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Rights round-up 

Monday, 29 October 2012
Sales Fiction—Text has sold rights to The Rosie Project (Graeme Simsion) to La Campana in Catalan; Skolska Knjiga in Croatia; Otava in Finland; Libri in Hungary; Achuzat Bayit in Israel; Sijthoff...

RiP John Griffin 

Monday, 29 October 2012
John Griffin, New Zealand bookseller, publisher and founder of The University Bookshop in Otago, has died aged 88.

Merger talks between Penguin, Random House confirmed

Friday, 26 October 2012
In the UK, Pearson has confirmed that it is discussing ‘a possible combination of Penguin and Random House’ with Bertelsmann. Pearson said in a statement that the two publishers ‘have...

2012 Inky Awards: winners announced

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
The State Library of Victoria’s Centre for Youth Literature has announced the winners of the 2012 Gold and Silver Inky Awards.  The Gold Inky winner (for an Australian book) is...

Hill of Content: A brief history

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Melbourne’s Hill of Content Bookshop recently celebrated its 90th birthday. Manager Andrew Robertson shares the store’s history: Hill of Content Bookshop’s founder, A H Spencer was born in 1886 at...

Phaidon Press sold to Black family 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Phaidon Press has announced it has been acquired ‘from Richard Schlagman by the Leon D Black family’, but has not revealed terms of the acquisition. Schlagman, who acquired the publisher...

Changes to NZ Post Book Awards 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
From 2013, the public will be able to vote for any New Zealand book published within the eligible timeframe for the NZ Post Book Awards people’s choice award. Previously, the...

Pearson acquires EmbanetCompass 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Pearson has announced it has acquired online learning services company EmbanetCompass for US$650 million (approximately A$633 million). In a statement, the publisher said the acquisition built on Pearson’s ‘leading position...

Perseus Books Group exceeds financial goals 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
In the US, CEO of publisher and distributor Perseus Books Group David Steinberger has announced that the company has exceeded its financial goals for the financial year, reports Publishers Weekly....

Seaway acquires Intramar 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Seaway Logistics has announced it will purchase the business and assets of freight forwarder Intramar, which was recently placed under the control of receivers PPB Advisory. Seaway said in a...

Booksellers NZ board appoints new chair 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Mary Sangster of the Children’s Bookshop Christchurch has been elected chair of the board of Booksellers NZ, replacing Hamish Wright of Wright’s Bookshop, who has completed his four-year term as...

Harlequin to launch new contemporary romance imprint 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Harlequin will launch a new contemporary romance imprint in the US next year called Kiss, reports Publishers Weekly. The imprint, which Harlequin describes as ‘fun, flirty and sensual romances’, will...

Quote of the week 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
‘The main reason we wanted to try it was essentially to see what would happen—an experiment’—Momentum publisher Joel Naoum in the Sydney Morning Herald, explaining why the Pan Macmillan imprint...

In Brief 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
New Williamstown Library open A new library in Williamstown in Melbourne’s west was officially opened in September. The $8.1 million facility was funded by the Hobsons Bay City Council and...

Kneen’s book banned by Apple iBookstore 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Apple has removed Krissy Kneen’s erotic fiction novel Triptych (Text) from the iBookstore. Kneen told Bookseller+Publisher that Text received an email from iBookstore Publisher Support informing the publisher that the book 'has been ticketed for having...

International Library News 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Libraries own ebooks, says Random House The issue of library ebook ownership is receiving renewed attention after Random House in the US reiterated its position this week that libraries own...

New role for Exisle owner 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Exisle Publishing owner Benny St John Thomas has stepped down as sales and marketing director to focus on the publisher’s rights sales, taking on the role of rights director in...

‘Kill the Morans’ recalled in Victoria

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Kill the Morans: The Real Story of the Moran Crime Crew by Bert Wrout and Brett Quine (Five Mile Press), which was due to be released on 22 October, has been...

Patrick White: best in literature for 2012 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
The Arts Issue of The Monthly (ed by Paul Grabowsky) has selected Patrick White as the best in literature for the magazine’s feature ‘The best of Australian art 2012’. ‘Two lost books...

Rakuten to launch online stores in Australia 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Kobo parent company Rakuten has announced plans to open new online stores in Australia and India, reports Inside Retail Asia. The Japanese online retailer said the new businesses are part...

Microsoft unveils Surface tablet prices 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Microsoft has announced its new tablet computer, to be called Surface, will be priced at US$499 in the US. ‘The least expensive of its Surface tablets matches the entry-level price...

Romance imprint launches Facebook app 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
In the US, HarperCollins romance imprint Avon Books has announced the launch of a Facebook app that ‘targets the romance reader, offering an extensive list of sample excerpts from Avon...

UK secondhand bookseller launches Australian website 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
UK-based secondhand bookseller World of Books has launched an Australian website. World of Books Australia officially launched on 22 October. The business sources secondhand books from charities in the UK...

Hill of Content celebrates 90th birthday 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Melbourne’s Hill of Content Bookshop celebrated its 90th birthday on 18 October with a reception for staff, customers and friends. The Bourke Street bookshop was established by A H Spencer...

Paid content available from iBookstore in NZ 

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Apple has confirmed to Bookseller+Publisher that titles from Harlequin, HarperCollins and Hachette New Zealand are now available on the Apple iBookstore in New Zealand. It has been widely reported today...

GenreCon program announced 

Tuesday, 23 October 2012
The Queensland Writers Centre (QWC)’s GenreCon, a conference for Australian genre writers running from 2-4 November at Rydges Paramatta in NSW, has announced its program. GenreCon is aimed at Australian writers...

UK Bridport Prize shortlists annnounced 

Tuesday, 23 October 2012
The Bridport Prize, the UK writing competition open to all nationalities, has announced its shortlists. Categories include short story, poetry and flash fiction. As reported by Bookseller+Publisher, Australian and New Zealand...