News sections | Books+Publishing

Rights round-up

Wednesday, 22 April 2020
Sales Nonfiction Pantera Press has sold North American rights for Space is Cool as F*ck (Kate Howells et al) to Andrews McMeel, and will publish a small-format edition concurrently with...

Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist announced

Wednesday, 22 April 2020
The 2020 shortlist for the £30,000 (A$58,600) Women's Prize for Fiction has been announced. The shortlisted novels are: Girl, Woman, Other (Bernardine Evaristo, Hamish Hamilton) The Mirror & The Light...

‘When the Ground is Hard’ wins LA Times Book Prize for YA

Wednesday, 22 April 2020
When the Ground is Hard by Sydney-based writer Malla Nunn (A&U) has won the 2019 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for young adult literature. Nunn was shortlisted for the award...

HarperCollins acquires ANZ rights to Jabour book on ‘the most miserable generation yet’

Wednesday, 22 April 2020
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to a new nonfiction book on millennials by journalist and novelist Bridie Jabour. The as-yet-untitled book on ‘the most miserable generation yet’ was acquired...

ANZ writers shortlisted for Commonwealth Short Story Prize

Tuesday, 21 April 2020
One Australian and two New Zealand writers are among the finalists for the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Australian writer Andrea E Macleod was shortlisted for her story ‘The Art...

Five ANZ publishers nominated for Bologna Prize

Monday, 20 April 2020
Australian publishers Affirm Press, Hardie Grant Egmont and Windy Hollow Books, and New Zealand's Huia Publishers and Oratia Media, have been shortlisted for the 2020 Bologna Prize for Best Children’s...

Read the latest Publishers Weekly

Monday, 20 April 2020
Books+Publishing is partnering with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the edition here.

Pantera acquires Hamouda family memoir

Friday, 17 April 2020
Pantera Press has acquired ANZ rights to a memoir by Australian father–daughter pair Lamisse and Hazem Hamouda, from Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist Agency. The joint memoir, told from alternating perspectives,...

Jess Hill on why we need to openly discuss domestic abuse

Thursday, 16 April 2020
'Part of the Australian story has been our struggle to face the difficult truths of our recent history. To me this is a book about what happens when there’s nothing...

Lonely Planet shutters Melbourne office, industry adapts to lockdown and more

Thursday, 16 April 2020
The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic made itself known this week, with the news Lonely Planet reduced its publishing operations with immediate effect, including essentially shuttering its Melbourne and...

Rights round-up

Thursday, 16 April 2020
Sales Fiction HarperCollins has sold Czech translation rights to The Love That I Have (James Moloney) to JOTA, and Slovak translation rights to Fortuna Libri. Shaw Literary has sold US...

RiP Graeme Connolly

Thursday, 16 April 2020
Bookseller Graeme Connolly has died, aged 78. Connolly was a former director and CEO of the Melbourne University Bookshop and was a former Australian Booksellers Association treasurer. Fiona Stager writes...

Aissaoui wins US$50k International Prize for Arabic Fiction

Thursday, 16 April 2020
Algerian author Abdelouahab Aissaoui has won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for his novel The Spartan Court, which tells the story of the French campaign against Algiers in...

Shaw sells Turner’s ‘Hang Him When He Is Not There’ to US

Thursday, 16 April 2020
Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary has sold US and Canadian rights to Nicholas Turner's novel Hang Him When He Is Not There to US indie publisher Zerogram. The sale is the...

Shortlist announced for 2020 Jhalak Prize for BAME writers

Wednesday, 15 April 2020
The shortlist for the UK’s Jhalak Prize for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) writers has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: The Black Flamingo (Dean Atta, Hodder Children’s) Remembered...

S&S acquires debut women’s fiction ‘Grace Under Pressure’

Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Simon & Schuster (S&S) has acquired ANZ rights to debut women’s fiction novel Grace Under Pressure by Sydney-based food and travel writer Tori Haschka. Rights were acquired from Catherine Drayton...

Read the latest Publishers Weekly

Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Books+Publishing is partnering with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the edition here.

APA, ASA make agreement with schools for virtual storytime

Thursday, 9 April 2020
Teachers are able to continue to read stories to students learning from school or at home during the Covid-19 outbreak, following an industry arrangement for school storytimes. For the duration...

Covid-19 reveals crisis in arts funding

Wednesday, 8 April 2020
'Covid-19 is an opportunity to ask ourselves as a nation why we take our artists and cultural organisations for granted. Why, even in an emergency, can’t we find the money...

Publishers roll out redundancies, reduced working hours; funding bodies restructure financial support; ABDA shortlists and more

Wednesday, 8 April 2020
This week Hardie Grant and Scribe became the first Australian publishers to announce redundancies in response to Covid-19. Other publishers, including Thames & Hudson Australia and Allen & Unwin, have...