US book industry faces supply chain challenges
6 September 2021
In the US, various factors are putting increasing pressure on the book industry’s supply chain, reports Publishers Weekly. The challenges include shortages of truck drivers and trailers, congestion at the...
Rushdie to publish next book on Substack
3 September 2021
Salman Rushdie plans to serialise his next book on the online platform Substack, the Bookseller reports. Rushdie’s new book The Seventh Wave—a 35,000-word novella about a ‘film director and an...
New September dates for Beijing Book Fair
2 September 2021
The Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) will go ahead on 14–18 September after it was postponed from August dates due to Covid-19 measures. While in-person attendance is limited to Chinese...
PRH half-yearly profits up 55%
1 September 2021
Penguin Random House (PRH) parent company Bertelsmann has reported the publisher posted a profit rise of 55.1% and a 10.9% growth in sales for the first half of 2021. Total...
PA: £2.2b book revenue ‘at risk’ in copyright consultation
31 August 2021
In the UK, Publishing Perspectives has reported new research from the Publishers Association (PA) showing that a total of 64% of its member publishers’ revenue is estimated to be ‘at...
‘Into Books’ campaign spreads to Paris, New York
30 August 2021
The Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) has expanded its new ‘Into Books’ campaign to Paris, New York and Riyadh, reports Publishing Perspectives. The campaign, which has the slogan ‘If you’re into...
Barnes & Noble sales up 5–6%
27 August 2021
Barnes & Noble (B&N) CEO James Daunt is confident the bookselling chain can ‘weather the Covid storm’ with book sales ‘resilient’ during the recession, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). In an...
Von Reinhold, Ní Ghríofa win James Tait Black prizes
26 August 2021
In the UK, Shola Von Reinhold and Doireann Ní Ghríofa have won the James Tait Black prizes for fiction and biography respectively, reports the Bookseller. Von Reinhold won the fiction prize...
Beijing International Book Fair postponed at last minute
25 August 2021
The Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), which was set to run from 25–29 August, has been postponed due to an outbreak of Covid-19 in the city, reports the Bookseller. 'Due...
Rooney ARCs sell for hundreds of dollars online
24 August 2021
Uncorrected proofs of Sally Rooney’s upcoming novel Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber) have fetched hundreds of dollars on trading sites eBay and Depop, reports the Guardian. A copy listed on...
Amazon reportedly plans to open US department stores
23 August 2021
Amazon is planning to open large department-style stores in the US, reports the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). According to the WSJ, the retail spaces will be around 30,000 square feet...
Sharjah Book Authority launches pro-reading campaign
20 August 2021
In the United Arab Emirates, the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) has launched a new pro-reading campaign with the slogan ‘If you’re into something, you’re into books’, reports Publishing Perspectives. The...
US half-yearly bookstore sales up 30%
18 August 2021
In the US, bookstore sales in the first half of 2021 rose 30.3% compared to the same period last year, reports Publishers Weekly. Bookstore sales rose from US$2.82 billion (A$3.9b)...
Hachette Book Group to acquire Workman Publishing
17 August 2021
In the US, Hachette Book Group (HBG) will acquire independent publisher Workman Publishing in a US$240 million (A$327m) deal, reports Publishers Weekly. Workman Publishing, which has about 300 employees across...
Picador apologises over response to criticism of Orwell Prize-winner
11 August 2021
In the UK, Kate Clanchy will partially rewrite her 2020 Orwell Prize-winning book Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me as publisher Picador says it’s ‘profoundly sorry’ for...
HarperCollins reports revenue up 19%, profit up 42%
9 August 2021
HarperCollins has reported a record profit and 19% revenue growth in the 2021 fiscal year, according to parent company News Corp’s annual results. The publisher reported revenue of US$1.98 billion...
UK authors, illustrators protest mooted copyright changes
3 August 2021
In the UK, over 2600 authors and illustrators have signed an open letter to protest the government’s reconsideration of copyright and trade laws, reports Publishing Perspectives. The letter comes after...
US reading time up 21%
30 July 2021
Survey results from the US Department of Labor found people were spending 21% more time reading in May–December 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, reports Publishers Weekly. According...
Polari Prize shortlists announced
29 July 2021
In the UK, the shortlists for the Polari Prizes for LGBTQ+ literature have been announced, reports the Bookseller. The titles shortlisted for the £2000 (A$3770) Polari Prize, which awards an...
Booker Prize 2021 longlist announced
27 July 2021
The longlist for the 2021 Booker Prize has been announced. The 13 books longlisted for the £50,000 (A$93,600) prize are: A Passage North (Anuk Arudpragasam, Granta) Second Place (Rachel Cusk,...
Scholastic sales down 13%
26 July 2021
Scholastic has reported a 13% drop in sales for the year ending 31 May. Revenue declined US$186.8 million (A$253.6m) to US$1.3 billion (A$1.76b), due to lower sales through Scholastic’s book...
Warwick appointed Scholastic CEO
20 July 2021
Peter Warwick has been appointed Scholastic president and CEO, succeeding long-time chairman, president and CEO Dick Robinson, reports Publishers Weekly. Warwick, a Scholastic board member since 2014, will be the...
Italian book sales up 44% in first half
14 July 2021
Trade book sales in Italy have grown 44% in unit sales and 42% in value in the first six months of 2021, according to the Italian Publisher's Association (AIE). The...
US print book sales up 18.5% in first half of 2021
12 July 2021
In the US, print book unit sales were up 18.5% in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2020, reports Publishers Weekly. All the major...
US author Choi wins £30k Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award
9 July 2021
US author Susan Choi has won the £30,000 ($A55,665) 2021 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award for her ‘luminous’ story ‘Flashlight’, reports the Bookseller. ‘Flashlight’ follows a 10-year-old girl who...
US supply chain struggles with high costs, service disruptions
8 July 2021
In the US, the book industry supply chain is struggling under the challenges of truck driver shortages, widespread port congestion and skyrocketing container costs, according to a Book Industry Study...
‘A Kind of Spark’ wins Waterstones Children’s Book Prize
2 July 2021
In the UK, Scottish author Elle McNicoll has won the overall £5000 (A$9215) Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for her debut novel A Kind of Spark (Knights of Media), reports the...
Sri Lankan writer D’Almeida wins overall Commonwealth Short Story Prize
1 July 2021
Sri Lankan writer Kanya D’Almeida has been named the overall winner of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for her story ‘I Cleaned The—'. D’Almeida’s story is about “‘dirty work’:...
Smith, Yaffa win 2021 Orwell Prizes
28 June 2021
UK novelist Ali Smith and US journalist Joshua Yaffa have won this year’s Orwell Prizes for political fiction and political writing respectively, reports the Bookseller. Smith was awarded the political...
Mantel wins Walter Scott Prize for ‘The Mirror & Light’
21 June 2021
In the UK, Hilary Mantel has won the £25,000 (A$46,155) Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for The Mirror & the Light (Fourth Estate)—11 years after the first book in...
