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HarperCollins launches new illustrated imprint 

Wednesday, 10 February 2021
HarperCollins Australia has announced it will launch a new illustrated imprint, Harper by Design. HarperCollins said the ‘design-led' imprint, to be overseen by current head of design Mark Campbell in...

‘Sorrow and Bliss’ to be adapted for screen 

Wednesday, 10 February 2021
US production company New Regency has acquired the film and television rights to Meg Mason’s 2020 novel Sorrow and Bliss in a deal brokered by Casarotto Ramsay and HarperCollins Australia....

Fi Tunnicliff departs B+P

Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Books+Publishing (B+P) advertising manager Fi Tunnicliff is leaving after almost five years with the organisation. The staff at B+P wish her all the very best in her new career. B+P...

The state of accessible publishing in Australia 

Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Last year, Sydney University's Agata Mrva-Montoya undertook research into the issues affecting the production of accessible books in Australia. Mrva-Montoya conducted surveys aimed at Australian publishers and disability organisations involved...

Giggs wins ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal

Tuesday, 9 February 2021
In the US, Australian writer Rebecca Giggs has won the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for nonfiction for Fathoms: The world in the whale (Scribe). The Andrew Carnegie...

Hachette acquires Williams autobiography 

Tuesday, 9 February 2021
Hachette Australia has acquired the autobiography of All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams via Nick Fordham of The Fordham Company, as part of a worldwide deal that will also see...

Ultimo announces poetry, short fiction prize

Tuesday, 9 February 2021
Ultimo Press has announced a new annual prize for poetry and short fiction, the Ultimo Prize. Open to writers under the age of the 30, the prize will be awarded...

Major UK publishers’ ebook sales up 15%

Monday, 8 February 2021
In the UK, the top six trade publishers recorded a total 15.5% rise in ebook sales in 2020, the first double-digit percentage bump in seven years, reports the Bookseller. Collectively,...

Echo to publish new Morris novel 

Monday, 8 February 2021
Echo Publishing has acquired Heather Morris's third novel Three Sisters, which concludes The Tattooist of Auschwitz trilogy. Three Sisters tells the true story of Cibi, Magda and Livia, who were...

PRH acquires Hickey crime debut ‘Cutters End’ 

Friday, 5 February 2021
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired world rights to debut novel Cutters End by author and playwright Margaret Hickey. In a statement, PRH said Cutters End was a captivating...

Low joins Christchurch WORD festival 

Friday, 5 February 2021
The WORD Christchurch festival has appointed Nic Low as program co-director. Originally from Christchurch, Low is a Ngāi Tahu author and arts organiser, who has recently returned to the city...

Fremantle Press launches podcast aimed at writers

Thursday, 4 February 2021
Fremantle Press publisher Georgia Richter has launched a new podcast series ‘aimed at making the Australian publishing industry more accessible to new writers’. Richter, who co-wrote How to Be an...

Transit Lounge acquires Rabin novel 

Thursday, 4 February 2021
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Sean Rabin's second novel The Good Captain, via Jessica Craig at Craig Literary. Rabin's debut novel Wood Green, published by Giramondo in Australia...

Waterstones staff petition for furlough raise

Thursday, 4 February 2021
In the UK, a group of current and former Waterstones staff is calling on the bookselling chain to top-up furloughed booksellers’ pay to the minimum wage, after accounts showed the...

A year of transformation: The industry reflects on 2020 

Wednesday, 3 February 2021
The challenges of 2020 affected the Australian publishing in myriad ways, from accelerating digital transformation to disrupting the book supply chain. Here, five industry figures reflect on the ways the...

Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO

Wednesday, 3 February 2021
In the US, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has announced he will step down from the role and become executive chairman, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Under the transition, Amazon Web...

Nat’s What I Reckon wins 2020 Booktopia FAB Award

Wednesday, 3 February 2021
Un-cook Yourself: A ratbag's rules for life by YouTube cooking star Nat’s What I Reckon (Ebury) has won the $5000 Booktopia Favourite Australian Book (FAB) Award for 2020. The author...

Thames & Hudson Australia revenue up 47% in 2020 

Wednesday, 3 February 2021
Thames & Hudson Australia (THA) has reported a 47% increase in revenue in 2020, with overall sales of $17.6 million, as ‘consumer price barriers appeared to come down’ during the...

March reviews round-up 

Tuesday, 2 February 2021
March looks to be a strong month for nonfiction, with a couple of big-name releases receiving glowing write-ups from Books+Publishing's (B+P) reviewers. Sarah Krasnostein's follow-up to her juggernaut biography The...

Ultimo first title to be Smith book on China 

Tuesday, 2 February 2021
Ultimo Press has acquired world rights to The Last Correspondent: Dispatches from the Frontline of Xi’s New China by Michael Smith, one of the last Australian journalists to leave China...

McKay wins $100k Victorian Prize for Literature

Tuesday, 2 February 2021
Laura Jean McKay has won Australia’s richest literary prize, the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature, for her debut novel The Animals in That Country (Scribe), at this year’s Victorian Premier’s...

Newbery, Caldecott 2021 winners announced

Monday, 1 February 2021
In the US, the American Library Association (ALA) has announced the winners of its Youth Media Awards, including the Newbery and Caldecott medals, reports Publishers Weekly. Tae Keller’s When You...

Lindsay opens The Book Nest Mudgee 

Monday, 1 February 2021
Portia Lindsay, a former bookseller at Better Read Than Dead and Potts Point Bookshop who now runs the Mudgee Readers’ Festival in Mudgee, NSW, has opened a new bookstore in...