ABA launches Writing Australia–funded bookseller grants
Thursday, 18 June 2026
With funding from Writing Australia, the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) will offer grants of $2,000 to $10,000 through its new ABA Bookseller Events Program. The first round of grants are...
ASA updates contract templates with AI clauses
Thursday, 18 June 2026
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has updated its model publishing agreement templates for authors and illustrators with new AI clauses. In the updated model trade publishing agreement documents, key...
Wilderness Society announces 2026 Karajia, environment award shortlists
Thursday, 18 June 2026
The Wilderness Society has announced the shortlists for the 2026 Environment Award for Children’s Literature and Karajia Award for Children’s Literature. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Environment Award...
HarperCollins acquires Hayden Green’s YA verse novel in two-book deal
Thursday, 18 June 2026
HarperCollins Children’s Books has acquired world rights to YA verse novel Not Black Enough by Hayden Green in a two-book deal negotiated by Sarah McKenzie of Sarah McKenzie Literary Management...
Wombat Books acquires Linsey Painter’s “The Butterfly Mermaid”
Thursday, 18 June 2026
Rhiza Press imprint Wombat Books has acquired world rights to The Butterfly Mermaid, a middle-grade book by Linsey Painter. The Butterfly Mermaid is a “fun, portal fantasy adventure perfect for...
New bookshops in Victoria, Queensland and online
Thursday, 18 June 2026
Three recent bookstores have launched with a focus on building and serving communities, both local and special-interest. Under the Elms Bookshop opened in the Victorian town of Camperdown in early...
Telling everybody
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
NielsenIQ reported sales for the year to date are up, among other news from the 2026 Australian Booksellers Association annual conference, which wrapped up on Monday afternoon; Byron Writers Festival...
NielsenIQ: Local sales up $14 million for the year to date
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Book sales in the local market are up so far in 2026, representing $14 million more in sales for the first quarter of 2026 compared with 2025, with adult fiction...
OverDrive partners with ILF on digital First Languages children’s books
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
OverDrive has partnered with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) to bring First Languages children’s books to more readers through the library book app Libby and student reading app Sora. Languages...
Inflation, closed doors, horror, but the mood was up at the 2026 ABA conference
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
More than one graph shown at this year’s Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) annual conference in Canberra showed inflation steeply outpacing book sales. Yet the mood of the conference was positive...
US publishers sue WeLib website for copyright infringement
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
In the US, following the finding against pirate website Anna’s Archive, 13 publishers including the Big Five have joined to sue website WeLib for copyright infringement. The suit, filed in...
Nam Le, Hazel Phillips receive Varuna International Exchange fellowships
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Varuna has announced the recipients for its International Exchange – New Zealand fellowship, offered in partnership with the Michael King Writers Centre and WORD Christchurch Festival with funding from Creative Australia....
Allen & Unwin acquires Ariarne Titmus memoir
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Relentless: Family, Self-belief and the Will to Win, a memoir by Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus, from David Malina at IMG Talent....
Allen & Unwin acquires Human Nature memoir
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Human Nature’s memoir Only Human: Harmony Through the Hits & Hard Times, via manager Jennifer Fontaine. Pop vocal group Human Nature...
Byron Writers Festival 2026 program announced
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Byron Writers Festival has released the line-up for this year’s program, running from 14 to 16 August in Bundjalung Country, Byron Bay, NSW. Festival organisers said that with the theme...
HarperCollins acquires Anthony LaPaglia memoir
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to The Life We Choose, a memoir by actor Anthony LaPaglia. Described by the publisher as “raw and layered”, the memoir traces LaPaglia’s journey from...
Kate Foster recommends
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
One book I can’t get out of my head, which I read last year, is How to Sail to Somewhere by Ashleigh Barton. Ashleigh writes in such a tender, accessible...
Kate Foster on “A River I Must Be”
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Kate Foster is a Gold Coast–based, bestselling and award-winning children’s author whose latest middle-grade novel in verse, A River I Must Be (HarperCollins Publishers), follows an autistic year 7 student...
Redundancies, promotions at Booktopia as digiDirect integrates its consumer-facing businesses
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Several Booktopia staff have been made redundant as part of operational changes made by parent company digiDirect. Sophie Higgins, who joined Booktopia in 2024 as head of merchandise, has been...
Alice Jolly wins 2026 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
UK author Alice Jolly has won the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for her novel The Matchbox Girl (Bloomsbury), reports the Bookseller. The Matchbox Girl tells the story of Adelheid...
Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award 2026 longlist announced
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
The Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) has announced the longlist for the 2026 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award, worth $50,000. The 14 longlisted titles, chosen from over 230...
Helen Goh, Yoko Nakazawa win 2026 James Beard Awards
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Local titles Baking and the Meaning of Life: How to Find Joy in 100 Recipes by Helen Goh (Murdoch Books) and The Japanese Art of Pickling & Fermenting: Preserving Vegetables...
WH Smith issues profit warning
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
WH Smith, which operates over 30 stores in Australia, has issued a profit warning and raised £102 million in new capital from investors. The business issued the profit warning after...
Writers Victoria confirms end of Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Writers Victoria has confirmed that the latest round of the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund is the last, marking the end of a program that has supported Australian writers and...
Australia Reads announces return of Volume symposium
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Australia Reads’ free online reading advocacy symposium Volume will return in October, expanding to a 2-day format. Speaking at the Australian Booksellers Association conference in Canberra, Australia Reads CEO Anna...
UWA Publishing acquires Thuy On’s “Insolence”
Monday, 15 June 2026
UWA Publishing (UWAP) has acquired world rights to Insolence, the fourth poetry collection by Melbourne-based poet, critic and arts journalist Thuy On. According to the publisher, Insolence “reinvents, reimagines and...
HarperCollins acquires Kári Gíslason’s “To Catch a Fox”
Monday, 15 June 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to Kári Gíslason’s new crime novel, To Catch a Fox, in a deal brokered by Grace Heifetz at a4 Literary. Described by the publisher as...
A&U acquires two books in new Naïma Brown series
Monday, 15 June 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to two books in a new series by Naïma Brown, in a deal brokered by Pippa Masson at Curtis Brown. In the...
Stefen Brazulaitis, Graeme Aitken inaugural Lifetime Achievement winners at 2026 ABA bookseller and book of the year awards
Monday, 15 June 2026
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced the winners of its 2026 Book of the Year and Bookseller of Year awards. Also announced at the ABA Conference Gala Dinner in...
Davitt Awards 2026 longlists announced
Monday, 15 June 2026
Sisters in Crime has announced the longlists for the 2026 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. The longlisted titles in each category are: Adult novels At...
