UK report: Half of adults not reading regularly
Thursday, 25 July 2024
In the UK, new research suggests that half of UK adults are not reading regularly and almost a quarter of young people (aged 16 to 24 years) have never been...
Vivendi updates plans to list Hachette on stock market
Wednesday, 24 July 2024
In France, Hachette Livre parent company Vivendi has updated its plans to list parts of its business on the stock market, reports the Bookseller. Vivendi said it would create three...
Academic authors ‘shocked’ at Microsoft AI agreement
Tuesday, 23 July 2024
In the UK, the Bookseller reports that academic publisher Taylor & Francis has sold access to its authors’ research as part of an artificial intelligence (AI) partnership with Microsoft worth...
Scholastic reports 7% drop in revenue
Monday, 22 July 2024
Scholastic has reported a 7% decrease in revenue for the year ending 31 May 2024, reports Publishers Weekly. For the full year, revenue dropped to US$1.6 billion (A$2.4b), from $US...
Independent Alliance records best-ever first half
Tuesday, 16 July 2024
In the UK, the Independent Alliance (IA) sales collective has, for the first time, placed above one of the ‘big four’ publishers for sales for the year to date, reports...
UK market down in 2024 without ‘Spare’
Monday, 15 July 2024
In the UK, book sales are down 1% on the first half of 2023, according to Nielsen BookScan Total Consumer Market data, a drop that can be attributed to the...
RBmedia to acquire Dreamscape Media
Thursday, 11 July 2024
In the US, audiobook publisher RBmedia has agreed to acquire independent audiobook publisher Dreamscape Media, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). In a statement, RBmedia CEO Michael Paull said Dreamscape would become...
Foot traffic up at Barnes & Noble
Wednesday, 10 July 2024
In the US, location analytics company Placer.ai has reported that, between November 2023 and May 2024, foot traffic to Barnes & Noble (B&N) stores has increased every month except January,...
Romantasy surge puts second-quarter US print sales up
Tuesday, 9 July 2024
In the US, a huge increase in print book sales in the adult fantasy category has contributed to overall unit sales of print books increasing 1.1% in the second quarter...
CWA Dagger 2024 winners announced
Monday, 8 July 2024
In the UK, the winners of the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger Awards have been announced, reports the Bookseller. Among the winners across 13 categories was Tell Me What I...
Indian writer Thakur wins 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Tuesday, 2 July 2024
Indian writer Sanjana Thakur has won the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for her story ‘Aishwarya Rai’, reports the Bookseller. Thakur was named the overall winner of the prize after...
Orwell Prize 2024 winners announced
Monday, 1 July 2024
In the UK, Hisham Matar and Matthew Longo have won the 2024 Orwell Prizes, reports the Bookseller. Matar won the Orwell prize for political fiction for his novel My Friends (Viking),...
Creators establish ‘Authors Against Book Bans’ in the US
Thursday, 27 June 2024
In the US, 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, reports Publishers Weekly....
Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024 shortlist announced
Wednesday, 26 June 2024
In the UK, the shortlist for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, worth £5000 (A$9541), has been announced, reports the Bookseller. The six titles shortlisted for the 2024 award are: Martyr!...
New ‘Basic’ US Spotify plan drops audiobooks
Tuesday, 25 June 2024
In the US, Spotify has increased the price of its Premium subscription offer to US$11.99 (A$18) a month and introduced a new ‘Basic’ plan that costs US $10.99 (A$16.50) and...
Coelho, Becker win Yoto Carnegie medals
Monday, 24 June 2024
In the UK, the winners of the Yoto Carnegie medals for writing and illustration for children and young people have been announced. Joseph Coelho, the UK’s current Children’s Laureate, won...
Hammad wins 2024 RSL Encore Award
Thursday, 20 June 2024
In the UK, Isabella Hammad has won the 2024 RSL Encore Award for her second novel, Enter Ghost (Vintage), reports the Bookseller. The value of the prize (which celebrates second...
Ganeshananthan, Klein win Women’s Prizes
Monday, 17 June 2024
In the UK, Brotherless Night by US author V V Ganeshananthan (Viking) has won the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction, and Doppelganger: A trip into the mirror world by Canadian...
‘Hungry Ghosts’ wins 2024 Walter Scott Prize
Friday, 14 June 2024
Kevin Jared Hosein has won the £25,000 (A$47,648) Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for the novel Hungry Ghosts (Bloomsbury), reports the Bookseller. Set in Trinidad during the 1940s, Hungry...
Former Hachette Livre CEO launches publisher, partners with S&S
Thursday, 13 June 2024
Former Hachette Livre CEO Arnaud Nourry has launched a new group of publishing houses in France, reports the Bookseller. The company, Les Nouveaux Éditeurs, has entered a partnership with Simon...
2024 Prix Voltaire shortlist announced
Wednesday, 12 June 2024
The International Publishers Association (IPA) has announced the 2024 shortlist for the Prix Voltaire. This year’s shortlist, announced at the World Expression Forum, includes: Osman Kavala, Türkiye Dušan Gojkov, Balkan...
Orwell Prizes 2024 shortlists announced
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
In the UK, the shortlists for the 2024 Orwell Prizes for political writing have been announced. The titles shortlisted for the political writing book prize are: The Achilles Trap: Saddam...
Educational publishers file lawsuit against Google
Thursday, 6 June 2024
In the US, several educational publishers have filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that it violates the Copyright Act and supports piracy, reports Publishing Perspectives. Plaintiffs Elsevier, Cengage Learning, Macmillan...
UK reports find children reading fewer books, writing less
Wednesday, 5 June 2024
In the UK, an annual report tracking the book-reading habits of around 1.2 million students across the UK and Ireland has found a drop of 4.4% in the number of...
US audiobook sales up 9%, concerns about author payments
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
In the US, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) has released annual sales survey results showing the US audiobook market grew by 9% to $2 billion (A$2.99b), in 2023, reports Publishers...
Jhalak prizes 2024 winners announced
Monday, 3 June 2024
In the UK, Yepoka Yeebo has won the 2024 Jhalak Prize for Anansi’s Gold: The man who swindled the world (Bloomsbury), and Hiba Noor Khan has won the Jhalak Children’s...
Bloomsbury acquires RLPG’s US academic publishing business
Thursday, 30 May 2024
UK-based Bloomsbury Publishing has acquired the academic publishing business of US publisher Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group (RLPG), reports Publishers Weekly (PW). The purchase—for US$83 million (A$125.5m)—marks the biggest acquisition...
Headline launches new ‘serious’ nonfiction imprint
Wednesday, 29 May 2024
In the UK, Headline Publishing Group is launching Headline Press, a new ‘serious’ nonfiction imprint, reports the Bookseller. Headline said the new imprint, to be led by publisher Martin Redfern,...
Bloomsbury reports record year of revenue and profit
Tuesday, 28 May 2024
In the UK, Bloomsbury has reported its highest revenue and profit in its 37-year history, reports the Bookseller, which also said sales of titles by Bloomsbury author Sarah J Maas...
‘Solenoid’ wins 2024 Dublin Literary Award
Monday, 27 May 2024
Solenoid by Romanian author Mircea Cărtărescu (Deep Vellum Publishing), translated by US translator Sean Cotter, has won the €100,000 (A$163,706) international Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual prize...
