US bookshop sales down 65% in April
17 June 2020
According to US Census Bureau estimates, bookshop sales fell 65.3% in April compared to the same month in 2019, reports Publishers Weekly. Physical sales at bookshops fell in April by...
Staff at NYC bookshop chain McNally Jackson ‘likely’ to unionise
11 December 2019
In the US, employees at New York City bookshop and stationary store chain McNally Jackson are voting on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) this...
‘The Dirt Hole and its Variations’ wins 2019 Diagram Prize
5 December 2019
Charles L Dobbins' self-published title The Dirt Hole and its Variations has won the 2019 Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year presented by the Bookseller. Dobbins, who was...
More than 380,000 UK children don’t own a single book: National Literary Trust
3 December 2019
In the UK, research from the National Literary Trust (NLT) has found more than 380,000 children don’t own a single book, reports the Bookseller. The research found children who own...
‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ named Waterstones book of the year, Thunberg named author of the year
2 December 2019
In its annual awards, UK bookselling chain Waterstones has announced The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (Ebury) as book of the year and climate...
Costa Book Awards 2019 shortlists announced
28 November 2019
In the UK, the shortlists for the 2019 Costa Book Awards have been announced. Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award are: Middle England (Jonathan Coe, Viking) Confession with Blue Horses...
O’Brien awarded £40k David Cohen Prize for Literature
27 November 2019
Irish novelist Edna O'Brien has been awarded the £40,000 (A$75,800) David Cohen Prize for Literature, which recognises a living writer from the UK or Ireland's lifetime achievement in literature. O'Brien...
Medieval mystery ‘The Western Wind’ wins 2019 Staunch Book Prize
26 November 2019
In the UK, Samantha Harvey has won the 2019 Staunch Book Prize—for the best thriller novel in which no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered—for her novel...
‘Trust Exercise’ wins 2019 National Book Award for fiction
22 November 2019
In the US, the winners of the 2019 National Book Awards have been announced. The winners in each category are: Fiction Trust Exercise (Susan Choi, Serpent’s Tail) Nonfiction The Yellow House...
Book on Jack the Ripper’s victims wins £50k Baillie Gifford Prize for nonfiction
20 November 2019
UK historian Hallie Rubenhold has won the £50,000 ($94,700) 2019 Baillie Gifford Prize for nonfiction for her book The Five: The untold lives of the women killed by Jack the...
Canada’s $100k Giller Prize awarded to Ian Williams’ ‘Reproduction’
20 November 2019
Canadian writer Ian Williams has been announced as the 2019 winner of the C$100,000 (A$111,400) Giller Prize for his novel Reproduction (Random House Canada). Williams is assistant professor of poetry...
Lovell wins US$75k Cundill History Prize for ‘Maoism’
18 November 2019
In Canada, British author and Chinese literature translator Julia Lovell has won the 2019 Cundill History Prize, worth US$75,000 (A$110,050), for her book Maoism: A Global History (The Bodley Head)....
VIDA Count 2018 results released
15 November 2019
In the US, the results of the 2018 VIDA Count, which analyses gender representation in literary magazines, have been released. Out of the 15 literary publications included in the main...
‘Ducks, Newburyport’ wins 2019 Goldsmiths Prize
14 November 2019
In the UK, Lucy Ellmann has won the £10,000 (A$18,800) Goldsmiths Prize for her eighth novel Ducks, Newburyport (Text). Chosen from a shortlist of six, Ducks, Newburyport follows the internal monologue of...
Amazon cuts publishers’ orders to ease warehouse congestion
12 November 2019
In the US, Amazon has cut book orders to publishers to ease congestion issues at its warehouses, reports Publishers Weekly. Several independent publishers told Publishers Weekly their weekly orders have...
Report shows UK audiobook listeners read print book at the same time
11 November 2019
In the UK, new research commissioned by the Bookseller has found a quarter of audiobook readers listen to an audiobook and read a print version of a book at the...
The Bookworm Beijing to close amid cleanup of ‘illegal structures’
7 November 2019
Beijing's English-language bookstore The Bookworm is due to close on 11 November, before its building is demolished by the city government, with the owners hoping to open in a new...
PRH to acquire complete works of Eric Carle
6 November 2019
Penguin Random House US (PRH) children’s imprint Penguin Young Readers will acquire author and illustrator Eric Carle’s company, Eric Carle LLC, which holds the intellectual property rights to Carle’s books,...
Staunch Book Prize 2019 shortlist announced
4 November 2019
In the UK, the shortlist for the Staunch Book Prize—for the best thriller novel in which no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered—has been announced. The shortlisted...
UK book industry calls to end VAT on ebooks, audiobooks
1 November 2019
UK book industry figures and organisations have delivered a letter to the chancellor of the exchequer Sajid Javid calling for an end to the 20% value-added tax (VAT) that currently...
UNESCO announces 11 new cities of literature
1 November 2019
UNESCO has announced 11 additional cities of literature among 66 newly designated creative cities. The new cities of literature are: Angoulême (France) Beirut (Lebanon) Exeter (UK) Kuhmo (Finland) Lahore (Pakistan)...
‘A Fistful of Shells’ wins 2019 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize
31 October 2019
In the UK, historian Toby Green has won the £25,000 (A$46,750) Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding for his book A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the rise...
Warwick Prize for Women in Translation 2019 shortlist announced
30 October 2019
In the UK, the shortlist for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Disoriental (Négar Djavadi, trans Tina Kover, Europa Editions) Drive Your...
New online platform to help US indies compete with Amazon
28 October 2019
In the US, a new website designed to help independent bookstores compete with Amazon will launch in January, reports Publishers Weekly. Backed by the American Booksellers Association (ABA), Bookshop is...
‘Girl, Woman, Other’ more than doubles lifetime sales after Booker win
24 October 2019
In the UK, joint Booker winner Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other (Hamish Hamilton) more than doubled its lifetime sales in the week following its win on 14 October, reports the...
Chadwick, McMillan win 2019 Polari Prizes
23 October 2019
In the UK, writers Angela Chadwick and Andrew McMillan have won the 2019 Polari Prizes for work that explores the LGBT experience, reports the Bookseller. Now in its ninth year,...
Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction 2019 shortlist announced
23 October 2019
In the UK, the shortlist for this year’s Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, has been announced. The six shortlisted titles are: Furious Hours: Murder, fraud...
Benson’s ‘Vertigo & Ghost’ wins Forward Poetry Prize
21 October 2019
Fiona Benson’s poetry collection Vertigo & Ghost (Cape Poetry) has won the £10,000 (A$18,846) Forward Prize for best poetry collection, reports the Guardian. Vertigo & Ghost explores vulnerability and rage,...
US$75k Cundill History Prize 2019 finalists announced
18 October 2019
The three finalists for the Cundill History Prize have been announced. Chosen from a shortlist of eight, the finalists are: Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi persecution and the quest for justice (Mary...
Self-published books in the US grew by 40% in 2018
17 October 2019
Self-publishing in the US grew by 40% in 2018, according to a report published by Bowker. In total 1.68 million print and ebooks were self-published in 2018, up from 1.19...