Bright spark: Alison Whittaker on ‘Lemons in the Chicken Wire’
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Alison Whittaker received a black&write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship for her debut poetry collection Lemons in the Chicken Wire. Reviewer Hilary Simmons says it ‘introduces her as a force to be...
Alice Grundy on OzCo’s exploratory trip to India
Wednesday, 17 February 2016
The Australia Council for the Arts supported a delegation of publishers and writers’ festival programmers to travel to India from 13-25 January to ‘investigate artistic development, market and exchange opportunities...
S&S’s Larissa Edwards on the disruption in the publishing industry
Wednesday, 10 February 2016
‘The strength of the Australian market lies with the independent booksellers and chain booksellers, if they weather the storm. They are very strong and they are tastemakers; you can launch...
Going the distance: Josephine Rowe on ‘A Loving, Faithful Animal’
Wednesday, 3 February 2016
‘I think structurally, tonally, Australian literature does allow for a certain amount of capaciousness and narrative drift. A more open idea of what shape a story might take. Often, when...
Surreal deal: Leanne Hall on ‘Iris and the Tiger’
Thursday, 28 January 2016
Leanne Hall’s new novel for younger readers Iris and the Tiger is infused with ‘a kind of magical realism that is unusual in children’s and YA fantasy’, writes reviewer Jarrah Moore....
The trouble with YA in translation
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Why is there so little translated YA fiction published in Australia? Danielle Binks spoke to Scribe publisher Henry Rosenbloom and publicist Cora Roberts about their experience in this area. Read...
Making the grade
Wednesday, 13 January 2016
‘The absence of a streamlined approach to the selection of texts in Australian schools may be a point of frustration for many publishers, especially when there are such gains to...
Future reading: 2016 publishers’ preview
Wednesday, 9 December 2015
As the year draws to a close, Books+Publishing asks publishers to look ahead to the new year and nominate their top 2016 fiction, nonfiction and children’s and YA titles.
Black Inc. and Hachette: how the removal of PIR will affect our business
Wednesday, 2 December 2015
The federal government’s recent announcement that it plans to remove parallel importation restrictions (PIRs) on books has been heavily criticised by the publishing industry. Books+Publishing asked two publishers, Black Inc....
PIR debate: historical perspectives
Wednesday, 25 November 2015
In 2008 the Australian Productivity Commission announced a review into parallel importation restrictions (PIRs) on books, drawing some passionate responses from the book industry. Revisit the responses from author Garth Nix, publisher...
Lessons in leasing
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
According to Australian Booksellers Association CEO Joel Becker, one of the leading causes of recent bookshop closures has been the cost of leasing. But it’s not just high rents, says Becker,...
Caitlin Neville on her adventures in publicity
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Caitlin Neville recently launched her freelance publicity business Tiny Fox Communications after working as a publicist for Hardie Grant Books, Pan Macmillan and HarperCollins. Read about her career journey here.
Innovation and competition: a first-timer’s experience of Frankfurt
Thursday, 5 November 2015
‘Apart from selling rights, Frankfurt is also the place to make new contacts, raise your company’s profile, increase your product awareness and observe macro trends in the industry.’ Read Ventura...
Simon Collinson on ‘The dark art of digital production’
Wednesday, 28 October 2015
While many Australian publishers have outsourced their ebook production, there is a strong case for building those skills in-house, writes Simon Collinson. Read his article here, and our talkback column...
Selling strong: Australian publishers’ rights highlights
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Books+Publishing asked a range of Australian publishers to share their recent rights successes ahead of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. Read their responses here.
Teen talk: Meet the 2015 Inky Awards judges
Wednesday, 14 October 2015
‘I believe YA needs more original ideas and less unrealistic love triangles and character stereotypes’—Genevieve, 15. ‘More diverse characters that are not there just for the sake of having a...
Fresh blood: Ben Sanders on ‘American Blood’
Wednesday, 7 October 2015
‘I’d actually never intended to write a novel set in the US but in 2013 St Martin’s Press in New York offered me a two-book contract, on the condition that...
Light and shadow: Vikki Wakefield on ‘Inbetween Days’
Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Vikki Wakefield’s latest YA novel Inbetween Days (Text) is about a high-school dropout who finds herself stagnating in a small town. ‘My stories usually take a darker turn around the halfway...
Campus calling: Karen Russell on her bookselling career
Wednesday, 23 September 2015
Karen Russell is a career Co-op bookseller who spent a long time managing the Co-op Sunshine Coast store. ‘As the student population has grown, so too has the demand for us...
Meet the Seizure Viva La Novella winners
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
The three winning novellas in the 2015 Seizure Viva La Novella competition were published last month. Books+Publishing spoke to the winners about their novellas and the editing process. Read our...
Taking cover: Should publishers use the same cover design for different territories?
Wednesday, 9 September 2015
In Books+Publishing’s latest talkback column we ask four booksellers, should publishers use the same cover design for different territories where possible? Read their responses here.
Season’s Readings: Christmas 2015 titles
Wednesday, 2 September 2015
While Christmas is still over three months away, many publishers have already released their key titles for the seasonal selling period. Jackie Tang unwraps the titles on offer here.
Picture this: Market growth for illustrated children’s nonfiction
Wednesday, 26 August 2015
A renewed interest in books as beautiful objects has boosted the market for illustrated children’s nonfiction. Carody Culver explores the ‘genre’s’ rise in popularity in her article here.
Identity crisis? Andrew Nette on the state of Australian crime fiction
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
‘British crime has a strong tradition of the mystery. American crime also has a strong noir tradition that still exists today and is constantly being re-invented. And there has been...
Gift ideas for Father’s Day
Wednesday, 12 August 2015
With Father’s Day less than a month away, Tim Coronel rounds up some bookish gift ideas for dads. Read his feature online here.
Video created the publishing star
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
A number of high-profile vloggers have recently announced book deals. Danielle Binks finds out whether the trend is taking off in Australia. Read her article here.
Publishing job ads in decline
Wednesday, 29 July 2015
The publishing industry has seen a steady drop in job ads advertising in the Weekly Book Newsletter over the past few years, with publishers attributing the decline to lower staff...
David M Henley on the popularity of fantasy vs sci-fi
Wednesday, 22 July 2015
Why is fantasy trumping science-fiction on the shelves? Sci-fi author David M Henley believes ‘technobabble, moralising and a high chance of crapness’ may be to blame. Read his opinion piece here.
Return to Deltora: Emily Rodda on ‘Shadows of the Master’
Wednesday, 15 July 2015
Emily Rodda returns to the world of Deltora with a new heroine in Shadows of the Master (Scholastic, August), the first book of her new series. Read an interview with the...
Behind the clichés: Honey Brown on ‘Six Degrees’
Wednesday, 8 July 2015
Honey Brown’s short-story collection Six Degrees (Ventura Press, August) explores romance and sex in rural Australia, and is a departure from the author’s previous books in terms of genre and length....
