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Indie Book Awards 2024 longlists announced

Thursday, 7 December 2023
The longlists for the 2024 Indie Book Awards, presented by Leading Edge Books, have been announced. The titles longlisted in each category are: Fiction Lola in the Mirror (Trent Dalton,...

The facts on 2024’s nonfiction releases

Wednesday, 6 December 2023
From big names and literary subjects, to politics, the environment and history, from personal development to crochet, sex guides to cookbooks, publishers pick their top nonfiction titles for 2024. Familiar...

Submit your Christmas closing dates

Wednesday, 6 December 2023
To be included in Books+Publishing’s annual list of publishers’ and distributors’ trade closing dates for the holiday period, please complete our Christmas closing dates survey by noon, Tuesday, 12 December....

Hachette updates and expands inclusive policies

Wednesday, 6 December 2023
Hachette Australia has announced the introduction of several new and updated inclusive policies, which it said ‘promote a safe and supportive environment for all employees; and recognises the critical role...

MUP appoints Kong as publisher

Wednesday, 6 December 2023
Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) has appointed Foong Ling Kong as its new publisher. Kong’s appointment comes after the MUP board split the role of CEO and publisher following Nathan Hollier’s...

Haldane to retire; Hume, Ractliffe, Rae join T&H

Wednesday, 6 December 2023
Thames & Hudson has announced several staff changes to take effect in the coming months. Head of product and operations Mark Haldane has announced that he will retire on 5...

Edmondson wins FT Book of the Year for ‘Right Kind of Wrong’

Wednesday, 6 December 2023
In the UK, Right Kind of Wrong: Why learning to fail can teach us to thrive (Amy Edmondson, Cornerstone Press) has won the 2023 Financial Times Business Book of the Year...

HarperCollins acquires Grace illustrated ‘great sex’ handbook

Wednesday, 6 December 2023
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to an as-yet-untitled debut nonfiction book from Georgia Grace on ‘the A–Z of great sex’. In the hardcover handbook, sex and relationship practitioner Grace ‘will...

Kassab to be inaugural Parramatta Laureate

Tuesday, 5 December 2023
Author Yumna Kassab has been selected as the inaugural Parramatta Laureate in Literature by the Sydney Review of Books (SRB) in partnership with the City of Parramatta and the Writing...

Kelly joins Affirm

Tuesday, 5 December 2023
Affirm Press has appointed Tace Kelly to the role of publicity manager. Kelly was most recently a senior publicist at Scribe, and formerly worked in bookselling, with roles at The...

Bongiorno wins ACT Book of the Year

Tuesday, 5 December 2023
Frank Bongiorno has been awarded the 2023 ACT Book of the Year for Dreamers and Schemers: A political history of Australia (La Trobe University Press). Bongiorno's book, which covers social...

UK volume sales of big names down on 2022

Tuesday, 5 December 2023
In the UK, volume sales of 'big brands' including Jamie Oliver, David Walliams and Richard Osman 'have been suffering a contraction in their Christmas run-in hardback releases', reports the Bookseller....

Running Water Community Press seeks film project funding

Monday, 4 December 2023
First Nations publisher Running Water Community Press (RWCP) is seeking funding for a proposed film project ‘kwatye urrewe—uplifting desert stories’. The publisher plans to collaborate with First Nations storytelling agency...

CLNZ Contestable Fund Grant 2023 recipients announced

Monday, 4 December 2023
In Aotearoa New Zealand, Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) has announced the 15 successful recipients of the 2023 Contestable Fund Grants. Project funding was awarded to the following individuals and...

FNAWN Varuna Fellowship 2024 recipients announced

Monday, 4 December 2023
Varuna, the National Writers’ House has announced the six 2024 recipients of the inaugural First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN) Varuna Fellowship. Successful applicants include: Lystra Bisschop for ‘The Upwarping’,...

PRH, authors file lawsuit against Iowa book banning law

Monday, 4 December 2023
In the US, Penguin Random House and the Iowa State Education Association have joined with four authors and five additional plaintiffs to file a federal lawsuit against Iowa to block...

Birch named Royal Society of Literature international fellow, signs with UQP for two new books

Friday, 1 December 2023
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to two new books by Tony Birch, a novel and a short story collection. The acquisitions follow Birch's most recent book...

Text acquires De Kretser novel

Thursday, 30 November 2023
Text Publishing has acquired ANZ rights to a new novel by Michelle de Kretser. Theory & Practice is a short novel set in Melbourne in the 1980s, where a young...

Dymocks, Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times essay prize inaugural winners announced

Thursday, 30 November 2023
The inaugural winners of a new essay prize for young writers, supported by Dymocks, have been announced by the Age, Brisbane Times and Sydney Morning Herald. The winners of the Age...

Pantera signs Messenger and Megginson’s ‘The Power of Two’

Thursday, 30 November 2023
Pantera Press has acquired ANZ rights to The Power of Two by Lisa Messenger and Sarah Megginson via Lou Johnson at Key People Literary Management. After eight years of trying...

QBD to open Forest Hill store, announces 2023 Books of the Year

Thursday, 30 November 2023
QBD Books has announced it will open a new store in Forest Hill in Melbourne's east. The store's grand opening will take place on Saturday 9 December, featuring authors including...

PRH signs Pignatiello romantic suspense duology

Thursday, 30 November 2023
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired world English-language rights to duology 'The Barbarani Estate' by debut author Emma Pignatiello, via Danielle Binks of Jacinta di Mase Management. Last Shot and Last Breath...

Inaugural SA Literary Fellowships announced

Thursday, 30 November 2023
Writers SA and the State Library of South Australia have announced the recipients of the inaugural SA Literary Fellowships program, which was established to support professional writers living in South...

Bitto wins Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship

Thursday, 30 November 2023
Emily Bitto has won the 2023 $35,000 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship, and Kate Mildenhall has been named runner-up, receiving $15,000. Bitto won for her manuscript ‘Reasons to Leave’, ‘a multi-protagonist novel...

Reading into the year ahead: 2024 fiction and poetry preview

Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Debuts, historical fiction, crime and thrillers, contemporary fiction, romance and fantasy, literary fiction and shorter works—Australian publishers share their top picks in fiction and poetry for 2024, from intergenerational family...