Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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#LoveOzYA campaign gathers momentum

Monday, 20 July 2015
A grassroots campaign to promote Australian YA books in a market dominated by US titles has been gathering momentum.Book blogger Danielle Binks told Books+Publishing that the #LoveOzYA campaign is inspired...

Publishing Scotland launches international fellowship program

Friday, 17 July 2015
Scotland’s publishing trade association Publishing Scotland has launched an international fellowship program to increase the exposure of Scottish books internationally and facilitate rights sales, reports the Bookseller. As part of...

PANZ Book Design Awards 2015 winners announced

Friday, 17 July 2015
The winners of this year’s Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) Book Design Awards have been announced.Cardboard Cathedral (Andrew Barrie, Auckland University Press), designed by Janson Chau, won the overall...

On tour: Meet the author Kitty Crowther

Thursday, 16 July 2015
Kitty Crowther is a Belgian children’s book author and illustrator whose latest books are the ‘Poka & Mia’ series (Tate Publishing). In 2010 she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award....

Black Inc. launches ‘online book club community’

Thursday, 16 July 2015
Black Inc. has launched an ‘online book club community’ to promote Black Inc. and Nero titles to members of book clubs.‘Read between the Wines’, which has its own website, quarterly...

Kibble and Dobbie Awards 2015 winners announced

Wednesday, 15 July 2015
The winners of the 2015 Kibble and Dobbie Literary Awards have been announced at a ceremony at the State Library of New South Wales.The $30,000 Nita B Kibble Literary Award,...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 15 July 2015
‘Although there are some regular successes in terms of rights sales of Oz titles into various territories around the world, it’s haphazard, and there are some good titles I suspect...

Joint winners announced for 2015 Ernest Scott Prize

Wednesday, 15 July 2015
Alan Atkinson’s The Europeans in Australia: Volume 3: Nation (UNSW Press) and Tom Brooking’s Richard Seddon, King of God’s Own: The Life and Times of New Zealand’s Longest-Serving Prime Minister...

Eggleton wins Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal

Wednesday, 15 July 2015
Literacy consultant, teacher and author Jill Eggleton has won the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal for ‘outstanding contribution to New Zealand children’s literature and literacy’.As a teacher, Eggleton implemented literacy programs...

Martin Shaw sub-agenting services

Tuesday, 14 July 2015
Martin Shaw is representing various Australian publishers at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year. Please get in touch with martin@thebooksdesk.com for further information.

Festival of Dangerous Ideas program launched

Tuesday, 14 July 2015
The annual Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI) has announced its 2015 program.Presented by the Sydney Opera House and the Ethics Centre, the festival invites ‘thinkers and culture creators’ from around...

Thriller Awards 2015 winners announced

Tuesday, 14 July 2015
International Thriller Writers (ITW) has announced the winners of the 2015 Thriller Awards. Winning titles include: The Fever (Megan Abbott, Picador) for Best Hardcover Novel; The Weight of Blood (Laura McHugh,...

Hachette Australia cancels ‘Millennium’ tattoo promotion

Tuesday, 14 July 2015
Hachette Australia has cancelled a tattoo promotional campaign around the new ‘Millennium’ title, The Girl in the Spider’s Web (MacLehose Press), due to complaints that the stunt was offensive. Originally labelled as ‘tatvertising’,...

Michaela McGuire appointed EWF festival director

Tuesday, 14 July 2015
The Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) has appointed author and Women of Letters founder Michaela McGuire as its new festival director and co-CEO, beginning on 20 July.McGuire replaces outgoing festival director...

New ‘Books+Publishing Junior’ reviews out now

Monday, 13 July 2015
Books+Publishing’s latest Junior newsletter contains reviews of seven children’s and YA books publishing in September.Among the highest-scoring books are Lucy Estela’s debut picture book Suri’s Wall (illus by Matt Ottley,...

NZ to hold its first national bookshop day

Monday, 13 July 2015
Booksellers New Zealand will hold its first national bookshop day on Saturday 31 October 2015. NZ Bookshop Day, which aims to celebrate and publicise local bookstores, is based on similar...

Massey University Press appoints first publisher

Monday, 13 July 2015
Former Random House New Zealand publisher Nicola Legat has been appointed as the first publisher of Massey University Press, following the press’ launch in February 2015.Legat, also a former editor...

The Quarto Group creates direct-to-consumer website

Friday, 10 July 2015
London- and New York-based publisher the Quarto Group has launched a consumer-facing website called QuartoKnows, which will sell direct-to-consumer titles from August, reports the Bookseller. QuartoKnows showcases titles published by...

Bray to head up Better Reading Kids

Friday, 10 July 2015
Book recommendation site Better Reading is launching a children’s offshoot, headed up by former Allen & Unwin (A&U) children’s book director Liz Bray.Better Reading Kids will offer children’s reading recommendations and...

Australians among 2015 World Fantasy Awards finalists

Friday, 10 July 2015
Australian authors and publishers are among those nominated for the 2015 World Fantasy Awards, for works published in 2014. Kaaron Warren is a finalist in the short fiction category for...

‘Drones and Phantoms’ wins ALS Gold Medal

Thursday, 9 July 2015
Jennifer Maiden’s poetry collection Drones and Phantoms (Giramondo) has won the 2015 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal.  Maiden’s book was chosen from a shortlist of five titles. Announced at the...