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Pantera announces Public Holiday Swap initiative 

Wednesday, 3 August 2022
Pantera Press has announced a new Public Holiday Swap initiative that gives permanent employees the option to work on a public holiday and take a different day of leave in...

Weir, Henderson launch Bold Type Agency 

Wednesday, 3 August 2022
Former Penguin Random House (PRH) senior rights manager Nerrilee Weir and former Simon & Schuster (S&S) publishing director Fiona Henderson have announced the creation of a new rights agency. Bold...

Untapped no more: heritage literature back in print 

Wednesday, 3 August 2022
Launched in November 2020, Untapped: The Australian Literary Heritage Project began as a collaboration between authors, libraries and researchers to bring out-of-print Australian books back into circulation as ebooks available...

Vivendi looks to sell Editis

Tuesday, 2 August 2022
French media company Vivendi has said it will try to sell off Editis—France’s second-largest publisher—when its planned acquisition of Hachette Livre parent company Lagardère goes through, reports the Bookseller. Previously,...

‘Grimmish’ sells to UK, North America 

a portrait of Michael Winkler Tuesday, 2 August 2022
Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary, on behalf of Puncher & Wattmann, has sold UK and US rights at auction to Michael Winkler’s debut novel Grimmish, in a co-publishing deal between...

Mossop appointed SWF artistic director 

Monday, 1 August 2022
Ann Mossop has been appointed artistic director of the Sydney Writers Festival (SWF) for a three-year term, replacing Michael Williams, who programmed the 2021 and 2022 Festivals. Mossop comes to...

Nib Literary Award 2022 longlist announced

Monday, 1 August 2022
The longlist for the 2022 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, worth $20,000, has been announced. The longlisted titles are: Currowan (Bronwyn Adcock, Black Inc.) Telling Tennant’s Story (Dean...

Age Book of the Year 2022 shortlists announced

Monday, 1 August 2022
The shortlists for the 2022 Age Book of the Year Award, which this year includes a prize for nonfiction, have been announced. The shortlisted works in each category are: Fiction...

Glass Bell Award 2022 shortlist announced

Friday, 29 July 2022
In the UK, the shortlist for the £2000 (A$3500) Goldsboro Glass Bell Award has been announced. The shortlisted novels are: We Are All Birds of Uganda (Hafsa Zayyan, Merky Books)...

Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize shortlist announced

Friday, 29 July 2022
The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced the shortlist for the 2022 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. The shortlisted stories and their authors are: 'Dog Park' by Nina Cullen 'Natural Wonder' by...

UQP acquires Wagan Watson short story collection 

Friday, 29 July 2022
UQP has acquired world rights to poet Samuel Wagan Watson's first short story collection, New and Used Ghosts. The collection of ghost stories interrogates and celebrates myth, legend and secrets...

Books in the media this weekend, 30–31 July 

Friday, 29 July 2022
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend.  National  The Saturday Paper  A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding (Amanda Svensson, Scribe) Lessons...

Hachette first-half sales up in the UK, US

Thursday, 28 July 2022
Hachette’s UK sales were up 1.5% in the first half of 2022, reports the Bookseller. According to Hachette parent company Lagardère, the UK's performance was driven by children’s and YA...

MWF full program announced

Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) has announced its full 2022 program, which runs 8–11 September, and features over 150 events. The festival makes its return to live programming after two years...

Booker Prize 2022 longlist announced

Wednesday, 27 July 2022
The longlist for the 2022 Booker Prize has been announced. The 13 books longlisted for the £50,000 (A$86,650) prize are: Glory (NoViolet Bulawayo, Viking) Trust (Hernan Diaz, Picador) The Trees...

APA, ABA children’s publishing conference returns 

Wednesday, 27 July 2022
The program for the Australian Publishers Association (APA) Children's Publishing Conference, held in conjunction with the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA), has been announced. ‘Between the Covers, Behind the Counter’, which...

Kenwood’s ‘Unnecessary Drama’ sells to US 

Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Text has sold North American rights to Nina Kenwood’s second YA novel Unnecessary Drama to Sarah Barley at Flatiron Books, in a deal brokered by David Forrer at Inkwell Management....

Harper tops libraries index second year running 

Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Public sector software provider Civica and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) have released this year’s Civica Libraries Index, which looked at borrowing data across regional and metropolitan libraries...

Scholastic sales up 26%

Tuesday, 26 July 2022
In the US, Scholastic’s revenue grew 26% to US$1.6 billion (A$2.3b) in the year ending 31 May. The company posted an operating profit of US$97.5 million (A$140.2m) after a loss...

Davitt Awards 2022 shortlists announced

Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Sisters in Crime Australia has announced the shortlists for the 2022 Davitt Awards for best crime books by Australian women. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Adult crime novel...

PRH acquisition of S&S goes to court

Monday, 25 July 2022
In the US, the bid by the Department of Justice (DoJ) to block the acquisition of Simon & Schuster (S&S) by Penguin Random House (PRH) will be heard in court...

Kennedy wins 2022 Furphy Literary Award

Monday, 25 July 2022
The winners of the 2022 Furphy Literary Award have been announced. Cate Kennedy won first place in the open category for her short story ‘Art and Life’, receiving $15,000 and...

Books in the media this weekend, 23–24 July 

Friday, 22 July 2022
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper Harvest Lingo (Lionel Fogarty, Giramondo) Out of Breath (Anna Snoekstra, HQ Fiction)...

Henderson appointed Hachette senior nonfiction publisher 

Friday, 22 July 2022
Hachette Australia has appointed Scott Henderson, previously editor and content director of Men’s Health Australia, as senior nonfiction publisher. Group publishing director Fiona Hazard said Henderson 'clearly has the vision...

China book sales down 14%

Friday, 22 July 2022
Data from Beijing OpenBook has shown a 13.8% year-on-year decline in book sales in China for the first half of 2022, reports Publishing Perspectives. Compared to the same period in...