Weekly Book Newsletter (end March 2022)
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8 November 2018

 

Half Moon Lake

A missing boy found in America’s Deep South. To whom does Sonny Davenport belong? A gripping debut novel inspired by real events. Coming January 2019.... Read more
 
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First authors announced for 2019 Perth Festival Writers Week

The first authors and events have been announced for the 2019 Perth Festival Writers Week, which runs from 18-24 February. ‘Our Imagined Selves’ is the... Read more
 

Book industry figures to attend Australia Fest in India

Australian authors, publishers and literary festival programmers are among the guests at Australia Fest, a six-month festival comprising more than 75 events across 20 Indian... Read more
 
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Bowker’s ISBN agency websites hacked in Australia and US; credit card numbers compromised

Bowker, which trades in Australia as Thorpe-Bowker, is investigating ‘patterns of unauthorised charges’ to credit cards that have been used on Bowker’s MyIdentifiers websites, which... Read more
 

 

Angel wins 2018 Barbara Jefferis Award for ‘The Trapeze Act’

Poet Libby Angel has won the 2018 Barbara Jefferis Award for her debut novel The Trapeze Act (Text). The $50,000 award, which is administered by... Read more
 
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Australians nominated for 2019 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals

A number of Australian authors and illustrators have been nominated for the 2019 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals. Australian books including A Different Boy by Paul... Read more
 

Logo for the Richell Prize, featuring a swooping bird

 

McIver wins 2018 Richell Prize for ‘I Shot the Devil’

Melbourne-based writer Ruth McIver has won the 2018 Richell Prize for her entry ‘I Shot the Devil’. The novel is a dual narrative following a... Read more
 

 

S&S acquires Archie Roach memoir

Simon & Schuster (S&S) has acquired world rights to a yet-to-be-titled memoir by singer-songwriter Archie Roach. Roach, who is part of the Stolen Generations, is... Read more
 

 

A&U sells ‘The Museum of Modern Love’ to UK

Allen & Unwin (A&U) has sold UK rights to Heather Rose’s The Museum of Modern Love to Weidenfeld & Nicolson, a division of Orion Publishing.... Read more
 

 

Robotham’s ‘The Secrets She Keeps’ to be adapted for TV

Michael Robotham’s thriller The Secrets She Keeps (Hachette) will be adapted into a six-part television miniseries, reports If. Premiering on Channel 10 in 2019, the... Read more
 

 

Fashion designer Dinnigan to create two books for Berbay x

Berbay Publishing has acquired world rights in a two-book deal to picture books by fashion designer Collette Dinnigan. Dinnigan said: ‘I spend more time now reading... Read more
 

 

Leigh wins 2018 Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing

Andrew Leigh has won the 2018 Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing for ‘From bloodletting to placebo surgery’, an excerpt from his book Randomistas: How Radical Researchers... Read more
 

 

Powles, Collison, Pati win inaugural Women Poets’ Prize

Three poets have been announced as the winners of the inaugural Women Poets’ Prize: New Zealand-born Nina Mingya Powles and London-based poets Claire Collison and Anita... Read more
 

New specialist kids agency launched

Lawyer and writer Justine Barker has launched a new literary agency focusing on children’s and YA books. Mayfair Literary Agency will represent authors writing picture... Read more
 

Amazon’s AbeBooks backflips after booksellers protest

After two days of striking against Amazon subsidiary AbeBooks, antiquarian booksellers around the world have had success, with the retailer apologising and saying it would... Read more
 

 

Two books tie for best novel at the 2018 World Fantasy Awards

In the US, the winners of the 2018 World Fantasy Awards have been announced at the World Fantasy Convention in Baltimore, with two books tying... Read more
 

 

Cundill History Prize 2018 finalists announced

In Canada, the finalists have been announced for the Cundill History Prize, which rewards ‘the best history writing in English’. Chosen from a shortlist of... Read more
 

 

Last Hong Kong bookshop selling titles banned in China closes

The last bookshop in Hong Kong selling titles banned by the Communist Party of China has closed, reports the Guardian. People Book Café, situated in... Read more
 

 

HarperCollins UK named on Best Employers for Race list

HarperCollins UK is the only publisher to have been named as one of 70 of the best UK employers for race diversity and equality, reports BookBrunch.... Read more
 

 

French publisher wins $342k Turjuman Award

French publishing house Actes Sud has won the Turjuman Award, receiving AED 910,000 (A$342,000) for its French translation of The Nature of Despotism by Syrian author Abdul... Read more
 

Philosopher Nussbaum wins US$1m Berggruen Prize

Philosopher and classicist Martha Nussbaum has won the US$1 million (A$1.4m) Berggruen Prize, which is awarded annually to ‘thinkers whose ideas have profoundly shaped human... Read more
 

Booksellers protest Amazon’s AbeBooks withdrawing from several countries

Hundreds of antiquarian booksellers from around the world have removed their books from Amazon subsidiary AbeBooks, after it announced it would withdraw its services from... Read more
 

Rights round-up x

Sales Fiction Allen & Unwin has sold UK rights to The Museum of Modern Love (Heather Rose) to Weidenfeld & Nicolson (see news). Jane Cockram... Read more
 

 

Bestsellers this week x

Two highly anticipated fiction titles top the bestsellers chart this week: the seventh book in Sarah J Maas’ ‘Throne of Glass’ YA series Kingdom of Ash (Bloomsbury) has debuted... Read more
 

Kirsten Alexander’s ‘Half Moon Lake’ x

‘This isn’t simply the story of a missing boy—though that alone would have been enough to sustain a reader’s interest—it’s also a skilful exploration of... Read more
 

Quote of the week

‘If we’re not encouraging our boys to read books with girls as the main characters, we’re doing them a great disservice. What are we telling our boys? That stories about girls are lesser—they don’t matter as much—they’re not as good as boys.’—Author Jacqueline Harvey reflects on gender, gatekeepers and the current state of children’s literature in her Colin Simpson Memorial Lecture.

 

RiP Eleanor Witcombe

Australian screenwriter and playwright Eleanor Witcombe has died, aged 95. Witcombe’s most well-known works were the book-to-screen adaptations of My Brilliant Career (Miles Franklin, HarperCollins), The Getting of... Read more
 

 

Libraries awarded 2018 NLA Community Heritage Grants

The National Library of Australia (NLA) has announced the recipients of its 2018 Community Heritage Grants (CHG) program, including three New South Wales organisations that received... Read more
 

NZ's first suburban self-service library to open

New Zealand’s first suburban self-service library will open in Whanganui East on the country’s North Island in January 2019, reports the New Zealand Herald. The new... Read more
 

Singapore National Library Board to archive digital publications, websites

In Singapore, the National Library Board (NLB) has announced it will archive digital publications and websites ending with the .sg domain, reports the Straits Times. Around... Read more
 

 

A remarkable entry point: Terri-ann White on the Sharjah International Book Fair x

UWA Publishing director Terri-ann White travelled to the United Arab Emirates to attend the Sharjah International Book Fair, which runs from 31 October to 10 November.... Read more
 

 

Podcast spotlight: Write Through the Roof

Hosted by speculative fiction author Madeleine D’Este, Write Through the Roof is a podcast for writers who want to improve their craft. Guests have included... Read more
 

Martin appointed general manager of Dymocks Children’s Charities

Terri Martin has been appointed general manager of Dymocks Children’s Charities, effective immediately. Martin replaces Paul Swain, who is stepping down from the role after... Read more
 

IPEd: Call for nominations for the 2019 Rosie Award

The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) has opened the call for nominations for the 2019 Rosie Award. The Rosie is an award to recognise excellence... Read more

Ling Ma wins 2018 Kirkus Prize for Fiction

Text congratulates Ling Ma, who has won the $50,000 2018 Kirkus Prize for Fiction for her novel Severance (ISBN 9781925773279). This is a darkly funny dystopian novel in which, in the words of one reviewer, ‘the world ends…not with a bang but a memo.’

For a reading copy for your staff, email sales@textpublishing.com.au. To order stock, contact UBD on 1800 33 836 or orders@unitedbookdistributors.com.au.

 

ADS Distribution Christmas trading hours

Alliance Distribution Services wishes to advise the following changes to assist customers in maximising opportunities in the period leading up to Christmas.

1. ADS will reduce the normal minimum order value to $175 RRP from Wednesday, 28 November until Thursday, 20 December. This will enable customers to have their orders dispatched prior to Christmas without needing to reach the higher minimum.

2. ADS will expand the customer service department hours to open from 7.30am to 5.30pm AEST weekdays for the same period. Further extensions of service may be added should activity demand.

3. ADS has already commenced an additional picking shift to ensure orders are dispatched to maintain our usual high average daily turnaround throughout this busy period.

The ADS customer service and warehouse operations will be open on all days throughout the Christmas and New Year period other than public holidays.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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