When Sleeping Women Wake is the debut novel from Emma Pei Yin. An epic and emotional story of three spirited women – a mother, her... Read more

Books+Publishing, in partnership with the Australian Publishers Association, has announced the 2025 shortlists for the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs). The shortlisted titles in each... Read more

Thunderhead (Sophie Beer, A&U) has been optioned by LateNite films, in a film and television deal negotiated by Annabel Barker Agency. Beer’s first middle-grade novel, Thunderhead... Read more

Macmillan has acquired rights to seven new titles from internationally bestselling author Aaron Blabey. The deal, worth eight figures, encompasses seven titles in two new... Read more

Simon & Schuster imprint Bundyi Publishing has acquired world rights to two novels by Judi Morison. Morison’s debut, Secrets, ‘touches on many of the issues... Read more

Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world English (ex NZ) rights to debut novel Ash by Louise Wallace, in a deal brokered by Martin Shaw... Read more

MidnightSun has acquired world rights to Dirt Trap by Michael Burge. A sequel to Burge’s rural noir debut, Tank Water, Dirt Trap is set two... Read more

Larrikin House has acquired world rights to Otto’s INKcredible First Day of School by Rory H Mather, with illustrations by Rebel Challenger. The story follows... Read more

In the UK, Harriet Baker has won the £10,000 (A$20,365) Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award for Rural Hours (Allen Lane),... Read more

The ABIA shortlists have been announced! Also in industry news, Wombat Books founder Rochelle Stephens and teacher and author Bethany Loveridge announced the establishment of new publishing venture Perentie Press, which will focus on graphic novels for young people, and BookPeople released ‘100 Best Australian Books of the 21st Century’, a reading guide featuring titles selected by member booksellers – with Tim Winton and Anna Funder each featuring three times. In Melbourne, QBD Books will open a new store at Greensborough Plaza in the city’s northwest towards the end of this month.

Vale Jeannine Fowler. The former publicity director at Pan Macmillan Australia has died, and is remembered by Pan Macmillan publicity and marketing director Tracey Cheetham: ‘Her gigantic smile and iconic red lipstick – Neen was an incredible presence and a wonderful mentor.’

In a big week for events, the Sydney Writers’ Festival, Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi O Tāmaki, Woollahra Writers’ Festival and Storyfest announced their 2025 programs; while further south, Tasmania Reads will take place later this month.

Local authors Madeleine Gray, Oliver Jeffers and Sarah A Parker were shortlisted as part of the 35th British Book Awards; Adalya Nash Hussein was named the 10th and final Kat Muscat Fellow; and Penguin Random House Australia announced the shortlist for its 2025 Penguin Literary Prize; while, in the UK, Jenni Fagan won the 2025 Gordon Burn Prize for Ootlin (Hutchinson Heinemann).

Over in the US, an emergency arbitrator has ‘temporarily prohibited Meta’s former director of global public policy and author of the memoir Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams, from promoting or further distributing copies of her book’, reported the Bookseller, while the New York Times noted that the ‘filing does not limit the publisher, Flatiron Books, or its parent company, Macmillan, from continuing publication of the memoir’. Also in international news, a report released at the London Book Fair reveals that ‘fiction sales are growing in global book markets, while nonfiction continues to struggle in most territories‘, reported Publishers Weekly.

In local acquisitions news, Macmillan signed Aaron Blabey for two new middle-grade series in an eight-figure deal. Meanwhile, Simon & Schuster imprint Bundyi acquired world rights to two novels by Judi Morison; Text Publishing acquired world rights to Snake Talk: How the World’s Ancient Serpent Stories Can Guide Us by Tyson Yunkaporta and Megan Kelleher; Larrikin House acquired world English rights to Rainbow Street by RWR McDonald, illustrated by Kelly Canby; MidnightSun acquired world rights to Dirt Trap by Michael Burge; Murdoch Books acquired world rights to a ‘satirical red-carpet fashion bible’ from anonymous social media influencer and comedian Fashion Critical; Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand acquired world rights to the historical novel My Name Is Elli from author Doug Gold; Allen & Unwin acquired world English (ex NZ) rights to debut novel Ash by Louise Wallace, in a deal brokered by Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary; HarperCollins Australia acquired ANZ rights to The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage; Penguin Random House Australia acquired world rights to The Number One Insta Detectives Agency and The Love Bomber by co-writers Rachael Johns and Mercedes Mercier. Larrikin House acquired world rights to Otto’s INKcredible First Day of School by Rory H Mather, with illustrations by Rebel Challenger.

Meanwhile, Deadline reported that Candice Fox’s 2024 thriller Fire with Fire (Penguin) is being adapted for television by US television studio NBC; and Thunderhead (Sophie Beer, A&U) has been optioned by LateNite films, in a film and television deal negotiated by Annabel Barker Agency.

Elsewhere in bookish news, Nina Culley wrote for Kill Your Darlings on ‘cosy Asian fiction’: ‘But today, as I observe how crowded the bookshop shelves are with these titles, I can’t help feeling a bit suspicious. As heartening as it is to see diverse voices celebrated, I wonder if their initial charm morphed into something aggressively commodified?’ And, as part of the ongoing discourse on a metafictional short story created by an Open AI model, Lincoln Michel wrote for Counter Craft on the question of whether the work is ‘actually good’: ‘No one would call this text moving or beautiful or even pay any attention to it at all if it wasn’t in the context of a new much-hyped technology and posted online by a billionaire CEO.’

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Brisbane-based writer Laura Elvery (Ordinary Matter) makes her novel debut with Nightingale (UQP, May), a fictional reimagining of the life of Florence Nightingale. Books+Publishing reviewer... Read more

Australian Gospel by Lech Blaine – a book that is completely fascinating, heartbreaking, measured and fair. There’s a pace and a clarity in Lech’s writing that... Read more

In the lead-up to the 2025 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs), Books+Publishing is in conversation with the event’s major sponsors about the status of the industry,... Read more

Top 10 bestsellers Wild Side (Elsie Silver, Piatkus) The Let Them Theory (Mel Robbins, Hay House) Onyx Storm (Rebecca Yarros, Piatkus) RecipeTin Eats: Tonight (Nagi Maehashi,... Read more

Based on true events, The Bearcat is an ambitious, mesmeric and deeply affecting debut novel that imagines the inner life of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, a rare... Read more

Holly Wainwright’s fifth novel, He Would Never, is pacy, compelling and character-driven, and will hook readers from the startling first sentence. The story follows five... Read more

Grounded in history and buoyed by Laura Elvery’s elegant, moving prose, Nightingale is a fictional reimagining of the near-mythic figure of Florence Nightingale, told in... Read more

Sarah Clutton’s The Remarkable Truths of Alfie Bains is a richly woven novel that explores family dynamics, small-town life and long-buried secrets. The story follows... Read more

‘Viet Kieu’ is a Vietnamese term used for people of Vietnamese heritage who were raised and are living in the diaspora. In Viet Kieu: Recipes... Read more

Picture books about machinery are always a hit, but they don’t always deliver an engaging narrative – this one does, seamlessly blending fiction with nonfiction.... Read more

What if humanity developed a drug that could manipulate the elements – essentially perform magic? In This Dream Will Devour Us, debut author Emma Clancey... Read more

Too Many Dogs is a charming and light-hearted picture book from the creative pairing behind Too Many Cats that explores what it means to be... Read more

Jeannine Fowler, former publicity director at Pan Macmillan Australia, has died. Pan Macmillan publicity and marketing director Tracey Cheetham writes: Pan Macmillan Australia is profoundly... Read more

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

Laura Harris Publishing is delighted to announce they have sold world rights for The Adventures of Pongo & Stink by Lisa Nicol to Penguin Random House Australia.

The Adventures of Pongo and Stink is a hilarious tale about two fed-up farm pigs who set off on an audacious adventure to live a life of luxury by donning zip-up suits and impersonating dogs. Exploring the difficulties of trying to be someone you’re not and the consolatory power of true friendship, The Adventures of Pongo and Stink is an uproariously funny and emotionally satisfying novel for young readers aged 6–10. With wonderful illustrations by Karen Blair, who could resist a pig in a dog suit?

PRHA plans to publish the title in hardback in November 2025.

Two small photographs found in a dead man’s wallet throw every belief Bella holds about her family into disarray and changes her life forever.

The novel is in development as an international drama series.

“A dramatic and engrossing love story spanning three continents and a World War.”

Kathy George, author “Sargasso” and “Estella”

withoutquestionbook.com

Early bird tickets are open now!

Get ready to celebrate another year of exceptional talent and creativity in the book sector at the Australian Book Industry Awards 2025!

The Australian Book Industry Awards will be held on Wednesday 7 May 2025 in Melbourne at Zinc Fed Square. Save the date for a star-studded night that celebrates the significant achievements of the teams and individuals who get books into the hands of Australian readers.

The Sydney Review of Books is pleased to announce Dr Tiffany Tsao as its new Deputy Editor.