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The big questions: David J Smith on ‘iF’ 

Friday, 7 November 2014
Canadian author David J Smith’s picture book iF (New Frontier, February) breaks down big, unwieldy concepts for young, enquiring minds. ‘The best thing about this book is Smith’s innovative look...

Kent shortlisted for UK National Book Awards

Thursday, 6 November 2014
Australian author Hannah Kent has been shortlisted for the International Author of the Year Award in this year’s National Book Awards in the UK.Kent, who is shortlisted for Burial Rites...

HarperCollins Canada to outsource fulfilment

Thursday, 6 November 2014
HarperCollins Canada has announced changes to its fulfilment and back-office operations and that CEO David Kent will leave the company at the end of 2014, reports Publishers Weekly. The company...

Hachette Australia appoints fiction publisher 

Thursday, 6 November 2014
Hachette Australia has appointed Rebecca Saunders to the newly created role of fiction publisher.Saunders is currently based in the UK as deputy publisher of the Sphere imprint at Little, Brown...

Victorian Community History Awards 2014 winners announced 

Thursday, 6 November 2014
The winners of this year’s Victorian Community History Awards were announced at a ceremony in Melbourne on 20 October.The winners in the book-related categories are:Victorian Community History Award ($5000) Exceptional...

Book Group Australia for sale 

Thursday, 6 November 2014
Book Group Australia, a ‘well established family-owned business specialising in wholesaling, remainders, direct marketing and publishing’, is up for sale.The Sydney-based business was established in 2005. It has an ‘established customer and supplier...

Croome named Tasmania’s Australian of the Year

Thursday, 6 November 2014
Rodney Croome, gay rights activist and former editor of literary journal Island, is Tasmania’s Australian of the Year. Croome was commended as ‘a champion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex...

Australian Writers Week authors announced

Thursday, 6 November 2014
The Australian Embassy Beijing has announced that A J Betts, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Tim Cope, Brooke Davis and Damon Young will be the guest authors at Australian Writers Week in China in March...

SLNSW to run pilot program to deliver local digital content 

Thursday, 6 November 2014
The State Library of NSW (SLNSW) is launching a pilot program to investigate how libraries can best deliver local digital content to communities.SLNSW communications officer Golda Mitchell told Books+Publishing that...

International library news 

Thursday, 6 November 2014
Tablets overtake ereaders among US public library readers, report findsThe Library Journal’s fifth annual Ebook Usage in U.S. Public Libraries report has found that tablets have overtaken dedicated ereaders as...

Quote of the week

Thursday, 6 November 2014
‘No one has time to read everything—or the money—so when you do pick up a book, you want to know it’s the right one’—Cheryl Akle on the launch of independent...

A&U acquires new novel from US-based Australian author

Thursday, 6 November 2014
Allen & Unwin has acquired Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) and UK/Commonwealth rights to Australian author Dominic Smith’s new novel At the Edge of a Wood.The US-based author’s previous novels...

Oz children’s books announced for Bologna exhibition 

Thursday, 6 November 2014
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced the children’s books to be featured in the ‘Hello! from Australia’ exhibition at the 2015 Bologna Children’s Book Fair.Illustrations from 32 titles were chosen from 109 submissions from...

Brett wins French literary award

Wednesday, 5 November 2014
Australian author Lily Brett has become the first Australian to win the French literary award Prix Medicis Etranger.The award, which is given to the author of a work that has...

McNamara, Burns appointed ABR Fellows

Wednesday, 5 November 2014
The Australian Book Review (ABR) has appointed two new ABR Fellows. ‘The current ABR Ian Potter Foundation Fellowship (the third to be supported by The Ian Potter Foundation) attracted a...

Samuel Johnson Prize 2014 winner announced

Wednesday, 5 November 2014
Helen Macdonald’s H is For Hawk (Jonathan Cape) has become the first memoir to win the Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction, worth £20,000 (A$36,556), reports the Bookseller. Author and chair...

Dunne joins Express Media

Wednesday, 5 November 2014
Express Media has appointed Fiona Dunne as creative producer. ‘Fiona has experience across a number of festivals, events, and organisations, most recently through her work at Playwriting Australia,’ said the...

New online literary journal ‘CTD’ launched

Wednesday, 5 November 2014
A new online literary journal, Connect the Dots (CTD Journal), has been launched and is now open for submissions.Originally developed as a project for a creative writing subject offered by...

Penguin Random House UK to close French and German offices

Wednesday, 5 November 2014
Penguin Random House (PRH) UK will close two offices covering markets in Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, France and Germany as part of an international restructure of its sales team, reports the Bookseller....

WA Government expands Christmas trading hours

Wednesday, 5 November 2014
Perth retailers are allowed to trade for extended hours during the Christmas period after changes to trading hours by the Western Australian Government Department of Commerce, reports the ABC. Beginning...

SWF launches first ever children’s writers festival

Wednesday, 5 November 2014
The Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) will hold its first dedicated children’s festival from 14 November to 4 December 2014. The Children’s Festival of Moving Stories features 25 authors in almost 40...

MidnightSun crowdfunds first children’s book

Wednesday, 5 November 2014
Adelaide-based publisher MidnightSun will publish its first children’s book in February 2015 following a successful crowdfunding campaign. One Step at a Time, written by Jane Jolly and illustrated by Sally...

Australia Post opens US postal-forwarding service

Wednesday, 5 November 2014
Australia Post has opened ShopMate, an international postal-forwarding service in the US, reports Inside Retail. The ShopMate website allows Australian shoppers to buy goods from US retailers and have them...

Bestsellers this week 

Monday, 3 November 2014
Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Vintage) continues its climb up the charts since being awarded the Man Booker Prize. It is up from ninth spot last week to...

Blumhouse Books imprint announced 

Monday, 3 November 2014
In the UK, Doubleday and Vintage Books, imprints of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, have created the imprint Blumhouse Books in a collaboration with film company Blumhouse Productions, reports Publishers...

Akle launches Better Reading website

Monday, 3 November 2014
Cheryl Akle announced the launch of new ‘independent book recommendations and news site’ Better Reading on 3 November 2014. The website at www.betterreading.com.au has been assisted by financial contributions from...