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Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Sales Fiction Black Inc. has sold UK and Commonwealth rights (ex ANZ) to The Last Man in Europe (Dennis Glover) to Polygon (see news). Martin Shaw of Alex Adsett Publishing Services...

Drawn to writing: Rove McManus on ‘Disgusting McGrossface’

Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Aussie television personality Rove McManus makes his foray into children’s books with picture book Disgusting McGrossface (Scholastic, September) and younger readers novel Rocky Lobstar (Scholastic, October). Kelsey Oldham spoke to...

Book designer spotlight: Hannah Janzen

Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Hannah Janzen began designing books at Sydney design studio Xou Creative, before turning to freelance, specialising in children’s books. She was recently elected president of the Australian Book Designers Association...

HarperCollins acquires rights to Hazlehurst’s memoir 

Wednesday, 18 September 2019
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to actor Noni Hazlehurst’s memoir in a 'hotly contested' auction. The publisher said Hazlehurst, an award-winning stage and screen actor and advocate for children’s welfare,...

‘You Must be Layla’ sells to Puffin UK

Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia has sold UK and Commonwealth rights (ex ANZ) to Yassmin Abdel-Magied's You Must Be Layla to Puffin UK, reports the Bookseller. Abdel-Magied is a Sudanese-Australian writer,...

Dalcher wins Goldsboro Glass Bell for ‘Vox’

Wednesday, 18 September 2019
In the UK, debut novelist Christina Dalcher has won the £2000 (A$3650) Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award for Vox (HQ). Set in an America where women are restricted to speaking no...

Parrett’s ‘There Was Still Love’ sold to UK

Tuesday, 17 September 2019
Martin Shaw of Alex Adsett Publishing Services has sold UK and Commonwealth rights to Favel Parrett’s third novel, There Was Still Love (Hachette), to Francine Toon at Sceptre, Hodder &...

Ngaio Marsh Award 2019 winners announced

Monday, 16 September 2019
New Zealand writer Fiona Kidman has won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel for This Mortal Boy (RHNZ Vintage). The story recreates the life of young Belfast immigrant...

Charts this week 

Monday, 16 September 2019
  Top 10 bestsellers Index Title Author Imprint 1 The 117-Storey Treehouse Andy Griffiths Pan 2 Dog Man 7: For Whom the Ball Rolls Dav Pilkey Scholastic 3 WeirDo #13:...

Publishers Weekly 

Monday, 16 September 2019
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 for a limited time. This edition features...

Walker acquires Neridah McMullin picture book 

Monday, 16 September 2019
Walker Books Australia has acquired world rights to a new picture book by Neridah McMullin called The Drover. Based a true story, the book follows a young female drover as...

Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2019 shortlists announced

Friday, 13 September 2019
The shortlists for the 2019 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction A Stolen Season (Rodney Hall, Picador) Beautiful Revolutionary (Laura Elizabeth...

BWF: YA, women authors top bestsellers

Friday, 13 September 2019
The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) bookshop recorded a 5.9 percent growth in sales at the Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) bookstore from the previous year, thanks to ‘the strong six-day...

Dechian wins 2019 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

Thursday, 12 September 2019
Victoria-based writer Sonja Dechian has won the Australian Book Review’s (ABR) 2019 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize for her story ‘The Point-Blank Murder’. The judges said of the winning story: 'At...

Love wins 2019 Klaus Flugge Prize

Thursday, 12 September 2019
In the UK, Jessica Love has won the £5000 (A$8990) Klaus Flugge Prize for most promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration for Julian is a Mermaid (Walker Books), reports...

The Children’s Bookshop to close in November

Wednesday, 11 September 2019
The Children’s Bookshop in the Sydney suburb of Beecroft will close at the end of November. The shop opened in 1971 and has been owned by Paul Macdonald for the...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 11 September 2019
Sales Fiction Alex Adsett Publishing Services has sold the film option to The Trespassers (Meg Mundell, UQP) to Triptych Pictures and Fremantle (see news). Text Publishing has sold UK and...

Book designer spotlight: Sarah Davis

Wednesday, 11 September 2019
After working for over a decade as a freelance picture book illustrator and designer, Sarah Davies joined Walker Books Australia as associate art director. She spoke to Books+Publishing for our ‘book...