Industry welcomes wage subsidy, CBCA shortlists and more

Both the ABA and APA have welcomed the federal government’s JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme, which ‘could not have come soon enough’, according to ABA CEO Robbie Egan. While bookshops such as Readings have closed their shopfronts this week, most Dymocks stores remain open. The chain has reported a steep rise in sales of children’s nonfiction and overall online sales.

Australia’s writing organisations and the ASA are calling for more money to OzCo in light of the effects of Covid-19 on writers’ livelihoods. Meanwhile, OzCo has suspended its grant programs to put together an urgent response package, which opens on Friday.

In awards news, the shortlists for this year’s CBCA awards were announced, as were the finalists for the Aurealis Awards, while Ellen van Neerven has won UQP’s Quentin Bryce Award and NT Writers Centre director Sally Bothroyd has been awarded the ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize. Five Mile commercial director Tash Besliev is joining Affirm Press as kids publisher, while Voiceworks has appointed Adalya Nash Hussein as its new editor.

Overseas, Bologna Children’s Book Fair is going digital, two UK distributors—Gardeners and Bertram—have temporarily closed, PRH and the UK Booksellers Association are backing a crowdfunding campaign for booksellers, and Barnes & Noble has closed 400 of its shops.

And for those stuck at home with the kids, Good Reading has collated a list of library e-resources (including ebooks) available at the click of a button.

For all the latest local, international and rights news, sign up to our Daily newsletter here.

Category: This week’s news