Loveridge, Stephens launch Perentie Press
Monday, 17 March 2025
Wombat Books founder Rochelle Stephens and teacher and author Bethany Loveridge have announced the establishment of new publishing venture Perentie Press. Loveridge and Stephens said the press will be ‘a...
Woollahra Writers’ Festival, StoryFest announce 2025 programs
Monday, 17 March 2025
The Woollahra Writers’ Festival will run 29–30 March as part of the Woollahra Festival in Sydney. Program curator Nicole Abadee told Books+Publishing the last interviews with writers in the neighbourhood...
Larrikin acquires McDonald picture book
Monday, 17 March 2025
Larrikin House has acquired world English rights to Rainbow Street by RWR McDonald, illustrated by Kelly Canby. The picture book introduces Rainbow Street, ‘where every neighbour is family, every celebration is...
Wynn-Williams blocked from promoting ‘Careless People’
Monday, 17 March 2025
In the US, an emergency arbitrator has ‘temporarily prohibited Meta’s former director of global public policy and author of the memoir Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams, from promoting or further distributing...
Tasmania Reads 2025 events announced
Monday, 17 March 2025
Tasmania Reads will be held in libraries and partner organisations across the state 23–29 March 2025, and will include the launch of a new Writers’ Room at the State Library...
Murdoch Books acquires Fashion Critical title
Monday, 17 March 2025
Murdoch Books has acquired world rights to a ‘satirical red-carpet fashion bible’ from anonymous social media influencer and comedian Fashion Critical (FC). ‘Fashion Critical is the brainchild of an anonymous...
A&U acquires Gold’s ‘My Name Is Elli’
Monday, 17 March 2025
Allen & Unwin (A&U) Aotearoa New Zealand has acquired world rights to the historical novel My Name Is Elli from author Doug Gold. Set in wartime Holland, My Name Is...
Auckland Writers Festival announces 2025 program
Monday, 17 March 2025
Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi O Tāmaki has announced its 2025 program, to be held in Tāmaki Makaurau 13–18 May. Close to 50 international participants and more than 170 Aotearoa New...
BookPeople launches 100 best books reading guide
Monday, 17 March 2025
BookPeople has released '100 Best Australian Books of the 21st Century', a reading guide featuring titles selected by member booksellers. The guide, which covers adult fiction and nonfiction categories, is...
Fox’s ‘Fire with Fire’ to be adapted for screen
Monday, 17 March 2025
Candice Fox's 2024 thriller Fire with Fire (Penguin) is being adapted for television by US television studio NBC, reports Deadline. Television writer and producer Wendy Mericle (Arrow, Desperate Housewives) is...
Vale Jeannine Fowler
Monday, 17 March 2025
Jeannine Fowler, former publicity director at Pan Macmillan Australia, has died. Pan Macmillan publicity and marketing director Tracey Cheetham writes: Pan Macmillan Australia is profoundly saddened to advise of the...
Penguin Literary Prize 2025 shortlist announced
Thursday, 13 March 2025
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has announced the shortlist for the 2025 Penguin Literary Prize. The shortlisted manuscripts are: ‘The Fear of Empty Spaces’ by Rachel Bowman (Brisbane, Qld) –...
Harvey, Winterson, Rankin, Keyes among 2025 SWF headliners
Thursday, 13 March 2025
The program for this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF), which runs 19–27 May under the theme In This Together, has been announced. The program includes more than 40 international guests...
HarperCollins acquires Armitage debut ‘The Heir Apparent’
Thursday, 13 March 2025
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage. HarperCollins head of fiction Catherine Milne acquired the book from Gaby Naher of the Naher Agency with...
PRH acquires new series by Johns and Mercer
Thursday, 13 March 2025
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired world rights to The Number One Insta Detectives Agency and The Love Bomber by co-writers Rachael Johns and Mercedes Mercier. Rights were acquired...
Hussein named 2025 Kat Muscat Fellow
Thursday, 13 March 2025
Express Media and the Kat Muscat Custodial Committee have announced Adalya Nash Hussein as the 10th and final Kat Muscat Fellow. Selected from a shortlist of three, Hussein is a...
S&S acquires new Matthews fiction
Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to The House on Tinker Street by Amy Matthews in a two-book, six-figure deal via Sarah Younger at Nancy Yost Literary...
S&S acquires Reid memoir
Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired ANZ rights to Destination Moon, a memoir by former Formula One aerodynamicist and Lune Croissanterie founder Kate Reid, via Tara Wynne at Curtis...
Australia Reads announces LitUp
Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Australia Reads has announced LitUp, a new live literature initiative for author events. The program will offer funding and support for 20 communities to host live literature events with writers...
UWA Publishing announces Spiers Prize
Wednesday, 12 March 2025
UWA Publishing has announced the establishment of a new national children’s fiction manuscript prize in honour of Australian primary school teacher and philanthropist Gail Spiers. Announced to coincide with UWA...
Transit Lounge acquires Fyfe novel
Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to The Cross Thieves by Alan Fyfe. The Perth-based author’s second novel is ‘tough, poetic and truly beautiful’, said publisher Barry Scott. ‘It is the...
Gender pay gaps revealed for book sector
Tuesday, 11 March 2025
The Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has published data on gender pay gaps for the second year in a row through its Data Explorer, indicating that many large publishing...
Oldfield leaves SWF
Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Benython Oldfield has left the Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF). Oldfield was the SWF media manager for 11 years, and is the co-director of Zeitgeist Agency with Sharon Galant. 'It’s time...
Scholastic acquires two Greive series for young readers
Thursday, 6 March 2025
Scholastic Australia has secured world rights to two new series for young readers by Bradley Trevor Greive, in deals brokered by Belinda Bolliger at Key People Literary Management. In Death...
Morton wins 2025 UQP Quentin Bryce Award
Thursday, 6 March 2025
UQP has announced Rachel Morton as the winner of the 2025 UQP Quentin Bryce Award, worth $5000, for her novel The Sun Was Electric Light. The award, which recognises The...
HarperCollins acquires Nunn novel
Thursday, 6 March 2025
HarperCollins Publishers Australia has acquired world rights to Pilbara by Judy Nunn, in a deal brokered by publishing director Brigitta Doyle and fiction and nonfiction publisher Roberta Ivers, with Karen...
Australian Book Design Awards 2025 longlists announced
Thursday, 6 March 2025
The longlists for the 2025 Australian Book Design Awards, presented by the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), have been announced. The longlisted titles in the first three categories, and the emerging...
Staff wins 2025 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship
Wednesday, 5 March 2025
Feminist historian Michelle Staff has been announced as winner of the 2025 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship, worth $20,000, at a ceremony at Adelaide Writers’ Week. Staff was awarded the fellowship...
Black Inc. asks authors to sign opt-in AI contract addendum
Wednesday, 5 March 2025
Black Inc. has sent an addendum to existing contracts, seeking consent from authors for their work to be used to train artificial intelligence, reports the Guardian in an article published...
PRH acquires Laguna novel
Wednesday, 5 March 2025
Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia has acquired ANZ rights to The Underworld by Sofie Laguna; PRH publisher Meredith Curnow acquired the rights from Grace Heifetz at A4 Literary. PRH described...