Remaining big five publishers join PRH in Iowa lawsuit
17 April 2024
In the US, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, along with Sourcebooks, have joined Penguin Random House (PRH) as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Iowa to block the book...
International Booker Prize 2024 shortlist announced
10 April 2024
The shortlist for the 2024 International Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$95,600), has been announced. The titles in the running for this year’s prize, chosen from a longlist of 13 announced...
Windham-Campbell Prizes 2024 recipients announced
3 April 2024
In the US, the recipients of the 2024 Windham-Campbell Prizes, worth US$175,000 (A$268,500) each, have been announced. For fiction, the prize recognised Irish author Deirdre Madden, whose work—including Molly Fox’s Birthday...
PRH 2023 results flat, despite revenue rise
27 March 2024
While Penguin Random House (PRH) recorded a 7% revenue rise worldwide for the full year 2023—to €4.53 billion (A$7.51b), up from €4.22 billion (A$7.00b) in 2022—profit dropped slightly, down by...
Crewe wins 2023 Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award
20 March 2024
In the UK, Tom Crewe has won the 2023 Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award, worth £10,000 (A$19,404), for The New Life (Vintage). Crewe’s novel was chosen from a...
Global book report highlights growing book prices
13 March 2024
A new Nielsen BookData-GfK study of the global book market has found that publishing revenue and book prices grew in many countries in 2023, reports Publishing Perspectives. The Global Book...
Amazon ebook anticompetition lawsuit to proceed
6 March 2024
In the US, a federal judge has formally adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation that a consumer class action against Amazon for anticompetitive conduct in relation to the ebook market be...
Self-publishing platform secures funding for AI-powered publishing
28 February 2024
Publishing figures Stefan von Holtzbrinck, the owner of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, which owns Macmillan, and former Penguin CEO Michael Lynton are among those investing in Inkitt, a self-described data-driven publishing...
UK indies struggling to find distribution post-Grantham
21 February 2024
In the UK, independent publishers are finding distribution ‘particularly challenging’ following last year’s announcement that Grantham Book Services (GBS) will close in 2025, reported the Bookseller. ‘The reality is that...
Amazon removes King Charles titles reportedly generated by AI
14 February 2024
In the UK, Amazon has removed from its website several titles about King Charles, which reportedly were written using artificial intelligence and were said to contain false information about the...
Indigo considers offer to take chain private
7 February 2024
In Canada, the board of the Indigo Books & Music bookselling chain, headed by former Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle, has established a special committee of independent directors to...
Inaugural Nero Book Award category winners announced
31 January 2024
The four category winners of the inaugural Nero Book Awards have been announced. Winners are: Children’s fiction The Swifts (Beth Lincoln, illus by Claire Powell, Puffin) Debut fiction Close to...
Audible to cut staff
17 January 2024
Audible CEO Bob Carrigan, in a memo to staff, said that Audible is cutting its workforce, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). PW said the cuts are believed to be about 5%...
Writers’ Prize 2024 shortlist announced
10 January 2024
The shortlist for the 2024 Writers' Prize, formerly the Rathbones Folio Prize, has been announced. The shortlisted books in each category are: Fiction The Wren, The Wren (Anne Enright, Vintage)...
Edmondson wins FT Book of the Year for ‘Right Kind of Wrong’
6 December 2023
In the UK, Right Kind of Wrong: Why learning to fail can teach us to thrive (Amy Edmondson, Cornerstone Press) has won the 2023 Financial Times Business Book of the Year...
MacInnes wins 2023 Blackwell’s Book of the Year
29 November 2023
In the UK, In Ascension (Martin MacInnes, Atlantic) has been chosen by booksellers as Blackwell’s Book of the Year 2023, reports the Bookseller. The science fiction book, which was longlisted for...
Shelley to lead Hachette in UK and US
15 November 2023
Hachette Book Group (HBG) in the US and Hachette UK (HUK) will be reorganised under ‘a new English-language management structure’ that will see HUK CEO David Shelley take on the...
FTC files ‘long-awaited’ antitrust suit against Amazon
8 November 2023
In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on 26 September, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). The FTC’s 172-page complaint—which is supported by 17...
KKR completes S&S purchase
1 November 2023
Private equity firm KKR has completed its US$1.6 billion (A$2.5b) purchase of Simon & Schuster (S&S) from Paramount Global in an all-cash transaction, reports Publishers Weekly. S&S is a now...
Over 100,000 trade visitors attend Frankfurt
25 October 2023
About 105,000 trade visitors from 130 countries attended this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF), which ran from 18–22 October, reports Publishers Weekly. FBF director Juergen Boos said the fair had...
US$75K Cundill History Prize finalists announced
18 October 2023
The finalists for the 2023 Cundill History Prize, which ‘rewards the best history writing in English’, have been announced. The finalists are: Red Memory: Living, remembering and forgetting China’s Cultural...
PW conference on AI and book publishing
11 October 2023
Publishers Weekly (PW) hosted an AI webinar, Artificial Intelligence: Revolution and Opportunity in Trade Publishing, on 27 September, led by digital publishing analyst Thad McIlroy and online strategy director Peter...
FT Business Book of the Year Award shortlist
4 October 2023
In the UK, the shortlist has been announced for the 2023 Financial Times Business Book of the Year. The shortlisted titles are: Material World: A substantial story of our past and...
Around 200 jobs to go at T&F
27 September 2023
Academic publisher Taylor & Francis (T&F) will remove around 200 roles from its business, reports the Bookseller. In a letter to staff, T&F said there would be ‘changes to certain...
Federal judge blocks Texas book rating law
20 September 2023
In the US, a federal judge has officially blocked Texas’s controversial book rating law, HB 900, from taking effect, reports Publishers Weekly. The 59-page opinion and order is a victory...
PRH US to ‘encourage’ employees to use office more frequently
13 September 2023
In the US, Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya has written a memo to US staff encouraging them to use the office ‘more frequently’, reports Publishers Weekly. Malaviya wrote that...
£50k Wolfson History Prize shortlist announced
6 September 2023
In the UK, the shortlist for the £50,000 (A$98,500) Wolfson History Prize has been announced. The shortlisted works of history are: African and Caribbean People in Britain: A history (Hakim...
US market sales up 1.2% in first half of 2023
23 August 2023
According to the Association of American Publishers’ (AAP) latest StatShot report, the US publishing industry’s revenues were up 1.2% in the first half of 2023, thanks largely to growth in...
US bookshop sales up 7% in first half of 2023
16 August 2023
In the US, bookshop sales grew 7% in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2022, reports Publishers Weekly. According to preliminary estimates from...
Booker Prize 2023 longlist announced
2 August 2023
The longlist for the 2023 Booker Prize has been announced. The 13 books longlisted for the £50,000 (A$96,700) prize are: A Spell of Good Things (Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Canongate) Old God’s...
