UK government delays decision on copyright changes
19 January 2022
The UK government has decided not to make changes to copyright exhaustion laws following a consultation period, reports the Bookseller. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), which launched a consultation last...
Taylor wins 2021 T S Eliot Prize
17 January 2022
In the UK, Joelle Taylor has won the 2021 T S Eliot Prize, worth £25,000 (A$47,360), for her collection C+nto & Othered Poems (The Westbourne Press), reports the Bookseller. C+nto & Othered...
Americans reading fewer books: Gallup poll
14 January 2022
A new Gallup poll shows Americans read an average of 12.6 books during the past year, fewer than the average of 15.6 in 2016 and the smallest number Gallup has...
Pilkey tops US print bestsellers
13 January 2022
In the US, children’s book author Dav Pilkey’s Mothering Heights (Dog Man #10) was the bestselling print book in 2021—one of three of Pilkey’s titles to crack the top 25,...
UK, Ireland bookshop numbers grow for fifth consecutive year
12 January 2022
Data from the UK Bookseller’s Association (BA) shows the number of independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland has grown for the fifth year in a row, reports the Bookseller....
US print book sales up 8.9% in 2021
11 January 2022
In the US, print book sales were up 8.9% in 2021 compared to 2020, according to NPD BookScan data, reports Publishers Weekly. A total of 825.7 million print book were...
Vivendi confirms Lagardère takeover bid
10 January 2022
In December, French media company Vivendi completed its purchase of Amber Capital's 17.5% stake in Hachette parent company Lagardère group, bringing its share to 45.1%, reports Publishers Weekly. Under French laws,...
UK supply chain challenges ‘most extreme’ seen: Hachette CEO
9 December 2021
Hachette UK CEO David Shelley has warned ongoing supply chain problems are causing the ‘most extreme’ challenges he’s seen in his career, reports the Bookseller. In his annual letter to...
US ed publishers sue Shopify over alleged selling of pirated material
8 December 2021
In the US, educational publishers have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for Eastern Virginia accusing ecommerce platform Shopify of selling pirated material, reports Goodereader. Pearson Education, Macmillan...
Perlroth wins FT and McKinsey Book of the Year, Keefe donates £10k over sponsor’s actions
7 December 2021
In the UK, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The cyber weapons arms race (Nicole Perlroth, Bloomsbury) has won the 2021 Financial Times and McKinsey Book of...
Kars wins Cundill History Prize for Blood on the River
6 December 2021
Marjoleine Kars has won the US$75,000 (A$107,100) 2021 Cundill History Prize for Blood on the River: A chronicle of mutiny and freedom on the wild coast, reports the Bookseller. For Blood on...
McCartney wins Waterstones Book of the Year for ‘The Lyrics’
3 December 2021
In the UK, Waterstones has named Paul McCartney’s The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (Allen Lane) its Book of the Year for 2021, reports the Bookseller. Waterstones MD James Daunt said,...
Distribution of Sebold memoir halted after man jailed for her rape exonerated
2 December 2021
The UK and US publishers of Alice Sebold’s bestselling memoir Lucky (Picador) have stopped the book’s distribution following the author’s apology to the man who was last week exonerated of...
Sheldrake wins 2021 Royal Society Science Book Prize
30 November 2021
In the UK, Merlin Sheldrake has won the £25,000 (A$46,600) Royal Society Science Book Prize for Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures...
UK PA data find growth in audiobook, fiction sales
29 November 2021
In the UK, data from the Publishers Association (PA) shows substantial growth in audiobook and fiction sales, reports the Bookseller. The figures show audiobook sales in the first six months...
HarperCollins UK book found to have defamatory claims
25 November 2021
A UK high court judge has ruled that numerous passages in Catherine Belton’s book Putin’s People, published in the UK by William Collins, are defamatory of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich,...
Costa Book Awards shortlists announced
24 November 2021
In the UK, the shortlists for the 2021 Costa Book Awards have been announced. Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award are: Unsettled Ground (Claire Fuller, Fig Tree) The High House...
Publishers accuse Internet Archive of ‘stonewalling’ discovery
23 November 2021
In the US, lawyers representing publishers in a copyright lawsuit against the Internet Archive over the scanning and lending of print library books are claiming that the Internet Archive is...
National Book Awards 2021 winners
19 November 2021
In the US, the winners of the 2021 National Book Awards have been announced. The winning titles in each category are: Fiction Hell of a Book (Jason Mott, Trapeze) Nonfiction All...
Keefe wins 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction
18 November 2021
In the UK, Patrick Radden Keefe has won the £50,000 (A$92,850) Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction for his book Empire of Pain: The secret history of the Sackler dynasty (Picador)....
Storytel buys Audiobooks.com; Spotify moves into US market
15 November 2021
Stockholm-based audiobook streaming company Storytel is buying Audiobooks.com from RBmedia for an undisclosed amount, reports Publishers Weekly. The acquisition is Storytel’s first entry into the English-language market. The company, which...
WHSmith eyes return to profitability after stronger FY21 results
12 November 2021
UK-based bookselling chain WHSmith has revealed its preliminary results for the financial year ending 31 August, as it eyes a return to 'meaningful profitability'. After posting a £69 million (A$125m)...
Waidner wins Goldsmiths Prize for ‘Sterling Karat Gold’
11 November 2021
In the UK, Isabel Waidner has won the £10,000 (A$18,300) Goldsmiths Prize for their third novel Sterling Karat Gold (Peninsula Press). The publisher describes Waidner’s novel as ‘Kafka’s The Trial...
El Akkad wins 2021 Giller Prize for ‘What Strange Paradise’
10 November 2021
Omar El Akkad has won the C$100,000 (A$110,000) Giller Prize, Canada's richest literary award, for his second novel What Strange Paradise (Picador). El Akkad's novel depicts the relationship between a...
Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair postponed
9 November 2021
The Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF) has been postponed until March 2022, reports the Bookseller. The fair, which was originally scheduled to run from 19–21 November, will now run...
Galgut wins Booker Prize for ‘The Promise’
4 November 2021
South African author Damon Galgut has won the £50,000 (A$91,830) Booker Prize for his ninth novel The Promise (Chatto & Windus), reports the Bookseller. Galgut’s novel, set in South Africa during the...
US DoJ sues to block Bertelsmann’s acquisition of S&S
3 November 2021
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has sued to block Penguin Random House (PRH) parent company Bertelsmann’s proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster (S&S), reports Publishers Weekly. The lawsuit, filed...
Souhami, Zaidi win 2021 Polari Prizes
1 November 2021
In the UK, writers Diana Souhami and Mohsin Zaidi have won the 2021 Polari Prizes for work that explores the LGBT experience, reports the Bookseller. Souhami won the £2000 (A$3642)...
‘Waves Across the South’ wins British Academy Book Prize
28 October 2021
In the UK, Cambridge historian Sujit Sivasundaram has won the £25,000 (A$46,750) British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding for Waves Across the South: A new history of revolution...
Bonnier UK to launch ‘disruptive’ new publisher
27 October 2021
In the UK, Bonnier Books is launching a new ‘independently run, disruptive publisher of literary fiction and narrative nonfiction’, Footnote Press, in partnership with founders Vidisha Biswas and Sujoy Roy,...
