Conversation launches books and ideas newsletter
Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Research-based news and analysis website the Conversation has launched a new books and ideas newsletter. ‘With shrinking space in many newspapers for serious discussion of books and ideas, we think...
Daisley on Walter Scott longlist
Tuesday, 27 February 2024
In the UK, Aotearoa New Zealand author Stephen Daisley has been longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, worth £25,000 (A$48,500). The full list of titles longlisted for...
Can ChatGPT edit fiction? Four editors put it to the test
Wednesday, 21 February 2024
Editors Rose Michael, Sharon Mullins, Renée Otmar and Katherine Day have previously explored how AI tools might work, or be made to work, for editorial. In this extract from an...
The Glass House (Anne Buist & Graeme Simsion, Hachette)
Tuesday, 20 February 2024
Graeme Simsion is well-known for The Rosie Project, and Anne Buist for her crime novels. Partners in real life, their new collaboration, The Glass House, showcases their talent and fields of interest where...
BookPeople announces conference guest authors
Monday, 19 February 2024
BookPeople has announced its first guests for this year's conference—the authors who will speak at its 100th anniversary gala dinner and awards night. Helen Garner will be the pre-dinner speaker....
Blak & Bright Festival 2024 program announced
Thursday, 15 February 2024
Blak & Bright Festival has announced its 2024 program, with the festival to run from 13 to 17 March in Naarm/Melbourne. The biennial First Nations literature festival will this year...
Ultimo acquires Holmes debut
Thursday, 15 February 2024
Ultimo has acquired Commonwealth rights (ex Canada) to a debut novel from Gail Holmes, titled In the Margins. Calling Holmes ‘a remarkable new voice in historical fiction’, the publisher described...
Stuart Kells on ‘Alice™’
Tuesday, 13 February 2024
Stuart Kells (co-author of Sold Down the River, author of Penguin and the Lane Brothers: The untold story of a publishing revolution) is an adjunct professor at La Trobe University’s...
Booktopia reports first-half results down, revises forecast
Monday, 12 February 2024
In a trading update, Booktopia has announced 'results were down year-on-year' to the end of the first half of the 2024 financial year. While the company experienced revenue growth year-on-year...
How international markets performed in 2023
Wednesday, 7 February 2024
In the US, a fall of 'only' 2.6% in unit sales was a relief, while many European markets achieved modest growth despite falling volume sales, thanks to price increases. In...
New York Publishers’ Program 2024 to take place next week
Wednesday, 7 February 2024
Creative Australia’s 2024 New York Publishers’ Program will take place between 12 and 16 February, with nine delegates to accompany Creative Australia senior officer, literature projects, Jo Simpson as part...
Romantasy, audio and b-format: Bookseller and publisher predictions for 2024
Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Booksellers and publishers who responded to Books+Publishing's Christmas survey were asked to predict what trends and developments might unfold in 2024. From buying habits to trendy genres, we share some...
Publishers on Christmas 2023: Black Friday changes buying patterns as fiction holds strong
Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Publisher responses to this year's Books+Publishing Christmas survey show the key selling season was better than expected for half of respondents, and close to expectations for the remaining 50% of...
Books in the media this weekend, 27–28 January
Thursday, 25 January 2024
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. This week's round-up will be updated as information becomes available. National The Saturday Paper The...
‘Better than expected’ Christmas for booksellers, despite almost a quarter reporting sales dropped
Wednesday, 24 January 2024
While a small number of booksellers (4.4%) reported an ‘excellent’ Christmas in 2023, sales for the period were down on 2022 for almost a quarter of booksellers who responded to...
Vale Jim Hart
Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Jim Hart, a former company director and co-owner of Lonely Planet, editor at Rigby, and former vice-president of the Small Press Network, died on Monday 15 January. Lonely Planet founder...
Explainer: Why did the costs of printing a book go up?
Wednesday, 17 January 2024
In 2022 when Books+Publishing reported on the increasing costs of print in Australia, IVE Group CEO Cliff Brigstocke said he had 'never witnessed such a challenging set of circumstances’ in...
POD and the pandemic: How are publishers using print on demand now?
Wednesday, 17 January 2024
For many publishers around the world, the supply-chain chaos of the pandemic drove a move to print on demand (POD). Books+Publishing asks what role POD plays for publishers and booksellers...
Books in the media this weekend, 13–14 January
Friday, 12 January 2024
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. Please note, several publications that contribute to this round-up will not run reviews this weekend. ...
Larrikin House acquires Harry, Foster junior fiction
Thursday, 11 January 2024
Larrikin House has acquired world rights to a junior fiction text titled Camp Spook: Attack of the Aliants! co-authored by Pip Harry and Kate Foster. In this book, 10-year-old Julia...
Writers’ Prize 2024 shortlist announced
Wednesday, 10 January 2024
The shortlist for the 2024 Writers' Prize, formerly the Rathbones Folio Prize, has been announced. The shortlisted books in each category are: Fiction The Wren, The Wren (Anne Enright, Vintage)...
Create NSW funding recipients, 2024 REP editors, Peter Porter Prize shortlist
Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Happy New Year to our readers! In local news, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award shortlists were announced late last year, several literary organisations and projects are among the successful applicants...
Inclusive publishing leaders at the Sharjah Publishers Conference
Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Each year, the Sharjah International Book Fair brings publishing professionals to the United Arab Emirates through its fellowship program. Agata Mrva-Montoya, from the University of Sydney, attended the 2023 conference....
Explainer: What is accessible publishing?
Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Accessibility and inclusivity are broad terms that can have different meanings in different contexts. In the book industry, these terms have surfaced at many conferences and events as people come...
The Girl from Moscow (Julia Levitina, Pantera)
Tuesday, 9 January 2024
In Julia Levitina’s debut novel, The Girl from Moscow, Ella Ashkenazi, an aspiring actor on the verge of a breakthrough role, discovers she is pregnant. It’s a low-key beginning to...
Anton Clifford-Motopi on ‘To and Fro’
Tuesday, 9 January 2024
Anton Clifford-Motopi is a Brisbane-based author who likes to write stories that make children laugh. Books+Publishing reviewer Emma Pei Yin described his debut novel, To and Fro (A&U Children, March),...
Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2024 shortlists announced
Tuesday, 19 December 2023
The Wheeler Centre has announced the 2024 shortlists for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. In each category, the shortlists and highly commended titles are: Fiction ($25,000) But the Girl (Jessica...
Books in the media this weekend, 16–17 December
Friday, 15 December 2023
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. This week's round-up will be updated as information becomes available. National The Saturday Paper Bright...
PRH acquires Hay House
Thursday, 14 December 2023
Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced the acquisition of mind, body, spirit publisher Hay House. PRH, which did not disclose terms of the acquisition, said Hay House would 'retain its...
UWAP acquires Polimeni junior fiction series
Thursday, 14 December 2023
UWAP has acquired ANZ rights to a four-book junior fiction series, Ella and the Frogs, from Cassy Polimeni. The forthcoming series is for early readers aged five to eight years,...
