PRH acquires Text Publishing
Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Text Publishing has announced it will become part of Penguin Random House Australia (PRH), effective immediately. In a statement, Text said the acquisition ‘includes all of Text Publishing’. However, Text...
Ethicool Books deregistered
Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Children’s publisher Ethicool Books has been deregistered. The publisher, which launched in 2020, was founded by Teigan Margetts with the intention of publishing books that ‘educate, entertain and encourage children...
Aniko Press acquires first title for publication
Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Aniko Press has acquired world rights to its first title – The Slip, a debut short story collection from Miriam Webster. ‘The Slip is a collection of 10 stories about...
Indie Book Awards 2025 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 15 January 2025
The shortlists for the 2025 Indie Book Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction Dusk (Robbie Arnott, Picador) Cherrywood (Jock Serong, Fourth Estate) The Ledge (Christian White, Affirm)...
NLA announces 2025 Fellows
Wednesday, 15 January 2025
The National Library of Australia (NLA) has announced its 2025 Fellows, awarded to local and international scholars. The recipients and their research projects are: NLA Fellowships Alexis Bergantz, ‘Whose Pacific?...
New independent publisher Spoor Books launches
Wednesday, 15 January 2025
In Aotearoa New Zealand, Erena and Balamohan Shingade have launched Spoor Books. Spoor Books is ‘an independent publisher, a community-oriented platform, and a bookshop featuring radical publishers from India and...
Leigh responds to petition on fixed-price book laws
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh has responded to a petition asking for Federal Parliament to introduce fixed-price laws for books in Australia. The petition, which attracted...
WeirDo, Wolf Girl to be adapted to screen
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Two Anh Do series, WeirDo (Scholastic) and Wolf Girl (A&U), are being adapted to screen, reports the Age. The WeirDo series is being turned into a television series in partnership...
CLNZ Contestable Fund Grants 2024 recipients announced
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) has announced recipients of its Contestable Fund Grants, totalling NZ$75,000. The recipients are: Georgina Tuari Stewart (NZ$8220): for the publishing project ‘Ngā Kararehe o Aotearoa—he Mātauranga, he Matatika, development...
UQP sells world English rights to ‘Someone Like Me’
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has sold world English (ex ANZ) rights to Someone Like Me: An Anthology of Nonfiction by Autistic Writers (co-edited by Clem Bastow & Jo Case)...
Tu awarded 2025 BR Whiting Studio Residency
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Jessie Tu has been awarded Creative Australia’s 2025 BR Whiting Studio Residency in Rome. Tu’s debut novel, A Lonely Girl Is a Dangerous Thing (A&U), was named literary fiction book...
Debenham wins 2024 Ampersand Prize
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Michael Debenham’s Drowning for Beginners has won the 2024 Ampersand Prize for children’s and YA debut fiction. Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) publishing director Marisa Pintado said: ‘Michael’s compulsively readable...
Ampersand Prize 2024 shortlist announced
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) has announced the shortlist for the 2024 Ampersand Prize. The shortlisted titles are: ‘I Love a Good Murder’ by Rahnia Collins, a YA crime novel...
Pung awarded 2024 Alice Literary Award
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Alice Pung has won the Alice Literary Award, presented by the Society of Women Writers in Australia. In Pung’s acceptance speech, the author said: ‘What an honour it is, to...
Inaugural Australian Fiction Prize shortlist announced
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
The shortlist for the inaugural Australian Fiction Prize, presented by HarperCollins and the Australian, has been announced. The shortlisted manuscripts, chosen from almost 500 entries, are: ‘Blackswansong’ by Michael Burrows...
Affirm acquires Valentish self-help book
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to self-help book The Introvert’s Guide to Leaving the House by Jenny Valentish. A Melbourne-based journalist and author, Valentish wrote the addiction memoir Woman...
Report finds acute shortage of skilled workers in publishing roles
Wednesday, 27 November 2024
A new report into skills shortages in the creative industries has identified an acute shortage of skilled workers in editorial, production, and management roles in the publishing industry. Prepared by...
Affirm Press acquires Louise picture-book series
Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to six books in the picture-book series Handbooks for Little Humans by Zanni Louise, in a deal between Simon & Schuster and Affirm children’s...
Summit Books acquires Nelson short fiction collection
Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Simon & Schuster imprint Summit Books has acquired ANZ rights to the debut short fiction collection Wait Here by Lucy Nelson, via Martin Shaw Literary. Each of the stories in...
BWF announces new venue, timing and bookseller
Wednesday, 27 November 2024
The Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) will next year take place at the Brisbane Powerhouse and has announced it will move to a later time of year. In a statement, BWF...
Amplify Bookstore opens physical store
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Amplify Bookstore, which opened in 2020 as an online-only bookseller specialising in in books by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) authors, has opened a physical bookshop in Melbourne....
Andrew replaces Hardingham at Unity Books Wellington
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
In Aotearoa New Zealand, Susanna Andrew has been appointed manager of Unity Books Wellington, replacing Adrian Hardingham. In a statement, the bookshop’s co-owners Tilly Lloyd and Jo and Lawrie McColl,...
Wood launches communications agency
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Alice Wood has announced the launch of new communications agency Novel Concept Brand Management. Formerly head of marketing and communications for adult books at HarperCollins, Wood established the business after...
Netflix to release ‘The Woman Who Fooled the World’ adaptation
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Netflix, in collaboration with See-Saw Films and Picking Scabs, has released the first trailer of Apple Cider Vinegar, a limited series inspired by the book The Woman Who Fooled the...
Murdoch acquires ‘She Births’
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Murdoch Books has acquired world rights to She Births: A Practical Guide to Creating a Beautiful Birth by Nadine Richardson, via Lou Johnson at Key People Literary Management. Richardson is...
S&S acquire Masen romance series
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Simon & Schuster (S&S) Australia has acquired world rights to two novels in a new romance series from Kat T Masen. Described as a ‘small-town billionaire romance series’, the series...
Flanagan wins 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
In the UK, Question 7 by Australian author Richard Flanagan (Knopf) has won the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction, worth £50,000 (A$96,097), becoming the first author to win both this...
‘Nuked’ wins 2024 Walkley Book Award
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Andrew Fowler has won the 2024 Walkley Book Award for Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty (MUP). Walkley judges said: ‘Andrew Fowler’s razor-sharp analysis uses extensive research and interviews...
Bergmoser’s ‘The Hunted’ to be adapted for screen
Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Writer and director John Michael McDonagh, with Film Constellation and CAA Media Finance, will adapt The Hunted, a novel by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins), for film in Australia in 2025. The...
Booktopia Group insolvent since at least 31 January; entities put into liquidation
Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Booktopia Group Limited creditors have voted in favour of the resolution that Booktopia Group Limited—and associated entities Booktopia Pty Ltd, Making I. T. Better Pty Ltd, and Virtual Lifestyles Pty...
