Vivendi updates plans to list Hachette on stock market
24 July 2024
In France, Hachette Livre parent company Vivendi has updated its plans to list parts of its business on the stock market, reports the Bookseller. Vivendi said it would create three...
Foot traffic up at Barnes & Noble
10 July 2024
In the US, location analytics company Placer.ai has reported that, between November 2023 and May 2024, foot traffic to Barnes & Noble (B&N) stores has increased every month except January,...
Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024 shortlist announced
26 June 2024
In the UK, the shortlist for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, worth £5000 (A$9541), has been announced, reports the Bookseller. The six titles shortlisted for the 2024 award are: Martyr!...
2024 Prix Voltaire shortlist announced
12 June 2024
The International Publishers Association (IPA) has announced the 2024 shortlist for the Prix Voltaire. This year’s shortlist, announced at the World Expression Forum, includes: Osman Kavala, Türkiye Dušan Gojkov, Balkan...
UK reports find children reading fewer books, writing less
5 June 2024
In the UK, an annual report tracking the book-reading habits of around 1.2 million students across the UK and Ireland has found a drop of 4.4% in the number of...
Headline launches new ‘serious’ nonfiction imprint
29 May 2024
In the UK, Headline Publishing Group is launching Headline Press, a new ‘serious’ nonfiction imprint, reports the Bookseller. Headline said the new imprint, to be led by publisher Martin Redfern,...
Erpenbeck, Hofmann win 2024 International Booker for ‘Kairos’
22 May 2024
The novel Kairos, written by Jenny Erpenbeck and translated from German by Michael Hofmann (Granta), has won the £50,000 (A$95,325) International Booker Prize, reports the Bookseller. Kairos was chosen from...
‘Brotherless Night’ wins 2024 Carol Shields Prize
15 May 2024
Brotherless Night by V V Ganeshananthan (Penguin) has won the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, worth US$150,000 (A$226,385). The judging jury—made up of Jen Sookfong Lee (chair), Laila Lalami,...
Pulitzer Prize 2024 winners announced
8 May 2024
In the US, the winners of the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes have been announced. The winners in the book categories were: Fiction Night Watch (Jayne Anne Phillips, Fleet) Nonfiction A Day...
PEN America cancels 2024 Literary Awards ceremony
24 April 2024
In the US, PEN America has cancelled its 2024 Literary Awards ceremony, which was to be held on 29 April, reports Publishers Weekly. It comes after 28 authors withdrew books...
Remaining big five publishers join PRH in Iowa lawsuit
17 April 2024
In the US, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, along with Sourcebooks, have joined Penguin Random House (PRH) as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Iowa to block the book...
International Booker Prize 2024 shortlist announced
10 April 2024
The shortlist for the 2024 International Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$95,600), has been announced. The titles in the running for this year’s prize, chosen from a longlist of 13 announced...
Windham-Campbell Prizes 2024 recipients announced
3 April 2024
In the US, the recipients of the 2024 Windham-Campbell Prizes, worth US$175,000 (A$268,500) each, have been announced. For fiction, the prize recognised Irish author Deirdre Madden, whose work—including Molly Fox’s Birthday...
PRH 2023 results flat, despite revenue rise
27 March 2024
While Penguin Random House (PRH) recorded a 7% revenue rise worldwide for the full year 2023—to €4.53 billion (A$7.51b), up from €4.22 billion (A$7.00b) in 2022—profit dropped slightly, down by...
Crewe wins 2023 Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award
20 March 2024
In the UK, Tom Crewe has won the 2023 Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award, worth £10,000 (A$19,404), for The New Life (Vintage). Crewe’s novel was chosen from a...
Global book report highlights growing book prices
13 March 2024
A new Nielsen BookData-GfK study of the global book market has found that publishing revenue and book prices grew in many countries in 2023, reports Publishing Perspectives. The Global Book...
Amazon ebook anticompetition lawsuit to proceed
6 March 2024
In the US, a federal judge has formally adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation that a consumer class action against Amazon for anticompetitive conduct in relation to the ebook market be...
Self-publishing platform secures funding for AI-powered publishing
28 February 2024
Publishing figures Stefan von Holtzbrinck, the owner of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, which owns Macmillan, and former Penguin CEO Michael Lynton are among those investing in Inkitt, a self-described data-driven publishing...
UK indies struggling to find distribution post-Grantham
21 February 2024
In the UK, independent publishers are finding distribution ‘particularly challenging’ following last year’s announcement that Grantham Book Services (GBS) will close in 2025, reported the Bookseller. ‘The reality is that...
Amazon removes King Charles titles reportedly generated by AI
14 February 2024
In the UK, Amazon has removed from its website several titles about King Charles, which reportedly were written using artificial intelligence and were said to contain false information about the...
Indigo considers offer to take chain private
7 February 2024
In Canada, the board of the Indigo Books & Music bookselling chain, headed by former Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle, has established a special committee of independent directors to...
Inaugural Nero Book Award category winners announced
31 January 2024
The four category winners of the inaugural Nero Book Awards have been announced. Winners are: Children’s fiction The Swifts (Beth Lincoln, illus by Claire Powell, Puffin) Debut fiction Close to...
Audible to cut staff
17 January 2024
Audible CEO Bob Carrigan, in a memo to staff, said that Audible is cutting its workforce, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). PW said the cuts are believed to be about 5%...
Writers’ Prize 2024 shortlist announced
10 January 2024
The shortlist for the 2024 Writers' Prize, formerly the Rathbones Folio Prize, has been announced. The shortlisted books in each category are: Fiction The Wren, The Wren (Anne Enright, Vintage)...
Edmondson wins FT Book of the Year for ‘Right Kind of Wrong’
6 December 2023
In the UK, Right Kind of Wrong: Why learning to fail can teach us to thrive (Amy Edmondson, Cornerstone Press) has won the 2023 Financial Times Business Book of the Year...
MacInnes wins 2023 Blackwell’s Book of the Year
29 November 2023
In the UK, In Ascension (Martin MacInnes, Atlantic) has been chosen by booksellers as Blackwell’s Book of the Year 2023, reports the Bookseller. The science fiction book, which was longlisted for...
Shelley to lead Hachette in UK and US
15 November 2023
Hachette Book Group (HBG) in the US and Hachette UK (HUK) will be reorganised under ‘a new English-language management structure’ that will see HUK CEO David Shelley take on the...
FTC files ‘long-awaited’ antitrust suit against Amazon
8 November 2023
In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on 26 September, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). The FTC’s 172-page complaint—which is supported by 17...
KKR completes S&S purchase
1 November 2023
Private equity firm KKR has completed its US$1.6 billion (A$2.5b) purchase of Simon & Schuster (S&S) from Paramount Global in an all-cash transaction, reports Publishers Weekly. S&S is a now...
Over 100,000 trade visitors attend Frankfurt
25 October 2023
About 105,000 trade visitors from 130 countries attended this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF), which ran from 18–22 October, reports Publishers Weekly. FBF director Juergen Boos said the fair had...
