Stella longlist, gender pay gaps in publishing and bookselling, Booktopia revenue and profit down

On Monday, the Stella Prize longlist was announced, with the shortlist to follow next month. In other news this week, the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency data has revealed gender pay gaps at larger Australian publishers and booksellers; Booktopia has reported its half-year results, with revenue down 21% and profit down 34%; Thames & Hudson has made several changes to its sales and marketing departments; and, ahead of its full program release, the Melbourne Writers Festival has announced its first guests for the 2024 festival.

In other local awards news, Creative Australia has brought forward the date of the Prime Minister’s Literary Award winner announcement by two months; and the Kat Muscat Fellowship 2024 shortlist was announced.

Overseas, Lagardère, the parent company of Hachette, has reported that its revenue is up 2.2%; Spotify has added a new audiobook-only subscription offer in the US; and also in the US, results from Lee & Low’s 2023 ‘Diversity Baseline’ survey of the publishing workforce have been released.

And, elsewhere in literary news, The Conversation has published a piece from Denis Muller on the recent and ongoing controversies at Australian writers’ festivals regarding the war in Gaza, asking: ‘How can they uphold their duty to public debate?’.

Category: This week’s news