Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Stuart Neal, ABC Books' long-serving commissioning editor, and its publisher since 2002, is leaving the ABC ?for personal reasons'.Neal began his 28-year career at the ABC as a purchase-order clerk,...

Tuesday, 11 March 2008
The 2008 Leading Edge Books conference, held in Alice Springs from 7 to 10 March, attracted ‘about 150' delegates from around Australia, as well as representatives from most Australian publishing...

Monday, 10 March 2008
Victoria’s toddlers will receive around 280,000 free books over the next four years, thanks to a $2.1 childhood literacy program from the State Government. A literacy pack containing a rhyme...

Monday, 10 March 2008
Magenta Books in Perth's West Centre will be closed for the foreseeable future, as owners seek to repair flood damage caused by vandals. ‘Someone came into the shopping centre and...

Monday, 10 March 2008
WBN has been informed of a possible scam and alerts publishers, distributors and booksellers to be aware of it. Book suppliers in the UK, China and now Australia have been...

Monday, 10 March 2008
Earnings at printer McPherson's Ltd increased by 29% to $15.17 million in the first half of the financial year. The result came despite a $500,000 drop in earnings for its...

Monday, 10 March 2008
The Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) has announced the shortlist for this year’s Shadows Award for the best Australian horror story of 2007.The finalists are: ‘Between the Memories’ by Matthew...

Wednesday, 5 March 2008
The finalists in the 2008 New Zealand Post Book Awards have been announced.The twenty titles are: Picture BookThe King’s Bubbles (Ruth Paul, Scholastic NZ) Out of the Egg (Tina Matthews,...

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
'I am an author. I know this because I have a rejection letter from a publisher that starts "Dear Author".'--Lynne Calder, unpublished writer, writing in last week's Pass It On...

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Among the stories added to our Around the World blog in the past week:Authors must be paid for downloads, say publicPearson head sees textbooks becoming 'add-ons'Dr Seuss goes digitalHolocaust 'memoir'...

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
In news breaking just as WBN goes to print, New Zealand-based independent book distributor Forrester Books has reportedly gone into liquidation.According to a story posted on an NZ news site, 'nearly 30...

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Sally Chilvers has been appointed as the manager of the Dymocks flagship store in George St, Sydney.Chilvers has extensive book industry knowledge, having successfully owned and operated the Angus &...

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
A major survey of publishers, authors and others within the Australian publishing industry is underway. Commissioned by the Australia Council and Copyright Agency Limited and conducted by Bloom Partners, the...

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Irina Dunn has announced her resignation from the NSW Writers' Centre, where she has been executive director for the last 15 years.Dunn told the centre's management committee that ‘she felt...

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
After almost 18 months of work, Automated Content Access Protocol--the code that book and newspaper publishers hope will provide them with a universal way of communicating permissions information to internet...

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Underbelly: The Gangland War stays at number one again this week as the TV series’ fate in Victoria rests in the hands of three Court of Appeal judges. Real or...

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Trade events coming up over the next week, as shown on our events calendar, include: Adelaide Writers Week to 7 MarchSocEds (NSW) AGM, Sydney, 4 MarchLeading Edge Books 2008 Conference,...

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Australian author and journalist Barry Galton has died aged 72. Galton was known for his books on the history of surf life saving.

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
William Buckley, author and founder of the American conservative magazine The National Review, has died aged 82.

Tuesday, 4 March 2008
The 2008 Adelaide Writers' Week got off to a 'record-breaking' start on Sunday, with visiting ex-pat Germaine Greer drawing an adoring crowd--and sales of her most recent book Shakespeare's Wife...

Monday, 3 March 2008
Operating profit at the Pearson Group rose 14% to £634m (A$1.3 billion) in 2007, the UK-based parent company of Penguin and Pearson Education has reported.Pearson Group CEO Marjorie Scardino hailed...

Monday, 3 March 2008
Online bookseller Amazon has launched a currency converter on its sites, allowing users to see the cost of items and shipping in their own currency instead of US dollars. The...

Monday, 3 March 2008
Total international revenue for Simon & Schuster increased 10% to US$886.1 million (A$943.4 million) in 2007, with operating income up 29% to US$88.1 million (A$93.8 million). The ‘exceptionally strong' results...

Monday, 3 March 2008
Total international revenue at Harlequin fell 2% to C$462.7 million (A$498.5 million) in 2007, while operating income rose 7% to C$60.6 million (A$65.3 million). Torstar, the romance publisher's Canadian parent...

Monday, 3 March 2008
Poet John Tranter has taken out the South Australian Premier's Award, announced as part of the 2008 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature. Tranter was recognized for Urban Myths: 210 poems...

Monday, 3 March 2008
Seven leading Australian writers will be in China from 9 to 14 March for ‘Australian Writers Week'--an inaugural series of talks, workshops and forums sponsored by the Australian Embassy. The writers--Lily...

Monday, 3 March 2008
The 10 finalists in this year's Kiriyama Prize have been announced. The Complete Stories by Australia's David Malouf (Random House) and Mister Pip by New Zealand's Lloyd Jones (Text) were...