Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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On tour: Meet the author Eloisa James 

Wednesday, 15 August 2012
New York Times bestselling romance author Eloisa James is in Australia in August to attend the Australian Romance Readers Association convention on the Gold Coast. Her latest book is The...

On the epidemic of niceness in online book culture

Tuesday, 7 August 2012
In an article at Slate, US writer Jacob Silverman argues that today’s online book culture has become a ‘mutual admiration society’ which discourages criticism and dissent. The writer Emma Straub...

On tour: Meet the author John Boyne 

Friday, 3 August 2012
Irish author John Boyne is best known for his children’s novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but he has also written a number of adult novels. His latest is...

Interview with Amy Espeseth on ‘Sufficient Grace’ (Scribe) 

Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Amy Espeseth's novel Sufficient Grace (Scribe, September) is a story of lost innocence and the unfailing bond between two young women. Read the review here. Espeseth spoke to reviewer Rita Yazdani. Reading Sufficient Grace, I kept...

A novel idea for debut novelists

Wednesday, 11 July 2012
‘How do you promote a debut novelist when there are so many other writers competing for that publicity attention?’ A Sydney-based literary agent believes the solution lies in a first-novel...

Interview with Andrew Croome on ‘Midnight Empire’ 

Thursday, 5 July 2012
Andrew Croome’s second novel Midnight Empire (A&U, September), following the 2008 Vogel Award-winning, Document Z, is a contemporary political thriller set against a backdrop of Las Vegas’ professional poker scene...

On tour: Meet the author Sloane Crosley 

Thursday, 5 July 2012
Sloane Crosley is the author of I Was Told There’d be Cake (Penguin) and more recently, How Did You Get This Number (Portobello). She is a guest of the Melbourne...

Interview with Toni Jordan on ‘Nine Days’ 

Wednesday, 4 July 2012
With two romantic comedies under her belt, Toni Jordan tackles the family saga in her latest book Nine Days (Text, September). She spoke to reviewer Chris Harrington. The nine days...

Discovery and the art of bookselling 

Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Australian author and literary agent Virginia Lloyd travelled to Book Expo America last month, where everyone was talking about ‘the problem of discovery’. The more some things change in book...

Your store: Book-to-film clubs 

Friday, 29 June 2012
An abundance of book-to-film adaptations have been released this year, with still more to come. It’s good news for the Sun Bookshop and Riverbend Books, which run their own film...

Your store: Exercises in ebookselling 

Thursday, 28 June 2012
Many booksellers are now signed up to sell ebooks, but how do you drive customers to your ebook store? We asked Kevin Guy from Avid Reader and Jon Page from...

Reviews: August 2012 

Friday, 22 June 2012
Fiction Black Mountain (Venero Armanno, UQP, August) reviewed by Jon Page This intriguing novel takes you from a small coastal Queensland town to the sulphur minefields of Sicily. There are...

Anna Funder’s Miles Franklin acceptance speech

Thursday, 21 June 2012
While she wasn’t able to accept her award in person, 2012 Miles Franklin winner Anna Funder gave the following acceptance speech by video, arguing that literary prizes ‘provide signposts as...

Interview with Benjamin Law on ‘Gaysia’ 

Friday, 15 June 2012
Benjamin Law tells Andrew Wrathall about his new book of adventure gonzo-ish journalism, which explores queer culture in Asia. (See our review here.) While some dry academic books have been...

Shelf talk: Talking points 

Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Piracy is a hot topic in the publishing industry, especially when it comes to ebooks. US writer Chris Ruen looks at the history, meaning and implications of downloading unlicensed digital...

Shelf talk: Children’s corner 

Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Picture book publishers are showing no signs of slacking off in what is normally a low-selling period. Stephen Michael King has teamed up with Nick Bland in The Magnificent Tree...

Shelf talk: Memorable memoirs 

Wednesday, 13 June 2012
High Court Justice Michael Kirby is no stranger to the public spotlight. Although he’s only recently published his own story, he’s also the subject of a new biography, Michael Kirby:...

Interview with Dylan Coleman on ‘Mazin Grace’ 

Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Winner of the David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writing, Dylan Coleman’s novel is ‘in turn heart-wrenching, amusing, tragic and resilient’, writes reviewer Max Oliver. He spoke to the author. This...

Interview with Emily Maguire on ‘Fishing for Tigers’ 

Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Emily Maguire’s latest novel explores the amorality of an expat community in Hanoi, and 35-year-old Mischa’s affair with an idealistic younger man. Maguire spoke to Portia Lindsay. You have previously...

Booksellers diary: Jason Lake of Imprints 

Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Jason Lake is the co-owner of Imprints Booksellers in Adelaide’s ‘bohemian quarter’. He shares his bookseller’s diary. Imprints Booksellers opened its doors for business in 1984. It has since become...

Opinion: Malcolm Neil on ebooks 

Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Malcolm Neil calls for a more balanced industry debate on ebooks, and fewer references to book sniffing. Australia, more than most countries, has seen the business elements of the book...

When bookstores stock self-published titles 

Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Some booksellers are being approached daily by self-published authors. So how do they decide which titles to stock? Rita Yazdani spoke to three booksellers. When Amal Awad decided to self-publish...

Meet Canongate’s Jamie Byng 

Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Jamie Byng, MD of the Edinburgh-based publishing house Canongate and founder of World Book Night, will give the keynote address at this year’s Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) conference. He spoke...