Yvonne Sewankambo recommends
17 April 2024
I’m currently reading and loving Mawunyo Gbogbo’s Hip Hop & Hymns (Penguin), which has been on my bookshelf since it was published in 2022. Finding the mental capacity to read that...
Yvonne Sewankambo on ‘Good Hair’
16 April 2024
Sydney-based Yvonne Sewankambo is a Ugandan-Canadian writer and publicist whose debut picture book, Good Hair (Walker, June 2024), is ‘a wonderfully inclusive book representing various cultures and subcultures, showcasing the...
AI and publishing: Concerns beyond copyright
10 April 2024
The publishing sector’s response to last year’s revelations about the materials used to train generative AI has been characterised by concern over the unauthorised use of pirated books in these...
Explainer: What is generative AI, and what does it have to do with books?
10 April 2024
Millicent Weber, Julienne van Loon and Bronwyn Coate write: The term generative artificial intelligence, or generative AI, refers to algorithms that can be used to generate text, images, and audiovisual...
Bleedthrough: censorship and book banning in Australia
3 April 2024
When Australian writers, publishers, and librarians look at the state of US book banning, we are shocked at the violence and scale of book banning groups. Could attempts to fire...
Jenna Lo Bianco recommends
26 March 2024
I really enjoyed reading Karina May’s Never Ever Forever, because I just love her narrative voice and her subtle contemporary humour. She’s a clever writer and her fresh takes on...
Jenna Lo Bianco on ‘Love & Rome’
26 March 2024
Jenna Lo Bianco is a Melbourne-based author whose heart and soul reside in Rome, Italy. Known as 'The Italian Teacher', she is also an educator, PhD candidate and advocate for...
Meet the agent: Lisa Fuller at Alex Adsett Literary
20 March 2024
Lisa Fuller is a Wuilli Wuilli woman from Eidsvold, Queensland, and is also descended from Gooreng Gooreng and Wakka Wakka peoples. Her debut YA novel Ghost Bird won numerous awards...
Asian-Australian booksellers championing diversity
20 March 2024
Emma Pei Yin is a British-born Hong Kong-Chinese author. She was also nominated for Bookseller of the Year in 2023. In this feature, Emma writes for Books+Publishing on the insights of three Asian-Australian...
Cristy Burne recommends
20 March 2024
A book on anti-gravity. I found it hard to put down. A book on black holes. I was totally sucked in. A book on electricity. It was shocking. Okay, seriously....
Cristy Burne on ‘Ultra Violet’
19 March 2024
Cristy Burne is an award-winning author of children's books published worldwide. She loves mixing science, adventure and creativity in her stories; holds degrees in biotechnology and science communication; and has...
The party’s over: Publicists, burnout and a ‘far more creative’ role
13 March 2024
Last week, Books+Publishing heard why book publicists are picking and choosing when (or, more often, when not) to put efforts into TikTok coverage. Here, they argue against big launch parties—and...
Shankari Chandran recommends
13 March 2024
Winnie Dunn’s debut, Dirt Poor Islanders (Hachette). She explores Australian Tongan life with defiance and audacious honesty. It’s something we’ve never seen in Australian literature before. It was ferocious and...
New York, New York: Insights from the 2024 Australian publishing delegation
13 March 2024
This year’s New York Publishers’ Program took place between 12 and 16 February, with nine delegates accompanying Creative Australia’s Jo Simpson as part of the program. Alex Adsett of Alex...
Shankari Chandran on ‘Safe Haven’
12 March 2024
Australian Tamil lawyer and author Shankari Chandran, who won the 2023 Miles Franklin Award for her novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens (Ultimo), returns with her fourth novel, Safe Haven (Ultimo,...
Book publicity in the TikTok age: What moves the needle now?
6 March 2024
With the consolidation of print reviews that appear in some of Australia’s key newspapers and a reduction in the number that appear in others, how much effort should publishers expend...
What influences book sales? ‘It’s still maddeningly difficult to tell,’ says Richard Charkin
6 March 2024
Richard Charkin has held executive positions at Oxford University Press and Reed Elsevier, among others, and is former chief executive of Macmillan Publishers Limited and former executive director of Bloomsbury,...
Bri Lee recommends
28 February 2024
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood! She’s the G.O.A.T. Huge fan. How she does so much in so few pages always astounds me. A master at work, for sure.
Bri Lee on ‘The Work’
27 February 2024
Bri Lee is a celebrated author, academic and activist known for nonfiction titles Eggshell Skull (2018), Beauty (2019) and Who Gets to Be Smart (2021). Her debut fiction novel, The...
Can ChatGPT edit fiction? Four editors put it to the test
21 February 2024
Editors Rose Michael, Sharon Mullins, Renée Otmar and Katherine Day have previously explored how AI tools might work, or be made to work, for editorial. In this extract from an...
Stuart Kells recommends
14 February 2024
I’ve recently returned to a lot of Australian writing that I love, such as Kate Jennings’s books and Barry Hill’s Broken Song (Vintage). Another book that stands out is The...
Stuart Kells on ‘Alice™’
13 February 2024
Stuart Kells (co-author of Sold Down the River, author of Penguin and the Lane Brothers: The untold story of a publishing revolution) is an adjunct professor at La Trobe University’s...
How international markets performed in 2023
7 February 2024
In the US, a fall of 'only' 2.6% in unit sales was a relief, while many European markets achieved modest growth despite falling volume sales, thanks to price increases. In...
Romantasy, audio and b-format: Bookseller and publisher predictions for 2024
31 January 2024
Booksellers and publishers who responded to Books+Publishing's Christmas survey were asked to predict what trends and developments might unfold in 2024. From buying habits to trendy genres, we share some...
Publishers on Christmas 2023: Black Friday changes buying patterns as fiction holds strong
31 January 2024
Publisher responses to this year's Books+Publishing Christmas survey show the key selling season was better than expected for half of respondents, and close to expectations for the remaining 50% of...
‘Better than expected’ Christmas for booksellers, despite almost a quarter reporting sales dropped
24 January 2024
While a small number of booksellers (4.4%) reported an ‘excellent’ Christmas in 2023, sales for the period were down on 2022 for almost a quarter of booksellers who responded to...
Explainer: Why did the costs of printing a book go up?
17 January 2024
In 2022 when Books+Publishing reported on the increasing costs of print in Australia, IVE Group CEO Cliff Brigstocke said he had 'never witnessed such a challenging set of circumstances’ in...
POD and the pandemic: How are publishers using print on demand now?
17 January 2024
For many publishers around the world, the supply-chain chaos of the pandemic drove a move to print on demand (POD). Books+Publishing asks what role POD plays for publishers and booksellers...
Anton Clifford-Motopi recommends
10 January 2024
I recently finished reading What About Thao? by Oliver Phommavanh. I loved the portrayal of everyday life in a small country town and the likeable and relatable cast of characters....
Inclusive publishing leaders at the Sharjah Publishers Conference
10 January 2024
Each year, the Sharjah International Book Fair brings publishing professionals to the United Arab Emirates through its fellowship program. Agata Mrva-Montoya, from the University of Sydney, attended the 2023 conference....
