Fast Fish is the third book in the popular ‘Scales and Tails’ children’s series and is based on a traditional story about the creation of... Read more

Books+Publishing would like to share updates to its editorial policies. From 16 April 2025, B+P will run acquisition stories from three months prior to publication (previously... Read more

This month saw the publication of a new set of First Nations publishing resources collated by the Australian Publishers Association (APA) to support Australian publishers... Read more

Perth-based writer Rebecca Raisin has been shortlisted for the Contemporary Romance Novel Award for her book A Love Letter to Paris (Boldwood) in the 2025... Read more

Hardie Grant has acquired world rights to Wankernomics by comedians James Schloeffel and Charles Firth. Wankernomics is ‘the hilarious must-have handbook for anyone who has ever... Read more

Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights to Fourteen Ways of Looking, a ‘hybrid memoir/prose poem/history’ by Erin Vincent, with US rights sold to Deep Vellum... Read more

The 2025 shortlist for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction has been announced. Shortlisted titles are: All Fours (Miranda July, Canongate) Code Noir (Canisia Lubrin,... Read more

Some event details were released this week – so have your calendars ready: The Northern Territory Writers Festival has announced its 2025 program, which will run 29 May–1 June on Arrernte Country, Mparntwe/Alice Springs; while the Australian Library and Information Association has announced ‘To Read or Not to Read: Literacy Matters’ as the theme for this year’s Library and Information Week, running 28 July–3 August.

Meanwhile, in bookselling news, the Australian arm of the Global Book Crawl – an international initiative to ‘unite independent bookshops worldwide in a celebration of local literature, community, and culture’ – will include more than 60 bookstores across seven regions; and Collins is opening a new franchise store in Queanbeyan.

Also in New South Wales, the State Library of New South Wales has announced a refurbishment of its Macquarie Street building, leading to some temporary closures until later this year.

Speculative fiction made the award headlines twice this week, as finalists for the Aurealis Awards and Hugo Awards were revealed – the latter of which featuring two Australian editors and two Australian illustrators. And, on a more broadly speculative note (spanning fiction and nonfiction and much in between), RMIT and the Emerging Writers’ Festival announced the longlist for the Speculate Prize for Emerging Writers.

Shortlists were revealed for the Australian Book Review‘s Calibre Essay Prize and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the latter of which features three writers from Aotearoa New Zealand and three from Australia.

Three prize winners were also announced locally this week: Rachel Ang won the 2024 Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize for their story ‘Thalassophobia’; Beejay Silcox won the inaugural KYD Flash Fiction Prize for her story ‘‘Mefloquine’; and Neika Lehman won the 2024 Judith Wright Poetry Prize for their poem ‘The Dog House’. And the Little Book Press, the publishing arm of Raising Literacy Australia, announced the 2025 recipients of its relaunched mentorship program: Garth Cochrane and Meg Riley.

In local acquisitions news, PRH Australia acquired ANZ rights to Reece Carter’s new middle-grade series The Nightmare League, in a six-publisher auction brokered by Gemma Cooper from Gemma Cooper Literary; Upswell acquired world rights to Fourteen Ways of Looking, a ‘hybrid memoir/prose poem/history’ by Erin Vincent, with US and UK rights already sold; Hardie Grant acquired world rights to Wankernomics by James Schloeffel and Charles Firth; and Atria Books Australia acquired world rights (ex North America) to poet Courtney Peppernell’s debut novel, The Last Poem.

Meanwhile, overseas, a surfeit of awards news: Garth Greenwell’s Small Rain (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) won the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction; and the Women’s Prize Trust announced the Women’s Prize Outstanding Contribution Award, a ‘one-off literary honour’ to be awarded to a living female author ‘in recognition of her body of work and significant contribution to literature’. The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction announced the shortlist for the $150,000 (A$236,675) prize; Haruki Murakami won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award Cultural Personality of the Year award ‘for the immense literary influence held by his work over the Arab literary world’; and the 40th annual Whiting Awards, recognising emerging writers, have also been awarded.

In less buoyant news, the American Library Association released its list of the 10 most challenged books of last year, in the midst of an ongoing spike in the number of books challenged.

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Melbourne-based screenwriter and author Thomas Vowles makes his novel debut with Our New Gods (UQP, June), a ‘twisty and menacing’ psychological literary thriller set in... Read more

Losing Face by George Haddad. He knows something about the complicated nature of the human soul. I can’t wait to see what he does next.

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, what... Read more

Sales Fiction Jane Novak Literary Agency has sold French rights to Prima Facie (Suzie Miller, Picador) to L’Archipel, in conjunction with the Lora Fountain Agency.... Read more

Top 10 bestsellers The Let Them Theory (Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins, Hay House) Sunrise on the Reaping (Suzanne Collins, Scholastic) Cozy Cuties (Coco Wyo,... Read more

Twisty and menacing, the new psychological literary thriller Our New Gods – set in Melbourne’s queer scene – is unsettling and memorable. Debut author Thomas... Read more

Debra Dank, a Gudanji/Wakaja and Kalkadoon woman from the Barkly Tablelands in the Northern Territory and critically acclaimed author of We Come with This Place,... Read more

The year is 1942, and Melbourne is a city consumed with fear in The Brownout Murders, a gripping historical graphic novel. With the threat of... Read more

The Girl in the Painting is a beautifully told narrative nonfiction picture book that gives voice to a quiet figure in one of Australia’s most... Read more

Penny Tangey (Granbad, As Fast As I Can) returns to middle grade with Music Camp, a story set during a selective five-day interschool music camp.... Read more

In this bold, brave and boundary-pushing young adult novel, author Pip Smith (Half Wild) draws on her experience teaching asylum seekers and years of research... 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

Sydney, Australia – 16 April 2025 – Rockpool Publishing is proud to announce the launch of Sweet Hearts Press, a vibrant new imprint designed to revolutionise the gift industry. Debuting in June 2025, Sweet Hearts Press will feature a range of unique gift products, including reading journals, mindfulness puzzles, niche books, and wrapping paper books.

Rockpool has partnered with some of the industry’s leading designers to create a bold new imprint of gift products—celebrating individuality with a playful edge and a fresh, contemporary flair.

‘We’re excited to introduce Sweet Hearts Press as a space where personality, humour, and creativity are at the forefront of gifting,’ said Paul Dennett, CEO of Rockpool Publishing. ‘This imprint is about offering products that are not only fun and cheeky, but also personal—perfect for those who want to stand out and make a statement, whether they’re giving or receiving.’

The first two titles set for release include:

• Reading Journal: Mostly Here for the Smut: A cheeky and charming journal for romance fiction fans, this fun-filled companion allows readers to track and reflect on their literary adventures.
• WRAP: Play!: A vibrant book of wrapping paper, designed to elevate the art of gift-giving with playful, creative patterns, label and tape perfect for any occasion.

The new imprint will officially launch on 1 July 2025, available globally through Simon & Schuster distribution partners. In addition to the two initial releases, Sweet Hearts Press will debut nine new products in total for the second half of the year, expanding its playful and niche offerings for discerning gift-givers.

For more information on Sweet Hearts Press and its upcoming releases, please visit www.sweetheartspress.com

For media inquiries, interviews, or product previews, please contact:
Vicky Smith
Marketing Manager
vicky.smith@rockpoolpublishing.com.au

Connect with your community and boost your local profile by featuring your bookshop in Neighbourhood Media’s suburb-specific magazines. Stocked in local hotspots, Neighbourhood Media’s magazines help you engage readers right on your doorstep. Be part of your suburb’s story and showcase your shop to the people who matter most: your neighbours.

Email: georgie@neighbourhoodmedia.com.au

Pan Macmillan Australia would like to inform its customers of the following key dates regarding our change of distributor. The Distribution and Logistics Company (TDLC) will take over ANZ distribution for Pan Macmillan Australia titles from ADS as of 1 July 2025.

We would like to sincerely thank ADS for their support since 2013.

July new release orders: Please place orders for this release with TDLC, from April 11th.

Orders:

Last date for ADS to receive orders: by 1pm AEST on Tuesday 24th June. Any orders received after this point will not be recorded by ADS.

Last order invoiced by ADS: COB Friday 27th June.

EDI ordering to be switched over from ADS to TDLC on Friday 27th June, to the TDLC SAN 908-3995. Please liaise with your POS provider.

First date for orders to be received and start picking at TDLC: Monday 30th June.

Backorders including July new releases:

Backorders transferred from ADS to TDLC: Friday 27th June.

July pub run: Please place orders for this release with TDLC, from April 11th.

Returns:

Last date for RA requests to be received at ADS: COB Thursday 24th July.

Last date for RA requests to be issued by ADS with trading terms: COB Friday 25th July.

Last date for authorised returns to be received at ADS: COB Friday 26th September.

Please note that any returns received by ADS after 26th September 2025 will be rejected and pulped, unless the retailer accepts the costs of returning the stock within two days of being notified of a rejected return.

For any questions, please contact:

TDLC: orders@tdlc.com.au or credit.control@tdlc.com.au for account enquiries

ADS: adscs@alliancedist.com.au

Pan Macmillan: your local sales representative, or sales@macmillan.com.au

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