Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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Queensland writers on rail tour 

Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Some of Queensland's best authors will participate in community events across the state, riding a Q150 steam train from 1 to 6 June. The authors include novelist Matthew Condon, children's...

Gary Allen recalls V8 Supercars Yearbook 

Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Publishing 101 and its distributor Gary Allen, has recalled the book 2008 V8 Supercars Yearbook (Wensley Scott), requesting returns of any unsold stock from booksellers. The publisher states the reason...

New Australian book networking site launches 

Tuesday, 19 May 2009
A new, Australian-owned site called The Reading Room is joining the slate of book networking sites in existence. The creation of Kim Anderson (former Southern Star and Nine Network executive)...

2009 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards announced 

Tuesday, 19 May 2009
The 2009 NSW Premier's Literary Award winners have been announced. Nam Le won both the Book of the Year Award ($10,000) and the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing...

Books Alive registrations ‘up on last year’ 

Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Following the renewal of funding for the Books Alive campaign for another four years, announced in last week's federal budget, director Cheryl Akle reports the 2009 campaign is travelling well....

Tsiolkas wins Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 

Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Christos Tsiolkas has won the Overall Best Book Award for The Slap (A&U) in the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (CWP), announced on Saturday at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival. The...

Bestsellers this week 

Tuesday, 19 May 2009
As the nights draw in and cats find warm places to curl up (in the southern realms of Australia at any rate), crime lovers and vampire-romance fans are going for...

Forthcoming events 

Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Trade events coming up over the next week, as shown on our events calendar, include: 2009 Sydney Writers' Festival, 18-24 MayWarsaw International Book Fair, 21 MayThe Emerging Writers' Festival, Melbourne,...

Bookseller+Publisher: May/June issue now online 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
In the May/June issue of Bookseller+Publisher, which includes the Term 2 issue of Junior Bookseller+Publisher, you'll find: 47 reviews of new Australian and New Zealand adult and children's titlesauthor interviews with Belinda...

Quote of the week 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
‘Book-dumping--i.e. of remainders--is only a marginal risk. Kinokuniya's buyers have agreed not to knowingly purchase Australian author's books as remainders from overseas remainder merchants. Kinokuniya does this out of respect...

How much I import and why: a bookseller explains 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Writing about how the Productivity Commission could ‘usefully spend its additional time' in studying parallel importation legislation in Australia, former John Wiley & Sons managing director Peter Donoughue posed the...

Budget 2009: ABA, APA welcome extended Books Alive funding 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) and Australian Publishers Association (APA) have both welcomed the extension of funding for the Books Alive campaign, included in last night's federal budget. ‘The Books...

Rights round-up 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
In rights news this week:Nonfiction Hardie Grant has sold rights to Eat Ate by Guy Mirabella in co-edition deal to Inmerc Publishers (Kosmos) in the Netherlands, and rights to The Future of Cricket...

Collins Booksellers to introduce loyalty program 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
In what managing director Daniel Jordon said was ‘a major initiative', Collins Booksellers will be introducing a loyalty scheme in the December quarter of 2009.Jordon told WBN the chain also...

In brief 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
New sponsor for NZ Book AwardsThe New Zealand Post will becomes the naming-rights sponsor of the New Zealand Book Awards from 2010 after the decision of Pernod Ricard New Zealand...

Around the world 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Among the stories added to our Around the World blog in the past week:Amazon launches Kindle DXAmazon Kindle store optimised for iPhoneHarperCollins sales drop 19.5% in a quarterS&S posts 20%...

Bestsellers this week 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Tim Winton’s Breath tops the Highest New Entries chart this week as people get their mitts on the paperback version. Super sleuth Colin Mclaren’s book Infiltration: The True Story of...

Forthcoming events 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Trade events coming up over the next week, as shown on our events calendar, include: A Commonwealth Bill of Rights: Do We Need It? -- panel discussion, Eltham, VIC, 13...

RiP Hans Holzer 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Author and ‘ghost hunter' Hans Holzer has died, aged 89. He was best known for Murder At Amityville.

BWF 2009: O’Hara announces changes, first guests 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Newly appointed Brisbane Writers Festival artistic director Jane O'Hara has announced some changes for this year's festival. ‘In addition to the more "traditional" genres [this year's festival] will reach out...

New subscription-based publisher launched 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Author/publishers Michael Wilding and Phillip Edmonds have announced the launch of  Press On, a new publisher modelled on 18th- and 19th-century subscription models. Wilding told WBN one reason behind the...

Reader’s Feast sells ebook readers 

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Melbourne's Reader's Feast Bookstore has become one of the first independent bookstores to carry a range of ebook readers. The store stocks the Bookeen Cybook, Irex iLiad (V2 and Book...