News | Books+Publishing

Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

Friday, 20 July 2018
British publishing sales rose 5% to £5.7 billion (A$10bn) in 2017, according to the Publishers Association’s (PA) annual yearbook, reports the Bookseller. Export sales drove the growth, and were up...

Colin Roderick Award 2018 shortlist announced

Friday, 20 July 2018
The shortlist for this year’s Colin Roderick Award, administered by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies at James Cook University, has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Soon (Lois Murphy, Transit...

Harbour partners with University of the Sunshine Coast to publish students’ work

Friday, 20 July 2018
Small publisher Harbour Publishing House has announced a partnership with the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) to publish one book each year from students within its creative writing program....

NYWF announces artists for 2018 festival

Friday, 20 July 2018
The National Young Writers Festival (NYWF) has announced the artists appearing on its 2018 program, which runs from 27-30 September in Newcastle. Guests announced on this year’s program include Alison...

Tuffield joins UQP

Thursday, 19 July 2018
UQP has announced the appointment of Aviva Tuffield to the publishing team. Tuffield joins UQP this week but will remain based in Melbourne. She will acquire fiction and nonfiction for the Brisbane-based publisher, and will...

Charnock wins 2018 Arthur C Clarke Award

Thursday, 19 July 2018
Anne Charnock’s Dreams Before the Start of Time (Amazon Publishing) has won the 2018 Arthur C Clarke Award for science-fiction, reports the Guardian. Set in London in 2034, Dreams Before the...

Caro, Coslovich, Falconer win in Walkley Mid-Year Awards

Thursday, 19 July 2018
The winners of the Walkley Mid-Year Awards have been announced. Jane Caro won the Walkley Foundation’s Women’s Leadership in Media Award for the nonfiction book she edited Unbreakable: Women Share...

‘Terry’s Dumb Dot Story’ raises over $140k for charity

Thursday, 19 July 2018
Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, in partnership with Pan Macmillan Australia, have donated $141,613 to charity from the sale of their short story Terry’s Dumb Dot Story. Published on 27 February,...

HarperCollins signs Treasure for two-book deal

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to White Horses by commercial fiction author Rachael Treasure in a two-book deal, via Margaret Connolly at Margaret Connolly and Associates. White Horses tells the...

Podcast spotlight: Quickie

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
With its first episode debuting in 2017, Quickie has been described by founder and host Nevena Spirovska as a 'feminist podcast that shoots straight from the lip'. Each episode is recorded...

NLA Publishing acquires ‘shadow play’ picture book

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
NLA Publishing has acquired world rights to picture book Hiding Moon, written by Emma Allen and illustrated by Sher Rill Ng. Publisher Susan Hall acquired rights directly from Allen, while...

Affirm Press acquires Fiona Hardy’s debut middle-grade novel ‘Rosebud’

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Affirm Press has acquired ANZ rights to debut middle-grade novel Rosebud by Readings bookseller Fiona Hardy. Rights were negotiated by agent Danielle Binks of Jacinta di Mase Management. Due to be published...

Liverpool library wins UK Library of the Year award

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
In the UK, Liverpool Central Library has won the Library of the Year award, reports the Bookseller. The Liverpool library was chosen from a shortlist of 10 for the award,...

NewSouth to publish official history of Australian operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
The Australian War Memorial (AWM) has awarded a tender to NewSouth Publishing to publish The Official History of Australian Operations in Iraq & Afghanistan and Australian Peacekeeping Operations in East...

Hundreds of rare flood-damaged books salvaged by freeze-drying

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Victorian conservators are working to save around 400 rare books through freeze-drying treatments, after thousands were destroyed during floods affecting the University of Tasmania’s law library earlier this year, reports...

SLV 2018 fellowships announced

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
State Library Victoria (SLV) has announced the recipients of its 2018 fellowships, including the inaugural Indigenous Victorian Aboriginal Cultural Research Fellowship. The recipients of the Creative Fellowships, worth $15,000 for...

Smith to leave Bonnier Zaffre UK

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
In the UK, Mark Smith is stepping down from the position of CEO of Bonnier Zaffre after selling his equity stake in the firm, reports the Bookseller. Smith was named...

Melbourne Writers Festival 2018 program launched

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
The program for the 2018 Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF), which runs from 24 August to 2 September, has been announced. This year's festival will open with a gala celebration featuring...

Educational Publishing Awards 2018 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced the shortlists for the 2018 Educational Publishing Awards Australia. The shortlists in each category are: Primary Student Resource: Arts/Science/Humanities/Social Sciences/Technologies/Health and Physical Education/Languages...

Namoi retires from A&U

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Angela Namoi will retire from her position as rights and international sales director (children’s) at Allen & Unwin (A&U) on 3 August. During her career, Namoi sold the 'Tashi' series...

Scribble sells North American rights to ‘Under the Love Umbrella’

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Scribe’s children’s imprint, Scribble, has sold North American rights to Under the Love Umbrella (Davina Bell, illus by Allison Colpoys) to Simply Read Books. Rights to the title have previously...

WORD Christchurch 2018 program announced

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
The program for the 2018 WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival, which runs from 29 August to 2 September, has been announced. Among the international guests attending this year’s festival...

UK study reveals only 4% of children’s books feature a BAME character

Tuesday, 17 July 2018
In the UK, a new report has found that only 4% of children’s books published in the UK in 2017 featured black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) characters, and only...

Castagna’s ‘No More Boats’ sold into North America

Tuesday, 17 July 2018
Giramondo has sold North American rights to Felicity Castagna’s No More Boats to Europa Editions editor-in-chief Michael Reynolds in a pre-empt, via Rach Crawford at literary agency MacKenzie Wolf. The Miles Franklin-shortlisted...