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International library news

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
US libraries concerned about lack of Kindle ebook titles through OverDriveA number of US libraries have expressed concern that the majority of new ebook titles from library supplier OverDrive are...

Melbourne Cricket Club Library expands online services

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) Library has replaced its library management system with Softlink’s Australian-based cloud-hosting service, Liberty. The new service provides online access to the library’s extensive collection of...

Proposal to cut WA state library hours

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
The State Library of WA (SLWA) is considering cuts to its opening hours, including closing the library on weekends and earlier during the week, in a bid to meet the...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
SalesFiction—Giramondo has sold Chinese rights to The Tribe (Michael Mohammed Ahmad) to the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Company; and Latin American Spanish-language rights to Original Face (Nicholas Jose)...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
‘Newman condemned himself to being published outside of Queensland when he axed the Awards. Perhaps his future memoir will reflect on this with the benefit of hindsight’—Macquarie University creative writing...

‘WBN’ published Thursday next week

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Please note that, due to the public holiday on Monday in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, the next Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on Thursday 12 March.The deadline for classifieds and...

Burrell wins Ashurst Business Literature Prize

Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Andrew Burrell has won the 2014 Ashurst Business Literature Prize for his book Twiggy: The High Stakes Life of Andrew Forrest (Black Inc.).Burrell was presented with the $30,000 prize at an event in...

New festival director, board chair for BWF

Tuesday, 3 March 2015
The Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) has appointed a new festival director and acting CEO for 2015.Julie Beveridge replaces current festival director and CEO Kate Eltham, who is taking maternity leave from mid-March. Beveridge has...

Petition against WA Premier’s Book Awards cuts

Tuesday, 3 March 2015
A petition against the WA government’s decision to cut funding and move the WA Premier’s Book Awards to a biennial format has been launched online.The petition, which is addressed to Liberal premier...

RiP Jess Ainscough 

Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Australian author and ‘Wellness Warrior’ Jess Ainscough has died, aged 30. Ainscough’s publisher, Hay House, writes: ‘It is with great sadness that we at Hay House inform you of the passing...

Baum wins 2015 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship

Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Caroline Baum has won the 2015 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship.Baum, a freelance journalist, broadcaster and editorial director of Booktopia, was announced as the winner at the Adelaide Writers Festival on 4 March. Writers...

‘Island’ magazine partners with MONA

Monday, 2 March 2015
Tasmania-based literary magazine Island has announced it will form a ‘literary partnership’ with Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).The partnership initially involves the magazine being promoted by the...

‘West Australian’ cuts book coverage

Monday, 2 March 2015
The West Australian newspaper will cut its Tuesday-edition book coverage by 50%, reducing the double-page spread to a single page.In a statement, writingWA said it was ‘dismayed’ to learn about...

Inaugural London Book & Screen Week announced

Monday, 2 March 2015
The London Book Fair (LBF) has announced its first London Book & Screen Week (LBSW) to celebrate books, film and television. The event will run from 13-19 April to coincide with LBF...

Bestsellers this week

Monday, 2 March 2015
American Sniper (Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen & Jim DeFelice, HarperCollins) is back at number one this week as last week’s number one, The Ruby Circle (Richelle Mead, Viking), drops to...

Aurealis Awards 2014 finalists announced

Monday, 2 March 2015
The finalists for the 2014 Aurealis Awards, presented for science-fiction, fantasy and horror writing in Australia, have been announced.Among the categories are:Fantasy novel Fireborn (Keri Arthur, Hachette) This Shattered World...

Canberra’s Noted writers’ festival launches program

Friday, 27 February 2015
Canberra’s ‘experimental’ writers’ festival Noted has launched its first program.The program is divided into three streams—live, digital and professional development—and features a range of emerging writers and artists.The live stream...

Wattpad releases romance and erotica app After Dark

Friday, 27 February 2015
Online writing platform Wattpad has released the After Dark app, which offers readers a curated selection of romance and erotica stories, reports Publishers Weekly. The app features thousands of erotic stories...

Australian recipe site Cooked launches in the UK

Friday, 27 February 2015
Local Australian recipe subscription website Cooked has expanded into the UK, reports the Bookseller. The new site was launched by Hardie Grant, Quadrille and Bloomsbury and will feature over 22,000 recipes, including full...

Print sales steady at Hachette Australia in 2014 

Friday, 27 February 2015
Print sales at Hachette Australia have stayed at the same level from 2013 to 2014, which joint managing directors Louise Sherwin-Stark and Justin Ractliffe have described as ‘a very good...

UQP rejects Campbell Newman memoir over awards axing

Thursday, 26 February 2015
The University of Queensland Press (UQP) has declined to publish former Queensland premier Campbell Newman’s memoir, citing Newman’s axing of the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards as the reason, reports the...