Owusu wins 2020 £10,000 Desmond Elliott Prize
3 July 2020
Derek Owusu has won the Desmond Elliott Prize for first-time novelists for his verse novel That Reminds Me (#Merky Books). Owusu’s book, the semi-autobiographical story of a British-Ghanaian boy called...
Indian writer Pandey named overall winner of 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
1 July 2020
Indian writer Kritika Pandey has been named the overall winner of the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for her story ‘The Great Indian Tee and Snakes’. Pandey’s story explores forbidden...
Pan Mac and Nosy Crow win at 2020 British Book Awards; ‘Queenie’ wins book of the year
30 June 2020
In the UK, the winners of the 2020 British Book Awards, known as the ‘Nibbies’, have been announced. In the trade section of the awards, Pan Macmillan was named publisher...
Furloughed UK staff return to work
29 June 2020
In the UK, major publishers are planning for furloughed staff to return to work, with most saying they have no plans to make redundancies, reports the Bookseller. As previously reported,...
UK book sales up 30% as bookshops reopen
25 June 2020
In the UK, almost 4 million books were sold in the first six days after bookshops reopened last week, an almost 30% jump on the same week last year, reports...
Macmillan US sets up inclusive management team; CEO steps back
24 June 2020
In the US, Macmillan Publishing will establish a 13-member trade management committee to set goals and objectives for its trade publishers, divisions and departments, reports Publishers Weekly. In a letter...
UK publishing staff share salaries to promote pay transparency
23 June 2020
In the UK, a document inviting publishing staff to share their salaries is circulating in the industry, reports the Bookseller. Nearly 900 staff have entered their salary, experience, ethnicity, sexual...
Bertrams enters administration
22 June 2020
In the UK, wholesaler Bertrams has gone into administration and will be making company-wide redundancies, reports the Bookseller. As previously reported, Bertrams was put up for sale in May after...
US bookshop sales down 65% in April
17 June 2020
According to US Census Bureau estimates, bookshop sales fell 65.3% in April compared to the same month in 2019, reports Publishers Weekly. Physical sales at bookshops fell in April by...
Abulafia wins Wolfson History Prize for ‘The Boundless Sea’
16 June 2020
In the UK, David Abulafia’s The Boundless Sea (Allen Lane)—a history of humankind told through its relationship with the world’s oceans—has won the £40,000 (A$72,670) Wolfson History Prize. Judging panel chair...
Hickey wins Walter Scott Prize for ‘The Narrow Land’
16 June 2020
Irish author Christine Dwyer Hickey has won the £25,000 (A$45,450) Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for her novel The Narrow Land (Atlantic). Hickey, whose novel explores the marriage of...
Revenue up, profit down at Wiley
15 June 2020
In the UK, Wiley has reported a marginal gain in revenue and a drop in profit in the year to April 2020, reports the Bookseller. Wiley reported revenue of US$1.83...
US publishing sales down 16% in April
12 June 2020
In the US, total publishing sales fell 16% in April compared to the same month in 2019 according to the AAP’s Statshot program, reports Publishers Weekly. The drop in total...
US publishers pledge to increase diversity
10 June 2020
In the US, three of the Big Five publishers have pledged to diversify their workforce and publish more Black authors, following a collective action to protest the industry’s role in...
US publishing staff take collective action to protest industry’s role in systemic racism
9 June 2020
In the US, more than 1100 workers in the publishing and media industries took a day off from work to spend time in service of the Black community on June...
Hachette, S&S, Bloomsbury latest publishers to skip Frankfurt
4 June 2020
Hachette, Simon & Schuster and Bloomsbury are the latest publishers to announce they won’t exhibit at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. HarperCollins, Bonnier Books UK and Pan Macmillan UK, as...
Book trade shows support for Black Lives Matter
2 June 2020
The UK book trade is supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of protests following the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd by police in the US,...
US publishers sue Internet Archive for copyright infringement
2 June 2020
In the US, publishers including Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons and Penguin Random House have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Internet Archive, reports Publishers Weekly....
Major publishers to skip Frankfurt’s physical event
1 June 2020
HarperCollins, Bonnier Books UK and Pan Macmillan UK won’t attend Frankfurt Book Fair’s physical event, while other UK publishers and agents are uncertain about attending, reports the Bookseller. As previously...
Karp appointed S&S CEO
29 May 2020
In the US, Jonathan Karp has been appointed president and CEO of Simon & Schuster (S&S), reports Publishers Weekly. Karp will succeed Carolyn Reidy, who died from a heart attack...
Pitts wins 2020 Jhalak Prize for ‘Afropean: Notes from Black Europe’
28 May 2020
In the UK, writer and broadcast journalist Johny Pitts has won the Jhalak Prize for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) writers, for Afropean: Notes From Black Europe (Penguin Press),...
UK publishers prepare for crowded autumn release schedule
25 May 2020
In the UK, publishers are preparing to battle for shelf space and media attention due to the number of key spring and summer titles shifting into the European autumn, reports...
RWA retires RITA Awards
22 May 2020
In the US, the Romance Writers of America (RWA) will retire its annual RITA Awards, which have been presented annually since 1982, reports Publishers Weekly. The move follows the cancellation...
UK indies hail £160m emergency funding package
21 May 2020
In the UK, independent publishers have spoken of their ‘huge relief’ after receiving funding from Arts Council England’s £160m (A$297m) emergency coronavirus package, reports the Bookseller. Recipients of the funding, which...
Waterstones to put its books under 72-hour quarantine
19 May 2020
In the UK, bookselling chain Waterstones will put its books under a 72-hour quarantine after they have been handled by browsing shoppers, reports the Guardian. As part of Waterstones' plan...
Bertrams put up for sale
18 May 2020
In the UK, wholesaler Bertrams has been put up for sale by its parent company Aurelius, reports the Bookseller. Bertrams’ subsidiary companies Dawson Books and Education Umbrella are also up...
Washington wins 2020 Dylan Thomas Prize
15 May 2020
In the UK, US author Bryan Washington has won the 2020 International Dylan Thomas Prize for his debut short story collection, Lot (Atlantic). Swansea University professor and judging panel chair...
UK reading more books in lockdown: Nielsen
15 May 2020
In the UK, Nielsen Book research has found 41% of UK adults are reading more since lockdown started, but only 25% are buying more books, and 18% are buying fewer...
Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy dies
13 May 2020
In the US, Simon & Schuster (S&S) president and CEO Carolyn Reidy has died suddenly after experiencing a heart attack. Reidy was 71. Simon & Schuster Australia told Books+Publishing the...
Woodson, Albertine win 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award
12 May 2020
US writer Jacqueline Woodson and Swiss illustrator Albertine have been named the winners of the 2020 IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Hans Christian Andersen Award. Woodson has...
