Australian novels, international rights: What’s the story? Part two
2 October 2019
In the lead-up to the Frankfurt Book Fair on 16–21 October, Books+Publishing is publishing a three-part feature on Australian fiction rights sales by researcher Airlie Lawson. A PhD candidate at...
The information age: Children’s reference books
2 October 2019
In a time of internet fatigue, young readers are turning back to books as authoritative sources of information. Danielle Binks investigates. George Orwell is said to have stated, ‘In a...
Book designer spotlight: Michelle Mackintosh
2 October 2019
Michelle Mackintosh is a freelance book designer, as well as a writer, illustrator and Japanophile (she’s co-written four books on Japan with her husband, writer and DJ Steve Wide). She...
Jane Harrison on Blak & Bright
25 September 2019
This year’s Blak & Bright festival—the second after the inaugural festival in 2016—ran from 5–8 September in Melbourne. The festival had about 2500 people attend its sessions, up from the...
Australian novels, international rights: What’s the story? Part one
25 September 2019
In the lead-up to the Frankfurt Book Fair on 16–21 October, Books+Publishing is publishing a three-part feature on Australian fiction rights sales by researcher Airlie Lawson. A PhD candidate at...
Book designer spotlight: Hazel Lam
25 September 2019
Hazel Lam began her career as a motion graphics designer before moving into publishing, and has spent the past six years working for HarperCollins. Her cover for The Lost Flowers...
Book industry orgs support climate strike
18 September 2019
Booksellers, publishers and other industry organisations across Australia are participating in the global climate strike, taking place on Friday, 20 September. With almost 100 locations across Australia registered to strike,...
Drawn to writing: Rove McManus on ‘Disgusting McGrossface’
18 September 2019
Aussie television personality Rove McManus makes his foray into children’s books with picture book Disgusting McGrossface (Scholastic, September) and younger readers novel Rocky Lobstar (Scholastic, October). Kelsey Oldham spoke to...
Book designer spotlight: Hannah Janzen
18 September 2019
Hannah Janzen began designing books at Sydney design studio Xou Creative, before turning to freelance, specialising in children’s books. She was recently elected president of the Australian Book Designers Association...
Book designer spotlight: Sarah Davis
11 September 2019
After working for over a decade as a freelance picture book illustrator and designer, Sarah Davies joined Walker Books Australia as associate art director. She spoke to Books+Publishing for our ‘book...
We don’t need a map: The growth in illustrated travel titles
11 September 2019
Travellers are looking beyond traditional guidebooks for recommendations and inspiration—and publishers are finding new niche audiences in a shifting travel market. Andrea Hanke investigates the growth in illustrated travel titles....
Scaling new heights: H M Waugh on ‘The Lost Stone of SkyCity’
5 September 2019
H M Waugh’s middle-grade fantasy The Lost Stone of SkyCity (Fremantle Press, October) is set in the mountainous worlds of the Dirt and the Ice. Reviewer Catherine Moller spoke to...
Nine million books in Beijing: Jane Curry on the Beijing International Book Fair
4 September 2019
Ventura Press founder and publisher Jane Curry attended this year's Beijing International Book Fair, which ran from 21–25 August. I am writing these words as I prepare to fly home...
Place of exchange: Jane Stratton on Lost in Books
4 September 2019
Lost in Books is a multilingual children’s bookshop in Fairfield, Sydney. A project of the Think+Do Tank Foundation, the shop’s mission is to celebrate and support multilingual literacy and creativity....
Book designer spotlight: Andy Warren
4 September 2019
Andy Warren began his career at Hardie Grant before moving exclusively into children’s books at Five Mile. His recent designs include an award-winning range of publications celebrating Barbie’s 60th birthday....
Following the impulse: Anna Krien on ‘Act of Grace’
29 August 2019
Almost a decade in the making, Anna Krien’s debut novel, Act of Grace (Black Inc., October), is described by reviewer Brad Jefferies as ‘an ambitious and compelling study of trauma’....
Puffin grants in New Zealand
28 August 2019
As part of Puffin’s upcoming 80th anniversary, the publisher offered grants valuing up to NZ$5000 each to bookstores to fund initiatives to get kids reading. Brad Jefferies chatted to three...
Book designer spotlight: Ngaio Parr
28 August 2019
Independent designer and illustrator Ngaio Parr has worked with publishers including Penguin, Thames & Hudson, Hachette, Hardie Grant and Pantera Press. ‘I’m a little different to most book designers in...
Book designer spotlight: Peter Long
21 August 2019
Peter Long worked as a designer in theatre and film before moving across to the book industry, where he has worked as a freelancer for most of his career, aside...
Story you can hold: Tyson Yunkaporta on ‘Sand Talk’
21 August 2019
In Sand Talk (Text, September), researcher and arts critic Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from an Indigenous perspective. Reviewer Karen Wyld said the book ‘offers fuel for timely discussions...
Baker & Taylor’s retail exit
14 August 2019
In early May, Baker & Taylor (B&T) announced it was closing its retail wholesale business—choosing instead to focus on the library market. Brad Jefferies asked local booksellers what this means...
Book designer spotlight: Sandy Cull
14 August 2019
Sandy Cull spent ‘12 wonderful years’ as a designer at Penguin Australia—where she designed the first two editions of Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion—before returning to freelance in 2006. She...
Melbourne Writers Festival interrogates love
9 August 2019
‘When We Talk About Love’ is the heart-interrogating theme of this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival, which runs from 30 August to 8 September, with sessions that explore ‘our love for people,...
Judging a book by its cover: Jane Curry on the influence of Instagram
7 August 2019
Ventura Press publisher Jane Curry argues that the biggest influence on design trends this decade has been Instagram. With 5000 new titles a month released into the Australian market, what...
Book designer spotlight: Evi O
7 August 2019
Evi O spent a decade working as a designer at Penguin Books Australia, where she specialised in illustrated books on food, design, art, architecture and gardens, before opening her own...
Book-to-screen adaptations pitched at 2019 Books at MIFF
2 August 2019
The 13th annual Books at MIFF (BaM) event, run by Melbourne International Film Festival’s 37º South Market, was held at Melbourne’s Forum Theatre on 1 August. Representatives from publishing and...
Making time to read: Australian Reading Hour
31 July 2019
This year Australian Reading Hour will publish a range of affordable children’s books to be sold in the lead-up to the 2019 event. Brad Jefferies spoke to ARH chair Louise Sherwin-Stark. The...
Taking control of your TBR pile: Mischa Parkee’s top picks for forthcoming children’s titles
31 July 2019
Mischa Parkee, primary school teacher and children’s specialist at Sydney’s Better Read Than Dead, shares her top picks for forthcoming children’s titles. There comes a time when any reader must...
What we’re reading in winter
31 July 2019
Sarah Farquharson: During the Easter break I read and loved Ashleigh Young’s collection of personal essays Can you Tolerate This? (Giramondo), so I’m looking forward to picking up a copy...
All hands on deck: Inside The Little Bookroom with Michael Earp
31 July 2019
Situated in Melbourne’s inner north, The Little Bookroom is Australia’s oldest dedicated children’s bookshop. In his bookseller’s diary, children’s literature specialist Michael Earp reveals how a combination of experience, new ideas...
