Tuesday, 5 January 2010
The Australian Human Rights Commission has announced the recipient of its 2009 Literature Nonfiction Award is Blind Conscience by Margot O'Neill (NewSouth Books). The Commission said the book, about Australians...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who was widely reported to have abstained from voting on last year's Cabinet decision to retain Australia's parallel importation laws because his daughter Jessica has a...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Voting for the annual Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year poll opens today. Among the book-related new words to be nominated this year are ‘heist novel'--‘a novel in which the...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Peter Sutton has won the ‘individual' section of this year's Manning Clark House National Cultural Awards for his book The Politics of Suffering: Indigenous Australia and the End of the...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Following a ‘soft launch' in late 2009, University of Melbourne Bookshop is ‘now the proud owner of the first mark 2 Espresso Book Machine in the Southern Hemisphere', bookstore manager...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Collins Booksellers has announced a ‘brand refresh' to coincide with the roll out of its new-look stores, based on a new logo. ‘It's important that the Collins brand identity evolves...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Allen & Unwin has announced the launch of its Print on Demand (POD) program. The program will launch with an initial list of more than 150 titles which will be...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
American feminist author and philosopher Mary Daly has died, aged 81. She wrote The Church and the Second Sex, and Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation.

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Lisa Dempster has been appointed director of the Emerging Writers Festival. Dempster, whose memoir Neon Pilgrim was published by Aduki Press last year, has been a long-time member of the...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Among the international booktrade stories recently added to our Around the World blog:No buyers for Borders UK storesHachette, HC, S&S hold back on ebook releasesAmazon sells more Kindle ebooks than...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
‘Trend: The large publishing houses will continue to reduce overhead as profits shrink in the years ahead. Counter trend: Publishers will be looking for mergers and acquisitions to compensate for...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Winners of the ACT Book of the Year and the ACT Poetry Prize for 2009 were announced late last year by ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope. A Guide to the...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
The New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) has announced the poet David Howard is the recipient of its Mid-Career Writers Award. Howard has published several poetry collections including In The First...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Law firm Blake Dawson has announced the shortlist for the Blake Dawson Prize for Business Literature 2009 at the State Library of New South Wales. This award for business writing...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Sydney bookselling chain Berkelouw books now includes a wine bar in its Leichhardt store. Berkelouw Wine Bar, which received a positive review in the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Living section, offers...

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
If you've got news you think would be of interest to WBN readers, let us know by emailing bookseller.publisher@thorpe.com.au.

Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Happy New Year and welcome to the first issue of WBN for 2010. With 2009 over, it's time to turn our attention to the year ahead. What will be the...

Monday, 4 January 2010
Scribe has announced the longlisted authors for the inaugural CAL Scribe Fiction Prize. The authors are: George Dunford (A Butterfly Goodbye)Angus Gaunt (Under the Ha-Ha)Leah Kaminsky (The Waiting Room) Jonathan Marshall (A...

Monday, 4 January 2010
Jim Demetriou, COO of HarperCollins writes: ‘HarperCollins Publishers Australia is sad to advise that Barrie Hitchon, former CEO of HarperCollins ANZ, passed away peacefully, after a long battle with cancer,...

Monday, 4 January 2010
Matt Howard from New South writes: ‘UNSW Press sadly notes the passing of distinguished ecologist and author Charles Birch at age 91. Professor Birch was the former Challis Professor of...

Monday, 4 January 2010
Authors on tour in January include: Harvey Milkman, Footprint Books (Craving for Ecstasy and Natural Highs: A Positive Approach to Mood Alteration)Paul Miller, Footprint Books (Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music...

Monday, 4 January 2010
Thanks to Madman Entertainment, WBN is giving away five copies of Balibo on DVD. Balibo was based on the book by Jill Jolliffe (Scribe). It's a political thriller and true story...

Monday, 4 January 2010
That good old stalwart the Guinness World Records 2010 comes up trumps for the new year, topping both the Bestsellers and Fastest Movers chart this week. Dan Brown isn't far...

Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Among the many international booktrade stories added to our Around the World blog in the past week:worst books of the decade?Amazon denies plans to open UK storesPublishers 'hopeful' over Borders...

Tuesday, 8 December 2009
WBN will bring you the results of this year's pre-Christmas survey in a special bulletin on Friday. Booksellers, if your store has not yet participated in the survey, either by...

Tuesday, 8 December 2009
‘Books definitely held their own as a Christmas gift item'--Okay, so it's not actually a quote from this week but WBN is hoping this comment on Christmas 2008, from Guy...

Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Martin to write ebook based on reader votesAustralian crime author P D Martin has announced she will write an ebook ‘with one key difference--each week anyone can vote on what...

Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Pam McIntyre, lecturer in language and literacy at the University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Education, was presented with the 2009 Dromkeen Librarians Award at the annual Dromkeen Literary Luncheon...