Weekly Book Newsletter (end March 2022)
1 April 2015

‘WBN’ published Thursday next week x

Please note that, due to the Easter Monday public holiday, the next Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on Thursday 9 April. The deadline for classifieds and... Read more
 

Final Competition Policy Review report recommends repealing parallel import restrictions x

The Competition Policy Review Panel has recommended the Australian government repeal existing parallel import restrictions (PIRs) over a three-year transition period. The panel’s final report to... Read more
 

Miles Franklin Literary Award 2015 longlist announced

The longlist for this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced. The longlisted titles are: In Certain Circles (Elizabeth Harrower, Text) Golden Boys (Sonya... Read more
 

Sydney Writers Festival 2015 program launched

The 2015 Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) program has been launched and is now available on the website. Forty-five international authors will attend this year’s festival, which... Read more
 

‘The Bush’ wins Indie Book of the Year 2015

The Bush by Don Watson (Hamish Hamilton) has been named Indie Book of the Year at the 2015 Indie Awards, presented by Leading Edge Books in Sydney... Read more
 

Oz romance authors nominated for 2015 RITA Awards

Three Australian authors have been nominated for the Romance Writers of America (RWA) 2015 RITA Awards. The RITA Awards, which recognise excellence in romance novels... Read more
 

Government report considers online GST threshold x

The federal government has indicated in its ‘Re:think’ Tax discussion paper that changes to the GST threshold for overseas online purchases will be considered as part... Read more
 

New models, technologies discussed at university publishing symposium

A one-off symposium on ‘reinventing university publishing’ was held at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra from 17-19 March, bringing together representatives from university... Read more
 

Digital sales, consumer marketing discussed at International Publishers Congress x

Books+Publishing’s Andrew Wrathall reports from the International Publishers Congress in Bangkok: Around 300 delegates from 35 countries attended the International Publishers Congress in Bangkok on... Read more
 

Australian academics awarded romance research grant

A group of Australian academics have been awarded funding from the Romance Writers of America’s (RWA) Academic Research Grant Program. Beth Driscoll from the University... Read more
 

Dubosarsky, Bancroft nominated for 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Awards

Author Ursula Dubosarsky and illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft have been nominated by IBBY (International Board of Books for Young People) Australia as the Australian candidates for the 2016... Read more
 

Storylines NZ announces 2015 Notable Books List, awards

The Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust in New Zealand has announced its list of notable books for 2015. The Storylines 2015 Notable Books List was... Read more
 

New staff, bookseller for Byron Bay Writers Festival

The Byron Bay Writers Festival (BBWF) has announced the appointment of three new staff and a new festival bookseller. Joanna Trilling has joined the festival as... Read more
 

Dymocks reveals 101 Club list for 2015

Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief (Picador) has topped the Dymocks 101 Club list of the best 101 books of all time for 2015, as voted by... Read more
 

Carroll to present Miles Franklin Award Oration

Author Steven Carroll will present the Miles Franklin Literary Award Oration at the State Library of Victoria on 18 May. As previously reported by Books+Publishing,... Read more
 

Goodman posthumously awarded CBCA Vic’s Leila St John Award

Jo Goodman has been posthumously awarded the Leila St John Award by the Victorian branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA). The award... Read more
 

Online booksellers recognised in Australian ecommerce honours x

Online booksellers have been recognised in Inside Retail’s inaugural ‘Top 50 people in Australian ecommerce’ list, with five people from the industry making the list.... Read more
 

New book show to air on regional WA TV station

WritingWA has teamed up with regional Western Australia TV station Westlink to present a monthly program on WA writers and books. ‘Cover to Cover’ will... Read more
 

Adsett takes over management of Book Harvest Literary Agency x

Brisbane-based literary agency Alex Adsett Publishing Services (AAPS) has taken over management of Ineke Prochazka’s Book Harvest Literary Agency (BHLA).  Prochazka will continue to manage BHLA’s existing... Read more
 

Quote of the week

‘If their proposal was implemented, the diversity of Australian books available to Australian consumers would be significantly reduced for a benefit both small and unlikely’—Australian... Read more
 

Rights round-up x

Sales Fiction—Jenny Darling & Associates has sold ANZ and world English-language (ex ANZ) rights to The Bone Queen (Alison Croggon) to Penguin and Walker Books... Read more
 

Bestsellers this week x

Pete Evans and Nora T Gedgaudas’ new cookbook Going Paleo (Plum) is at the top of this week’s bestsellers and fastest movers charts, while Evans’ other cookbook... Read more
 

RiP Betty Churcher x

Author and former National Gallery of Australia director Betty Churcher has died, aged 84. Churcher passed away on 31 March after being diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier in... Read more
 

Indie booksellers personalise recommendations with new app

In the US, a new app gives independent booksellers a way to make personalised book recommendations to customers with their iPhones and iPads, reports Publishers... Read more
 

Revenues up at Penguin Random House in 2014

Penguin Random House (PRH) has delivered ‘a strong performance in its first full year after the merger’, majority owner Bertelsmann has reported. The publisher’s revenues... Read more
 

South African organisation PRAESA wins 2015 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

South African reading development organisation PRAESA (Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa) is the recipient of the 2015 Astrid Lindgren Memorial... Read more
 

UK indie bookshop numbers fall in 2014

The number of independent bookshops in the UK fell in 2014 with almost 50 bookshops closing, reports the Bookseller. The Booksellers Association lost 48 members... Read more
 

‘Strangers Have the Best Candy’ wins Diagram Prize

In the UK, Strangers Have the Best Candy (Margaret Meps Schulte, Choose Art) has won the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year,... Read more
 

Survey finds print books popular among ‘millenials’

A new Publishing Technology/OnePoll survey has investigated the reading habits of ‘millenials’ aged between 18-34 years. The survey of 2000 consumers in the US and... Read more
 

Walter Scott Prize 2015 shortlist announced

The shortlist for the 2015 Walter Scott Prize For Historical Fiction has been announced. The seven shortlisted titles are: The Zone of Interest (Martin Amis,... Read more
 

Debut authors celebrated at Waterstones Children’s Book Prize

In the UK, Rob Biddulph’s picture-book Blown Away (HarperCollins) has won the overall and best illustrated book categories at this year’s Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, reports... Read more
 

‘James Patterson is Missing’ wins best marketing campaign

In the UK, a campaign to promote James Patterson’s work to existing and potential fans has won the adult category at the Best Marketing Campaign... Read more
 

Online book buying overtakes in-store in the UK

In the UK, online book buying has overtaken in-store buying for the first time in 2014 according to Nielsen Book, reports the Bookseller. Data revealed at... Read more
 

Paddy O’Reilly’s ‘Peripheral Vision’

This near-perfect short-story collection from Paddy O’Reilly is so blackly comic and bitingly clever that it makes you wonder what it feels like to live... Read more
 

Farr selected for inaugural Mildura Writers Festival Residency

Australia-born, New Zealand-based author Tracy Farr has been selected for the inaugural Mildura Writers Festival Residency. Farr, whose debut novel The Life and Loves of... Read more
 

Flanagan, Griffiths shortlisted for UK indie booksellers’ awards x

In the UK, The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (Vintage) and The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton (Pan)... Read more
 

Christchurch library designs unveiled x

In New Zealand, the designs for Christchurch’s new NZ$85 million (A$83 million) library have been presented to the city’s councillors, reports Stuff.co.nz. The library is... Read more
 

My kind-of life: Oliver Mol on ‘Lion Attack!’ x

Lion Attack! (Scribe, May), the first book from Australian writer Oliver Mol, co-winner of the inaugural Scribe Nonfiction Prize for Young Writers, is part memoir... Read more
 

New staff for Byron Bay Writers Festival x

The Byron Bay Writers Festival (BBWF) has announced the appointment of three new staff. Joanna Trilling has joined the festival as communications manager, Mouche Phillips has... Read more
 

CoInfo appoint Pattnaik, Bristow and Gibson x

CoInfo has appointed Amit Pattnaik and Clare Bristow as business development managers, and Mary Ann Gibson as a collection development specialist. (See classified.)
 

Queensland Writers Centre: Starting Your Own Imprint seminar x

Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) will run the seminar ‘Starting Your Own Imprint’ on Saturday, 11 April from 11am to 1pm. Presented by Ronnie Scott, Scum... Read more

Order Now: ‘Committed Undone’ by Elizabeth Lowrie (ISBN 9780987476104) x

Committed Undone by Elizabeth Lowrie will be published on Monday 6 April at $29.99pbk and $16.99e. Published by Good Karma Books, available to bookstores at 50% discount via IngramSpark and Lightning Source and their distributors. 

Elizabeth Lowrie’s story of love and love lost, retirement, travel and spiritual healing deals with Lowrie’s deep shock in the wake of the global publicity campaign for Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert. Elizabeth Lowrie is the first wife of José Nunes (AKA Filipe in Gilberts’ books) and Committed Undone is Lowrie’s attempt to make known her truth. Media interest is high with Australian Women’s Weekly running an interview and photoshoot in their March edition and more media to follow.

Be sure to order copies as Elizabeth is the only person selling hard copies retail from her website dreamwithinsight.com.au.

Email Elizabeth on info@dreamwithinsight.com.au for further information.

 

CoInfo Announces New Staff x

CoInfo is pleased to announce the following new staff.

Amit Pattnaik joins CoInfo from the Coop, bringing vast experience and understanding of libraries in the health and legal library sectors. Amit will be the BDM for NSW, QLD, NT, and some accounts in Victoria. Amit can be contacted on 03 9210 7742.

Along with librarian qualifications, Clare Bristow’s understanding of libraries stems from working in the library industry in the education, corporate, health and public library sectors. Clare will be the BDM managing ACT, SA, WA and some accounts in Victoria. Clare can be contacted on 03 9210 7808.

Mary Ann Gibson has joined CoInfo as a Collection Development Specialist. Mary Ann is well positioned to service customers in this role, having over thirteen years’ experience, specialising in collection development roles at the University of Melbourne. Mary Ann can be contacted on 03 9210 7732.

 

Hachette Australia Congratulates Maxine Beneba-Clarke, Favel Parrett, Inga Simpson and Allison Tait x

Everyone at Hachette Australia is thrilled to congratulate Maxine Beneba-Clarke on Foreign Soil winning the Debut Fiction category of the 2015 Indie Awards.

We also congratulate our longlisted authors in the 2015 Miles Franklin Award, Favel Parrett for When the Night Comes and Inga Simpson for Nest.

Congratulations also to Allison Tait on The Mapmaker Chronicles: Race to the End of the World being shortlisted in the 2015 Readings Children’s Book Prize.

Congratulations to Maxine, Favel, Inga and Allison!

To order copies of Foreign Soil (ISBN: 9780733632426), When the Night Comes (ISBN: 9780733626586), Nest (ISBN: 9780733632341) and Mapmaker Chronicles: Race to the End of the World (ISBN: 9780734415776) please contact Alliance Distribution Services customer service on toll-free fax 1800-664-477 or tel (02) 4390 1300.

 

MUP: Vale Betty Churcher x

Melbourne University Publishing pays tribute to the great art doyenne Betty Churcher, who was much loved and admired for her varied and many contributions to the art world. In a recent interview, Betty described her life as one of being busy, long, fruitful and without regrets.

MUP is proud to have published Notebooks and Australian Notebooks, and is privileged to be publishing her most recent work, The Forgotten Notebook, in November 2015.

Notebooks
ISBN: 978-0-522-85842-6
RRP: $44.99

Australian Notebooks
ISBN: 978-0-522-86419-9
RRP: $44.99

The Forgotten Notebook
ISBN: 978-0-522-86867-8
RRP: $44.99
Pub date: 01/11/2015

Booksellers can order via RHA on 1800 222 444.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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