Shaw launches Shaw Literary
7 April 2020
Martin Shaw, formerly agent-at-large at Alex Adsett Publishing Services and book buyer for Readings, has launched his own literary agency. Shaw Literary will represent Shaw’s current list of authors, including...
Scholastic sells ‘How Did I Get Here?’ in 17 territories
2 April 2020
Scholastic Australia has sold rights to Philip Bunting's picture book How Did I Get Here? in 17 territories across the US, UK, European and Asian markets. Dutch-language rights were sold...
Bologna goes digital with virtual fair and rights platform
1 April 2020
Organisers of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) will launch a series of new digital initiatives on 4 May, reports Publishers Weekly. In light of the cancellation of this year’s...
Brow Books to reissue Tumarkin’s ‘Traumascapes’
26 March 2020
Brow Books has acquired world rights to Maria Tumarkin's nonfiction book Traumascapes, which was originally published by Melbourne University Press in 2005. Tumarkin recently won a Windham Campbell prize for...
Hachette acquires Ferguson and Jones book on Catholic Church cover-up
25 March 2020
Hachette has acquired world rights to journalists Sarah Ferguson and Tony Jones’ book Revelation, the tie-in to their ABC TV series on the criminal priests and brothers of the Catholic...
A&U acquires Debra Oswald novel after ‘heated’ auction
25 March 2020
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Debra Oswald’s novel The Family Doctor after a ‘heated’ auction. Described as a ‘riveting moral thriller’, The Family Doctor tells the...
NewSouth acquires book on journalism for kids
20 March 2020
NewSouth Books has acquired ANZ rights to children's nonfiction book Kid Reporter: The secret to breaking news from Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist Agency. Written by journalists Dhana Quinn and Saffron Howden,...
Pantera acquires Courtney Act memoir
19 March 2020
Pantera Press has acquired ANZ rights to It’s All an Act, the debut memoir by Shane Jenek, the performer behind drag queen Courtney Act, via Wendy Richards at Working Management....
Hardie Grant Egmont sells ‘Your Planet Needs You’ to five territories
18 March 2020
Hardie Grant Egmont has sold rights in five territories to Philip Bunting’s forthcoming picture book Your Planet Needs You! (May). German-language rights were sold following a ‘significant’ pre-empt offer from...
Claire Christian’s debut adult novel sold to US
13 March 2020
Text Publishing has sold rights in multiple territories to Claire Christian’s forthcoming debut adult novel It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake, which the publisher describes as ‘a quirky, feel-good novel...
Scale Free Network sells language rights to ‘Small Friends Books’
6 March 2020
Language rights to four titles in the 'Small Friends Books' series of educational picture books, which are co-published by Scale Free Network (SFN) and CSIRO Publishing, have been sold to...
Text sells ‘filmic romance’ to Germany in six-figure deal
5 March 2020
Text Publishing has sold German-language rights to debut author Hugh Breakey’s forthcoming novel The Beautiful Fall in a six-figure deal to Blanvalet (PRH Germany), where it was acquired by Diana...
Pomare, Maguire novels to be adapted by new production company
5 March 2020
Wooden Horse, a new Australian production company, has announced screen adaptations of J P Pomare's sophomore thriller In the Clearing (Hachette) and Emily Maguire's 2016 novel An Isolated Incident (Picador)...
Affirm signs Sakr’s debut novel
4 March 2020
Affirm Press has acquired Sydney poet and writer Omar Sakr’s debut novel, White Flu. White Flu is a work of literary speculative fiction and the publisher says early copies will...
HarperCollins acquires new Holly Ringland novels in six-figure deal
4 March 2020
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to two new novels by Holly Ringland in a six-figure deal, via Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist Agency. The first book in Ringland’s new deal,...
UQP acquires Next Chapter fellow Thompson’s short story collection
28 February 2020
The University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to Adam Thompson’s debut short story collection Born into this. Set in Tasmania, Thompson's stories deal with Aboriginal identity and...
Affirm to publish speculative fiction anthology by diverse writers
26 February 2020
Affirm Press will publish a speculative fiction anthology by writers from Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as part of a partnership with Diversity Arts Australia and the Western...
Scribe acquires Woollett’s ‘The Newcomer’
19 February 2020
Scribe has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Laura Elizabeth Woollett’s third book, The Newcomer, via Grace Heifetz at Left Bank Literary. Inspired by a real-life murder on Norfolk Island,...
‘The Absolute Book’ sold to US following rave review, sales spike
18 February 2020
Victoria University Press has sold North American rights to New Zealand author Elizabeth Knox’s fantasy novel The Absolute Book following a rave review. Dan Kois’ review of The Absolute Book,...
Pantera acquires narrative nonfiction ‘The Psychic Test’
17 February 2020
Pantera Press has acquired ANZ rights to journalist Gary Nunn’s debut The Psychic Test: An investigation into the supernatural industry, via Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist Agency. A work of narrative...
2015 novella ‘Panthers and the Museum of Fire’ sold to US
14 February 2020
Martin Shaw, agent at Alex Adsett Publishing Services, has sold US and Canadian rights to Sydney author Jen Craig’s novella Panthers and the Museum of Fire (Spineless Wonders) to LA-based...
Scribe acquires world English rights to German bestseller to publish in ANZ, UK and US
11 February 2020
Scribe has acquired world English-language rights to million-copy bestseller The Diet Compass: the 12-step guide to science-based nutrition for a healthier and longer life by German science journalist Bas Kast....
Brow Books acquires graphic novel ‘Stone Fruit’
6 February 2020
Brow Books has acquired ANZ rights to debut graphic novel Stone Fruit by Montreal-based Australian comics artist Lee Lai. Stone Fruit follows queer couple Bron and Ray who ‘enjoy their...
Oz publishers heading to Bologna in final year of funding
5 February 2020
Twelve independent publishers will take part in the Australian collective stand at this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair, which runs from 30 March to 2 April. The 2020 fair marks...
Black Inc. acquires Manning’s biography of Lachlan Murdoch
5 February 2020
Black Inc. has acquired world rights to The Unauthorised Biography of Lachlan Murdoch by author and journalist Paddy Manning. The publisher said the book will investigate Murdoch—the eldest son of...
‘You Can Change the World’ sold in multiple territories
5 February 2020
Pantera Press has sold rights in several territories to Lucy Bell’s You Can Change the World, an illustrated practical guide ‘designed to empower kids to make changes in their lives...
Brill’s forthcoming novel ‘Symphony for the Man’ optioned for film
4 February 2020
Sparkplug Films has optioned the film rights to Sarah Brill’s forthcoming novel Symphony for the Man (Spinifex, March). Spinifex describes the novel as ‘a poignant and gritty tale of homelessness...
HarperCollins acquires rights to Maley’s debut ‘The Truth About Her’
30 January 2020
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to journalist Jacqueline Maley’s debut novel The Truth About Her, in a two-book deal via Jeanne Ryckmans at Cameron’s Management. The Truth About Her follows...
Pantera acquires Emanuel’s ‘The Covered Wife’
24 January 2020
Pantera Press has acquired ANZ rights to Lisa Emanuel’s debut novel The Covered Wife, via Catherine Drayton at InkWell Management. Emanuel’s novel follows an ambitious young lawyer who falls under...
Adaptation of Winton’s ‘Blueback’ gets Screen Aus funding
23 January 2020
A feature film adaptation of Tim Winton’s 1997 novella Blueback (Penguin) has received production funding from Screen Australia in its latest funding round. Writer/director Robert Connolly of Arenamedia will work...
