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Online gaming platform Black Crown to shut down

Thursday, 30 October 2014
In the UK, Penguin Random House (PRH) is shutting down the online narrative gaming platform Black Crown due to a lack of revenue, reports the Bookseller. Black Crown is based...

Momentum partners with Tablo to find best novels in progress

Thursday, 30 October 2014
Australian online publishing platform Tablo has announced a partnership with Pan Macmillan digital publishing imprint Momentum to discover ‘future bestselling authors while they’re still writing their books’. Tablo, which provides...

Marvel adds comics to Kobo catalogue

Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Marvel has signed a deal with Kobo to add 250 digital comics to Kobo’s catalogue as fixed-layout illustrated ebooks, reports Digital Book World. Titles include franchises such as ‘The Avengers’, ‘Guardians of the...

Kindle Scout crowdsourcing program opens for voting

Wednesday, 29 October 2014
In the US, Amazon has opened its Kindle Scout crowd-sourced publishing program for public vote. In October, Amazon invited authors to submit excerpts of their English-language romance, mystery, thriller, science-fiction or fantasy books for potential publication. Readers are...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 29 October 2014
‘Sometimes in Australia, people pay far too much for books and that’s not very clever for what’s supposed to be the Clever Country’—Dymocks owner John Forsyth discusses parallel importation restrictions,...

International library news

Wednesday, 29 October 2014
US appeals court reverses e-reserves copyright ruling In the US, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued its long-awaited ruling in the Cambridge University Press vs. Patton case, also...

In brief

Wednesday, 29 October 2014
ALIA 2014 conference papers and presentations available onlineThe Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) 2014 National Conference papers and presentations, including the keynote addresses, have now been published online. The...

Libraries awarded Community Heritage Grants 

Wednesday, 29 October 2014
A number of libraries have received funding as part of the federal government’s 2014 Community Heritage Grants (CHG).In NSW, Fairfield City Library Service received $4000 for ‘significance assessment of the...

French selected for NSW Senior Australian of the Year

Tuesday, 28 October 2014
Australian author Jackie French is a NSW finalist for the 2015 Senior Australian of the Year Award. French, the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2014-15, is the author of over 140...

CWA Dagger 2014 winners announced

Tuesday, 28 October 2014
In the UK, the winners of the 2014 Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger awards have been announced. Wiley Cash won the Goldsboro Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the...

HarperCollins announces weekly podcast program

Tuesday, 28 October 2014
HarperCollins has announced a weekly podcast program called ‘HarperCollins Presents’, featuring conversations with its authors. The global podcast program ‘promises new perspectives on the world of books, culture and arts,’...

YABBAs 2014 winners announced

Tuesday, 28 October 2014
The winners of the Young Australian’s Best Book Awards (YABBAs), Victoria’s children’s choice awards, have been announced for 2014.The winning titles are:Picture storybooks The Dreadful Fluff (Aaron Blabey, Viking)  Fiction...

Bestsellers this week

Monday, 27 October 2014
Richard Flanagan’s Man Booker Prize-winning Narrow Road to the Deep North (Vintage) has climbed back up the bestsellers chart. The $32.95 trade paperback edition is the week’s fastest mover, climbing up...

Inaugural ‘Kirkus’ Literary Prize announced

Monday, 27 October 2014
US publication Kirkus Reviews has announced the winners of its inaugural literary prize. The fiction prize was presented to the ‘atmospheric romantic fiction’ Euphoria (Lily King, Picador), the nonfiction prize...

IglooBooks partners with DreamWorks

Monday, 27 October 2014
In the UK, publisher IglooBooks has partnered with DreamWorks Animation Publishing Group to develop, distribute and sell books linked to Hollywood films, reports Financial Mail on Sunday. The agreement includes...

Ampersand Project not awarded in 2014

Monday, 27 October 2014
Hardie Grant Egmont has announced that its Ampersand Project for unpublished YA authors will not be awarded this year. The publisher said in a statement that the project, which opened...

Krien shortlisted for UK sports book award

Monday, 27 October 2014
Australian author Anna Krien’s Night Games (Black Inc.) is among the seven titles shortlisted for the 2014 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in the UK, reports the...

Currie returns to Avid Reader 

Friday, 24 October 2014
Chris Currie has returned to Brisbane’s Avid Reader in the newly created role of social media manager.Currie was previously the buyer for the store but resigned in mid-2013 after receiving...

Walkley Book Award 2014 longlist announced

Friday, 24 October 2014
The longlist for the 2014 Walkley Book Award has been announced. The longlisted titles are: Breaking News: Sex, Lies and the Murdoch Succession (Paul Barry, A&U) Jacks and Jokers (Mathew Condon, UQP)...

Booktopia makes ‘BRW’ Fast 100 for sixth year

Friday, 24 October 2014
Online bookseller Booktopia has been included in the Business Review Weekly Fast 100 list of fastest growing Australian companies for the sixth year running, with revenues of $39.3 million in the 2013-14...

Blake Poetry Prize 2014 shortlist announced

Friday, 24 October 2014
The shortlist for the 2014 Blake Poetry Prize has been announced.The shortlisted poems are: ‘Penumbra’ (Brady Collard) ‘Soulchat’ (MTC Cronin) ‘either, Orpheus’ (Dan Disney) ‘Threnodials’ (Dave Drayton) ‘The Bridge’ (Ross...

Aotearoa Māori Book Awards finalists announced

Friday, 24 October 2014
In New Zealand, 16 finalists in Massey University’s Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Māori Book Awards have been announced. The awards, which include categories for arts, biography and history, fiction, nonfiction and te...