Who is Evercreech? The micro publisher shortlisted for the Miles Franklin with its first book
Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Evercreech Editions is a micro press established in Lutruwita/Tasmania by author, editor, bookseller and writing teacher Adam Ouston, and My Heart at Evening by Konrad Muller, shortlisted for the 2026...
Anna Battese on “The Grey Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Odds”
Tuesday, 23 June 2026
Anna Battese is a Melbourne-based children’s author whose debut middle-grade novel The Grey Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Odds (Simon & Schuster Australia, August) is the first in a planned...
Inflation, closed doors, horror, but the mood was up at the 2026 ABA conference
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
More than one graph shown at this year’s Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) annual conference in Canberra showed inflation steeply outpacing book sales. Yet the mood of the conference was positive...
Kate Foster on “A River I Must Be”
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Kate Foster is a Gold Coast–based, bestselling and award-winning children’s author whose latest middle-grade novel in verse, A River I Must Be (HarperCollins Publishers), follows an autistic year 7 student...
Has the number of bookshops in Australia really halved? Probably not, but we should still be worried
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
It’s a dramatic and depressing statistic: that in the decade to 2023, the number of bookshops in Australia roughly halved; but it’s also based on unverified data and unlikely to...
Visiting International Publishers on commercial fiction trends in Indonesia, Italy and France
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
As part of the Visiting International Publishers (VIPs) program, Writing Australia held an industry forum and networking lunch at the State Library of NSW in Sydney on 20 May. The...
Fiction Over Reality on bookshop life in Queensland’s Wellington Point
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
Late last year, new bookstore Fiction Over Reality opened in the seaside suburb of Wellington Point in Queensland. Owner Aimee Boyd spoke with Books+Publishing about the first months of operation and...
The changing shape of the pathway: The entry to entry-level roles in publishing
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Nonie Trainor is completing their Work Integrated Learning at Books+Publishing as a second-year student of the Master of Writing and Publishing program at RMIT University. During this period, Nonie is...
“I can almost hear the em-dashes”: Impressions from MWF opening night
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Nonie Trainor is completing their Work Integrated Learning at Books+Publishing as a second-year student of the Master of Writing and Publishing program at RMIT University. Trainor attended the Athenaeum theatre...
Susannah Bowen: “It’s frustrating to not have a central place for customers to go to buy a book if they prefer to support local”
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) CEO Susannah Bowen has been visiting a lot of bookseller members since she was appointed to the role in October last year. Books+Publishing caught up with...
Chris Ames on “I Made This Just for You”
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Chris Ames is a Melbourne-based writer originally from California whose debut short story collection, I Made This Just for You (Ultimo), was already generating attention before publication, having won the...
Walking the literary and literal landscape: Introducing the 2026 VIPs
Wednesday, 13 May 2026
This year, 12 publishing professionals from 8 different countries will base themselves in Sydney, Gadigal Country, from 18 to 22 May (alongside the Sydney Writers’ Festival) for the Visiting International...
Maria Takolander on “The End of Romance”
Tuesday, 12 May 2026
In The End of Romance, Finnish Australian author Maria Takolander imagines a dystopian world in which boys are conscripted to the army at 16, never to return. Takolander spoke with...
Words and numbers: The reality of entry-level roles in publishing
Wednesday, 6 May 2026
Nonie Trainor is completing their Work Integrated Learning at Books+Publishing as a second-year student of the Master of Writing and Publishing program at RMIT University. In the first of two...
“Customers were incredibly generous with their purchase sizes”: Local booksellers report back from Global Book Crawl 2026
Wednesday, 6 May 2026
Booksellers who took part in this year’s Global Book Crawl said the event attracted “entirely new shoppers”, while boosting sales and inter-bookshop connections. It wasn’t just books on offer at...
Opinion: The UQP “Bila” controversy reveals the tension between board governance and editorial independence
Wednesday, 6 May 2026
The decision by the University of Queensland Press to destroy 5000 copies of a picture book had nothing to do with its contents or Indigenous author, writes Penni Russon. It...
Jessy Wu on “Good Intentions”
Tuesday, 5 May 2026
Jessy Wu is a Sydney-based writer and entrepreneur whose debut novel, Good Intentions (Macmillan), is a fast-paced millennial romance set in the worlds of investigative journalism and futures trading. Books+Publishing...
“I do not believe we counter racism, antisemitism, homophobia or transphobia by boycotts and cancellations”: Dennis Altman on the cancellation of “Bila”
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
UQP has cancelled a children’s book illustrated by Matt Chun, citing antisemitism. Dennis Altman, Vice Chancellor’s Fellow and Professorial Fellow, Institute for Human Security and Social Change, La Trobe University,...
“Safe, loved and connected”: what publishers at Bologna want from kids’ books now
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Last-minute cancellations, yes, but a “new and positive vibe” at the new-look Australian stand. Those who made it to Bologna report back on the trends and conversations at the 2026...
The Rose Read Bookshop to open in Summer Hill
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
The Rose Read Bookshop will soon be opening in the Sydney suburb of Summer Hill. Co-founders Stephanie Beck and Mischa Parkee spoke with Books+Publishing about their vision for the shop....
“Numbers are powerful”: University of Melbourne researchers on the APA workforce survey
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
University of Melbourne researchers Beth Driscoll, Sandra Phillips and Claire Parnell are working on the second Australian Publishing Industry Workforce Survey on Diversity and Inclusion, in conjunction with the Australian...
From an attic to a “forever home”: 50 years of Fremantle Press
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
In 1976, Fremantle Press began operations in the attic of a former asylum. Five peripatetic decades later, the Press has just moved into its forever home in Fremantle’s East End,...
Mary Colussi on “Touch Grass”
Tuesday, 14 April 2026
Mary Colussi is a Sydney-based writer whose debut novel, Touch Grass, won the 2025 Penguin Literary Prize. Books+Publishing reviewer Danielle Bagnato described it as a “clever and incisive story that...
Scribble inspires a new-look Australian stand for Bologna
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
As a reduced cohort of Australian publishers head to Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the Australian Publishers Association is set to unveil a new-look stand. International publishers visiting the Australian stand...
“We want to trust authors”: Local publishers on “Shy Girl” implications
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
“It really is a case of ‘there but for the grace of God go I’.” This was the response of one editor at a Big Five publishing house to the...
“Timing and luck” sees cohort of local publishers still attending Bologna
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Despite cancelled flights and rising costs a cohort of Australian rights managers and literary agents are heading to Bologna Children's Book Fair, where a new-look Australian Stand will be unveiled....
Raymond Tan on “You’re Welcome!”
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
Raymond Tan is a Melbourne-based baker whose work celebrates the flavours and traditions of Southeast Asia through a contemporary lens. His cookbook, You’re Welcome!: A Baking Celebration with a Southeast...
Bookseller’s diary: Clunes and the pleasures of re-homing vintage books
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
For the 20th Clunes Booktown Festival, held on the weekend of 21 to 22 March, 15,000 book lovers descended on the small Victorian town of Clunes. The event featured 70...
Waving through windows: Insights from the “Reaching Australian Readers” report
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
Reading peak body and newly minted not-for-profit organisation Australia Reads has released a new research report, “Reaching Australian Readers”, following on from last year’s “Understanding Australian Readers” report. This new...
Zoe Gaetjens on “Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans”
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Zoe Gaetjens is a children’s author and high-school English teacher living and working on Dharug Country. Her young adult novel, Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans, is a “tender, thoughtful...
