US literary orgs decry anti-trans executive order
Monday, 10 February 2025
In the US, more than 50 book-industry organisations and businesses, including booksellers, publishers and libraries, have released a statement denouncing an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that recognises...
Publishers, Authors Guild sue state of Idaho over book bans
Thursday, 6 February 2025
In the US, the ‘Big Five’ publishers – Penguin Random House (PRH), Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, and Simon & Schuster – have been joined by Sourcebooks, the...
2024 Chytomo Award winners announced
Wednesday, 5 February 2025
In Ukraine, the 2024 winners of the Chytomo Awards have been announced, reports Publishing Perspectives. The Chytomo Awards celebrate achievements in Ukrainian publishing across three categories, highlighting innovations in digital publishing,...
S&S US to no longer require book endorsements
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
In the US, Sean Manning, publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship imprint, has announced that authors will no longer be required to obtain endorsements for their books. In an essay...
Bookshop.org turns 5, introduces ebooks
Monday, 3 February 2025
In the US, Bookshop.org has celebrated its fifth anniversary by introducing an ebook platform, available now. Discussing the development, Bookshop founder and CEO Andy Hunter told the New York Times...
Herron awarded CWA diamond dagger
Thursday, 30 January 2025
In the UK, Mick Herron, author of the Slough House series (adapted for Apple TV+ as Slow Horses), has been awarded the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Diamond Dagger. Vaseem Khan,...
RBmedia reports ‘record-setting performance’, OverDrive audiobook borrowing up 19%
Wednesday, 29 January 2025
In the US, Publishers Weekly (PW) reported a strong close to 2024 for audiobook publisher RBmedia. After operating for a full year under new ownership since being acquired by H.I.G....
Carnegie, Caldecott, Newbery, Printz winners announced
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
In the US, the American Library Association (ALA) has announced the winners of its 2025 Youth Media Awards. The winning titles in each category include: John Newbery Medal for the...
‘Kindness’ voted OUP UK children’s word of the year
Thursday, 23 January 2025
In the UK, Oxford University Press (OUP) has announced 'kindness' as the Oxford Children's Word of the Year for 2024. Each year, OUP's 'language experts and academic researchers’ announce a word...
Bestseller Awards: Donaldson overtakes Rowling in units sold
Wednesday, 22 January 2025
In the UK, Nielsen BookData and BolognaBookPlus have awarded the annual Bestseller Awards, reports BookBrunch. Based on UK volume sales data, the Bestseller Awards recognise all-time sales across both print...
London Book Fair announces 2025 keynote speakers
Tuesday, 21 January 2025
The London Book Fair (LBF) has announced its keynote speakers and sessions. On day one, Waterstones managing director and Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt will be in conversation with...
BookTok reprieve: TikTok restoring US accounts
Monday, 20 January 2025
In the US, TikTok has announced it has begun restoring access to the social media platform after incoming president Donald Trump indicated that one of his first acts will be...
UK 2024 book sales down as indie bookstore numbers decline
Thursday, 16 January 2025
In the UK, there was a ‘small decline’ in the number of independent bookstores in 2024, from 1063 to 1052, reports the Bookseller. The decline continues the previous year’s downward...
Gizzi wins 2024 TS Eliot Prize
Wednesday, 15 January 2025
In the UK, Peter Gizzi has won the 2024 TS Eliot Prize, worth £25,000 (A$49,319), for Fierce Elegy (Penguin), reports Book Brunch. Fierce Elegy was chosen from a shortlist of...
S&S launches audio-first imprint
Tuesday, 14 January 2025
In the US, Simon & Schuster has launched Simon Maverick, an audio-first imprint, under the guidance of Jason Pinter, the imprint’s vice-president and editorial director. Publishers Weekly (PW) reported that...
Authors allege Meta knowingly used pirated books
Monday, 13 January 2025
In the US, a group of authors including Ta-Nehisi Coates and Sarah Silverman is suing Meta for copyright infringement, alleging CEO Mark Zuckerberg approved the use of pirated books to...
‘Supremacy’ wins 2024 FT Business Book of the Year
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
In the UK, Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the Race That Will Change the World (Parmy Olson, St Martin’s Press) has won the 2024 Financial Times (FT) Business Book of the...
UK publishing 2024 workforce report indicates ‘disappointing trend’
Tuesday, 10 December 2024
In the UK, the Publishers Association (PA) has released its annual workforce survey report, which, among other findings, suggests ‘improvement in geographic diversity’, while showing ‘a small, but statistically significant,...
Internet Archive copyright case ends
Monday, 9 December 2024
The copyright case against the Internet Archive has drawn to a close after representatives from the organisation ‘decided against exercising their last option, an appeal to the [United States] Supreme...
Chatterji wins 2024 Wolfson History Prize
Thursday, 5 December 2024
In the UK, historian Joya Chatterji has won the £50,000 (A$98,781) Wolfson History Prize 2024 for Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century (Vintage). Previously longlisted for the Women’s Prize...
Polari Prizes 2024 winners announced
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
In the UK, the winners of the 2024 Polari Prizes have been announced. The winners in each category are: Polari Book Prize (£2000; A$3908) The Gallopers (Jon Ransom, Muswell Press),...
Number of publishing start-ups using AI explodes
Thursday, 28 November 2024
Spines, a startup technology company founded in 2021 that published its first titles this year, is ‘offering the use of AI to proofread, produce, publish and distribute books’, reports the...
ByteDance publishing imprint announces first books
Tuesday, 26 November 2024
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has announced it will start selling print books in bookshops from early 2025, under its publishing imprint 8th note press, reports the Bookseller. ByteDance filed a US...
National Book Award winners announced
Monday, 25 November 2024
In the US, the winners of the 2024 National Book Awards, worth US$10,000 (A$15,367) in each category, have been announced. The winners in each category are: Fiction James (Percival Everett,...
Michaels wins 2024 Giller Prize for ‘Held’
Thursday, 21 November 2024
Anne Michaels has won the C$100,000 (A$110,028) Giller Prize, Canada’s richest literary award, for her novel Held (Bloomsbury). Of the book, the judging panel wrote: ‘Held is a novel that...
HarperCollins becomes first major US trade publisher to reach AI licensing deal
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
In the US, HarperCollins has become the first of the Big Five publishers to accept an AI licensing deal, reaching an agreement with an undisclosed company ‘to provide access to...
National Book Network to close in US
Tuesday, 19 November 2024
In the US, Publishers Weekly (PW) reports that independent distributor National Book Network (NBN) will close next year. The forthcoming closure follows the collapse of Small Press Distribution (SPD) in...
WH Smith revenue up as it plans US expansion
Monday, 18 November 2024
In the UK, travel bookseller WH Smith has announced its total revenue in its travel category was up 11% for the year ended 31 August 2024. In its preliminary results...
Harvey wins 2024 Booker Prize for ‘Orbital’
Wednesday, 13 November 2024
In the UK, Samantha Harvey has won the 2024 Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$97,635), for Orbital (Vintage). Orbital takes place over a single day in the life of six astronauts...
PW industry report finds ‘generational shift’, unease about AI
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
In the US, Publishers Weekly (PW) has released its 2024 publishing industry salary and jobs report, which ‘reveals the beginnings of a generational shift in publishing and continuing unease about...