Books+Publishing Weekly Book Newsletter
Image. Advertisement:
28 August 2024

 

Lonely Planet Dream Trips of the World 

The definitive bucket list travel guide featuring 100 dream trips across the world—packed with insights and knowledge from Lonely Planet experts so you can make... Read more
 
Image. Advertisement:

 

Books+Publishing to produce Australian Book Industry Awards

The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced that Books+Publishing will ‘take the production reins’ of the annual Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) under a new... Read more
 

 

NLA acquires Wallman's 'All Out! Pink Bans and Blue Collars' x

National Library of Australia (NLA) Publishing has acquired ANZ rights to All Out! Pink Bans and Blue Collars by comics-journalist, cartoonist and labour activist Sam Wallman.... Read more
 
Image. Advertisement:

S&S acquires Affirm, Booktopia trading again, Books+Publishing to produce 2025 ABIAs

Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) and Affirm Press announced this week that Affirm will become part of S&S; Booktopia’s website is up and running once more, following the sale of the business and its related assets to digiDirect owner Shant Kradjian; and the Australian Publishers Association has announced Books+Publishing will produce the 2025 Australian Book Industry Awards.

In other local news, the Sydney Morning Herald reported local author Dan Moon is suing Shawline Publishing in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, claiming he is owed thousands in unpaid royalties.

Looking ahead to 2025, the State Library of Queensland has called for proposals from Australian publishers to partner with the organisation in delivering the black&write! project for 2025; while BookPeople announced its 2025 conference will take place in Brisbane/Meanjin.

In awards news this week, in Aotearoa New Zealand, Janine Williams was named the inaugural recipient of the $30,000 Lynley Dodd Children’s Writers Award; while Meg Arnold, store manager of the Booragoon/Garden City Dymocks bookstore took out the top award at the bookselling chain’s conference gala dinner; and Varuna, the National Writers’ House announced the five recipients of its 2024 First Nations fellowships.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the Society of Authors has written to tech companies, demanding they have the consent of authors before using their work in the development of artificial intelligence, and Lex Croucher won the 2024 YA Book Prize for Gwen & Art Are Not in Love (Bloomsbury YA).

In (book) acquisition news this week, Allen & Unwin has acquired world rights to Corey Tutt’s children’s titles Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles (illus by Ben Williams) and Before It Was Called Science, the follow-up to The First Scientists (Hardie Grant Explore); Affirm has acquired world rights to self-help book Master Your Relationship Anxiety by Georgie Collinson; and National Library of Australia Publishing has acquired All Out! Pink Bans and Blue Collars by comics-journalist Sam Wallman.

Elsewhere in bookish news, The Conversation published a list of 50 ‘best Australian books of the 21st century’, taking a single recommendation each from 50 contributors, in answer to the much-discussed New York Times list that featured no Australian books (topping the list of recommendations was Alexis Wright, for Praiseworthy and Carpentaria, followed by Helen Garner’s How to End a Story, Michelle de Kretser’s Questions of Travel, and Kim Scott’s That Deadman Dance). Also in the Conversation, Jenny Grigg wrote on the book design implications of the ‘misleading’ cover of Hannah Grace’s explicit enemies-to-lovers romance novel Icebreaker.

Meanwhile, Millie Reid, vice president of Albany Pride, has launched a petition against a call for book banning from a fringe group in the WA township; Ventura Press founder Jane Curry and author Seana Smith have started a podcast called The Publisher and the Writer and the Big Issue has launched its 20th fiction edition, featuring 14 writers selected from 808 submissions.

 

Photograph of Alyson O'Brien

 

Alyson O'Brien on literacy and trade publishing: 'It’s lucky for a manuscript for the very young to even make it to an acquisitions meeting' x

A year ago, when former Bright Light publisher Alyson O’Brien moved from commercial publishing to Raising Literacy Australia, she thought her commercial experience would add... Read more
 
Image. Advertisement:

 

David Dyer on 'This Kingdom of Dust' x

David Dyer’s debut novel, The Midnight Watch (Penguin, 2016), focused on the ship that witnessed the Titanic’s distress rockets but failed to respond. His sophomore... Read more
 

 

David Dyer recommends x

The last Australian book I read and loved was Larry Writer’s wonderful The Shipwreck (2022). It tells the dramatic story of the sailing ship Dunbar,... Read more
 

Rights round-up x

Sales Nonfiction HarperCollins has sold Dutch language rights to Even More Basics to Brilliance (Donna Hay, HarperCollins) to Uitgeverij Unieboek. Children’s HarperCollins has sold Brazilian Portuguese language... Read more
 

Cover of The Land of Lost Things

 

'The Land of Lost Things' debuts at number three x

Top 10 bestsellers It Ends with Us (Colleen Hoover, S&S)* It Starts with Us (Colleen Hoover, S&S) The Land of Lost Things (Adventures Unlimited) (Andy... Read more
 

 

The Burrow (Melanie Cheng, Text) x

A triumph of restrained and tender storytelling, Melanie Cheng’s The Burrow follows a Melbourne family living on autopilot five years after a senseless tragedy. Amy,... Read more

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

 

 

Epic Salads (Jessica Prescott, Hardie Grant Books) x

If you’re ready to ditch the pre-made salads from your local supermarket, Jessica Prescott’s Epic Salads: For every mood, craving and occasion is a must-have... Read more

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

 

 

Everywhere We Look (Martine Kropkowski, Ultimo) x

Everywhere We Look is the debut novel by Martine Kropkowski, a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland, who has also written about the ethics... Read more

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

 

 

This Kingdom of Dust (David Dyer, Penguin) x

In his sophomore novel, David Dyer skilfully blurs history and fiction to pose the question: What if the Apollo mission had failed to return from... Read more

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

 

 

Stepping Sideways (ed by Emily Larkin & Lynne Stringer, Rhiza Edge) x

An Irish water sprite takes on human form with dire consequences, young people without professional prospects are farmed out to sadistic circuses, and a clockwork... Read more

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

 

 

Tardigrades (Anne Morgan, illus Jennifer Falkner, CSIRO Publishing) x

Tardigrades: Nature’s toughest survivors is the latest nonfiction picture book from Anne Morgan, author of the CBCA Notable Book The Way of the Weedy Seadragon.... Read more

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

 

 

The Whale’s Last Song (Joanne Fedler, HarperCollins) x

Joanne Fedler’s spellbinding The Whale’s Last Song is set in a time known as ‘The Great Forgetting’, when a plague ravages the medieval hamlet of... Read more

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

 

Simon & Schuster Australia acquires Affirm Press

Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) and Affirm Press announced on Monday, 26 August 2024, that they have signed an agreement under which leading independent publisher Affirm Press will become part of Simon & Schuster.

The acquisition will include all Affirm Press publishing in Australia. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

All books published and sold by Affirm Press will remain at the ADS warehouse. For all orders for Affirm Press books, please contact your Affirm Press representative, email adscs@alliancedist.com.au, or phone +61 2 4390 1300. The returns authorisation processes will also remain the same.

All books published and sold by Simon & Schuster Australia will remain in the HEDS warehouse. For all orders for S&S titles, please contact your S&S Australia representative or HEDS, email orders@harpercollins.com.au, or phone +61 2 4860 2900.

For more information, please refer to the announcement on the S&S Australia website here.

 
 
 
 

 

 

Contact us

Subscriptions
subscriptions@booksandpublishing.com.au
Phone (02) 8227-6486

Editorial
Please note that all editorial staff at Books+Publishing work part-time.

To reach the team, address queries to news@booksandpublishing.com.au.

Publishing director
Kate Cuthbert

Managing editor
Angela Glindemann

Reviews editor
Jess Lomas

Digital and operations manager
Andrew Wrathall

Classifieds, jobs and notices
submit.booksandpublishing.com.au
classifieds@booksandpublishing.com.au

Display advertising
advertising@booksandpublishing.com.au

Company: Books and Publishing Pty Ltd

Address: Books+Publishing, PO Box 42, Prahran VIC 3181, Australia

Books+Publishing’s website and publications contain content that is exclusive to subscribers. To photocopy, email or otherwise reproduce all or part of Books+Publishing’s content without the written permission of the publisher is illegal.

News

Do you want to submit news to Books+Publishing?
Read the editorial submissions page.

Classifieds

Classifieds, job ads and notices can be placed in Books+Publishing via the advertising submissions page.

Select newsletters

Select which newsletters you’d like to receive here.
Unsubscribe from individual newsletters here.
Or unsubscribe from all newsletters here.

View articles

Purchase a subscription to Books+Publishing to view all articles on the website.

If you need help with your subscription, please email the subscriptions team.

Follow us