A&U appointments, name change; Black Inc. seeks permission for AI sub-license; Ockham NZ shortlist; Stella, Women’s Prize longlists
Wednesday, 5 March 2025
Welcome to the news this week! The Aotearoa New Zealand office of Allen & Unwin (A&U) has officially rebranded to Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand, and hired Emma Clifton...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 5 March 2025
Sales Nonfiction HarperCollins has sold Polish language rights to 10 Things Every Parent Needs to Know and Miss-Connection (Justin Coulson); and Korean rights and Indian Subcontinent English rights to Life Hacks from...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 5 March 2025
Books+Publishing is partnering with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the edition here.
Super Sweet! (Kenneth & Queenie #1) (Raymond McGrath, Affirm)
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
The first book in Raymond McGrath’s whimsical new junior graphic novel series, Kenneth & Queenie: Super Sweet! lives up to its name and includes three stories in one volume. Kenneth,...
Grandmother from the East, Grandmother from the West (Jacinta Liu, illus Freda Chiu, Lothian)
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
Jacinta Liu’s debut picture book is a comforting story about a young girl reflecting on the individual personalities, traits and experiences of her two grandmothers while looking at photos of...
Goodnight Sheep (Sally Barton, illus Cherie Dignam, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
For some parents and carers, nothing is more anxiety-inducing than bedtime. Sally Barton’s Goodnight Sheep, illustrated by Cherie Dignam (The Pen series), embraces this universal challenge, inviting readers to find...
Orpheus Nine (Chris Flynn, Hachette)
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
When a boys’ soccer game in the regional town of Gattan is interrupted by a grotesque supernatural event that ushers in a new world order, residents of the town –...
The Sex Lives of Married Women (Saman Shad, Penguin)
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
Meet Rani, Sophie and Meena – three Sydney women in their late 30s who are confronted with the realisation that their lives aren’t what they had hoped for. Saman Shad’s...
The Colt from Old Regret (Dianne Wolfer, illus Erica Wagner, NLA)
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
Dianne Wolfer (Soaring with the Sugarbird Lady) decentres the human perspective of Banjo Paterson’s ‘The Man from Snowy River’ in The Colt from Old Regret, recounting the escaped colt’s experience...
I Ate the Whole World to Find You (Rachel Ang, Scribe)
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
While the world is in flux, the emotional realities remain firm in Rachel Ang’s collection of graphic short stories, I Ate the Whole World to Find You. Across five tales...
Mother Tongue (Naima Brown, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
Naima Brown’s cleverly titled second novel Mother Tongue is a gripping, exquisitely layered story that deals with extremes and challenges conventional morality. The protagonist, Brynn, upends the assumption that mothers...
The Confidence Woman (Sophie Quick, A&U)
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
Christina Swales is a single mum, a business coach – and a blackmailer. Using incriminating information gleaned from her one-on-one online coaching sessions, Christina blackmails her clients to save enough...
The Great Chocolate Caper (Heist #1) (Joel McKerrow, Penguin)
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
The Great Chocolate Caper is the first in the middle-grade Heist series by performance poet Joel McKerrow. Andy McGee is struggling to fit in and make friends in his first...
APA expands Open Book; Shand resigns from SWF; Readings to open in Chadstone; CBCA Notables, International Booker longlist announced
Wednesday, 26 February 2025
In news this week, the APA has announced an expanded Open Book Internship Program, including a Brisbane-based internship for the first time; while Sydney Writers' Festival board chair Kathy Shand...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Sales Fiction Zeitgeist Agency has sold North American rights to A Change of Pace (JA Stevens) and A Lady for a Duke (Alexis Hall) to Generous Press, in a deal...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Books+Publishing is partnering with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the edition here.
How to Sail to Somewhere (Ashleigh Barton, Lothian)
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
In a coastal holiday town where ‘the land kisses the sea and the children grow up with salt in their hair’, Bea, a lonely only child who has never set...
Quarks, Sparks and Quantum Mysteries: A Cosmic Guide to the Building Blocks of our Universe (Lisa Harvey-Smith, illus Aidan Ryan, T&H)
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Astrophysicist professor Lisa Harvey-Smith has created another brilliant book as part of her mission to open up science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to children at a time when they...
She Shapes History (Sita Sargeant, Hardie Grant Explore)
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
At the heart of Australia’s geography and history lies a wealth of stories about women who have helped shape the nation – yet many remain untold and underexplored. Sita Sargeant’s...
All About Love (Amy Dunjey, illus Giorgia Clerico, Five Mile)
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Amy Dunjey’s latest picture book All About Love is a playful, rhyming exploration of how love is expressed through actions. The story encourages young readers aged 3–8 to recognise love...
Nature’s Fool (Timothy Doyle, Melbourne Books)
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Challenging traditional conceptions of early Australian settler history, Nature’s Fool examines the intricate relations between the Kaurna peoples and early Irish settlers. A longtime academic and conservationist, Timothy Doyle (Dyandi)...
The Passenger Seat (Vijay Khurana, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Beginning mid-jump and barely letting up the tension, Vijay Khurana’s debut novel, The Passenger Seat, is an unusual and deftly written literary thriller. It follows the uneasy friendship between two...
The Distance Between Dreams (Emily Paull, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Emily Paull’s The Distance Between Dreams is a poignant and meticulously crafted historical romance, rightfully shortlisted for the 2023 Fogarty Literary Awards. The novel beautifully captures an era of conflict...
When She Was Gone (Sara Foster, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Sara Foster’s When She Was Gone stands out in a crowded thriller market for its unique blend of suspense, character depth and emotional resonance. Set in the fictional town of...
The Thylacine and the Time Machine (Renée Treml, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
In The Thylacine and the Time Machine, 12-year-old Violet is completing a project on the de-extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger. Working late into the night, Violet falls asleep at her...
S&S announces new CEO, new Aus imprint; Hachette 2024 results; 2025 VIPs announced
Wednesday, 19 February 2025
It’s been a big week at Simon & Schuster (S&S), with the announcement of a new imprint, Atria Australia, the acquisition of new fiction from Bri Lee, and the appointment...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Sales Fiction Simon & Schuster (S&S) Australia has sold international rights to An Academic Affair (Jodi McAlister), into seven different territories: Atria, an imprint of S&S in the US; S&S...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Books+Publishing is partnering with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the edition here.
Lyrebird (Jane Caro, A&U)
Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Walkley Award-winning journalist, social commentator and author Jane Caro (The Mother) returns to crime fiction for her second adult novel, The Lyrebird. The titular bird first appears in the prologue,...
Tim Tie-Your-Shoelaces (Something Terrible #1) (Sally Barton, illus Christopher Nielsen, Walker)
Tuesday, 18 February 2025
‘Tim, tie your shoelaces – or something TERRIBLE will happen!’ Tim Mulligan hears this all the time – from his mum and dad, the neighbours, the crossing guard and even...
