UK Society of Authors welcomes legal action against OpenAI
Wednesday, 5 July 2023
The UK Society of Authors (SoA) has welcomed the news that authors in the US are suing OpenAI for copyright infringement, reports the Bookseller. The class action lawsuit, brought in...
French book sales drop 5.4%
Tuesday, 4 July 2023
Sales by French book publishers fell 5.4% in 2022, to a total of €2.9 billion (A$4.7b), reports the Bookseller. The number of books sold fell 7.7% to 448.5 million, according...
200,000 attend first in-person Beijing fair since 2019
Monday, 3 July 2023
Around 200,000 visitors attended the 29th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), which ran from 15–18 June, reports Publishing Perspectives. This year’s fair was the first in-person event since 2019, when...
UK gov to consult on PLR scheme
Friday, 30 June 2023
The UK government has launched a consultation into its Public Lending Right (PLR) scheme, which provides authors with up to £6,600 (A$12,570) from loans of their books from libraries in...
Indigo records $57m loss, sales decline in fiscal 2023
Thursday, 29 June 2023
Canada’s leading book retailer, Indigo Books & Music, recorded a small decline of 0.4% in sales in the year ending 1 April, while also recording a C$49.6 million (A$56.7m) loss...
Jamaican author McPherson wins Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Wednesday, 28 June 2023
Jamaican writer Kwame McPherson has been named the overall winner of the 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for his story ‘Ocoee’. ‘Oocee’ interweaves Caribbean folklore and stories from African-American history....
BookTok drives UK export sales to Europe
Tuesday, 27 June 2023
In the UK, the Publishers Association’s (PA) Year in Publishing Report for 2022 showed the export market was a ‘huge’ factor in last year’s industry growth, with an 8% rise...
New bid for S&S
Friday, 23 June 2023
Simon & Schuster (S&S) has received a buyout bid from investor Richard Hurowitz, with backing from Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Company, reports the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing people familiar with...
Ros, Zdung win Yoto Carnegie medals
Thursday, 22 June 2023
In the UK, the winners of the Yoto Carnegie medals for writing and illustration for children and young people have been announced. Welsh author Manon Steffan Ros won the Yoto...
Caldwell wins Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
Tuesday, 20 June 2023
In the UK, Lucy Caldwell has won the £25,000 (A$46,700) Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for her novel These Days (Faber), reports the Bookseller. These Days is set during...
HarperCollins, private equity firm KKR among bidders for S&S
Monday, 19 June 2023
HarperCollins and private equity firm KKR are among the bidders for Simon & Schuster (S&S), which owner Paramount Global is putting up for sale after the US government blocked Penguin...
US children’s literature diversity on the rise
Friday, 16 June 2023
In the US, 40% of 2022 children’s book released had a Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) author, illustrator or compiler, a new report has found, reports Publishers Weekly. The...
Kingsolver wins Women’s Prize for Fiction for ‘Demon Copperhead’
Thursday, 15 June 2023
US author Barbara Kingsolver has won the 2023 Women’s Prize for fiction, worth £30,000 (A$56,000), for her 10th novel, Demon Copperhead (Faber). Kingsolver is the first writer to have won the...
Gilbert withdraws Russian-set novel from publication
Wednesday, 14 June 2023
US author Elizabeth Gilbert is pulling her novel The Snow Forest from publication, in response to a backlash from Ukrainian readers unhappy about the book being set in Russia, reports...
Vivendi’s purchase of Lagardère approved
Tuesday, 13 June 2023
The European Commission has approved French media company Vivendi’s acquisition of Hachette parent company Lagardère, reports Publishers Weekly. Vivendi’s properties include the French book publisher Editis. However, to have its...
Joseph wins RSL Christopher Bland Prize
Friday, 9 June 2023
In the UK, actor and author Paterson Joseph has won the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) Christopher Bland Prize for The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho (Dialogue), reports the...
US publishing sales up 3.2% in first quarter
Thursday, 8 June 2023
In the US, total publishing industry sales rose 3.2% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year, reports Publishers Weekly. According to the AAP’s StatShot...
UK Publishers Association sets up AI taskforce
Wednesday, 7 June 2023
In the UK, the Publishers Association (PA) has formed an AI taskforce to help the industry navigate new developments in artificial intelligence technology, reports the Bookseller. PA CEO Dan Conway...
UK bookshop sales down 3.5% YTD
Tuesday, 6 June 2023
In the UK, analysis from the Bookseller has found bookshop sales are down 3.5% by volume for the first 21 weeks of the year compared to the same period last...
US audiobook market grows 10%
Friday, 2 June 2023
In the US, audiobook revenue grew 10% in 2022 to US$1.8 billion (A$2.7b) in total sales, according to a survey of 28 Audio Publishers Association members (APA), reports Publishers Weekly....
Record year of sales for Bloomsbury
Thursday, 1 June 2023
In the UK, Bloomsbury has reported another record performance in the year to end of February 2023, with sales up 15% and profit up 16%, reports the Bookseller. Sales for...
Shortlists announced for James Tait Black prizes
Wednesday, 31 May 2023
In the UK, the shortlists for the James Tait Black prizes have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction Bitter Orange Tree (Jokha Alharthi, trans by Marilyn...
Alabanza, Jawando win 2023 Jhalak Prizes
Monday, 29 May 2023
In the UK, the winners of the 2022 Jhalak prizes, which recognise ‘authors who feel that their work is often marginalised unless it fulfils a romantic fetishisation of their cultural...
German author Oskamp wins Dublin Literary Award
Friday, 26 May 2023
German author Katja Oskamp has won the 2023 Dublin Literary Award for Marzahn, Mon Amour (trans by Jo Heinrich, Peirene Press), reports the Bookseller. Oskamp receives €75,000 (A$123,700) and Heinrich, as...
Caffè Nero to fund major new UK book awards
Thursday, 25 May 2023
In the UK, coffee chain Caffè Nero has launched a new set of book awards, worth a total of £50,000 (A$94,500), a year after Costa Coffee announced the end of...
Gospodinov, Rodel win 2023 International Booker
Wednesday, 24 May 2023
The novel Time Shelter by Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, has won the £50,000 (A$93,900) International Booker Prize. Time Shelter was chosen...
TikTok to launch new book awards
Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Social media platform TikTok is launching its own book awards for the UK and Ireland, aiming to celebrate ‘titles, authors, content and creators of BookTok’, reports the Bookseller. The awards...
PRH, Pen America file suit over Florida book bans
Thursday, 18 May 2023
In the US, Penguin Random House (PRH), together with PEN America, a group of authors and a group of parents, have filed a federal lawsuit against a Florida school district...
‘Menopausing’ wins Book of the Year at the British Book Awards
Tuesday, 16 May 2023
Davina McCall and Naomi Potter’s Menopausing (HQ) has won book of the year at the British Book Awards, reports the Bookseller. McCall and Potter’s book, which also won the nonfiction lifestyle and...
Anaxagorou wins Ondaatje prize
Monday, 15 May 2023
In the UK, British-Cypriot poet Anthony Anaxagorou has won the Royal Society of Literature’s (RSL) £10,000 (A$18,730) Ondaatje prize for his collection Heritage Aesthetics (Granta), reports the Guardian. Heritage Aesthetics...
