Bologna: Local publishers report demand for ‘fun’ amid move away from ‘issues’
24 April 2024
Bologna Children’s Book Fair, held 8–11 April, was ‘the most upbeat fair for some time’, reported Scholastic senior rights manager Claire Pretyman. 'The mood was enthusiastic and joyful,' agreed Allen...
T&H celebrates 75-year anniversary
24 April 2024
Thames & Hudson (T&H) is celebrating its 75-year anniversary this year with a series of trade promotions and events. Walter and Eva Neurath founded T&H in 1949 with the ambition...
Upswell acquires Spirovski debut, ‘White Hibiscus’
24 April 2024
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights for White Hibiscus: A portrait in words, the debut work of visual artist Loribelle Spirovski. Publisher Terri-ann White described the book as ‘a poetic...
Transit Lounge acquires Dombroski debut novel ‘Xenograft’
24 April 2024
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Xenograft, a debut novel by Western Sydney author Ann Dombroski. In the novel, 40-year-old Alice Kaczmarek wants a baby, but her husband, Daniel, is...
No newsletter on Thursday
24 April 2024
Due to the Anzac Day public holiday, the Books+Publishing newsletter will not be published on Thursday, 25 April.
PEN America cancels 2024 Literary Awards ceremony
24 April 2024
In the US, PEN America has cancelled its 2024 Literary Awards ceremony, which was to be held on 29 April, reports Publishers Weekly. It comes after 28 authors withdrew books...
Ashleigh Barton on ‘Freddie Spector, Fact Collector: Space Cadet’
24 April 2024
Ashleigh Barton is a children's author and copywriter from Sydney who draws on her rich experience in publishing and marketing, including work on Jessica Townsend's Nevermoor. Her latest, Freddie Spector,...
Ashleigh Barton recommends
24 April 2024
I recently read and loved One Song by A J Betts. It reminded me how much I love YA. I also loved that it was set in Perth, revolved around...
Hammer, Morton on Daggers longlist
23 April 2024
In the UK, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has announced the longlists for its Dagger Awards. Chris Hammer’s Dead Man’s Creek (published locally as The Tilt, A&U) and Kate Morton’s...
Pantera acquires Rai debut novel ‘An Onslaught of Light’
23 April 2024
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to An Onslaught of Light, a debut novel by Natasha Rai. In the novel, in 1990, Vijay and Indu depart India for Australia—a move...
HarperCollins UK partners with AI company on audiobooks
23 April 2024
HarperCollins UK has announced a partnership with US-based audio AI company ElevenLabs to create audiobooks for its non-English language business, reports the Bookseller. Under the partnership, ElevenLabs' text-to-speech technology will...
Age Book of the Year 2024 shortlists announced
23 April 2024
The shortlists for the 2024 Age Book of the Year Award have been announced. The shortlisted works in each category are: Fiction Women & Children (Tony Birch, UQP) Anniversary (Stephanie...
New publisher Vitagraph launches literary journal
22 April 2024
New independent publishing house Vitagraph Publishing has launched Written Off, a new literary journal dedicated to Australian literature. Vitagraph said Written Off will highlight the work of writers with broad...
Ferris receives inaugural Meanjin InPlace residency
22 April 2024
Literary journal Meanjin has announced Ella Ferris as the inaugural recipient of the Meanjin InPlace residency. Ferris is a Taribelang writer, actor, theatre maker and poet, who now lives on...
Jhalak prizes 2024 shortlists announced
22 April 2024
The 2024 shortlists for the Jhalak Prize and Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize have been announced. Titles in the running for each prize are: Jhalak Prize A Flat Place...
Michael Gifkins Prize 2024 longlist announced
22 April 2024
Text Publishing and the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) have announced the longlist for the 2024 Michael Gifkins Prize for an unpublished...
Spotify reports 25% of Premium users ‘engaging’ with audiobooks
18 April 2024
Data released by Spotify shows that 25% of the platform’s Premium users are ‘engaging’ with its audiobooks offering, reports the Bookseller. Spotify said users aged 18 to 34 make up...
Hachette acquires Coburn YA verse novel ‘The Foal in the Wire’
18 April 2024
Hachette Australia has acquired world rights to The Foal in the Wire, a YA verse novel from poet Robbie Coburn, via Belinda Bolliger at Key People Literary Management. Described by...
Student-run Elephant Page Publishing launches at Curtin Uni
18 April 2024
A new student press, Elephant Page Publishing, has been established at Curtin University in Perth (Boorloo), Western Australia. Curtin University’s professional writing and publishing senior lecturer Per Henningsgaard is serving...
Remaining big five publishers join PRH in Iowa lawsuit
17 April 2024
In the US, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, along with Sourcebooks, have joined Penguin Random House (PRH) as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Iowa to block the book...
Pantera acquires Sursok memoir
17 April 2024
Pantera has acquired world rights to an as-yet-untitled memoir from Tammin Sursok. Among many other roles—including producing, directing, writing, music, media appearances, and entrepreneurship—Sursok is known as an actor who...
Local authors on Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2024 shortlist
17 April 2024
Three Aotearoa New Zealand authors and one Australian writer are among the finalists for the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The authors shortlisted for the Pacific region are: M Donato...
Yvonne Sewankambo recommends
17 April 2024
I’m currently reading and loving Mawunyo Gbogbo’s Hip Hop & Hymns (Penguin), which has been on my bookshelf since it was published in 2022. Finding the mental capacity to read that...
BookPeople 2024 Book of the Year shortlists announced
17 April 2024
BookPeople has announced the shortlists for its Book of the Year awards. The shortlists for each category are: Adult fiction Lola in the Mirror (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate) Green Dot (Madeleine Gray,...
Yvonne Sewankambo on ‘Good Hair’
16 April 2024
Sydney-based Yvonne Sewankambo is a Ugandan-Canadian writer and publicist whose debut picture book, Good Hair (Walker, June 2024), is ‘a wonderfully inclusive book representing various cultures and subcultures, showcasing the...
black&write! Writing Fellowships shortlist announced
16 April 2024
The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) has announced the shortlist for this year’s black&write! Writing Fellowships. The six shortlisted writers are: Skye Cusack, for the young adult novel ‘The Dangers...
Ondaatje Prize 2024 longlist
16 April 2024
The longlist for this year’s £10,000 (A$19,321) Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize has been announced. The longlisted titles are: The Britannias: An island quest (Alice Albinia, Allen Lane) Falling...
Affirm acquires Ferguson ‘feminist manifesto’
16 April 2024
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to an as-yet-untitled second nonfiction book from Hannah Ferguson. Described by the publisher as a ‘no-bullshit, no-frills guide to your twenties’, Ferguson’s 'new feminist...
A third of translators report losing work due to AI
15 April 2024
In the UK, a survey of members of the Society of Authors (SoA) has found a quarter of illustrators (26%) and over a third of translators (36%) have lost work due...
ISBN data: Pandemic slow-down in number of new publishers, number of new titles stable
15 April 2024
ISBN data shows there has been a deceleration in the number of new publishing entities entering the Australian market since the start of the pandemic, but the number of new...
