PRH US to ‘encourage’ employees to use office more frequently
Wednesday, 13 September 2023
In the US, Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya has written a memo to US staff encouraging them to use the office ‘more frequently’, reports Publishers Weekly. Malaviya wrote that...
£50k Wolfson History Prize shortlist announced
Wednesday, 6 September 2023
In the UK, the shortlist for the £50,000 (A$98,500) Wolfson History Prize has been announced. The shortlisted works of history are: African and Caribbean People in Britain: A history (Hakim...
US market sales up 1.2% in first half of 2023
Wednesday, 23 August 2023
According to the Association of American Publishers’ (AAP) latest StatShot report, the US publishing industry’s revenues were up 1.2% in the first half of 2023, thanks largely to growth in...
US bookshop sales up 7% in first half of 2023
Wednesday, 16 August 2023
In the US, bookshop sales grew 7% in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2022, reports Publishers Weekly. According to preliminary estimates from...
Booker Prize 2023 longlist announced
Wednesday, 2 August 2023
The longlist for the 2023 Booker Prize has been announced. The 13 books longlisted for the £50,000 (A$96,700) prize are: A Spell of Good Things (Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Canongate) Old God’s...
Layoffs at PRH US
Wednesday, 19 July 2023
In the US, Penguin Random House (PRH) has confirmed in a letter to staff it has made a number of layoffs in addition to its previously announced voluntary redundancy plan,...
Harlequin to introduce TikTok-inspired imprint
Wednesday, 12 July 2023
In the US, Harlequin will launch a new imprint, Afterglow Books, reports Publishers Weekly. Harlequin said the imprint will ‘build upon the popularity of TikTok's #spicytok content’, and target contemporary...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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 owner flags move into publishing
Wednesday, 10 May 2023
TikTok owner ByteDance has filed a US trademark application for a book-publishing entity called 8th Note Press, reports Business Insider. The company has also begun recruiting staff for publishing roles,...
B&N workers at flagship store launch union drive
Wednesday, 3 May 2023
In the US, workers at the flagship Barnes & Noble (B&N) shop in New York City’s Union Square have requested a union election with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store...
UK survey of debut authors finds lack of support from publishers
Wednesday, 26 April 2023
In the UK, a survey by the Bookseller has found more than half of debut authors (54%) report that publishing their book had a negative effect on their mental health....
International Booker 2023 shortlist announced
Wednesday, 19 April 2023
The shortlist for the 2023 International Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$90,950), has been announced. The shortlisted titles, chosen from a longlist announced in March, are: Still Born (Guadalupe Nettel, trans by...
Istanbul bookshop wins LBF Bookstore of the Year 2023
Wednesday, 12 April 2023
The London Book Fair (LBF) has announced the winners of its annual International Excellence Awards. The winners in each category, chosen from shortlists announced earlier this month, are: Bookstore of the year...
Book Depository to close
Wednesday, 5 April 2023
UK-based online bookseller the Book Depository will close on 26 April. In a letter to vendors, the Book Depository said it will be winding down its business over the coming...
Hachette UK in talks with Welbeck staff about job losses
Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Hachette UK is in consultation with Welbeck Publishing Group staff following its acquisition of the independent publisher last November, reports the Bookseller. A number of jobs are at risk. A...
Mikhail wins Waterstones Children’s Book Prize
Wednesday, 22 March 2023
In the UK, Nadia Mikal has been named the £5000 (A$9160) overall winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for her debut novel, The Cats We Meet Along the Way...
International Booker 2023 longlist announced
Wednesday, 15 March 2023
The longlist for the 2023 International Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$90,950), has been announced. The longlisted titles are: Ninth Building (Zou Jingzhi, trans by Jeremy Tiang, Open Letter) A System...
Anderson wins Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
Wednesday, 8 March 2023
US author Laurie Halse Anderson has won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, worth five million SEK (A$707,300), reports the Bookseller. Judges praised Halse Anderson’s ‘richly expressive novels for young people’...
Women’s Prize 2023 longlist announced
Wednesday, 8 March 2023
The longlist for the 2023 International Women's Prize for Fiction has been announced. The 16 titles longlisted for the award are: Black Butterflies (Priscilla Morris, Duckworth Books) Children of Paradise...
Chinese market down 12% in 2022
Wednesday, 8 February 2023
Overall book sales in China decreased 12% in 2022 according to Beijing OpenBook, reports Publishing Perspectives. While sales via short video ecommerce, such as on TikTok and other platforms, were...
Miller wins FT Book of the Year for ‘Chip War’
Wednesday, 7 December 2022
In the UK, Chip War: The Fight for the world’s most critical technology (Chris Miller, S&S) has won the 2022 Financial Times (FT) Book of the Year Award. In Chip War, Miller unpicks the...
‘A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth’ wins Royal Society Science Book Prize
Wednesday, 30 November 2022
In the UK, Henry Gee has won the 2022 Royal Society Science Book Prize for A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 billion years in 12 chapters (Picador),...
Taylor, Zmith win 2022 Polari Prizes
Wednesday, 16 November 2022
In the UK, writers Joelle Taylor and Adam Zmith have won the 2022 Polari Prizes for work that explores the LGBT experience, reports the Bookseller. Taylor won the £2000 (A$3642) Polari Prize...
Judge releases full decision blocking PRH acquisition of S&S
Wednesday, 9 November 2022
In the US, federal court judge Florence Pan’s 80-page written decision blocking Penguin Random House’s (PRH) acquisition of Simon & Schuster (S&S) has been published, reports Publishers Weekly. Pan found...
Court blocks PRH acquisition of S&S
Wednesday, 2 November 2022
Bertelsmann, the parent company of Penguin Random House, will appeal a ruling by a US federal court blocking its proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster (S&S). In a two-page order,...
