape and ‘how it...

Co-op wins online retail award

Tuesday, 28 July 2015
The Co-op has won an award for Best Site Optimisation and Design at the 2015 Online Retail Industry Awards (ORIAS). The Co-op CEO Peter Knock said in the past year the...

UWA Publishing launches unpublished manuscript prize

Monday, 27 July 2015
UWA Publishing, in partnership with Copyright Agency and 720 ABC Perth, has launched a new award for an unpublished manuscript.The Dorothy Hewett Award, named after the Australian novelist, poet and...

Bestsellers this week 

Monday, 27 July 2015
Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman (William Heinemann) was the top-selling book in Australia in the week ending 17 July, landing in the number one spot on both the top 10...

Brisbane Writers Festival 2015 program launched

Monday, 27 July 2015
UK author and journalist Jon Ronson will deliver the opening address at the Brisbane Writers Festival on 2 September, joining international guests Sarah Waters, Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, among...

Amazon announces surprise second quarter profit

Monday, 27 July 2015
Amazon has reported a US$92m (A$126m) profit and US$23.19bn (A$31.89bn) revenue in its second quarter ending on 30 June, surprising Wall Street analysts who were predicting revenue would be lower...

Writers Victoria launches prize for migrant writers

Monday, 27 July 2015
Writers Victoria has launched a new prize for emerging writers from migrant backgrounds.The Deborah Cass Prize will be awarded to an early-career Victorian author who was born overseas or has at...

The Wheeler Centre launches children’s illustration prize

Friday, 24 July 2015
The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne has launched the inaugural Ullin Prize for children’s illustration. The prize, named after the founder of The Little Bookroom Albert Ullin, will be presented annually at the Children’s...

ABC news director appointed SLV CEO 

Friday, 24 July 2015
The State Library of Victoria has appointed ABC news director Kate Torney as its new CEO.Torney replaces Sue Roberts, who announced her retirement from the role in March. Justine Hyde...

Scribe announces new children’s book imprint 

Friday, 24 July 2015
Melbourne-based publisher Scribe has announced the launch of its new children’s book imprint, Scribble.The imprint, which will be led by Scribe art director Miriam Rosenbloom as commissioning editor, will publish around...

On tour: Meet the author Marc Lewis

Thursday, 23 July 2015
Neuroscientist and professor of developmental psychology Marc Lewis challenges the understanding of addiction as a ‘disease’ in his latest book The Biology of Desire (Scribe). He is travelling to Melbourne in August...

On tour: Meet the author Mary Jo Putney 

Thursday, 23 July 2015
Mary Jo Putney is the author of over 25 historical, contemporary and paranormal romances. Her latest is book seven in the ‘Lost Lords’ series, Not Always a Saint (Kensington Publishing, September). She...

Melbourne Writers Festival 2015 program launched

Thursday, 23 July 2015
British author Will Self will deliver the closing address at the 2015 Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF), which launched its full program on 24 July. As previously reported by Books+Publishing, UK...

Maramenides leaves The Five Mile Press 

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
The Five Mile Press managing director Alexandra Maramenides has left the company, effective from 14 July.Maramenides was in the position since January 2010, having previously been children’s rights director at...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
‘The draft [National Program for Excellence in the Arts] guidelines—released earlier this month—do not seem to have been created with literature and publishing in mind. In fact, they don’t mention literature,...

Queensland libraries launch ‘My first library card’ 

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
The Sunshine Coast Council in Queensland has launched a library card program for younger children, reports the Sunshine Coast Daily.‘My first library card’, which is available across the council’s eight...

International library news 

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
OverDrive expands into JapanOverDrive’s ebook lending service is now available in Japan’s public libraries, reports GoodEReader. Ryugasaki Public Library in Greater Tokyo was the first library to launch the system,...

Stokes re-appointed chair of NLA Council 

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
Ryan Stokes has been re-appointed chair of the National Library of Australia Council for a second three-year term. Stokes, who was first appointed to the role in 2012, is CEO of Australian...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
SalesFiction—Sandy Wagner Creative Agents has sold ANZ and foreign and translation rights to The Ties That Bind (Lexi Landsman) to Penguin Random House Australia. S&S has sold UK rights to The...

HarperCollins launches agent portal in US

Wednesday, 22 July 2015
In the US, HarperCollins has launched an agent portal that will provide access to sales data, royalty statements and anti-piracy measures to agents representing HarperCollins authors. The agent portal will...