Weekly Book Newsletter (end March 2022)
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8 December 2021

Last WBN for 2021

This is the last Weekly Book Newsletter (WBN) for 2021. The first WBN for 2022 will be published Wednesday, 12 January. The final Books+Publishing Daily... Read more
 
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Christmas closing dates 2021

Books+Publishing has collated company closing dates for the Christmas and New Year holiday period.Read the full article here.
 

 

Indie Book Awards 2022 longlists announced

Leading Edge Books has announced the longlists for the 2022 Indie Book Awards. The longlisted titles in each category are: Fiction After Story (Larissa Behrendt,... Read more
 
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‘The Conversation’ launches new Books & Ideas section x

Australian academic news and culture website the Conversation is expanding its books coverage with a new dedicated Books & Ideas section. Former Conversation arts and... Read more
 

NLNZ suspends planned Internet Archive donation amid criticism x

The National Library of New Zealand (NLNZ) has suspended its planned donation of 600,000 books from its overseas collection to the Internet Archive. In a... Read more
 
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HQ acquires Lien’s ‘All That’s Left Unsaid’ x

HQ has acquired UK & Commonwealth rights to Tracey Lien’s debut novel All That’s Left Unsaid as part of a two-book deal, in a ‘competitive... Read more
 

 

Affirm acquires new Sanders picture book series x

Affirm Press has acquired world rights to ‘Life Lessons for Little Ones’, a new picture book series written by Jess Sanders. Aimed at under-10s, the... Read more
 

US ed publishers sue Shopify over alleged selling of pirated material

In the US, educational publishers have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for Eastern Virginia accusing ecommerce platform Shopify of selling pirated material,... Read more
 

Paterson to lead Atlantic Books Australia, VPLAs shortlists

Pan Macmillan publishing director Cate Paterson is leaving the company to lead Atlantic Book Australia, a new division of Allen & Unwin. In other moves news, Louise Adler will leave her role at Hachette to take over as director of Adelaide Writers Week.

Dymocks Melbourne has had to hire professional security guards after an alleged assault on a staff member working as a Covid-19 marshal. Meanwhile, Sydney-based philanthropist Paula McLean has committed a gift of up to $1 million to the prize’s Stella Forever Fund, which aims to secure prize money for the award ‘in perpetuity’.

In local awards news, shortlists have been revealed for the VPLAs 2022, and the winners of the Danger Prize, Patrick White Award and MidnightSun cover design competition have been announced, as have The Next Chapter 2022 recipients .

Overseas, the winners of the FT and McKinsey Book of the Year, Cundill History Prize and Waterstones Book of the Year have all been announced. Meanwhile, the UK and US publishers of Alice Sebold’s memoir Lucky have halted its distribution after a man jailed for her rape was exonerated.

For all the latest localinternational and rights news, sign up to our Daily newsletter here.

 

 

February reviews round-up x

A round-up of local books to look out for next year, as recommended by Books+Publishing reviewers in the past month. Fiction In February 2022, readers... Read more
 

 

Melbourne City of Lit meets Wonju’s Tudeukgol Bookshop

In this series, run in partnership with the Melbourne City of Literature Office, we get to know some of the bookstores in the UNESCO Cities... Read more
 

 

Rights round-up x

Sales Fiction Penguin Random House Australia has sold UK rights (world English-language ex ANZ) to The Rabbits (Sophie Overett) to Gallic Books; Slovakian translation rights... Read more
 

 

New ‘Outlander’ debuts in top spot x

Diana Gabaldon’s ninth instalment in the ‘Outlander’ series, Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone, has debuted at number one on this week’s bestseller... Read more
 

 

Sadvertising (Ennis Ćehić, Vintage) x

In this debut collection of short stories, Ennis Ćehić uses deeply flawed characters to cleverly reflect the absurdity of late-stage capitalism. Sadvertising identifies obsession, narcissism... Read more
 

 

The Sorrow Stone (Kári Gíslason, UQP) x

In the wintery and unforgiving wilds of pre-medieval Iceland, a widow named Disa and her young son are running in fear of their lives. Disa... Read more
 

 

This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch (Tabitha Carvan, HarperCollins) x

When Tabitha Carvan suddenly falls in love with the actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who she has never met, she doesn’t know what to make of it.... Read more
 

 

Moth in a Fancy Cardigan (Charlotte Lance, illus by David Booth, Berbay) x

This illustrated middle-grade novel is a cute and quirky story about self-expression and the courage to be seen, told from the perspectives of a shy... Read more
 

 

When You’re Older (Sofie Laguna, illus by Judy Watson, A&U Children) x

There are many picture books that look at life with a new sibling from the perspective of a young child, probably because these books are... Read more
 

 

Read the latest Publishers Weekly x

Books+Publishing is partnering with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine.... Read more
 

Hickman appointed MWF CEO x

Vivia Hickman has been appointed CEO of Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF), replacing Rebecca MacFarling in the role. Previously executive producer at Sydney Festival, Hickman will... Read more
 

 

New creative direction to celebrate 40 years of Tim Winton’s writing

To celebrate 40 years of Tim Winton’s publishing career, Penguin Random House Australia has announced plans to re-release 18 of his titles—from the earliest novels and collections of stories and plays to the more recent novels and nonfiction—with all new cover artwork.

It will be the first time Winton’s extensive backlist has been given a uniform livery, and Penguin Random House Australia has enlisted multi award-winning designer Josh Durham to execute a stunning new creative direction featuring the photography of Trent Parke, one of Australia’s most innovative photographers renowned for his darkly poetic imagery.

The ambitious rejacketing project is being curated under the discerning eye of Nikki Christer, Penguin Random House Australia publisher-at-large, who first worked with Winton on The Riders and then Dirt Music.

As Christer says, ‘It’s always a challenge to achieve a cohesive cover design that works across a collection of titles, especially when they range so widely in terms of theme, style and even format. It has been a joy and privilege reimagining the look for Tim Winton’s oeuvre to complement the powerful mastery of his writing and the lyrical beauty and grace of his storytelling. Tim has chosen black and white images by Trent Parke that perfectly evoke the wild freedom and brutal savagery of the internal and external landscapes he writes about with such humour and wisdom in his novels, essays and plays. These edgy images pop against Josh Durham’s bold use of colour and restrained design and the overall effect is stunning. We hope the new covers appeal to Tim’s legion of fans who may want to add to their collection, and attract new readers who haven’t previously picked up one of his books.’

Penguin Random House Australia will be releasing the rejacketed Winton classics in three instalments starting this summer with the first six, due for release on 5 January 2022, to include Cloudstreet, Breath, Blueback, Dirt Music, That Eye, the Sky and In the Winter Dark.

The second instalment will be published in August 2022 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Winton’s debut novel An Open Swimmer (winner of the 1981 Australian Vogel award) and will also include Eyrie, The Shepherd’s Hut, The Riders, Shallows and Three Plays.

In the four decades since his first novel An Open Swimmer won the Australian Vogel Award Tim Winton has been heralded as one of Australia’s most critically acclaimed and bestselling authors. He has written 29 books, which have sold more than two million copies and never been out of print.

 

Upcoming change of distribution for Head of Zeus: order and returns cut-off dates

Following the recent purchase of Head of Zeus by Bloomsbury, Bloomsbury will take over distribution of Head of Zeus (HoZ) titles in Australia and New Zealand from 1st February 2022.

We thank HarperCollins Australia for their excellent representation and support of the HoZ list over the last several years.

Key dates for booksellers:

  • Orders for new release titles to be published 1 Feb, 2022 and after can be placed with Bloomsbury/UBD immediately.
  • HarperCollins/HEDS will continue to distribute HoZ backlist and Christmas release titles until January. The last date to place orders for HoZ titles with HEDS is 17th January, 2022.
  • Backorders will not be transferred from HarperCollins/HEDS to Bloomsbury/UBD.
    • Returns of titles sold by HarperCollins must be sent to HarperCollins/HEDS. Bloomsbury/UBD will not accept returns of stock not invoiced by Bloomsbury/UBD.
    • Return Authorisations should be requested from HEDS by 25th February, 2022. Any request received after this date will be rejected by HEDS.
    • The deadline for returns to be received at HEDS is 18th March, 2022. Stock not received by this date will be sent back to the customer at the customer’s expense.

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