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New publishers join Murdoch Books 

Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Allen & Unwin has continued to expand the Murdoch Books publishing team, with Diana Hill, Jane Morrow and Corinne Roberts joining Murdoch Books as publishers. A&U publishing director Sue Hines...

RiP Bronwyn Halliday 

Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Bronwyn Halliday, former director of the State Library of South Australia (SLSA), has died. Halliday was director of the SLSA from 2000 to 2004, during which time she oversaw the...

Spielberg set to produce ‘The Grapes of Wrath’

Monday, 8 July 2013
US producer Steven Spielberg is set to produce a film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, reports the Guardian. Spielberg’s California-based production company DreamWorks Studios is reportedly in the process...

Bestsellers this week 

Monday, 8 July 2013
After winning the 2013 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Michelle de Kretser’s Questions of Travel (A&U) is in first place on the fastest movers chart this week. Questions of Travel has also...

Ormsby leaves RMIT Publishing 

Monday, 8 July 2013
Kevin Ormsby has retired from the position of publishing manager at RMIT Publishing in Melbourne after eight years at the company. Prior to joining RMIT Publishing in 2006, Ormsby held a...

National Biography Award 2013 shortlist announced

Monday, 8 July 2013
The shortlist for the 2013 National Biography Award, presented by the State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW), has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Speechless: A Year in My...

NT History Book Award winners announced 

Friday, 5 July 2013
Two books published by Melbourne-based university presses have won this year’s Chief Minister’s Northern Territory History Book Award. Tiwi: Arts, History, Culture by Jennifer Isaacs, published by Melbourne University Press’...

Indonesia guest of honour at Frankfurt 2015 

Friday, 5 July 2013
Indonesia has been selected as the Guest of Honour country for the 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair, following Brazil in 2013 and Finland in 2014. In a statement, the Frankfurt Book...

Abrahams, Booton to join the Wheeler Centre 

Thursday, 4 July 2013
The Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas in Melbourne has announced the appointment of Simon Abrahams to the role of head of programming and Jaclyn Booton to the newly...

Cengage US enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy 

Thursday, 4 July 2013
In the US, educational publisher Cengage Learning has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the equivalent of administration in Australia. The company said in a statement on 2 July that it...

Speech Pathology Book of the Year 2013 shortlists announced 

Thursday, 4 July 2013
Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) has announced the shortlists for this year’s Book of the Year Awards.  The shortlists include 40 books across four categories: Young Children, Lower Primary, Upper Primary and Indigenous Children. The...

Faber UK launches online store with The Book People 

Wednesday, 3 July 2013
In the UK, Faber has launched an online store with the website The Book People, reports the Bookseller. The store, called FaberShop, sells directly to customers, and sits alongside other...

SPN partners with Ingram for digital distribution 

Wednesday, 3 July 2013
The Small Press Network (SPN) has announced a digital distribution partnership with Ingram’s CoreSource platform, which will replace its current Digital Distribution Service. SPN is offering CoreSource to its members at...

Authors Guild v Google: judges drop class action ruling 

Wednesday, 3 July 2013
In the US Authors Guild’s lawsuit against Google’s book-scanning project, judges from the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals have dropped Judge Denny Chin’s 2012 ruling that granted the guild class action status,...

Macdonald appointed contract publisher for HarperCollins NZ 

Wednesday, 3 July 2013
HarperCollins New Zealand has appointed journalist and editor Finlay Macdonald to the newly created position of contract publisher to ‘steer its local publishing program’.   Macdonald, who begins with HarperCollins...

‘ABR’ editor raises concerns over MWF programming 

Wednesday, 3 July 2013
In the July issue of Australian Book Review (ABR), editor Peter Rose has raised concerns over the Melbourne Writers Festival’s (MWF) decision to feature the London Review of Books (LRB) in...

RIP Paul Alford 

Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Paul Alford, owner of book distributor TB Clarke and long-time member of the Australian publishing industry, has died. Alford previously held positions with William Collins, HarperCollins and Pan Macmillan, among others, in...

RIP Ray Richards 

Wednesday, 3 July 2013
New Zealand publisher and literary agent Ray Richard has died, aged 92. On behalf of the Publishers Association of New Zealand, Kevin Chapman writes: ‘The publishing industry has lost a...

Quote of the week 

Wednesday, 3 July 2013
‘A deal like this effectively excludes sixty percent of the book buying market’—Australian Booksellers Association president and managing director of Australian Library Services Patricia Genat on Steve Waugh’s decision to...

In brief 

Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Melton Library becomes first Australian library to receive Green Star rating The new Melton Library and Learning Hub in Victoria has been awarded a Green Star rating from the Green...