2022 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature shortlists announced
Wednesday, 19 January 2022
The shortlists for the 2022 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature have been announced. Presented by the South Australian government, the biennial awards offer a total prize pool of $167,500. The...
Hipwell to depart Leading Edge
Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Leading Edge has announced Ruth Hipwell will be leaving her role as member service manager for the books group. Hipwell’s last day will be Friday, 14 January. Hipwell told Books+Publishing...
Government releases draft Copyright Amendment bill
Wednesday, 12 January 2022
In December the federal government released the exposure draft and discussion paper of its proposed Copyright Amendment (Access Reforms) Bill 2021. In its introduction, the discussion paper said the government’s...
Eastern states booksellers face staff shortages
Wednesday, 12 January 2022
After a Christmas beset by supply issues, booksellers in Australia’s eastern states, like all retailers, are facing staffing issues due to Covid infections and contact isolation. On Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula...
HQ acquires Lien’s ‘All That’s Left Unsaid’
Wednesday, 8 December 2021
HQ has acquired UK & Commonwealth rights to Tracey Lien’s debut novel All That’s Left Unsaid as part of a two-book deal, in a 'competitive nine-way auction’. Commonwealth & UK...
NLNZ suspends planned Internet Archive donation amid criticism
Wednesday, 8 December 2021
The National Library of New Zealand (NLNZ) has suspended its planned donation of 600,000 books from its overseas collection to the Internet Archive. In a statement, the library said it...
‘The Conversation’ launches new Books & Ideas section
Wednesday, 8 December 2021
Australian academic news and culture website the Conversation is expanding its books coverage with a new dedicated Books & Ideas section. Former Conversation arts and culture editor Suzy Freeman-Greene has...
Affirm acquires new Sanders picture book series
Wednesday, 8 December 2021
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to 'Life Lessons for Little Ones', a new picture book series written by Jess Sanders. Aimed at under-10s, the series will cover 'a diverse...
Indie Book Awards 2022 longlists announced
Tuesday, 7 December 2021
Leading Edge Books has announced the longlists for the 2022 Indie Book Awards. The longlisted titles in each category are: Fiction After Story (Larissa Behrendt, UQP) The Good Wife of...
SPN conference 2021: ‘stimulating, diverse and accessible’
Wednesday, 1 December 2021
The 10th annual Small Press Network (SPN) Independent Publishing Conference was held online on 25–27 November. The 2021 conference ran entirely online for the second year running, but returned to...
‘The Underdogs’ series sells to North America
Wednesday, 1 December 2021
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) has sold North American rights to ‘The Underdogs’ series by Kate and Jol Temple (illus by Shiloh Gordon) to Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random...
Hammer, Jubelin joint 2021 Danger Prize winners
Wednesday, 1 December 2021
Trust (Chris Hammer, A&U) and I Catch Killers (Gary Jubelin with Dan Box, HarperCollins) have jointly won the 2021 Danger Prize. Administered by the BAD: Sydney Crime Writers Festival, the...
APA, UniMelb funding ‘baseline’ survey on diversity and inclusion in publishing workforce
Wednesday, 24 November 2021
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) and the University of Melbourne are jointly funding a research survey to provide data on diversity and inclusion in the publishing industry workforce in Australia....
Hardie Grant acquires Age Against the Machine book
Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Hardie Grant Books has acquired world print, ebook and audio rights to journalists Melissa Doyle and Naima Brown’s book How to Age Against the Machine, in a deal negotiated by...
Pause on east coast consignments as trade works to mitigate XL supply issues
Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Book distributors Alliance Distribution Services (ADS) and Harper Entertainment Distribution Services (HEDS) have informed booksellers of a pause on stock going into XL Express's Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne depots, as...
Better Read union members recommence work bans
Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) members at bookshop Better Read Than Dead (BRTD), in the inner-Sydney suburb of Newtown, have recommenced industrial action, with RAFFWU stating BRTD management...
Brumby Sunstate acquires JB Books
Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Book wholesaler Brumby Sunstate has announced the acquisition of South Australian wholesale distributor and publisher JB Books. Brumby Sunstate said the JB Books warehouse would be relocating ‘to integrate with...
Hachette opens Melbourne, Brisbane ‘working hubs’
Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Hachette Australia has established ‘working hubs’ for its employees based in Melbourne and Brisbane. At the Melbourne hub on Little Collins Street members of Hachette’s publishing, product, marketing and publicity...
Australia’s online presence popular at Frankfurt
Wednesday, 10 November 2021
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has reported that its Books From Australia website and virtual stand recorded a 200% increase on page views during the week of the Frankfurt Book Fair...
Hardie Grant appoints Harry, Epa
Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Hardie Grant Books has appointed Michael Harry as publisher and Rushani Epa to the newly created role of commissioning editor, both publishing into the categories of food and wine, design,...
HQ acquires Hearst novel in two-book deal
Wednesday, 10 November 2021
HQ has acquired world rights to a forthcoming novel by Elise Hearst, as part of a ‘hotly contested’ two-book deal brokered by Sarah McKenzie Literary Management. According to the publisher,...
Jordan wins 2021 Richell Prize
Thursday, 4 November 2021
Simone Amelia Jordan has won the 2021 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers for her memoir manuscript ‘Tell Her She’s Dreamin’’. An Australian journalist, writer, host and media consultant, Jordan founded...
Onus on Australian rights holders to opt out of Internet Archive donation
Thursday, 4 November 2021
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) is alerting Australian authors and publishers that the decision by the National Library of New Zealand (NLNZ) to donate more than 400,000 books to...
NZ Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement 2021 announced
Thursday, 4 November 2021
Creative New Zealand has announced the winners of the 2021 Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement, worth NZ$60,000 (A$57,634) each. Award-winning poet, fiction writer, screenplay editor and teacher Anne Kennedy...
APA residential editorial program to run in 2022, offer First Nations scholarships
Thursday, 4 November 2021
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced its Residential Editorial Program (REP) will run again in 2022 ‘after two years of COVID delays’. For the first time two scholarships are...
Moriarty, de Kretser, Allende among first AWW guests
Wednesday, 27 October 2021
Adelaide Writers' Week (AWW), which runs as part of Adelaide Festival, has announced the first guests for its 2022 festival, to take place 5–10 March at the Pioneer Women’s Memorial...
A&U acquires debut middle-grade novel ‘A Girl Called Corpse’
Wednesday, 27 October 2021
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to A Girl Called Corpse: An Elston-Fright tale, the debut middle-grade novel by Reece Carter. The book was acquired by A&U children’s...
Aus publishers attend Frankfurt virtually for second year
Wednesday, 20 October 2021
The 2021 Frankfurt Book Fair begins today, with publishers and authors attending the five-day event in-person or virtually through Frankfurt’s digital rights platform. At the annual opening press conference, Börsenverein...
NSW bookshops reopen, Dymocks unveils flagship store refurbishment
Wednesday, 20 October 2021
On 11 October in New South Wales, non-essential retail, including bookshops, opened for fully vaccinated customers for the first time since the state went into lockdown in June. New state...
Scribe acquires Marson nonfiction book
Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Scribe has acquired a nonfiction book about sexual violence by ACT-based prosecutor Katrina Marson. World rights (ex North America) were acquired from Grace Heifetz at Left Bank Literary. The as...
