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Penguin Literary Prize 2024 shortlist announced

Thursday, 7 March 2024
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has announced the shortlist for the 2024 Penguin Literary Prize. The shortlisted manuscripts are: ‘What Is Left for Us’ by Sophie Stern (Sydney, NSW)—When Rebecca...

Aotearoa publishers receive audiobook funding

Thursday, 7 March 2024
The successful recipients of the second round of funding in the Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage audiobook publishing seed program in Aotearoa New Zealand have been announced by...

Affirm acquires Hardy’s ‘Unbury the Dead’

Thursday, 7 March 2024
Affirm Press has acquired world English rights to Unbury the Dead, a debut adult crime novel from Fiona Hardy, via Jacinta di Mase and Danielle Binks at Jacinta di Mase...

Former PRH, Macmillan executives launch new profit-share publishing venture

Thursday, 7 March 2024
In the US, three former high-level staff from Penguin Random House (PRH) and Macmillan have launched a new publishing company, Authors Equity, reports Publishers Weekly. Former PRH US CEO Madeline...

Australian Book Design Awards 2024 longlists announced

Wednesday, 6 March 2024
The longlists for the 2024 Australian Book Design Awards, presented by the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), have been announced. The longlisted titles in the first three categories, and the...

Book publicity in the TikTok age: What moves the needle now?

Wednesday, 6 March 2024
With the consolidation of print reviews that appear in some of Australia’s key newspapers and a reduction in the number that appear in others, how much effort should publishers expend...

What influences book sales? ‘It’s still maddeningly difficult to tell,’ says Richard Charkin

Wednesday, 6 March 2024
Richard Charkin has held executive positions at Oxford University Press and Reed Elsevier, among others, and is former chief executive of Macmillan Publishers Limited and former executive director of Bloomsbury,...

Ockham 2024 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 6 March 2024
The shortlists for the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. Chosen from longlists announced earlier this year, the shortlisted titles in each category are: Jann Medlicott Acorn...

Grenville longlisted for 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction

Wednesday, 6 March 2024
In the UK, the longlist for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced. Local author Kate Grenville has been longlisted for Restless Dolly Maunder (Text). The longlisted titles...

Amazon ebook anticompetition lawsuit to proceed

Wednesday, 6 March 2024
In the US, a federal judge has formally adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation that a consumer class action against Amazon for anticompetitive conduct in relation to the ebook market be...

Breen appointed Affirm agency manager

Wednesday, 6 March 2024
Affirm Press has announced former marketing and publicity manager Grace Breen has returned from parental leave to take up the newly created role of agency manager. Breen will head Affirm’s...

Ultimo acquires Khurana’s ‘The Passenger Seat’

Tuesday, 5 March 2024
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to Vijay Khurana’s debut novel, The Passenger Seat, in a three-way acquisition deal via Philip Gwyn Jones at Greyhound Literary. Described by the agent...

Gender pay gaps revealed for large Australian booksellers

Tuesday, 5 March 2024
Many larger Australian booksellers’ gender pay gaps are now viewable through the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) data explorer, which was made available last week. As reported by...

US diversity baseline survey shows ‘incremental’ gains

Tuesday, 5 March 2024
In the US, results from Lee & Low’s 2023 ‘Diversity Baseline’ survey of the publishing workforce have been released, finding the industry ‘has made incremental gains in broadening its workforce...

Stella Prize 2024 longlist announced

Monday, 4 March 2024
The longlist for the $60,000 Stella Prize for women and non-binary writers has been announced. The longlisted books are: Praiseworthy (Alexis Wright, Giramondo) She Is the Earth (Ali Cobby Eckermann,...

Spotify adds audiobook-only subscription offer

Monday, 4 March 2024
Music streaming platform Spotify has announced a new subscription category ‘for literary enthusiasts who are looking for more audiobook-specific content’. The new audiobooks access tier, available only in the US...

T&H announces sales and marketing staff changes

Monday, 4 March 2024
Thames & Hudson (T&H) has announced several changes to its sales and marketing departments, alongside the upcoming retirement of its head of sales, Louise Lawson. Lawson’s last day with T&H...

Booktopia half-year revenue down 21%; profit down 34%

Monday, 4 March 2024
Booktopia has reported $86.3 million in revenue for the six months to 31 December, down 21% compared to the corresponding period last financial year ($109.3m). The company also reported an...

S&S acquires Rogers novel in three-book deal

Thursday, 29 February 2024
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to Matt Rogers’ novel The Forsaken in a three-book deal via Daniel Pilkington. The publisher said The Forsaken is the first...

HarperCollins acquires Gorman’s ‘Lost Pleasure’

Thursday, 29 February 2024
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to Lost Pleasure: Searching for the sex straight women are missing by Alyx Gorman. Gorman is the lifestyle editor of Guardian Australia and has been writing...

Kat Muscat Fellowship 2024 shortlist announced

Thursday, 29 February 2024
Express Media and the Kat Muscat Fellowship Committee have announced the shortlist for the 2024 Kat Muscat Fellowship, which offers support and development to a young Australian writer and/or editor...

MidnightSun acquires Siemienowicz novel ‘Double Happiness’

Thursday, 29 February 2024
MidnightSun has acquired world rights to Double Happiness, a novel by Rochelle Siemienowicz. The publisher said that Double Happiness is ‘a novel about the complexities of polyamorous relationships’. ‘Overcome with...

MWF announces Cunningham, Murray and Jamison as first guests

Thursday, 29 February 2024
Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) has announced the first guests for the 2024 event, which will take place from 6 to 12 May. Pulitzer Prize–winner Michael Cunningham, Booker-nominee Paul Murray and New York Times bestselling...