Rights round-up
Wednesday, 1 July 2026
Sales Nonfiction Black Inc. has sold world rights (ex ANZ) to The Enigmatic Echidna: Secrets of the World's Most Curious Creature (Danielle Clode) to Cornell University Press; and simplified Chinese...
Simon & Schuster restructures; Miles Franklin shortlist announced; new literary fellowships
Wednesday, 1 July 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia has announced the departures of Cate Blake and Kelly Doust amid a publishing team restructure; Vicki McDonald has been appointed State Library Victoria CEO; publishing revenue and...
Transit Lounge acquires Jenny Ackland’s “NORA”
Wednesday, 1 July 2026
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to NORA, the fourth novel by author and podcaster Jenny Ackland, via the Jane Novak Literary Agency. Ackland, who lived and worked in Osaka...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 1 July 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.
Otis Ottley and the School in the Sky (Will Kostakis, Allen & Unwin Children’s)
Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Otis Ottley and the School in the Sky, the debut middle-grade novel from award-winning YA author Will Kostakis (We Could Be Something), is a fast-moving comic fantasy with subtle themes...
The Wreck (Riley James, Allen & Unwin)
Tuesday, 30 June 2026
The Wreck by Riley James is a tense, atmospheric and altogether chilling survival thriller. Its cleverly plotted narrative centres on the mysterious 1977 disappearance of pilot Donovan “Van” Spector over...
The Good Decision (Jo Dabrowski, illus Cate James, Affirm Kids)
Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Jo Dabrowski and Cate James’s The Good Decision reminds readers that good intentions don’t always lead to good outcomes. This adorably funny picture book follows Albert, a young boy who...
Scion (Book One) (James Islington, Text Publishing)
Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Best known for his epic fantasy novels, James Islington ventures into thrilling science fiction with Scion, the first in a new series. Readers are drawn in from the opening scene,...
The Boy Who Loved Dolls (John A Scott, Puncher & Wattmann)
Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Set in 1987 in Victoria, The Boy Who Loved Dolls by John A Scott (N, What I Have Written) initially follows the conversations between two protagonists: Jean-Jacques Baille, a lauded, retired...
What the Flora?: Incredible Stories from the Brilliant and Bizarre World of Plants (Vanessa Fuchs, Pantera Press)
Tuesday, 30 June 2026
In What the Flora?: Incredible Stories from the Brilliant and Bizarre World of Plants, science communicator Vanessa Fuchs, who works at Botanic Gardens of Sydney, takes readers on an exploration...
Festival of Dangerous Ideas announces 2026 program
Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Festival of Dangerous Ideas will be held from 20 to 30 August 2026 at Carriageworks, Sydney, with a program that asks audiences “to confront the complex, urgent and uncomfortable ideas...
Allen & Unwin acquires Lamble brothers’ “One More Step”
Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Allen & Unwin has acquired ANZ rights to One More Step: The Art of Never Giving Up by Lachlan and Stefan Lamble, known collectively as the “Lambros”, from Chris Giannopoulos...
Upswell acquires Declan Fry’s “Fantasy Ransom”
Monday, 29 June 2026
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights to Fantasy Ransom, the debut novel by Declan Fry, via Jenny Darling at Jenny Darling & Associates. Set against a backdrop of political unrest...
Blak & Bright announces first speakers for 2026 festival
Monday, 29 June 2026
Blak & Bright Writers Festival will run in Naarm/Melbourne from 3 to 6 September 2026. Guests so far announced for the festival include TV presenter and former AFL player Tony...
Upswell acquires Emily Ballou’s “Wait Here”
Thursday, 25 June 2026
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights to Wait Here, a new volume of poems by Emily Ballou. A writer of poetry, fiction and screenplays, Ballou is the author of the...
Ultimo Press acquires SK Lynch crime novel
Thursday, 25 June 2026
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to SK Lynch’s novel Something He Did, via Alex Christie of Curtis Brown. Something He Did follows the story of Detective Claudia Russo, who...
Melbourne Kids Book Fest coming to Southgate Precinct
Thursday, 25 June 2026
Mary Martin Bookshop and The Little Bookroom have partnered to host the Melbourne Kids Book Fest on 2 and 3 October 2026 at the Southgate Precinct. The bookshops announced that...
Pink Shorts Press acquires Arantza Garcia Ferrand’s “Cotton-filled”
Thursday, 25 June 2026
Pink Shorts Press has acquired world rights to Cotton-filled, a memoir by Arantza Garcia Ferrand. The publisher describes the work as “an intimate coming-of-age memoir in images and words, inverting the colonial...
Allen & Unwin acquires Gyton Grantley’s “Il Dolce Fiasco”
Thursday, 25 June 2026
Allen & Unwin has acquired world rights to Il Dolce Fiasco by Gyton Grantley from Henrie Stride Management. La Dolce Fiasco tells “the inspiring and very funny story” of Grantley’s...
Wilson tops the charts at Words on the Waves
Thursday, 25 June 2026
Words on the Waves Writers Festival, held on the New South Wales Central Coast from 27 May to 1 June, has reported a 40% increase “in core ticket sales” for...
Carnegie Medal 2026 winners announced
Thursday, 25 June 2026
In the UK, the winners of this year’s Carnegie Medal for Writing, Carnegie Medal for Illustration and Shadowers’ Choice Medals have been announced. Beth O’Brien won both the Carnegie Medal...
Book sales up in 2026; new bookseller events grants; ASA updates agreements with AI clauses
Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Book sales in the local market are up so far in 2026, according to NielsenIQ BookData; publishing revenue in Aotearoa New Zealand increased by 1.8% in 2025, while total unit...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Sales Fiction Scribe has licensed Polish translation rights to The Animals in That Country (Laura Jean McKay) to ArtRage; Arabic translation rights to Auē (Becky Manawatu) to Al Amal al...
Pink Shorts Press acquires Lara Day’s “Abakada”
Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Pink Shorts Press has acquired ANZ rights to Abakada, a memoir by Adelaide author Lara Day. The publisher describes Abakada as “an alphabetical memoir of country hopping and linguistic longing”....
Miles Franklin Literary Award 2026 shortlist announced
Wednesday, 24 June 2026
The shortlist for the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced. Chosen from a longlist of 10, the shortlisted titles are: Discipline (Randa Abdel-Fattah, University of Queensland Press) First...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 24 June 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.
Eat to Heal (Lee Holmes, Rockpool Publishing)
Tuesday, 23 June 2026
In Eat to Heal, clinical nutritionist and wholefoods chef Lee Holmes (Heal Your Gut) turns her attention to inflammation, exploring both its role in maintaining health and the consequences of...
Old Bertie (Vincenzo Perrella & Dan Osborn, Fremantle Press)
Tuesday, 23 June 2026
Old Bertie is Vincenzo Perrella and Dan Osborn’s debut fiction collaboration, the pair having previously worked together on film, TV and live performance projects. On The Island, 15-year-old George is...
Bad Neighbours (Joanna Jenkins, Allen & Unwin)
Tuesday, 23 June 2026
Joanna Jenkins (How to Kill a Client, The Bluff) examines the Australian property market through a feminist lens in her latest domestic thriller, Bad Neighbours. Ruth, a successful lawyer, has...
I Love the Whole World! (Victoria Hannan, Penguin)
Tuesday, 23 June 2026
In her third novel, I Love the Whole World!, Victoria Hannan (Kokomo, Marshmallow) takes a more playful, straightforward and fun tone than readers may expect, though familiar themes of mothers...
