Rights round-up
Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Sales Fiction Bold Type Agency has sold Russian rights to Last Shot and Last Breath (Emma Pignatiello, Penguin); and Swedish rights to Love & Rome and Venetian Lessons in Love (Jenna Lo...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 23 April 2025
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.
An Academic Affair (Jodi McAlister, S&S)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Jodi McAlister, who has previously written for young adults, made her adult rom-com debut with the Marry Me, Juliet trilogy. Continuing in this genre, An Academic Affair introduces us to...
A Beautiful Family (Jennifer Trevelyan, A&U)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
The narrator of Jennifer Trevelyan’s debut, A Beautiful Family, is 10-year-old Alix, a likeable and perceptive child. When her family arrive at their summer holiday house, she and her new friend Kahu...
The Secret Year of Zara Holt (Kimberley Freeman, Hachette)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
The Secret Year of Zara Holt is a compelling novel inspired by the real-life story of Dame Zara Bate, wife of former Australian prime minister Harold Holt. While many know...
Foreign Country (Marija Peričić, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
In Marija Peričić’s lyrical and haunting third novel, the foreign country is the site of dislocation and alienation wrought by migration, grief and trauma. Croatian-Australian nurse Eva, who resides in...
Gone (Michel Streich, T&H)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Writer and illustrator Michel Streich tackles the sensitive subject of loss and the mysteries surrounding death in his accessible and poignant picture book, Gone. The story centres on a child who...
Golden (Jade Timms, Text)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Jade Timms’s affecting debut novel, Golden, shortlisted for the 2023 Text Prize, is a charming book about friendship, first love, and reclaiming happiness after a devastating trauma. Seventeen-year-old Eddie’s cheerful...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Sales Fiction Jane Novak Literary Agency has sold French rights to Prima Facie (Suzie Miller, Picador) to L’Archipel, in conjunction with the Lora Fountain Agency. Nonfiction Wolf Literary and Alex...
NT Writers Festival program; Aurealis, Hugo finalists; Global Book Crawl destinations
Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Some event details were released this week – so have your calendars ready: The Northern Territory Writers Festival has announced its 2025 program, which will run 29 May–1 June on...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 16 April 2025
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.
The Pull of the Moon (Pip Smith, UWAP)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
In this bold, brave and boundary-pushing young adult novel, author Pip Smith (Half Wild) draws on her experience teaching asylum seekers and years of research to explore complex social themes....
The Girl in the Painting (Dee White, illus Sarah Anthony, Walker)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
The Girl in the Painting is a beautifully told narrative nonfiction picture book that gives voice to a quiet figure in one of Australia’s most iconic artworks. Based on the...
Our New Gods (Thomas Vowles, UQP)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Twisty and menacing, the new psychological literary thriller Our New Gods – set in Melbourne’s queer scene – is unsettling and memorable. Debut author Thomas Vowles hooks the reader early,...
Music Camp (Penny Tangey, UQP)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Penny Tangey (Granbad, As Fast As I Can) returns to middle grade with Music Camp, a story set during a selective five-day interschool music camp. Miley lives with her mum...
Terraglossia (Debra Dank, Echo)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Debra Dank, a Gudanji/Wakaja and Kalkadoon woman from the Barkly Tablelands in the Northern Territory and critically acclaimed author of We Come with This Place, returns with her powerful new...
The Brownout Murders (Luke C Jackson & Kelly Jackson, illus Maya Graham, Scribe)
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
The year is 1942, and Melbourne is a city consumed with fear in The Brownout Murders, a gripping historical graphic novel. With the threat of a Japanese attack looming, the...
Stella Prize, Women’s Prize for Fiction, International Booker among a busy week for prize shortlists
Wednesday, 9 April 2025
The 2025 Stella Prize shortlist made history this week, with judging chair Astrid Edwards noting that this is the first shortlist in the prize's 13-year history to be entirely made...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 9 April 2025
Sales Fiction Allen & Unwin has sold North American rights for Ash (Louise Wallace) to HarperCollins imprint Mariner Books; UK rights to Ash to Hutchinson Heinemann; and world English (ex...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 9 April 2025
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.
My Name Is Jemima (Olivia Muscat, illus by Allison Colpoys, Scribble)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
My Name Is Jemima is a heartwarming and informative picture book that introduces young readers to the life and work of guide dogs and teaches children about disability, independence and...
Rise of the Witch (Everglade #1) (Kitty Black, illus Rebecca Crane, Affirm)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
Take one part Enid Blyton’s The Enchanted Wood, add a sprinkle of Diana Wynne Jones and a dash of Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a...
The Name of the Sister (Gail Jones, Text)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
The latest novel from award-winning author Gail Jones, The Name of the Sister, is a literary whodunnit set in a small mining town. The book begins with a woman stumbling onto...
Lucky’s Star: The Story of a Meteorite (Mark Greenwood, illus by Lucia Masciullo, CSIRO Publishing)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
Children are naturally fascinated by the night sky, and Lucky’s Star will surely delight primary-aged students with its clever combination of storytelling and facts. Based on the real-life 1969 Murchison...
Bombard the Headquarters! The Cultural Revolution in China (Linda Jaivin, Black Inc)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
Chairman Mao’s decade of terror is the subject of Bombard the Headquarters!, Australian sinologist Linda Jaivin’s excellent primer on China’s Cultural Revolution. In 1966, Peking University’s Nie Yuanzi created a...
Stinkbug (Sinéad Stubbins, Affirm)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
Sinéad Stubbins’ debut fiction novel, Stinkbug, is a sharp, darkly funny reflection on the corporate ‘normal’ and the compromises we make to survive in a hostile environment. It meditates on...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 2 April 2025
Sales Fiction Curtis Brown has sold UK rights to Arborescence (Rhett Davis) at auction, in a deal between Curtis Brown literary agent Alexandra Christie and Matilda Singer at Fleet. Hachette...
ABIA business shortlists, Books Create Australia’s Election 2025, Writing Australia funded
Wednesday, 2 April 2025
We at Books+Publishing had some news of our own this week, as we welcome Jasmin McGaughey to our team in the newly created role of editorial and production coordinator. Jasmin commences on...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 2 April 2025
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.
R.I.P. Nanny Tobbins (Lucie Stevens, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 1 April 2025
R.I.P. Nanny Tobbins by Lucie Stevens is a deliciously macabre and unexpectedly funny debut fantasy for advanced middle-grade readers, blending tension, mystery and moments of humour with remarkable skill. Albertine...





