Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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Japan to collect sales tax on ebooks sold overseas 

Friday, 24 January 2014
Japan will begin collecting a sales tax on downloadable goods such as ebooks from foreign websites in 2015, reports the Japan Daily Press. No taxes are currently imposed on digital content...

The books: a strong showing for local fiction 

Friday, 24 January 2014
In Books+Publishing’s pre-Christmas survey, booksellers were overwhelmingly impressed by the titles on offer, particularly in local fiction. While Nielsen BookScan’s figures show that fiction sales were down on the previous...

Online sales 

Friday, 24 January 2014
Online sales of print books were much stronger in Christmas 2013. Seventy-three percent of booksellers reported an increase in online sales compared to Christmas 2012, up from 13% who reported in increase in...

Stock: supply, sales and returns 

Friday, 24 January 2014
Several booksellers reported ‘the usual’ issues with slow deliveries, but a number reported that supply was better than last year. One NSW bookseller said: ‘In general stock supply seemed much...

Publishers’ perspectives 

Friday, 24 January 2014
Almost all of the publishers who participated in Books+Publishing’s post-Christmas survey described Christmas 2013 as ‘excellent’, with just two publishers describing sales during the Christmas period as ‘good’ or ‘okay’....

Post-Christmas survey: sales up for 69% of booksellers 

Friday, 24 January 2014
The majority of booksellers have reported an increase in sales in Christmas 2013 compared to the previous year, according to the results of Books+Publishing’s annual post-Christmas survey.Books+Publishing received feedback from...

2013 WAYRBA winners announced 

Thursday, 23 January 2014
The winners of the 2013 West Australia Young Readers’ Book Awards (WAYRBA) were announced at the end of 2013. The winning books are:Picture Book Award Hairy Nose, Itchy Butt by...

Quercus for sale

Thursday, 23 January 2014
UK publisher Quercus is looking for a new owner, putting itself up for sale just days after announcing that it was expecting to record a ‘significant trading loss’ for 2013,...

IPA endorses Thema classification standard 

Wednesday, 22 January 2014
The International Publishers Association (IPA) has officially endorsed Thema, the global subject classification standard for the book trade that was first launched at the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair. IPA secretary general Jens...

‘The Dark’ wins 2014 Charlotte Zolotow Award 

Wednesday, 22 January 2014
The Dark by Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen (Hodder) has won the 2014 Charlotte Zolotow Award, presented for outstanding writing in a picture book published in the US. The award,...

Nikolic to join Nielsen NZ 

Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Nevena Nikolic has been appointed as national manager for Nielsen Book Services in New Zealand. Nikolic, who begins in the role on 28 January, replaces former national manager David Dromer,...

Search underway for ‘Great Kiwi Classic’ 

Wednesday, 22 January 2014
The New Zealand Book Council (NZBC) and Auckland Writers Festival (AWF) have partnered to find the ‘Great Kiwi Classic’ and are asking New Zealanders to ‘join the search for our most...

Lit magazine ‘Seizure’ relaunches

Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Literary magazine Seizure relaunched in January with a new website that replaces the biannual print magazine.The website will be updated each week with new writing, which will be kept behind...

Julietta Jameson on the royalty payment cycle 

Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Why should authors have to wait up to nine months to be paid royalties? Julietta Jameson spoke to Text publisher Michael Heyward, literary agents Selwa Anthony and Lyn Tranter, and...

Quote of the week 

Wednesday, 22 January 2014
‘After several years of declining sales it was good to see the market bounce back, particularly in the area of physical book retail’—Allen & Unwin sales and marketing director Jim...

Table manners: Sally Piper on ‘Grace’s Table’ 

Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Sally Piper’s novel Grace’s Table (UQP, April) uses the device of a meal—preparation, serving, eating and aftermath—to tell the life story of a 70-year-old woman. She spoke to reviewer Max...

Audible launches Australian audiobook store

Tuesday, 21 January 2014
Amazon-owned Audible has launched an Australian audiobook store. The audible.com.au site went live on 15 January. Australian customers, who were previously able to purchase audiobooks from the Audible US site,...

Australian, NZ books selected for 2014 Gourmand Awards 

Tuesday, 21 January 2014
A number of Australian and New Zealand books have been selected for the 2014 Gourmand Awards. The Australian winners are:Authors and chefs category Chef: Patissier (Emmanuel Mollois, UWA Publishing) Woman...

Last chance to complete our post-Christmas survey 

Tuesday, 21 January 2014
Books+Publishing is currently conducting its annual post-Christmas survey of booksellers and publishers. This is your last chance to complete the survey online. BooksellersIf you are a bookseller, please complete the...

Rights round-up 

Tuesday, 21 January 2014
SalesNonfiction—Michelle Anderson Publishing has sold US rights to You Can Conquer Cancer (Ian Gawler) to Tarcher; Exisle Publishing has sold North American rights to Mindfulness at Work (Stephen McKenzie); and Allen...