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CBCA 2022 Notable Books announced

Wednesday, 23 February 2022
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its list of Notable Books for 2022. The list acts as the longlist for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards....

Opposition grows as Vivendi files Lagardère takeover bid

Wednesday, 23 February 2022
In France, media company Vivendi has filed its proposed takeover bid for Hachette Livre parent company Lagardère Group amid growing opposition to the merger, reports the Bookseller. In December Vivendi—which...

Hardie Grant ‘Innovate’ RAP endorsed

Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Hardie Grant has announced the next level of its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), the ‘Innovate’ RAP, has been endorsed by Reconciliation Australia. The Innovate RAP commits Hardie Grant to ‘creating...

Tablo Tales acquires Eckermann verse novel

Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Tablo Tales, the new literary imprint of Tablo Publishing led by creative director Jemma Birrell, has acquired world rights to a new book by South Australian poet Ali Cobby Eckermann, via...

Lana Spasevski on ‘A Sprinkle of Sadie’

Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Sadie loves to bake, but sometimes things don't go to plan. In her new junior fiction series, A Sprinkle of Sadie (Affirm, April), Lana Spasevski explores the power of food...

Lana Spasevski recommends

Tuesday, 22 February 2022
I have just finished The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor (Affirm) with my daughters. The fast, cinematic pace of the text, the magical setting of all the...

‘The Bluffs’ optioned for screen

Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Kyle Perry’s debut novel The Bluffs (Penguin) been optioned for screen adaptation as a limited TV series by First Option Pictures. Executive producer Mark Morrissey, associate producer Piper Morrissey and...

Wild shortlisted for 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award

Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Australian children’s author Margaret Wild has been shortlisted for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award, administered by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). Wild is among the...

S&S reports local sales up 27%

Monday, 21 February 2022
Simon & Schuster (S&S) Australia has confirmed its local total sales grew 27.2% in 2021, as Simon & Schuster US reported its operating income was up 52% year-on-year. S&S Australia...

Affirm acquires ‘The Grandest Bookshop in the World’ prequel

Monday, 21 February 2022
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to The Bookseller’s Apprentice, the prequel to The Grandest Bookshop in the World, by Amelia Mellor. Set in 1871, The Bookseller’s Apprentice follows 12-year-old...

Cassim appointed ILF program manager

Monday, 21 February 2022
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) has appointed Zoe Cassim as program manager. Cassim, a Widjabul/Wia-bul woman from Bundjalung Country in northern New South Wales, is a high-school teacher with more...

Books in the media this weekend, 19–20 February

Friday, 18 February 2022
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend. National The Saturday Paper The Grass Hotel (Craig Sherborne, Text) A Terrible Kindness (Jo Browning...

Record earnings, profits for Lagardère in 2021

Friday, 18 February 2022
Lagardère Publishing grew its revenue by 9.4% in 2021 while increasing profits by 42.7%, reports Publishers Weekly. Lagardère Group reported revenue from its publishing division totalled €2.6 billion (A$4.11b) with...

Inaugural Open Book interns announced

Friday, 18 February 2022
Bohdi Byles and Maya Hodge are the two successful applicants for the inaugural Open Book Internship pilot program, now underway in Sydney and Melbourne. Byles, a ‘vocal queer person, a...

Walker acquires Daley picture book about bees

Friday, 18 February 2022
Walker Books Australia has acquired Native Bees, a new title in the publisher’s Nature Storybook series, by Brisbane teacher librarian Megan Daley. Daley is the author of Raising Readers (UQP),...

S&S revenue grows 10% in 2021, profit up 52%

Thursday, 17 February 2022
In the US, Simon & Schuster's (S&S) revenue grew 10% and its operating income was up 52% year-on-year in 2021, on the back of strong performance from its distribution and...

Greder’s ‘Diamonds’ longlisted for Kate Greenaway Medal

Thursday, 17 February 2022
In the UK, Swiss-born long-time Australian resident Armin Greder has made the longlist for the 2022 Kate Greenaway Medal for outstanding achievement in children’s illustration, announced along with the longlist...

APA announces editors for 2022 Residential Editorial Program

Thursday, 17 February 2022
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced the mid-career editors selected to attend the 2022 Residential Editorial Program (REP), to take place in Sydney from 21–24 February. The editors selected...

Five ANZ publishers shortlisted for Bologna Prize

Thursday, 17 February 2022
Australian publishers Affirm Press, EK Books and Magabala Books, and Aotearoa New Zealand presses Huia Publishers and Beatnik Publishing have been shortlisted for the 2022 Bologna Prize for Best Children’s...

Booksellers’ high hopes for Christmas 2021 tempered by supply chain reality

Wednesday, 16 February 2022
Books+Publishing received feedback from representatives of over 120 bookshops around Australia for its annual Christmas survey. After ‘the best Christmas ever’ in 2020, booksellers were expecting good things for Christmas...