Mural is a haunting ‘confession’ by a psychopath known only as D. Held in a secure facility, he has been asked by his psychiatrist to... Read more

Online bookseller Booktopia has appointed McGrathNicol as voluntary administrators of the company and its subsidiaries. Listed as insolvent are Booktopia Group Limited and associated entities... Read more

Creative Australia has announced the recipients of grants through its international programs. The programs include the International Travel Fund, the International Engagement Fund and the... Read more

Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to No Dancing in the Lift, a memoir from author Mandy Sayer, via Jeanne Ryckmans at Key People Literary... Read more

UQP has acquired world rights to a debut novel from screenwriter and author Thomas Vowles, titled The End of Everything. ‘A psychological thriller set in... Read more

Booktopia has appointed McGrathNicol as voluntary administrators of the company and its subsidiaries. This follows news late last week that the company requested a further extension to its voluntary trading suspension, while its previously announced funding was terminated.

Also headlining this week’s news, the Miles Franklin 2024 shortlist was revealed this week, with the winner to be announced on 1 August.

In other local news, Campion Group has appointed Tom Bradley as its CEO; and Jane Harrison has stepped down from her role as artistic director and CEO of Blak & Bright. Meanwhile, the total value of payments made to Australian creators through the Public and Educational Lending Right (PLR/ELR) schemes for the 2023–24 period totalled $26.6 million, an increase of $3.3 million on the previous year, following the inclusion of digital lending in the scheme for the first time.

In awards news, John Merkel has won the 2024 Hope Prize, presented by Simon & Schuster Australia, for the story ‘Shadows Cast by the Moon’; André Dao has won the 2024 Pascall Prize for Cultural Criticism; Kathryn Heyman and Dominic Hoey are the recipients of the 2024 New Zealand–Australia Residency Exchange, an international residency program held by Varuna, The National Writers’ House in collaboration with the Michael King Writers’ Centre in Auckland; and Creative Australia announced the recipients of grants through its international programs.

In international awards news, Indian writer Sanjana Thakur has won the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for her story ‘Aishwarya Rai’; and Hisham Matar and Matthew Longo have won the 2024 Orwell Prizes.

And, in the US, Publishers Weekly reported that a group of writers, illustrators and creators in both the children’s and adult sectors has officially launched the Authors Against Book Bans (AABB) organisation.

Finally, in acquisitions news this week, Affirm acquired world rights to Marny Lishman’s self-help book Crisis to Contentment, via The Lifestyle Suite; Hachette Australia acquired ANZ rights to Geraldine Brooks’ memoir Memorial Days; PRH Australia acquired rights to Bindi Irwin’s debut picture book, titled You Are a Wildlife Warrior! Saving animals & the planet, illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki; Scribe acquired world rights to Time Together, a new novel from Luke Horton, via Grace Heifetz at Left Bank Literary; UQP acquired world rights to a debut novel from screenwriter and author Thomas Vowles, titled The End of Everything; and Transit Lounge acquired world rights to No Dancing in the Lift, a memoir from author Mandy Sayer, via Jeanne Ryckmans at Key People Literary Management.

From the big names to the surprising debuts (and a whole lot of crime in between), Books+Publishing rounds up Australian publishers’ top local adult fiction titles... Read more

The Australian Publishers Association Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing who has spent less than 10 years in the industry. In the... Read more

Sales Fiction HarperCollins has sold North American rights to The Naturalist’s Daughter (Tea Cooper, HQ Fiction) to HarperCollins Focus; and world Hebrew rights to One Day... Read more

Top 10 bestsellers RecipeTin Eats: Dinner (Nagi Maehashi, Macmillan) The Housemaid Is Watching (Freida McFadden, Poisoned Pen Press) Not in Love (Ali Hazelwood, Sphere) The... Read more

The atmospheric setting of Brooke Hardwick’s debut novel, a highly selective writers’ retreat on the isolated island of Rathlin, off the coast of Northern Ireland,... Read more

Inspired by the life of Frances Wolfreston, a book collector who preserved the earliest part of Shakespeare’s legacy, Gail Holmes’s elegant debut speaks about the... Read more

Western Australian author Josh Kemp’s debut novel, Banjawarn, won several prestigious awards, including the Dorothy Hewett Award, a Ned Kelly Award, and a Western Australian... Read more

Scepticism is probably reasonable, at first, reading a book about Indigenous art written by a non-Indigenous person. Colin Golvan, however, has earned his bona fides... Read more

Anomaly, the debut YA novel by Emma Lord, is fast-paced, compelling and confidently plotted. In 2020, Piper Manning awakens 52 days after a virus has... Read more

The most delightful stories can often stem from the simplest of ideas, as seen in The Best Present Ever, a playful celebration of creativity, imagination... Read more

Award-winning children’s author Shivaun Plozza’s Summer of Shipwrecks is a vividly real, heartfelt middle-grade novel that explores the capriciousness of tween friendship. Sidney has been... Read more

It is time to let someone else have the opportunity to realise their dream of owning an independent bookshop.

The iconic Blues Point Bookshop opened 30 years ago in the Sydney Harbour–side village High Street of McMahons Point, minutes from North Sydney CBD and Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden.

Visit the Blues Point Bookshop website for pictorial detail.

Contact Helen: bluesptbooks@bigpond.com.

Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Award for Fiction (Australia Day, 2018), and author of the acclaimed Room for a Stranger (2019), Cheng returns with an intimate novel about hope and the possibility of redemption.

Amy, Jin and Lucie are leading isolated lives in their inner-city home—unhappy, but terrified of change. When they buy a pet rabbit for Lucie, and then Amy’s mother comes to stay, the family is forced to confront long-buried secrets.

The Burrow has been praised by Christos Tsiolkas as ‘stupendously good … a remarkable work, nuanced and human and adult.’ Helen Garner has lauded Cheng’s novel for its ‘calm, sweet, desolated wisdom.’

Publishing on 1 October, The Burrow will be supported by extensive publicity and marketing. For an early reading copy contact: Jessica.Hearnes@textpublishing.com.au.

Do you know of an excellent index?

Have you written or published one yourself?

Nominations are now open for the ANZSI Indexing Awards and ANZSI John Simkin Medal 2024. The ANZSI John Simkin Medal recognises an outstanding book index or periodical index compiled in Australia or New Zealand. ‘Highly Commended’ certificates may also be awarded.

Indexes may be nominated by authors, editors, indexers, publishers or readers.

The index nominated must be commercially available and have an imprint date of 2020 or later. The index must have been compiled in Australia or New Zealand, even though the text to which it refers may have been published elsewhere; and the index must be entirely the indexer’s own work. The index should be substantial in size; the subject matter complex; and the language, form and structure should demonstrate the indexer’s expertise in serving the needs of the text and the reader.

The Judging Panel comprises experienced indexers, editors, librarians and/or publishers. The judging process is confidential and nominated indexer names are known only to the Receiving Officer.

A completed nomination form, together with a print copy of the book, or a link to the digital file of both book and index, is required. Print books will be returned after judging.

Nomination forms, assessment criteria and lists of previous winners are available at www.anzsi.org/about-us/awards/the-john-simkin-medal/

Nominations must be received no later than 5pm AEST, Wednesday 31 July 2024 at GPO Box 2069, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia or (in the case of digital books) by email to the Receiving Officer at receivingofficer@anzsi.org

Nominators who have posted books must advise the Receiving Officer by email that they have done so. All nominations received will be acknowledged by email.

ANZSI Receiving Officer, receivingofficer@anzsi.org

New Holland Publishers will be leaving XLE and moving to HEDS starting on the 1st of August 2024.

While we are very excited to be working with the team at HEDS, we wish to thank XLExpress and Warwick Teale, and his team, for the past 5 years.

All RA requests for new releases and returned stock need to be sent to XLExpress by the 31st of July 2024, once approved for return with an RA approved by XLE and NH.

All back orders on frontlist and backlist titles will be transferred over to HEDS. If you do not have an account with HEDS, please contact our office on orders@newholland.com.au or phone 02 8986 4700 and we will send you an account credit application form.

All July new titles and backlist titles are still available at XLE, and all August new release titles will be distributed by HEDS in their August new release runs, and all stock will be available from the 1st of August 2024.

Thames & Hudson Australia will continue to distribute all Vendome titles.

Changeover date: 1 July 2024.

Previous distributor: NewSouth Books
New distributor: Thames & Hudson Australia
Changeover date: 1 July 2024
NewSouth Books will be accepting returns until 30 September 2024.

Independent Publishing is an online resource and a free monthly newsletter publication filled with news and tips for independent publishers, independent authors, hybrid authors and content creators.

The Independent Publishing newsletter contains:

• Regular opinion pieces
• Insider tips for independent publishers
• Author interviews
• Up-to-date industry news
• Promotional opportunities.

Read Independent Publishing‘s June issue here.
Sign up for future Independent Publishing newsletters here.
View Independent Publishing‘s media kit here.