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‘WBN’ published Thursday next week 

Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Please note that, due to the Australia Day public holiday on Monday, the next Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on Thursday 29 January.The deadline for classifieds and job advertisements is therefore 12 noon...

Adelaide Writers’ Week 2015 program launched

Wednesday, 21 January 2015
The 2015 Adelaide Writers’ Week program has been launched.The event will run from Saturday 28 February to Thursday 5 March at the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden in Adelaide. As previously reported...

S&S, HarperCollins launch direct-to-consumer programs

Monday, 19 January 2015
In the US, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins have announced new channels for direct-to-consumer sales, reports Publishers Weekly. HarperCollins has launched a pilot program with cloud reader Aerbook, which enables...

Bestsellers this week 

Monday, 19 January 2015
Fiction titles are dominating this week’s bestsellers chart. The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Richard Flanagan, Vintage) reclaimed the overall top spot from Jeff Kinney’s The Long Haul (Puffin),...

Case appointed program manager at MWF

Monday, 19 January 2015
Writer, editor and bookseller Jo Case has joined the Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) as its new program manager.Case, who joins the team in February, will replace program manager and schools’...

Digital Book Awards 2015 winners announced

Friday, 16 January 2015
The Digital Book Awards were announced in New York on 14 January as part of the Digital Book World (DBW) conference. Among the winners in the flowable ebook categories were...

NZ booksellers up 10.5% over Christmas

Friday, 16 January 2015
New Zealand booksellers have increased their Christmas sales by 10.5% in value and 8.6% in volume in 2014, reports Booksellers NZ.Booksellers NZ CEO Lincoln Gould said: ‘Figures from Nielsen show a...

Arthur launches arts agency JAM PR

Friday, 16 January 2015
Former Hachette campaign manager Jaki Arthur is launching a new Sydney-based arts agency.Arthur told Books+Publishing that Jaki Arthur Management + PR (JAM PR) will offer services such as books and arts publicity;...

The Wheeler Centre celebrates fifth birthday

Friday, 16 January 2015
The Wheeler Centre is turning five in February.Melbourne’s centre for books, writing and ideas will mark its five-year anniversary with a series of gala events throughout the month. The first is...

Local book sales up over Christmas 

Friday, 16 January 2015
Local booksellers have recorded a boost in sales over the Christmas period compared to the previous year.According to Nielsen BookScan, sales were up 1.5% in volume and 0.7% in value over the 13...

New writers’ festival planned for Canberra 

Thursday, 15 January 2015
A new writers’ festival will be held in Canberra in 2015.Noted, an offshoot of Canberra’s experimental arts festival You Are Here, is being pitched as ‘Canberra’s first ever experimental festival...

Ubud announces 2015 dates

Thursday, 15 January 2015
The 2015 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) will be held from 28 October to 1 November in Bali, Indonesia, and will explore the theme ‘17,000 Islands of Imagination’. Organisers...

Perth Writers Festival 2015 program launched

Thursday, 15 January 2015
The 2015 Perth Writers Festival program has been launched and tickets are now on sale.As previously reported by Books+Publishing, the line-up of international guests includes UK author Hilary Mantel (via...

Indie bookstore Diabolik opens in Perth 

Wednesday, 14 January 2015
A new independent bookstore opened in the Perth suburb of Mt Hawthorn in November.Diabolik Books and Records owner Scott Jones told Books+Publishing that books account for around 70% of the...

Simon & Schuster to offer online author courses 

Wednesday, 14 January 2015
In the US, Simon & Schuster is offering paid online video courses from some of its popular authors, reports the New York Times. The courses will be made available on...

International library news

Wednesday, 14 January 2015
NYC libraries to offer internet hotspotsThe New York Public Library is lending out 10,000 free high-speed internet hotspots valued at US$1000 (A$1223) to some of the city’s poorest residents, reports...

Quote of the week 

Wednesday, 14 January 2015
‘Comments like “isn’t everyone buying ebooks” and “isn’t everyone buying books from the internet” are virtually non-existent’—Collins Booksellers Wagga owner Peter Halicki responds to the Books+Publishing post-Christmas survey. Booksellers can complete the...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 14 January 2015
SalesFiction—Literary agent Alex Adsett has sold world rights to the two-book series ‘Who’s Afraid’ (Maria Lewis) to Piatkus in the UK. Nonfiction—Black Inc. has sold Japanese rights to Gazing at...

Brisbane bookstore Black Cat Books to close 

Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Brisbane bookstore Black Cat Books has announced that it will close on 30 January.The Paddington store, which specialises in children’s books, has been the site of a bookshop for more than 30...

Dymocks exits Hong Kong 

Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Dymocks is withdrawing from the Hong Kong market, beginning with the closure of its flagship store and Hong Kong office.A further five independently owned and operated Dymocks stores will continue...

Harsent wins 2014 T S Eliot Prize

Tuesday, 13 January 2015
In the UK, David Harsent has won the 2014 T S Eliot Prize for Poetry for his collection Fire Songs (Faber) after being shortlisted for the prize five times, reports...

Man Booker Prize eligibility, availability rules changed

Tuesday, 13 January 2015
The Man Booker Prize has made changes to its rules on the availability of longlisted titles and eligibility of international titles, reports the Bookseller. Following complaints that the prize was...