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PW revives Freedom to Read issue 

Monday, 22 September 2025
In the wake of ongoing threats to access to books in the US, Publishers Weekly (PW) has revived its ‘Freedom to Read’ issue. In a letter introducing the issue, PW...

Trump sues PRH, New York Times

Wednesday, 17 September 2025
US President Donald Trump is suing Penguin Random House (PRH), along with the New York Times (NYT) and several of its reporters for ‘disparagement’, reported Publishers Weekly (PW) yesterday. Among reporters...

Arthur Sze named US poet laureate

a portrait of Arthur Sze Tuesday, 16 September 2025
Arthur Sze has been named the 25th poet laureate of the United States, reported Publishers Weekly yesterday. Sze will serve for one year and succeeds Ada Limón, whose term in the...

National Book Awards 2025 longlists announced 

National Book Foundation logo Monday, 15 September 2025
In the US, the longlists for the 2024 National Book Awards have been announced. The longlisted fiction, poetry and nonfiction titles are: Fiction The Antidote (Karen Russell, Chatto & Windus)...

Anthropic agrees to settle book piracy lawsuit 

Monday, 8 September 2025
AI company Anthropic has agreed to pay US$1.5 billion (A$2.28b) to settle a class-action lawsuit by book authors who say the company took pirated copies of their works to train...

Donaldson sells 50 million units 

Photograph of Julia Donaldson Thursday, 4 September 2025
In the UK, children's author Julia Donaldson has become the first author to ‘sell more than 50 million units through British bookshops since accurate records began’, reported the Bookseller. According to NielsenIQ...

NEA cancels creative writing grants 

Tuesday, 2 September 2025
In the US, the National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) 2026 Creative Writing Fellowships have been cancelled, reported Publishers Weekly (PW). The annual endowments have historically offered grants up to...

‘Tentative agreement’ in Anthropic copyright lawsuit 

Monday, 1 September 2025
AI company Anthropic has reportedly reached a preliminary agreement with attorneys representing authors and publishers in a class action lawsuit, reported Publishers Weekly (PW). Anthropic has been charged with illegally using...

US publishing sales: ‘modest gains’ in 2024 

Thursday, 28 August 2025
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has announced its final publishing industry sales estimates for 2024. In 2024, total sales ‘rose 4.1%, to $32.5 billion (A$50b)’ from the 1281 publishers...

S&S CEO to step down, launch Simon Six imprint

a portrait of Jonathan Karp Wednesday, 27 August 2025
In the US, Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp has announced he will step down to launch and lead a new imprint, Simon Six, reported Publishers Weekly (PW) yesterday. Karp will...

Inaugural Sustainable Story Award shortlist announced 

Thursday, 21 August 2025
World of Books has announced the shortlist for the inaugural Sustainable Story Award. The shortlisted titles are: Fiction ‘AYAH’ (Annabelle Sami) ‘The First Years’ (Kate Evans) ‘Life or Death’ (Rebecca...

Hugo Awards 2025 winners announced 

The Tainted Cup book cover Tuesday, 19 August 2025
The 2025 Hugo Award winners have been announced. A selection of winners are: Best novel  The Tainted Cup (Robert Jackson Bennett, Hodderscape) Best novella The Tusks of Extinction (Ray Nayler,...

Future Library announces Ghosh as 2025 author 

Monday, 18 August 2025
The Future Library Project announced Indian author Amitav Ghosh as the next Future Library author at the Edinburgh Book Festival on 13 August. Ghosh's next manuscript will be stored and...

OUP reports ‘hampered’ financial progress 

Thursday, 14 August 2025
In the UK, Oxford University Press has announced its annual results. The company reported a turnover of £796 million (A$1.65b), and a surplus from trading of £75m (A$156m), however when...

AP to stop publishing book reviews 

Tuesday, 12 August 2025
The Associated Press (AP) will stop publishing its weekly book reviews effective 1 September, reported Publishers Weekly (PW). In an email from AP global entertainment and lifestyles editor Anthony McCartney to...

HarperCollins reports sales up 3%, profits up 10% 

Monday, 11 August 2025
In the US, HarperCollins parent company News Corp has announced its fourth quarter and annual results. The company reported that its book publishing division saw sales rise six percent for...

Penguin SEA to publish ‘Stories from the Island’ 

Tuesday, 5 August 2025
Penguin Random House (PRH) Southeast Asia (SEA) has announced the publication of Stories from the Islands, its first bilingual short story anthology of writers selected as part of the Ubud...

Booker Prize 2025 longlist announced

Booker Prize 2025 longlist spread out on a wood table, next to a cup of tea Wednesday, 30 July 2025
The longlist for the 2025 Booker Prize has been announced. Longlisted for the £50,000 (A$102,449) prize are 13 titles: Love Forms (Claire Adam, Faber) The South (Tash Aw, Fourth Estate)...

Hodder & Stoughton closes Coronet 

Monday, 21 July 2025
In the UK, Hachette division Hodder & Stoughton has announced the closure of fiction and nonfiction imprint Coronet, reported the Bookseller. Four staff members have been made redundant as a result....

France: Tax AI to pay cultural remunerations 

Wednesday, 16 July 2025
In France, a new senate report has suggested taxing artificial intelligence suppliers in order to remunerate the cultural sector, should current strategies fail, reported the Bookseller. Negotiations between AI suppliers...