Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

Image. Advertisement:

News >

New NZ publisher to focus on debut minority authors 

Tuesday, 24 March 2015
A new publisher specialising in titles by debut minority authors has launched in New Zealand.Connect the Dots Press founder and managing editor Catarina Gutierrez told Books+Publishing that she started the small...

‘The Hoopla’ closes citing competitive online market

Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Online women’s magazine the Hoopla has announced it is to close, citing an increasingly competitive online market as the cause. The Hoopla was launched in 2011 by Wendy Harmer and Jane Waterhouse,...

Electric Shadows bookstore to close

Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Canberra independent bookstore Electric Shadows will close before June as the store’s building has been sold for redevelopment and will be demolished.The store first opened in 1987 under owner Andrew Pike and named after the...

New award, rebranding for Tasmanian Literary Prizes

Tuesday, 24 March 2015
The biennial Tasmanian Literary Prizes have been rebranded as the Premier’s Literary Prizes and expanded to include an award for young Tasmanian writers.The Young Writer’s Prize, worth $5000, is open...

Bestsellers this week

Monday, 23 March 2015
Easter-themed children’s books have taken over this week’s fastest movers chart, with Peppa Pig: Peppa’s Easter Egg Hunt (Ladybird Books) sitting in top spot. Also in the fastest movers chart...

Readings Children’s Book Prize 2015 shortlist announced

Monday, 23 March 2015
Independent Melbourne bookseller Readings has announced the shortlist for its 2015 Readings Children’s Book Prize.The shortlisted titles are: Rivertime (Trace Balla, A&U) The Mapmakers Chronicles: Race to the End of...

Canongate acquires rights to Nick Cave title

Monday, 23 March 2015
Canongate has acquired the rights to a new book by musician Nick Cave The Sick Bag Song will be published on 8 April and will be sold online-only from a dedicated...

Lenton wins Thiel Grant for Online Writing

Friday, 20 March 2015
Patrick Lenton has won the inaugural $5000 Thiel Grant for Online Writing. Lenton’s project, a proposal to ‘document the experience of visiting the homes and lives of people he played...

YA Book Prize winner announced

Friday, 20 March 2015
In the UK, Irish author Louise O’Neill has won the inaugural YA Book Prize for her debut novel Only Ever Yours (Quercus), reports the Bookseller. Judge and head of children’s at Waterstones...

Rakuten to acquire OverDrive

Friday, 20 March 2015
Japanese internet services company Rakuten, owner of Kobo, has agreed to acquire library digital content supplier OverDrive for US$410m (A$536m). OverDrive said in a statement that it will operate as...

Penguin-branded consumer site to launch in the UK

Friday, 20 March 2015
In the UK, Penguin Random House (PRH) will launch a ‘multi-million pound’ Penguin-branded consumer website in the second half of this year, reports the Bookseller. Speaking at the Changing Media...

Roberts to retire as SLV CEO and state librarian

Thursday, 19 March 2015
The State Library of Victoria (SLV) has announced that Sue Roberts will retire from her role as CEO and state librarian.Roberts will step down from the position in mid-April but...

PRH uses Tumblr in marketing recruitment drive

Thursday, 19 March 2015
In the UK, Penguin Random House (PRH) has launched a new recruitment drive on Tumblr to attract the ‘marketers of tomorrow’, reports the Bookseller. Four people will join PRH under...

PEN Literary Awards 2015 longlists announced

Thursday, 19 March 2015
The longlists for the 2015 PEN Literary Awards have been announced. Among the awards is the PEN/Robert W Bingham Prize, worth US$25,000 (A$32,277), which is presented to an author whose debut work...

‘Owls Do Cry’ voted Great Kiwi Classic

Thursday, 19 March 2015
Janet Frame’s 1957 debut novel Owls Do Cry has topped the second annual Great Kiwi Classic poll run by the New Zealand Book Council and Auckland Writers Festival. The initiative, first...

Inky Awards 2015 longlists announced

Thursday, 19 March 2015
The longlists for the 2015 Inky Awards have been announced. The awards are presented by the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria for local and international...

Tan shortlisted for 2015 Kate Greenaway medal

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Shaun Tan’s Rules of Summer (Lothian) is one of eight titles shortlisted for this year’s Kate Greenaway Medal for distinguished illustration in children’s books.The shortlists for the Kate Greenaway Medal...

Murakami to headline 2015 Auckland Writers Festival

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami will headline the 2015 Auckland Writers Festival, featuring in just one session on 16 May at the Aotea Centre.Joining Murakami will be more than 150 authors in...

Booksellers NZ conference program released

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
The theme of this year’s Booksellers NZ Conference is ‘Changing Hearts and Minds: Future Proofing Your Business’, to be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Auckland on 21 June.Confirmed sessions...

SLQ teams up with Creative Partnerships Australia 

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
The Queensland Library Foundation has teamed up with Creative Partnerships Australia to raise funding for the State Library of Queensland (SLQ).Until 29 May 2015, every dollar donated to the SLQ...

International library news 

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Library elending could cause ‘serious damage’ to booksellers, warns Booksellers Association CEOIn the UK, Booksellers Association CEO Tim Godfray has warned that free elending in libraries could cause ‘serious damage’...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
SalesFiction—HarperCollins has sold North American volume rights to The Fallen, By Any Means and Only the Dead (all Ben Sanders). Lacuna Publishing has sold Indian rights to The Last Candles...

‘Owls Do Cry’ voted Great Kiwi Classic

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Janet Frame’s 1957 debut novel Owls Do Cry has topped the second annual Great Kiwi Classic poll run by the New Zealand Book Council and Auckland Writers Festival. The initiative,...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
‘With interest rates low, a weak Australian dollar and a waning interest in e-reading, conditions are perfect for bookstores to reclaim the ground lost since the GFC’—Robinson Bookshop chain co-owner...

New Faber membership program launches in the UK

Tuesday, 17 March 2015
In the UK, Faber is launching a two-tiered membership program, which will offer discounts, access to members-only events and special collector’s editions of the publisher’s titles, reports the Bookseller. The...