Rights round-up
Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Sales Nonfiction Black Inc. has sold Danish rights to The Shortest History of the United States of America (Don Watson) to Svane og Bilgrav. Major Street Press has sold simplified...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Books+Publishing partners with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the current edition.
The Feathers of Farwood and the Gripps Curse (Jayne McIntyre, Riveted Press)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Jayne McIntyre’s debut novel, The Feathers of Farwood and the Gripps Curse, is the first in a new trilogy. Set in the small Australian town of Farwood, the story blends...
Haze (Sam Elliott, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Samuel Elliott’s debut novel, Haze, introduces constable Dahlia Turner, newly returned to her coastal hometown of Broughlet – a place defined by terrible surf, an ice problem and the unsettling...
Nature Knows (Yvette Farmer, illus Chloe Jasmine Harris, T&H)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Nature Knows is a gentle picture book that steps quietly into the growing conversation around children’s wellbeing and the restorative power of time outdoors. Yvette Farmer, a primary school teacher with...
Ruby’s Web (Ellen van Neerven, Magabala)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
In Ruby’s Web, Ellen van Neerven (Heat and Light, Comfort Food) situates a coming-of-age story against the backdrop of the 2023 Voice referendum, highlighting the severity of online abuse faced...
The Belfast Express (Brigid Carrick, Ventura)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Centring on an aspiring nurse in 1970s Ireland, Bridid Carrick’s The Belfast Express examine the impact of the Catholic Church and chronic underemployment on the lives of Dubliners. After 18-year-old...
The Boy and the Dog Tree (Fiona Wood, UQP)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Fiona Wood (How to Spell Catastrophe), a 3-time CBCA winner, returns to middle-grade fiction with a heartfelt tale of the magical bond between animals and humans. Mitch has spent his...
Vow of Eternal Night (Lily Crozier, Penguin)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Lily Crozier’s debut, Vow of Eternal Night, reads as if it were written with a deep love for the romantasy genre and for those who consume it. (A Mr Darcy–like hand...
Poster Boys (Scott Woodard, Lothian)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Poster Boys follows Edward, a “try-hard” who navigates school life alongside space cadet Nolan and popular jock James when their paths collide at Highview Grammar. Each boy has his own...
On Not Climbing Mountains (Claire Thomas, Hachette)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Claire Thomas’s On Not Climbing Mountains is a slyly restless work. It treats travel less as a physical movement and more as an intensity and state of heightened attention. The...
How to Die in the 21st Century: A Whole New Way to Talk About Death (Hannah Gould, T&H)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
For something that will affect all of us, death is a topic that’s difficult to bring up. Enter Hannah Gould, whose How to Die in the 21st Century seeks to bring...
The House of Blue Grass (Alan Atkinson, NewSouth)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Alan Atkinson’s The House of Blue Glass is ostensibly a biography of Penelope Lucas, “the first well-educated woman to travel from Europe to Australia without the ‘protection’ of a husband...
A Far-flung Life (ML Stedman, Penguin)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
From the acclaimed author of The Light Between Oceans comes A Far-flung Life, ML Stedman’s much-anticipated second novel. Set in rural Western Australia in 1958, the story follows the MacBride...
A&U acquires book based on “The Inventors” series
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Allen & Unwin has acquired world rights to a book based on the television documentary series The First Inventors, which was written and directed by Larissa Behrendt. The First Inventors...
Libraro and Hachette UK launch £50,000 “reader-led” prize
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Hachette UK and community-driven digital platform Libraro have launched a “reader-led” prize that aims “to discover the next big English-language fiction author,” reported the Bookseller yesterday. The winner is set...
Claims of hypocrisy levelled over AWW as Abdel-Fattah invitation reissued
Monday, 19 January 2026
The new Adelaide Festival Board has invited Randa Abdel-Fattah to speak at the 2027 Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) and apologised “unreservedly for the harm the Adelaide Festival Corporation has caused...
Mildura Writers Festival director, board changes
Monday, 19 January 2026
The Mildura Writers Festival has announced the appointment of Finley Japp as the new festival director, replacing co-founder Donata Carazza who has been director for the past 5 years. Born...
Wiley acquires Judd’s debut
Monday, 19 January 2026
Wiley has acquired world rights to Caitlin Judd’s nonfiction title Good Girl, Goodbye: Rewrite Your Story, Reclaim Your Power, Build a Life You Love. According to the publisher, Good Girl,...
APA releases ABIA guide
Thursday, 15 January 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has released a guide for publishers entering the 2026 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA). Drawing on judging comments from last year’s awards, Judges Insights: A...
AWW cancelled, resignations; Silvey arrested; the Australian book market up
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Major local news In 2026 literary news, Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) has been cancelled after over 100 panelists withdrew following the removal of Randa Abdel-Fattah from its program. In the wake...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Sales Nonfiction Black Inc. has sold North American rights to The Shortest History of Innovation (Andrew Leigh), The Shortest History of Egypt (Maria Golia), The Shortest History of Reality (Geraint F Lewis)...
Vale Jean Bedford
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Author and editor Jean Bedford died on 11 December 2025. The Newtown Review of Books writes: Writer and editor Jean Bedford died after a long illness on 11 December 2025....
Adelaide Writers’ Week cancelled
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
The outgoing Adelaide Festival board announced yesterday that Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) will not be held this year. The decision follows the withdrawal of more than 100 writers from the...
HarperCollins acquires Mason’s next novel
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason, via a deal brokered by Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown. Sophie, Standing There is a novel about “love, loneliness...
Indie Book Awards 2026 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Indie Book Awards have been announced. Chosen from the longlist announced in December, the shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)...
Canelo acquires Puckboys MM romance series
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
UK publisher Canelo has acquired world English print rights to the Puckboys series by Eden Finley and Saxon James, in a 10-book deal between Canelo editorial director Emily Bedford and...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Books+Publishing is partnering with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the edition here.
Oh Brother (Georgina Chadderton, Penguin)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Oh Brother by Georgina Chadderton is a warm, perceptive middle-grade graphic memoir about growing up alongside a sibling with high support needs. Set in the early 2000s, the book follows...
Bird Deity (John Morrissey, Text)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Shorter novels have made a strong resurgence in recent years – particularly in science fiction – and John Morrissey’s (Firelight) debut fiction novel, Bird Deity, sits squarely within this zeitgeist....
