Weekly Book Newsletter (end March 2022)
29 April 2015

Victorian government announces $83.1m State Library redevelopment

The Victorian government has announced a $83.1 million redevelopment of the State Library of Victoria (SLV), with work on the five-year project scheduled to begin... Read more
 

NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2015 shortlists announced

The shortlists for this year’s New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each of the categories are: Christina Stead... Read more
 

Bloomsbury and Pantera Press announce new partnership

Bloomsbury Australia and Pantera Press have announced a new partnership to ‘strategically grow Pantera Press’ readership and sales’. The partnership, which begins in June, will see Bloomsbury... Read more
 

Adler to chair Victorian creative industries taskforce

The Victorian government has announced a new taskforce to ‘steer the future’ of Victoria’s creative industries, to be chaired by Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) CEO... Read more
 

Report finds copyright industries fourth largest contributor to Australian economy

The Australian copyright industries, including ‘press and literature’, is the fourth biggest industry contributor to Australia’s economy, according to a report commissioned by the Australian... Read more
 

The Creative Word Shop writing school opens in Newcastle

A new writing school has opened in Newcastle offering classes for adults and children, as well as manuscript and mentoring services. The Creative Word Shop, which is the first of... Read more
 

SBS launches online graphic novel adaptation of Nam Le’s ‘The Boat’

An interactive online graphic novel adaptation of Nam Le’s short story ‘The Boat’, from Le’s short story collection of the same name, has been launched... Read more
 

writingWA Awards 2014 winners announced

The winners of the 2014 writingWA Awards, which support emerging writers based in regional Western Australia, have been announced. Doreen Hill of Mandurah was awarded... Read more
 

Inaugural NZ young writer’s festival to be held in June

A new festival to support young New Zealand writers well be held in Dunedin in June. The New Zealand Young Writers Festival will feature 15... Read more
 

HGE Ampersand Project expands to include middle-grade manuscripts

Hardie Grant Egmont’s (HGE) Ampersand Project for unpublished writers has been opened to authors of middle-grade fiction—aimed at readers aged eight and up—for the first time in... Read more
 

Peter Porter Poetry shortlist announced

The shortlist for the Australian Book Review (ABR) Peter Porter Poetry Prize has been announced. The shortlisted poems are: ‘As Wasps Fly Upward’ (Judith Beveridge)... Read more
 

Quote of the week

‘I think it’s great for the vigour of the culture if one book does not scoop all the prizes’—Booktopia editorial director Caroline Baum on judging... Read more
 

Rights round-up x

Sales Fiction—A&U has sold US and French rights to To Name Those Lost (Rohan Wilson) to Europa Editions and Albin Michel respectively. Transit Lounge has... Read more
 

Bestsellers this week x

Nora Roberts’ latest novel The Liar (Hachette) is the highest new entry and at the top of this week’s bestsellers chart, with last week’s number one... Read more
 

Writers withdraw from PEN gala over Charlie Hebdo honour

Australian author Peter Carey and five other writers will no longer be attending next month’s PEN Literary Gala to protest the awarding of PEN’s annual... Read more
 

Scholastic to stop gender-labelling its books

In the UK, Scholastic has stopped gender-labelling its books after receiving a complaint from a young reader, reports the Guardian. In response to a petition from... Read more
 

Campaign launched to find world’s favourite Agatha Christie book

In the UK, the estate of Agatha Christie has launched a campaign to find the world’s favourite Agatha Christie book to coincide with the author’s... Read more
 

Scholastic sells ed tech business to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

In the US, Scholastic has signed a deal to sell its educational technology business to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, reports Publishers Weekly. The business, which provides... Read more
 

Encore Award 2014 shortlist announced

In the UK, the shortlist for the Encore Award for best second novel has been announced. The shortlisted books are: Getting Colder (Amanda Coe, Virago);... Read more
 

PRH UK partners with taxi app for book giveaway x

In the UK, Penguin Random House (PRH) has partnered with taxi ordering app Hailo for a print book and audiobook giveaway. Taxi cabs that use the... Read more
 

Jonasson’s UK publisher pursued over unpaid royalties

Hachette US and Swedish writer Jonas Jonasson have begun legal proceedings against the UK publisher of Jonasson’s bestselling book The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out... Read more
 

US court fines copyright infringers US$37.5m

A US federal court has found two website operators guilty of intentionally infringing the copyright of up to 16,000 publishers, in a case brought by... Read more
 

PRH launches unified US website

In the US, Penguin Random House (PRH) has launched a new consumer-focused website that unifies the online presence of Penguin and Random House, reports Publishers Weekly.... Read more
 

Goodreads adds free audiobook samples

Starting this week, Goodreads will provide free audio samples for 180,000 titles through a new ‘Listen’ icon on its website, reports DBW. The samples will be taken... Read more
 

Andrew Fuller’s ‘Unlocking Your Child’s Genius’

Don’t let the title mislead or deter you: ‘genius’ is perhaps too loaded a term; a better one is ‘potential’. The subtitle in fact is... Read more
 

Creative Victoria reopens Marketing Innovation Fund

Creative Victoria has announced it will reopen its Marketing Innovation Fund, offering grants of up to $15,000 to help arts organisations expand their audiences. The program will... Read more
 

Libraries urge caution over copyright changes x

Proposed changes to copyright legislation objected to by the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee (ALCC) are being scrutinised by a parliamentary committee after being introduced to the House of Representatives last month.... Read more
 

Bega Valley library staff to reapply for jobs under restructure x

A major restructure of library jobs in the Bega Valley Shire in NSW was announced to staff last week following an external review, reports the... Read more
 

International library news x

US Children’s Book Council to help build prison nursery libraries In the US, the Children’s Book Council (CBC) and the unPrison Project are building nursery libraries... Read more
 

Book ideas for Mother’s Day x

Anthologies on motherhood and an abundance of baking books await this year’s Mother’s Day shoppers. Jackie Tang rounds up some of titles on offer here.
 

Tolley to leave Wakefield Press x

Wakefield Press publicity director Angela Tolley is leaving the publisher at the end of April. Tolley, who has worked at Wakefield Press for 13 years, is taking up... Read more
 

2015 Maurice Saxby Lecture x

Australian children’s book author Libby Gleeson will present the Maurice Saxby Lecture at 6pm for 6.30pm on Wednesday 6 May at MacLaurin Hall, University of... Read more

Books from Our Backyard 2014: Registrations close 1 May x

The Queensland Writers Centre is calling all Queensland writers who have published a new work in 2014 to register for inclusion in the annual catalogue Books... Read more

Society of Editors (NSW): Guides to style guides x

The Society of Editors (NSW) Inc. is presenting a collaborative conversation on the importance of style guides in editing on Tuesday, 5 May. Editors Robin... Read more

Nero to Publish ‘The Gluten Lie: And Other Myths About What You Eat’ x

Nero will be publishing in May, the much-talked about, incendiary book by Alan Levinovitz called The Gluten Lie and Other Myths About What You Eat. This book debunks and exposes all the myths and points the way to a truly healthy life, free from anxiety about what we eat.

Bring back the bread! 

Orders for The Gluten Lie (ISBN 9781863957632) can be placed with United Book Distributors on 03 9811 2555 or email orders@unitedbookdistributors.com.au. Books will be available from 1 May, 2015.

www.nerobooks.com.au

 

Reprint of ‘A Short History of Richard Kline’ by Amanda Lohrey Available Wednesday 6 May x

A reprint of A Short History of Richard Kline by Amanda Lohrey will be available from Wednesday 6 May. Orders for A Short History of Richard Kline (ISBN 9781863957182, $29.99) can be placed with United Book Distributors on 03 9811 2555 or email orders@unitedbookdistributors.com.au

Praise:

‘Lohrey’s language is a searing delight … Without patronising, disparaging or becoming a sentimental accomplice, she gets inside the head of a serious man congenitally on the brink’—The Age  

 ‘The story of Richard Kline is marked by a luminous wit, along with the quiet courage of a mind willing to countenance mysteries that our secular age refuses to broach’—The Australian

Book club notes for A Short History of Richard Kline can be downloaded from www.blackincbooks.com

 

HarperCollins Children’s Books Congratulates Jackie French x

HarperCollins Children’s Books congratulates Jackie French for the shortlisting of The Road to Gundagai for the Ethel Turner Prize for Young Adult’s Literature in the 2015 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.

The judges commented ‘What is most remarkable about Jackie French’s legendary output is the quality of her work and the depth of the research in her historical fiction. The Road to Gundagai is arguably the finest example yet of her ability to take the reader to another time and place.’

Congratulations to Jackie, who is also the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2014 – 2015 and the Senior Australian of the Year for 2015.

To order copies of The Road to Gundagai (ISBN 9780732297220) please contact HarperCollins customer service on 1300 551 721.

 

Maxine Beneba Clarke Shortlisted for 2015 NSW Premier’s Literary Award / Favel Parrett and Inga Simpson Longlisted for 2015 Australian Literature Society Award x

Hachette Australia is very proud to publish Maxine Beneba Clarke and are thrilled to see her work Foreign Soil recognised in this year’s shortlist for the Glenda Adams Award for New Writing.

We are equally thrilled to congratulate Favel Parrett for When the Night Comes and Inga Simpson for Nest on being longlisted for the 2015 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Award.

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

 

Two-Book Deal for Kelly Doust x

HarperCollins is thrilled to announce that we have acquired Kelly Doust’s debut novel in a two-book deal for ANZ rights via Gregory and Company, UK.  

Precious Things, to be published in May 2016, is a sweeping, absorbing and lush work of commercial fiction, telling the story of a beautiful embroidered collar and its journey through time in the hands of the women who created it, loved it, wore it and lost it—and the modern-day woman who can’t help but be intrigued by its mysterious past.

HarperCollins Publisher Catherine Milne says:  ‘Kelly is well-known to booksellers as the author of the Crafty Minx books, and it’s wonderful to see this talented writer move into fiction—which as it turns out is her natural home.’

Kelly says: ‘I am delighted to be publishing my fiction with HarperCollins and thrilled to be working with Catherine Milne and the rest of the HCP team.’

Kelly Doust is the author of five non-fiction books including the fashion memoir, A Life in Frocks. With a career spanning book publishing and publicity in the UK, Hong Kong and Australia, she has written for Vogue, Australian Women’s Weekly and The South China Morning Post, and currently lives in Sydney with her husband and daughter.

 

Exciting New Partnership: Bloomsbury Australia and Pantera Press x

Leading international independent publisher Bloomsbury and innovative Australian independent publisher Pantera Press today announce their new partnership.

From June 1, Bloomsbury Australia and Pantera Press will be working closely together to strategically grow Pantera Press’s readership and sales across Australia and New Zealand, including through distribution.

Pantera Press, shortlisted twice for Small Publisher of the Year, is focused on discovering and nurturing the next generation of talented Australian storytellers. They include the award-winning Sulari Gentill, political journalist Simon Benson and, appearing at next month’s Sydney Writers’ Festival, B. Michael Radburn, Wanda Wiltshire, J. M. Donellan and Melanie Casey. Other authors-to-watch include Graham Potts whose debut novel is being released by Pantera Press/Bloomsbury later this year.

Kate Cubitt, Managing Director of Bloomsbury Australia says ‘We are very excited by the dynamism and integrity of Pantera Press which echoes the spirit of a young Bloomsbury, established nearly 30 years ago. Being able to create a partnership with Pantera Press has opened a whole new dimension to Bloomsbury in the Australian market.’

Alison Green, CEO and founder of Pantera Press, says: ‘We’re thrilled about the potential for our new partnership with Bloomsbury. Our two companies have many wonderful synergies, so Bloomsbury is a perfect strategic partner for us in our next phase of growth.  We both see this as more than a traditional distribution relationship.

‘We will soon be relaunching Pantera Press, taking our exciting list of home-grown Australian authors to an even wider dedicated readership and working even more closely with our committed independent booksellers and the industry. This is a very exciting time for Pantera Press, with more news to come. Stay tuned,’ says Green.

‘It’s been a delight working with our friends at Simon & Schuster Australia since Pantera Press’s launch in 2010,’ added Green, ‘and we are looking forward to seeing the great things Dan Ruffino has coming up for S&S AU.’

Dan Ruffino, Managing Director of Simon & Schuster Australia, says ‘We have very much enjoyed working with Pantera as they established themselves as an innovative and entrepreneurial publisher in the Australian book industry. We are proud to have worked in partnership with such a passionate and hardworking company and look forward to seeing their continued growth and success.’

All trade orders for Pantera Press will switch seamlessly from Simon & Schuster Australia to Bloomsbury supply by UBD on June 1.

All returns to UBD for Pantera titles invoiced by Simon and Schuster Australia will need to be at UBD by Friday 31 July.

Titles received after this date will be treated as firm sale and will not be credited.

Any returns for Pantera titles not invoiced by Simon & Schuster Australia will be not be credited by UBD for Simon & Schuster Australia but will be under Bloomsbury returns terms.

For any queries please contact:

Kate Cubitt
Managing Director Bloomsbury
Kate.Cubitt@Bloomsbury.com 02 8820 4900

Alison Green
CEO Pantera Press
Alison.Green@PanteraPress.com 02 8096 5192

 

Delayed Publication: Lonely Planet Nepal 10 ISBN 9781743210079 x

Due to the recent earthquake in Nepal the 10th edition of Lonely Planet’s Nepal (9781743210079) guidebook, set for release in July 2015, has been postponed. All existing back-orders will stand. Once a new publication date is ascertained this will be presented to you via your Lonely Planet representative or agent.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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