Hachette “working around the clock” to restore distribution systems after unauthorised activity
Thursday, 30 July 2026
Hachette Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and its distribution operation Alliance Distribution Services (ADS) have experienced “unauthorised activity” on the businesses’ computing systems, causing supply delays. Hachette told Books+Publishing the...
Allen & Unwin acquires “The Vatican Files”
Thursday, 30 July 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to the nonfiction title The Vatican Files: Dark Money, Power and the Battle with America’s Right by Paola Totaro and Maria Antonietta...
Daisy Utemorrah Award 2026 shortlist announced
Thursday, 30 July 2026
Magabala Books and the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards have announced the shortlist for the 2026 Daisy Utemorrah Award. The shortlisted works are: “Barefoot Running”, “a literary First Nations mystery...
Book adaptations, Youth Poet Laureate program receive Creative Australia funding
Thursday, 30 July 2026
Adaptations of the books Three Dresses (Wanda Gibson) and Blueback (Tim Winton), and a National Youth Poet Laureate program are among 20 projects to receive Creative Australia funding. Among the...
Writers Victoria to continue “for the foreseeable future”
Thursday, 30 July 2026
In an update from its chair Janice Gobey, Writers Victoria has confirmed it has “put in place measures to continue the path forward for the foreseeable future”. Gobey wrote that...
Bundyi acquires first bilingual book: “ngurrumirgang ngarru” by Dhani Gilbert
Thursday, 30 July 2026
Simon & Schuster (S&S) imprint Bundyi Publishing has acquired world rights to the imprint’s first bilingual work, the children’s picture book ngurrumirgang ngarru, written and illustrated by Kalari Wiradyuri woman...
HQ acquires “The Confession” by E Brodie
Thursday, 30 July 2026
HQ has acquired world rights to The Confession by E Brodie, agented by Chloe Berry of The Berry Agency. A “gripping suspense novel set in 1980s small-town Australia”, The Confession...
Booker time
Wednesday, 29 July 2026
The shortlists for the Queensland Literary Awards have been announced; also in Queensland, the Eumundi Writers Festival program has been announced; in Aotearoa New Zealand the industry’s Book Design Awards...
“Books endure” at BookUp: The risks and rewards of taking our time
Wednesday, 29 July 2026
The 2026 BookUp conference was held in central Melbourne and online on 22 and 23 July. Books+Publishing commissioning editor Angela Glindemann reflects on the event’s industry day. For a few...
Aus audiobook report: “Frequent listening correlates with higher rates of reading in print and ebook formats”
Wednesday, 29 July 2026
The open access report, Audiobook Reading in Australia, uses survey data to explore listening behaviours, preferences and experiences, and compares these with other reading and cultural consumption, alongside demographic characteristics....
Queensland Literary Awards 2026 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 29 July 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Queensland Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Queensland Premier’s Award for Work of State Significance ($30,000) Terraglossia (Debra Dank,...
Eumundi Writers Festival announces 2026 program
Wednesday, 29 July 2026
The Eumundi Writers Festival has announced the program for its 2026 event, which will run from 4 to 6 September in the Queensland town. The program focuses on “the needs...
Lily and Hugo’s children’s bookstore to open in Sunbury
Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Lily and Hugo’s bookstore for children will be opening soon in Sunbury, on the outskirts of Melbourne. Leigh Redman spoke with Books+Publishing about the new venture, which he and co-founder...
UWA Publishing acquires Georgie Harriss autofiction “Perpetual Stew”
Wednesday, 29 July 2026
UWA Publishing has acquired world rights to Georgie Harriss’s literary novel Perpetual Stew, which was shortlisted for the Dorothy Hewett Award. UWA Publishing described the novel as “a grotty yet...
Claire Mabey wins the Lynley Dodd Children’s Writers Award
Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Wellington-based author Claire Mabey has won the Lynley Dodd Children’s Writers Award and will receive a $30,000 gift to support her ongoing work, presented by the Aotearoa New Zealand Arts...
Booker Prize 2026 longlist announced
Wednesday, 29 July 2026
The longlist for the 2026 Booker Prize, worth £50,000, has been announced. The 13 longlisted books are: The Shadow of the Object (Chloe Aridjis, Chatto & Windus) Switzy (Emma Cline, Chatto &...
PANZ Book Design Awards 2026 finalists
Wednesday, 29 July 2026
The finalists for the 2026 PANZ Book Design Awards have been announced by the Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ). Chosen from more than 130 entries...
Eugen Bacon recommends
Tuesday, 28 July 2026
I recently read Kathleen Jennings’s Honeyeater (Picador, 2025) and it struck me as one of the most fascinating literary horrors I’ve read. It’s overwhelming in its darkness and waterlogged omens,...
Eugen Bacon on “Crimson in Quietus”
Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Eugen Bacon is an African Australian author whose science fiction novel Crimson in Quietus (Meerkat Press, September) is set within the Sauútiverse, a shared fictional universe created by African and...
Simon & Schuster unveils Simon Stream website, ebook royalties
Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Simon & Schuster has announced further details of its new global imprint Simon Stream. Announced earlier this year as a digital-first imprint, Simon Stream is now described as “digital-focused” and...
Scholastic revenue down 3%
Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Scholastic has reported a 3% drop in total revenue for the fiscal year ended 31 May 2026, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). According to Scholastic’s latest financial release, revenue dropped to...
Leading Edge creditors meeting called; “high volume” of ABA buying group enquiries
Tuesday, 28 July 2026
The first meeting of Leading Edge Group creditors has been called, via a letter of notice issued yesterday, 27 July. This follows news reported in a special bulletin on Thursday,...
Griffith Review 2026 Emerging Voices competition winners
Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Griffith Review has announced the winners of its 2026 Emerging Voices competition, which seeks “fiction and creative nonfiction that reflect new ideas, fresh voices and bold perspectives”. The winners are: Kailum Graves...
Wombat Books acquires Jess Horn’s “The Dandelion Wish Factory”
Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Wombat Books has acquired world rights to junior fiction novel The Dandelion Wish Factory by Jess Horn, to be illustrated by Lara Porter. The books takes readers “inside the wondrous...
Allen & Unwin acquires Joan Fleming’s debut novel “The Fig Book”
Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Joan Fleming’s debut novel, The Fig Book, in a deal brokered by Alexandra Christie of Curtis Brown Australia. Christie also sold...
DANZ Children’s Book Award 2026 winners announced
Monday, 27 July 2026
The 2026 winners of the DANZ (Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand) Children’s Book Awards have been announced by the Australian School Library Association (ASLA). Chosen from previously announced...
“Bookseller” survey: Almost 70% of respondents say bullying “has happened to me”
Monday, 27 July 2026
In the UK, the Bookseller has published results of its survey on bullying in the country's publishing industry. Overall, 69% of respondents to the survey said bullying “has happened to...
Kailum Graves wins 2026 Furphy Literary Award
Monday, 27 July 2026
Kailum Graves has won the 2026 Furphy Literary Award for the short story “The Magpies Have Unionised”. He receives $15,000 and an invitation to participate in the La Trobe University...
Faber Writing Academy 2026 Alumni Award winners announced
Monday, 27 July 2026
Faber Writing Academy has announced Kate Spenceley and Greg Tantala are the winners of the 2026 FWA Alumni Award. A merit award for 2023 to 2026 graduates of several FWA...
Blak & Bright Writers Festival 2026 program announced
Monday, 27 July 2026
The program for the 2026 Blak & Bright Writers Festival, set to run from 3 to 6 September in Naarm/Melbourne, has been announced. Program highlights include Evelyn Araluen, Melissa Lucashenko,...
