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Brisbane bookstore Black Cat Books to close 

Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Brisbane bookstore Black Cat Books has announced that it will close on 30 January.The Paddington store, which specialises in children’s books, has been the site of a bookshop for more than 30...

Dymocks exits Hong Kong 

Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Dymocks is withdrawing from the Hong Kong market, beginning with the closure of its flagship store and Hong Kong office.A further five independently owned and operated Dymocks stores will continue...

Harsent wins 2014 T S Eliot Prize

Tuesday, 13 January 2015
In the UK, David Harsent has won the 2014 T S Eliot Prize for Poetry for his collection Fire Songs (Faber) after being shortlisted for the prize five times, reports...

Man Booker Prize eligibility, availability rules changed

Tuesday, 13 January 2015
The Man Booker Prize has made changes to its rules on the availability of longlisted titles and eligibility of international titles, reports the Bookseller. Following complaints that the prize was...

The Bookworm launches publishing house and literary award

Tuesday, 13 January 2015
In China, literary organisation the Bookworm is launching the publishing house China Bookworm Press and the inaugural China Bookworm Literary Award, reports Creative Asia. China Bookworm Press will publish English-language...

Christmas sales up for UK indie booksellers

Monday, 12 January 2015
The majority of independent booksellers in the UK have reported a boost in Christmas sales this year, according to separate surveys by the Booksellers Association and the Bookseller. The Booksellers...

Bestsellers this week 

Monday, 12 January 2015
While The Long Haul (Jeff Kinney, Puffin) is once again at the top of the bestsellers chart this week, healthy-eating cookbooks are also making their moves up the chart. TV presenter Pete Evans’...

Williams joins Copyright Agency board

Monday, 12 January 2015
Former News Limited CEO Kim Williams has been appointed as a director of the Copyright Agency board, replacing former media executive Brian Johns.Copyright Agency chair Sandy Grant said in a statement that...

‘Kill Your Darlings’ announces new columnists

Monday, 12 January 2015
Melbourne-based literary journal Kill Your Darlings (KYD) has announced its new columnists for 2015, with James Tierney to write about books and writing. Tierney is a freelance writer and reviewer...

Hazel Rowley Fellowship 2015 finalists announced

Thursday, 8 January 2015
Writers Victoria has announced the finalists for the 2015 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship, awarded annually to an Australian writer for a proposed biographical work. The shortlisted writers and their projects...

‘Westerly’ magazine editors step down 

Thursday, 8 January 2015
The editors of WA literary magazine Westerly, Delys Bird and Tony Hughes-d’Aeth, have stepped down from their positions.Bird has been editor since 1992, first with Dennis Haskell and then as...

ALIA Fellowship awarded to WA State Library CEO

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has awarded an ALIA Fellowship to the State Library of Western Australia CEO Margaret Allen.ALIA Fellowships are conferred by the organisation’s board of...

In brief

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Farm catalogues sought by NLAThe National Library of Australia (NLA) is seeking old farm catalogues for its ephemera collection, reports ABC Rural. NLA’s ephemera officer Catherine Aldersey told ABC Rural...

Macmillan signs new Amazon sales deal

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
In the US, Macmillan has signed a multiyear sales agreement with Amazon, reports Publishers Weekly. The deal guarantees the publisher’s print and ebooks will be sold through the online retailer, and...

International library news

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
National Digital Library to launch in Russia The Russian government has announced plans to launch a National Digital Library in 2015 that will give library branches access to wifi and the...

RiP Lynn Bryan

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Lynn Bryan, custom publisher for the University of Queensland Press (UQP), has died, aged 66.UQP writes:‘Lynn Bryan passed away peacefully on December 23. Despite her health challenges in recent years,...

Costa Book Award 2014 category winners announced

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
In the UK, the Costa Book Award 2014 category winners have been announced. The winners for each award are: How to be Both (Ali Smith, Hamish Hamilton) in the novel...

Staff changes at ‘Books+Publishing’

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
The editorial team that produces the Weekly Book Newsletter, Books+Publishing Daily newsletter and Books+Publishing magazine has undergone some changes.Brad Jefferies has been appointed news editor on a full-time basis. Jefferies...

Griffith and Denton top 2014 bestsellers chart

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Andy Griffith and Terry Denton’s The 52-Storey Treehouse (Pan) was the highest selling title in Australia in 2014 with 232,900 sales, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.In a strong year for...

Please complete our post-Christmas survey 

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Books+Publishing is currently conducting its annual post-Christmas survey of booksellers and publishers. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey online. BooksellersIf you are a bookseller, please complete the...

UK, US 2014 bestsellers announced

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
The Fault in Our Stars (John Green, Penguin) was the bestselling book in the UK and US in 2014 in what was a strong year for children’s books in both markets. In the...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
‘I scour the publishers’ advance catalogues and never fail to be slightly surprised by how many good books are in the pipeline for the coming 12 months’—Stephen Romei rounds up...

Melbourne teacher launches $5000 grant for online writing 

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Melbourne teacher and blogger Philip Thiel has announced the formation of the $5000 Thiel Grant for Online Writing, aimed at supporting inventive online writing. The recipient will commit to producing 50...

Bestsellers this week

Tuesday, 6 January 2015
This week’s bestsellers chart is full of familiar titles, including a number of cookbooks that have risen up the charts over the festive season. Jeff Kinney’s Long Haul (Puffin) and Richard Flanagan’s The...

Zuckerberg founds online book club

Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has launched an online book club and is being described as ‘this generation’s version of Oprah’, reports TechCrunch. Zuckerberg created the Facebook group page ‘A Year of Books’ after earlier...

Government whitepaper to examine online GST threshold

Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Federal assistant treasurer Josh Frydenberg has signalled an upcoming government whitepaper will examine the GST threshold that applies to online overseas sales, in an opinion piece published in the Australian.Frydenberg...