SLQ to end management of QLAs and black&write! fellowship
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) will no longer manage the Queensland Literary Awards (QLAs) or the black&write! fellowship program following the release of the Daubney Review. The review was...
UK’s PLS launches collective AI licensing scheme for publishers
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
In the UK, Publishers’ Licensing Services (PLS) has launched an opt-in collective licensing scheme designed to “ensure the use of published work by AI companies in generative AI is both...
HarperCollins acquires new Rogers novel
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to The Clue Keeper, a new novel by Megan Rogers, in a deal brokered by Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist Agency. The Clue Keeper follows Ginnie...
S&S acquires world rights to Barry quartet
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia has acquired world rights to The Northshine Quartet, a new contemporary series by Amy Barry, in a deal brokered by Sarah Younger at Nancy Yost Literary...
Sydney Writers’ Festival program announced
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
The program for this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival, running from 17–24 May, has been announced. The festival is hosting 200+ in-person and live-streamed events featuring 39 international guests and over...
Chloe Wilson on “The Thornbacks”
Tuesday, 10 March 2026
Chloe Wilson is the author of the award-winning short story collection Hold Your Fire and two poetry collections. Her debut novel, The Thornbacks, follows stepsisters Gertie and Tabitha, morticians who lure...
Chloe Wilson recommends
Tuesday, 10 March 2026
I’m a fiend for short-story collections, and so I loved Katerina Gibson’s Women I Know (S&S). It’s dark and sharp but also deeply compassionate.
Local authors on 2026 British Book Awards shortlists
Tuesday, 10 March 2026
The late Australian author Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Sarah Wynn-Williams are among the writers and illustrators shortlisted for this year’s British Book Awards (also known as the...
Heads & Tales acquires Holy Cow! Creative
Tuesday, 10 March 2026
Heads & Tales, Hardie Grant Media’s creative content and custom publishing agency, has acquired Sydney design agency Holy Cow! Creative. Founded in 1995 by Melissa Webber, Holy Cow! “brings deep...
Greg Greeley appointed S&S CEO
Tuesday, 10 March 2026
In the US, Simon & Schuster has appointed Greg Greeley as CEO. Greeley has worked at several major companies, including 19 years at Amazon where he served in various capacities....
Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize 2025 shortlist released
Tuesday, 10 March 2026
The shortlist for the 2025 Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize has been announced. The 8 shortlisted stories, chosen from more than 500 entries, are: “Many Small Violences” by Arden Baker “Two...
Barcelona, Melbourne partner on Cities of Lit Mirror Cities initiative
Friday, 6 March 2026
UNESCO Cities of Literature Barcelona and Melbourne are partnering on the inaugural Mirror Cities initiative, a virtual exchange to connect librarians, booksellers and literary programmers from the two cities. The...
Junior Book Club – this month’s reads
Friday, 6 March 2026
Searching for your next great read to share with kids? Our Junior Book Club highlights new titles each month that are perfect for classrooms, libraries and family reading time. From...
No newsletter on Monday
Friday, 6 March 2026
There will be no Books+Publishing newsletter on Monday, 9 March, due to the Labour Day public holiday in Victoria. The next Books+Publishing newsletter will be published Tuesday, 10 March. The...
UQP sells Abdel-Fattah’s “Discipline” to Oneworld
Thursday, 5 March 2026
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has sold world English (ex ANZ) rights to Randa Abdel-Fattah’s novel Discipline to Oneworld Publications, in a deal between UQP rights manager Erin Sandiford and Oneworld...
ASAL 2026 fellows announced
Thursday, 5 March 2026
The Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL) has announced its two writers’ fellowships for 2026 in association with the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund. This year’s fellows are: Western...
Publishers Association says AI copyright exception calls are redundant
Thursday, 5 March 2026
In the UK, a Publishers Association study has concluded that an established and growing licensing market for generative AI has rendered redundant calls for a copyright exception, reports BookBrunch. The...
Summit acquires Coper’s “Angertainment”
Thursday, 5 March 2026
Summit Books Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Angertainment: How Social Media Outrange Ruined Everything by political communications specialist Ed Coper. “Rage-bait – the 2025 Word of the Year –...
McConaghy longlisted for 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction
Thursday, 5 March 2026
Local author Charlotte McConaghy is on the longlist for this year’s UK-based Women’s Prize for Fiction. McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore (Penguin) “expertly conveys the awe-inspiring majesty of the extreme climate...
Natalie Kon-yu and Emily Booth on the “unintended knock-on effects” of publishing diversity initiatives
Wednesday, 4 March 2026
Researchers Natalie Kon-yu and Emily Booth recently released an academic paper titled "We Don't Want to Hear Anything Else from You: Culturally 'Diverse' Authors and the Australian Literary Industry" in...
French booksellers boycott Paris Book Festival over Amazon
Wednesday, 4 March 2026
The French booksellers’ association, the Syndicat de la Librairie Française (SLF), has pulled out of the annual Paris Book Festival, running 17 to 19 April, in protest over the festival’s...
UNESCO Cities of Literature Fellowship announced
Wednesday, 4 March 2026
The Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature Office has announced a new $15,000 fellowship for researchers, writers, artists and creative practitioners from other UNESCO Cities of Literature. The fellowship is part...
A&U acquires Moss’s solo YA novel
Wednesday, 4 March 2026
Allen & Unwin has acquired ANZ rights to Tamara Moss’s YA murder mystery, Five Voices, in a deal negotiated at auction by Jill Grinberg and Sam Farkas at Jill Grinberg Literary...
Wiley acquires Zahner’s social media critique
Wednesday, 4 March 2026
Wiley has acquired world rights to Real: Reconnecting to Yourself in a World of Likes and Lies by Alexis Zahner. Drawing on the author’s own experience as well as psychological research...
Transit Lounge acquires Thompson novel
Wednesday, 4 March 2026
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Karenlee Thompson’s novel Notes from the White Room through NAC Literary Agency. The novel follows Hunter, “a lost soul searching for her missing...
Ockham 2026 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 4 March 2026
The shortlists for this year’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. The titles in each category are: Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction All Her Lives (Ingrid Horrocks,...
Two Milligan novels optioned for TV
Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Allen & Unwin has optioned Louise Milligan’s crime novels Pheasants Nest and Shellybanks (both A&U) for screen adaptation by Ambience Entertainment. Pheasants Nest (2024) follows the abduction of journalist Kate Delaney...
Inaugural Fearless Prize goes to Perkins for “New Growth”
Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Bakers Lane Books has awarded its inaugural Fearless Prize to journalist Miki Perkins for her debut novel, New Growth. Perkins receives a $10,000 advance and publication of the novel. The...
Hachette acquires Sunday’s “Kill to Love”
Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Hachette Australia has acquired world rights to the novel Kill to Love by Penny Sunday after a 2-book auction with 5 bidders, in agent Chloe Berry’s first print deal since...
Pantera acquires Coombs Marr’s “Queerstralia”
Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to Queerstralia, comedian Zoë Coombs Marr’s exploration of Australia’s untold queer history. The book is a companion volume to the 2023 ABC documentary of...
