LoveOzYA relaunches with new committee
16 July 2019
Grassroots movement LoveOzYA is relaunching with a new committee and a 'reinvigorated mission'. According to a statement posted online, the LoveOzYA website was hacked earlier in the year but has...
Davitt Awards 2019 shortlists announced
16 July 2019
Sisters in Crime has announced the shortlists for the 2019 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. The shortlisted works in each category are: Adult novel This...
Van and Anderson awarded Overland writing residencies
16 July 2019
Literary journal Overland has announced the recipients of its two writing residencies, which aim to address a lack of opportunities for underrepresented writers. Lucy Van has been awarded the residency...
Canberra Writers Festival 2019 program launched
15 July 2019
Canberra Writers Festival has announced the full line-up of guest speakers for its festival program, which runs under the theme ‘power, politics and passion’ from 21–25 August. Over 160 authors...
Ruby romance award 2019 finalists announced
12 July 2019
The finalists for the Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) Romantic Book of the Year Award, known as ‘the Ruby’, have been announced. The finalists in each category are: Contemporary romance...
‘Axiomatic’ sold to UK’s Fitzcarraldo Editions
12 July 2019
Brow Books has sold UK and Commonwealth rights (ex ANZ) to Maria Tumarkin’s Axiomatic to independent publisher Fitzcarraldo Editions. Publisher Jacques Testard acquired the book, and Fitzcarraldo will publish Axiomatic...
PRH issues editor ‘first and final warning’; MEAA alleges ‘discriminatory’ conduct
11 July 2019
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has issued a ‘first and final warning’ to an editor who tweeted in support of booksellers as they faced possible cuts to penalty rates on...
Melbourne Writers Festival program announced
11 July 2019
The full program for the 2019 Melbourne Writers Festival, which runs from 30 August to 8 September, has been announced. The program will run under the theme ‘When We Talk...
Write-ability fellowships 2019 recipients announced
11 July 2019
Writers Victoria has announced the recipients of its 2019 Write-ability fellowships. The following five emerging writers with disability were awarded the fellowships: Alex Creece for 'Neurodifficult', a collection of experimental...
2019 ABA conference: value, volume down YTD; HR, sales discussed
10 July 2019
Nielsen Book associate director Julie Winters presented an overview of the Australian book market at the 2019 Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) conference. Winters reported a 2.6% decline in Australian book...
HarperCollins to publish ‘electrifying’ debut novel; UK, film rights sold
10 July 2019
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to Melbourne author and playwright Gabriel Bergmoser’s 'electrifying' debut adult novel, The Hunted, in a two-book deal via Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown Australia. UK...
Australian Christian Book of the Year 2019 shortlist announced
10 July 2019
The shortlist for the 2019 Australian Christian Book of the Year been announced. The shortlisted titles are: The Apostles’ Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism (Benjamin Myers, Lexham Press)...
A&U acquires ‘fierce’ literary debut
10 July 2019
Jane Palfreyman at Allen & Unwin has acquired ANZ rights to literary fiction debut A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing by Jessie Tu, via Melanie Ostell Literary. The novel...
Blabey tops NYT bestseller charts
9 July 2019
Aaron Blabey’s ‘The Bad Guys’ (Scholastic) has topped the New York Times weekly chart for bestselling children’s series. ‘The Bad Guys’, which has spent 37 weeks on the list, came...
Black Inc. to publish ‘creative’ Thunberg bio; sells rights to S&S UK
9 July 2019
Black Inc. has sold world English-language rights (ex ANZ) to a ‘creative biography’ of climate change activist Greta Thunberg to Simon & Schuster Children’s UK. Pitched at middle-grade readers, Greta’s...
University of Queensland student-led Corella Press to launch first books
8 July 2019
The University of Queensland's (UQ) student-led Corella Press will launch its first two books at an event at Avid Reader in Brisbane on 30 August. Corella Press is a not-for-profit...
McIver’s debut sold to Hachette AU and Tinder Press UK
8 July 2019
Hachette Australia and UK publisher Tinder Press (part of the Hachette Livre UK Group) have jointly acquired rights to Ruth McIver’s debut novel I Shot the Devil, via Jacinta di...
‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ longlisted for Glass Bell Award
5 July 2019
Heather Morris’ The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Echo) has been longlisted for the UK's Glass Bell Award. Presented by London bookstore Goldsboro Books, the prize celebrates the best storytelling across all...
Amazon Prime to adapt Sutherland’s ‘Our Chemical Hearts’ for film
5 July 2019
Krystal Sutherland’s YA novel Our Chemical Hearts (Penguin) is being adapted for film by Amazon Studios for the Amazon Prime streaming service. The film, titled Chemical Hearts, is written and directed by...
Brio to publish new Dessaix book on ageing
5 July 2019
Brio has acquired ANZ rights to a new nonfiction book by Robert Dessaix, The Time of Our Lives: Growing old well, via Lyn Tranter at Australian Literary Management. Brio said...
Hachette acquires middle-grade, YA novels by Binks
5 July 2019
Hachette Australia has acquired ANZ rights to a middle-grade novel, The Year the Maps Changed, and a yet to be titled YA novel by literary agent Danielle Binks. The two-book...
Ovato to invest $1m in Melbourne printing facility
5 July 2019
Ovato Book Printing, formerly Griffin Press, will invest $1 million in new technology as part of a new print-on-demand (POD) strategy. In June, Ovato relocated its POD service from Adelaide...
New KYD program to focus on regional Victorian writers
4 July 2019
Kill Your Darlings (KYD) has announced a new publishing program for regional Victorian writers. From August 2019 to June 2020, KYD will publish the work of regional Victorian writers every...
ABDA launches student prizes
4 July 2019
The Australian Book Design Association (ABDA) has announced it will award student prizes at the 2020 ABDA Awards. The inaugural student prizes will be judged in two categories: best cover...
Over 300 booksellers encouraged to ‘change the narrative’ at upbeat ABA conference
3 July 2019
Almost 340 booksellers, publishers and other guests attended this year’s Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) conference, held in Melbourne from 23–24 June. ABA CEO Robbie Egan—who opened the conference by encouraging...
Scribe, Varuna partner on new mentorship program
3 July 2019
Scribe and Varuna, The Writers’ House, have partnered to offer a new mentorship program to three writers. The partnership combines a Varuna residency with an intensive mentorship with Scribe editors....
Miles Franklin Literary Award 2019 shortlist announced
3 July 2019
The shortlist for the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award, worth $60,000, has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: The Lebs (Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Hachette) A Sand Archive (Gregory Day, Picador) A Stolen...
Speech Pathology Australia book awards 2019 shortlists announced
3 July 2019
The shortlists for the 2019 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Birth to three years A Monster in...
Brown wins 2019 ALS Gold Medal
3 July 2019
Pam Brown has won the 2019 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal for her poetry collection click here for what we do (Vagabond). Brown’s collection was chosen from a shortlist...
Five Mile sells UK, US and Canadian rights to Love Your Body
3 July 2019
Five Mile has sold UK, US and Canadian rights to Jessica Sanders’ picture book Love Your Body (illus by Carol Rossetti) to the Quarto Group. With the latest deal, made...
