Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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Flying high: Jeannie Baker on ‘Circle’ 

Jeannie Baker Monday, 21 March 2016
In her new picture book Circle, Jeannie Baker uses her distinctive mixed-media illustrations to depict the migration of the bar-tailed godwits. Reviewer Margaret Hamilton describes it as a ‘masterpiece’. She...

Book bites: Get smart 

Monday, 21 March 2016
The Weird and Wonderful World of Words (Wild Dog Books, April) is an excellent springboard for language classes. Its mix of facts, illustrations and creative design make this an appealing...

Book bites: International appeal 

Monday, 21 March 2016
Berbay Publishing and Gecko Press specialise in finding and publishing some of the world’s best—and quirkiest—children’s books Down Under. King of the Castle (Aurora Ruá, illus by Guridi, Berbay, March),...

Book bites: Serial addiction 

Monday, 21 March 2016
The apartment-dwelling, mystery-solving Squishy Taylor made her junior-fiction debut in February. This new series for readers aged six and up—which is quickly gaining fans—continues in March and April with Squishy...

Book bites: Teen talk 

Monday, 21 March 2016
YA  fantasy fans have a lot of choose from in the coming months. Julius and the Soulcatcher (Tim Hehir, Text, June), book two in the ‘Watchmaker’ novels, returns to a...

Fertile ground: Jane Harper on ‘The Dry’ 

Jane Harper Monday, 21 March 2016
Jane Harper won the 2015 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript for her first novel The Dry (Picador, June). She spoke to reviewer Myles McGuire. One of the most...

Book bites: In the picture 

Monday, 21 March 2016
Clarrie is a farmer who gets his words mixed up: ‘The sun is up and I have a lot to shoe. No. I have a lot to poo.’ You can...

Editor’s picks: Andrea Hanke’s autumn reading list 

Editors Picks Monday, 21 March 2016
Curtis Sittenfeld and Anne Tyler update Austen and Shakespeare in Andrea Hanke’s autumn reading list. Modern classics Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld (HarperCollins, May) is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s...

Your store: Shelf support 

Paper Bird Fremantle Monday, 21 March 2016
If you look closely at the shelves of several WA bookstores you might notice some distinctive new signage. Over the past few months Fremantle Press has been fitting out local...

Smarten up: Professional development in publishing 

Monday, 21 March 2016
Professional development opportunities are a ‘mixed bag’ in the publishing industry, but there are opportunities if you know where to look, writes Portia Lindsay. Professional development in the publishing industry...

Your store: Non-book item of the month 

Monday, 21 March 2016
While book-lovers are unlikely to be lost for conversation topics, these TableTopics conversation cards could liven up a retro dinner party or an awkward internet date. Each TableTopics cube has...

Shelf talk: Quirky tales 

Monday, 21 March 2016
To talk about upcoming left-of-centre titles that I’m excited about and not start with Justin Cronin’s The City of Mirrors (Orion, June) would be ridiculous and punishable by … something...

Shelf talk: Women’s fiction 

Monday, 21 March 2016
Booksellers looking to shore up their women’s fiction lists for Mother’s Day are spoilt for choice. Katie Rowney brings a fresh, contemporary voice to rural fiction with Front Page News...

Shelf talk: True to life 

Monday, 21 March 2016
When investigative journalist Luke Williams started researching the world of crystal meth, he became addicted to the drug. Williams recounts the experience in The Ice Age (Scribe, May), combining reportage...

Shelf talk: Tasty titles 

Monday, 21 March 2016
Pete Evans and Sally Obermeder both have new cookbooks out in April. Evan’s One Pot Favourites (Plum) features paleo recipes that can be made in one pot or wok, while...

Shelf talk: Fantastic fiction 

Monday, 21 March 2016
The second quarter of the year is a big one in sci-fi/fantasy circles. There are expos, conventions and the 50th annual Nebula awards all clamouring for attention. It’s also a...

Shelf talk: Craft corner 

Monday, 21 March 2016
The following titles have an arty, crafty or inspirational appeal. Penguin—an abandoned, injured magpie chick—came into Sam Bloom’s life after a near-fatal fall left her paralysed. When Sam’s husband Cameron...

Pearce and co: A history of the Hobart Bookshop

Monday, 21 March 2016
Christopher Pearce followed his father Cedric into bookselling, working first at Fullers and then the Papua New Guinea Bookshop before opening the Hobart Bookshop with his partner Janet, writes bookseller...

Terri-ann White: Is the book industry special? 

Terri-ann White Monday, 21 March 2016
UWA Publishing director Terri-ann White has written books, taught writing and literature, and owned a bookshop. She joins Books+Publishing in 2016 as a regular columnist examining the book industry and where...

Talkback: Changes to penalty rates 

Jane Seaton Max Shirley Monday, 21 March 2016
Do you think penalty rates need to change for Australian retailers? Books+Publishing asked two booksellers. Given that penalty rates were established in 1947 to compensate people working outside ‘normal hours’, and that...

Inaugural ‘Overland’ Neilma Sidney Prize winners announced

Monday, 21 March 2016
The winner and runners-up for Overland’s inaugural Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize for travel-themed short fiction have been announced. Lauren Foley’s ‘K-K-K’, a ‘story about states of placenessness’ inspired by...

NGV releases program for second Art Book Fair

Monday, 21 March 2016
The National Gallery of Victoria will host the second annual Melbourne Art Book Fair from 29 April to 1 May. The program has expanded to include twice as many publishers...

Wichtendahl replaces Knock as Co-op CEO

Monday, 21 March 2016
The Co-op has appointed COO Thorsten Wichtendahl as its new CEO, replacing Peter Knock, who has stepped down for family reasons. Wichtendahl joined the Co-op in 2011 and oversaw the...