Weekly Book Newsletter (end March 2022)
9 November 2016

Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2016 winners announced

The winners of the 2016 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards were announced on 8 November in Canberra. The winners in each category are: Fiction (joint winners)... Read more
 

TitlePage to return to the APA

Direct management of the Australian book industry’s price and availability service TitlePage will return to the Australian Publishers Association (APA), the organisation has announced in... Read more
 

Kindle Unlimited launches in Australia

Amazon’s ebook subscription service Kindle Unlimited has been made available in Australia. Amazon is charging A$13.99 per month for the Australian Kindle Unlimited service, which... Read more
 

 

Sales, acquisitions successes for Australian publishers at Frankfurt x

‘New voices in literary fiction’, crime fiction, nature writing and ‘narrative nonfiction for female readers’ were among the trends observed by Australian attendees at this... Read more
 

Booksellers NZ proposes World Booksellers Conference for Dunedin in 2018

Booksellers NZ has made a formal proposal for the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) to hold its 2018 conference in Dunedin, New Zealand. The... Read more
 

Edwards resigns from S&S x

Simon & Schuster Australia head of publishing Larissa Edwards has resigned from the company to pursue interests outside of publishing. Simon & Schuster managing director... Read more
 

 

Oz, NZ authors and illustrators on 2016 White Ravens list x

A number of books by Australian and New Zealand authors and illustrators have been included in the 2016 White Ravens list for international children’s and... Read more
 

KOALAs 2016 winners announced

The 2016 winners of New South Wales’ annual children’s choice awards, the Kids Own Australian Literature Awards (KOALAs), have been announced. The winners and honour... Read more
 

2016 AusRomToday Reader’s Choice Awards nominees announced

The nominees for the 2016 AusRomToday Reader’s Choice Awards have been announced. The nominees in each category, are: Best New Author Caroline Beecham Melanie Coles... Read more
 

Twentieth Century Fox options rights to ‘Nevermoor’

Twentieth Century Fox has optioned the film rights to Australian author Jessica Townsend’s forthcoming middle-grade novel Nevermoor, the first book in a trilogy acquired by... Read more
 

 

Macquarie Dictionary launches podcast

Macquarie Dictionary has launched a new podcast that investigates the histories behind Australian words and phrases. Word for Word will go behind-the-scenes with dictionary editors... Read more
 

Booktopia wins ‘Smart Company’ top retailer award

Online bookseller Booktopia has won the top retailer award at the Smart Company Smart50 category awards. Booktopia was chosen from a shortlist that also included:... Read more
 

 

Thien wins Canada’s Giller Prize

In Canada, Madeleine Thien has won the C$100,000 (A$97,050) Scotiabank Giller Prize for her novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Granta), chosen from a... Read more
 

European Network for Literary Translation launched

Twenty-two literary bodies from 19 European countries have come together to launch ENLIT, the European Network for Literary Translation, reports Publishing Perspectives. Launched at the... Read more
 

 

‘Kirkus’ Prize 2016 winners announced

US publication Kirkus Reviews has announced the winners of its annual literary prize. The fiction prize was awarded to C E Morgan’s The Sport of... Read more
 

Amazon introduces illustrated children’s stories app

In the US, Amazon has introduced a new app featuring short, illustrated stories designed to look like text-chat for young readers, reports Publishers Weekly. The app,... Read more
 

 

Bestsellers this week x

This week’s five highest new entries have all debuted in the top 15 on the overall bestsellers chart, with the top four—led by John Grisham’s... Read more
 

Libby Angel’s ‘The Trapeze Act’ x

‘The brutal and tragic circus tales in The Trapeze Act will appeal to fans of Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, while the family drama and Australian history will... Read more
 

Quote of the week x

‘It seems that the psychological thriller is to the adult world what the YA dystopian trend is to children’s—publishers are almost tired of hearing about it, but they’re definitely interested if you have a strong title in this genre’Penguin Random House Australia’s Nerrilee Weir on the trends at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair

 

ALIA holds gala dinner at Parliament House

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) held a gala dinner at Parliament House in Canberra on 7 November to celebrate public libraries. ALIA produced... Read more
 

Sydney libraries to receive new technology x

The City of Sydney is introducing new technology in its nine municipal libraries, including self-service kiosks and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, reports Government News. The self-service... Read more
 

Geelong Library wins National Architecture Award

The Geelong Library and Heritage Centre was awarded the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for public architecture at the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2016 National Architecture... Read more
 

Authors, unions join first national protest against UK library cuts

In the UK, librarians, authors and major unions joined a protest march at the British Library to campaign against cuts to library services, reports the... Read more
 

Eight things to take home from Frankfurt x

Former Books+Publishing publisher Andrew Wilkins attended this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, and came away with eight lessons for publishers, agents and booksellers. Read his report... Read more
 

Small publisher spotlight: About Kids Books x

About Kids Books was launched in 2015 in Wollongong, NSW, by author Di Bates, and specialises in novels for middle-grade readers. ‘So many Australian publishers... Read more
 

Anne de Lautour to leave PANZ x

Anne de Lautour, director of the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ), will step down from her position in March 2017. PANZ is currently looking... Read more
 

Herron Books Post Christmas Sale x

161109-herron-logoHerron are the specialists for all mall sale, temp sites and promotional areas for high stockturning quality titles. We have countless great remainders and promotional titles this year! Since we are coming into post Christmas, now is the time to contact us; simply let us know your budget and/or area and we will take care of the rest. It is certain to be a success with all stock priced, fully SOR and electronic invoicing available.

Herron wishes to thank all customers that have already submitted their post Christmas sale commitments; it is an honour to serve you all.

Please call 07 3399 8799 or email sales@herronbooks.com.

 

James Bennett Management Changes x

Managing Director Chris von Hinckeldey has announced he will retire at the end of December 2016. He will be succeeded by Kim Jardine.

Sarah Phillpot has been promoted to the management team as Product Manager responsible for content acquisition and supplier relations.

Rod Riley has become acting Sales Manager while Sarah Cavanagh is on maternity leave.

 

Walker Books Australia Congratulates Meg McKinlay on winning the Prime Minister’s Literary Award x

Walker Books Australia congratulates Meg McKinlay on A Single Stone winning the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction.

A Single Stone has been shortlisted for eight awards and has won three literary awards including the Queensland Literary Award.

To order copies (ISBN 9781925081701) call Harper Entertainment Distribution Services on 1300 551 721.

 

Group discount tickets available for the Independent Publishing Conference this week x

Send your staff to the Independent Publishing Conference this week—group discount professional development packages are available for bundles of 6, 10 and 14 tickets. Book here.

Individual one-, two- and three-day tickets still available too: book here.

The conference includes:

Student Day: today 1pm—5.30pm
Industry Research Day: Thursday 10 November
Trade Day: Friday 11 November
Fundamentals of Publishing Day: Saturday 12 November

Book online now: https://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingDates.aspx?eid=223478&hs=smallpressnetwork.com.au.

 

TitlePage Returns to Local Platform x

The Australian Publishers Association (APA) today announced that TitlePage would be brought back under the direct management of the Association.

TitlePage is the book industry’s price and availability look-up service for all books available in Australia.

Over the next six months TitlePage will be relocated to a new local platform. There will be no immediate changes to the user interface or point of sale (POS) integration with TitlePage. The migration of data will not entail any interruption of service.

The new management structure will integrate user groups into the overall management of the TitlePage system to assist in its long-term development.

The transition will be complete in April 2017.

‘TitlePage has been critical to the development of a healthy book industry. It has made a real difference to the information retailers can give to customers and the speed with which books can reach Australian consumers,’ said Louise Adler, President of the APA.

‘It has been a privilege to be part of the evolving TitlePage story over the past 5 years. A dedicated team at ProQuest and within the APA have ensured TitlePage is positioned to further enhance the supply chain capabilities of the ANZ region. We’re excited for the future of TitlePage and we will work with the APA to ensure a smooth transition of the service back to local stewardship. We believe it is more important than ever that TitlePage, as the regional supply chain solution, continues to support the promotion of local industry infrastructure to present locally held and created content to ANZ consumers,’ said Gary Pengelly, General Manager of ProQuest (Thorpe-Bowker) Australia.

‘We are keen to develop the TitlePage service further, to engage stakeholders in the future development of the system and to ensure that TitlePage remains a world-class supply-chain solution for the Australian book industry,’ said Michael Gordon-Smith, Chief Executive of the APA.

The APA thanks ProQuest for its efficient and stable management of TitlePage over the last five years, and appreciates that ProQuest will be assisting in the smooth transition of the TitlePage system.

TitlePage was created in 2004 to address the book industry’s need to have a single, industry-wide lookup service for all books in the Australian market. It was developed and funded by the major publishing houses to give booksellers and libraries across the country access to current information on price and availability.

The APA was established in 1948 as the peak body for the Australian publishing industry. Our membership represents over 94% of the industry by turnover.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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