UK study reveals only 4% of children’s books feature a BAME character
Tuesday, 17 July 2018
In the UK, a new report has found that only 4% of children’s books published in the UK in 2017 featured black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) characters, and only...
PRH announces two-year partnership with National Literacy Trust
Monday, 16 July 2018
In the UK, Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced a two-year partnership with the National Literacy Trust (NLT), an independent charity that works with disadvantaged children to develop their literacy skills. PRH will...
Family memoir wins 2018 PEN/Ackerley Prize
Friday, 13 July 2018
Richard Beard's family memoir The Day That Went Missing (Vintage) has been awarded the 2018 PEN/Ackerley Prize for a work of memoir or autobiography. Beard received a cheque for £3000 (A$5330)...
European Amazon workers plan strike for Prime Day
Thursday, 12 July 2018
In Spain, unions have asked 1000 Amazon workers to go on strike during Amazon Prime Day, reports the Independent. Amazon Prime Day, which begins at noon AEST on 16 July and...
US print sales rose 2% in first half of 2018
Wednesday, 11 July 2018
US print sales in the first half of 2018 have increased 2% in volume compared to the first six months of 2017, reports Publishers Weekly. Volume sales in the first...
UK films based on books create 44% more revenue
Tuesday, 10 July 2018
A new research report commissioned by the UK Publisher’s Association (PA) has found that UK-produced films based on books generate 44% more revenue in the British box office (and 53%...
‘The English Patient’ voted best Man Booker winner
Monday, 9 July 2018
Michael Ondaatje’s 1992 novel The English Patient (Bloomsbury) has won the Golden Man Booker Prize, which awards the best work of fiction from the last five decades of the Man...
OUP turnover drops 0.9% following ‘unexpected market conditions’
Friday, 6 July 2018
Oxford University Press (OUP) has recorded a 0.9% decrease in turnover to £840.1 million (A$1.5bn) for the year ending 31 March 2018, reports the Bookseller. The results were attributed to 'challenging...
French book sales fell 1.6% in 2017
Thursday, 5 July 2018
French publishing sales fell in 2017 by 1.6% in value to €2.79 billion (A$4.4bn), according to figures from the French Publishers Association (Syndicat National de l’Edition, SNE), reports the Bookseller....
Alternative Nobel Prize in Literature planned
Wednesday, 4 July 2018
A group of Swedish cultural figures have joined together to bestow an alternate literature award to replace this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, reports the Guardian. As previously reported, the...
Barnes & Noble fires CEO
Wednesday, 4 July 2018
US chain bookseller Barnes & Noble (B&N) has fired CEO Demos Parneros after 14 months in the role, reports Publishers Weekly. In a brief statement, the retailer said Parneros will...
Kenyan writer Onjerika wins 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing
Tuesday, 3 July 2018
Kenyan writer Makena Onjerika has won the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story ‘Fanta Blackcurrant’, first published in the spring 2017 issue of quarterly British literary...
PRH India buys Hindi-language publisher Hind Pocket Books
Monday, 2 July 2018
Penguin Random House India has acquired Hind Pocket Books, one of the oldest and best-known Hindi-language publishers in India, reports the Bookseller. Established in 1958, Hind Pocket Books predominantly publishes...
Royal Society of Literature admits 40 fellows under the age of 40
Friday, 29 June 2018
In the UK, the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) has appointed 40 new fellows as part of its 40 Under 40 initiative, which aims to ‘welcome a new generation of writers...
UK survey reveals 15% drop in average author earnings since 2013
Thursday, 28 June 2018
In the UK, the latest income survey from the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) has found that writers' average earnings have fallen by 15% since the last review in...
Rapper ‘Loki’ wins 2018 Orwell Prize
Wednesday, 27 June 2018
In the UK, Darren McGarvey, also known as the rapper ‘Loki’, has won the £3000 (A$5547) Orwell Prize for Books for Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain’s Underclass (Luath...
US online sales tax ruling applauded by booksellers
Tuesday, 26 June 2018
In the US, the Supreme Court has ruled that online retailers with no physical presence in a state are required to collect tax on sales in that state, reports Publishers...
ALA renames Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal
Monday, 25 June 2018
In the US, a division of the American Library Association (ALA) has voted to remove the name of Laura Ingalls Wilder from a children’s book award, over concerns about how...
US audiobook sales up 22.7% in 2017
Friday, 22 June 2018
In the US, a new report by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) has found that audiobook sales experienced another consecutive year of double-digit growth, estimating that sales in 2017 were...
B&N posts $125m loss in fiscal 2018
Friday, 22 June 2018
US retail chain Barnes & Noble (B&N) reported a total sales decline of six percent in the fiscal year ending 28 April 2018, with revenue falling to US$3.66 billion (A$4.95bn),...
Taneja wins 2018 Desmond Elliott Prize
Thursday, 21 June 2018
Preti Taneja has won the 2018 Desmond Elliott Prize for first-time novelists for We Are That Young (Galley Beggar Press). A reworking of William Shakespeare’s King Lear, We Are That Young is...
Vida count 2017: male writers still dominate
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
In the US, Vida, the non-profit organisation for women in literary arts, has found that female writers accounted for less than 40% of articles and reviews at more than half...
Myers wins 2018 Walter Scott Prize
Tuesday, 19 June 2018
In the UK, Benjamin Myers has won the 2018 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for The Gallows Pole (Bluemoose Books), a novelisation of the true story of 18th-century counterfeiting gang the...
McCaughrean, Smith win 2018 Carnegie, Greenaway medals
Tuesday, 19 June 2018
The UK Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) has announced the winners of the 2018 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals. British writer Geraldine McCaughrean won the Carnegie Medal...
UK Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize shortlist announced
Monday, 18 June 2018
In the UK, the shortlist for the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize for the best science books for children has been announced, reports the Irish News. The six shortlisted...
Amazon criticised for removing online book reviews from website
Friday, 15 June 2018
Amazon has drawn criticism from authors, bloggers and publishers for removing reviews from its online book listings, reports the Bookseller. According to reports, some Amazon customers have had all their reviews...
Shriver sacked as prize judge
Friday, 15 June 2018
Author Lionel Shriver has been removed as a prize judge by UK-based women’s writing magazine Mslexia, after the author attacked Penguin Random House UK’s inclusion and diversity policy, reports the...
McCormack wins 2018 International Dublin Literary Award
Thursday, 14 June 2018
Irish writer Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones (Canongate) has won the 2018 International Dublin Literary Award. McCormack’s novel, which consists of a single novel-length sentence about a middle-aged Irish engineer who...
Adichie wins PEN Pinter Prize 2018
Wednesday, 13 June 2018
In the UK, Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been awarded the 2018 PEN Pinter Prize, reports the Bookseller. Founded in 2009 in honour of the playwright Harold Pinter, the annual prize...
German book sales down in 2017
Tuesday, 12 June 2018
In Germany, book trade association Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels has released data showing value sales of books and journals in Germany dropped marginally by 1.6% in 2017. Overall, the German...
