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Colour by numbers: Shaun Symonds on 2015 and the year of the colouring book

Monday, 21 March 2016
This year Books+Publishing will publish a regular column from Nielsen Book Australia general manager Shaun Symonds on book data trends. In his first column, Symonds reflects on the year of...

Shelf life: Profile of Booktopia’s Christopher Cahill

Monday, 21 March 2016
‘Most people think I work in IT,’ writes Booktopia merchandiser Christopher Cahill. He shares his career journey. When I tell people I’m an online merchandiser nine times out of 10...

Terri-ann White: Is the book industry special?

Monday, 21 March 2016
UWA Publishing director Terri-ann White has written books, taught writing and literature, and owned a bookshop. She joins Books+Publishing in 2016 as a regular columnist examining the book industry and where...

A series of fortunate events: Australia’s first children’s publishing consultancy Stories Inc.

Monday, 21 March 2016
Australia’s first children’s publishing consultancy is helping publishers expand their children’s lists. Carody Culver spoke to Stories Inc. founders Susannah McFarlane and Louise Park. With Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton’s...

Talkback: Changes to penalty rates

Monday, 21 March 2016
Do you think penalty rates need to change for Australian retailers? Books+Publishing asked two booksellers. Given that penalty rates were established in 1947 to compensate people working outside ‘normal hours’, and that...

‘Four horsemen’ the focus of Digital Book World 2016

Thursday, 17 March 2016
This year’s Digital Book World conference was held in New York from 7-9 March. Books+Publishing’s Andrew Wrathall reports from the event: Digital Book World (DBW) organiser and The Idea Logical...

Nonfiction dominates at Taipei International Book Exhibition

Wednesday, 9 March 2016
A delegation of Australian rights sellers recently attended the Taipei International Book Exhibition. Nerrilee Weir, rights manager for Penguin Random House Australia, reports: The vibrant and energetic Taipei International Book...

Does publicity sell books? A case study

Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Last year, Captain Honey publishers Roz Hopkins and Natalie Winter successfully crowdfunded their illustrated children’s book Mummy and Mumma Get Married. In a recent blog post, reproduced below, Hopkins writes...

Alice Grundy on OzCo’s exploratory trip to India

Wednesday, 17 February 2016
The Australia Council for the Arts supported a delegation of publishers and writers’ festival programmers to travel to India from 13-25 January to ‘investigate artistic development, market and exchange opportunities...

Macquarie Uni report case study: Simon & Schuster Australia

Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Simon & Schuster Australia’s head of publishing Larissa Edwards was interviewed for the Macquarie University report ‘Disruption and innovation in the Australian book industry: Case studies of trade and education...

Black Inc. and Hachette: how the removal of PIR will affect our business

Tuesday, 1 December 2015
The federal government’s recent announcement that it plans to remove parallel importation restrictions (PIRs) on books has been heavily criticised by the publishing industry. Books+Publishing asked two publishers, Black Inc....

Innovation and competition: a first-timer’s experience of Frankfurt

Thursday, 5 November 2015
Ventura Press publishing manager Jasmine Standfield attended her first Frankfurt Book Fair last month. She shares her experience and insights. Attending the Frankfurt Book Fair for the first time was...

On Tour: Meet the author Mary Norris

Thursday, 22 October 2015
Mary Norris is a copyeditor for the New Yorker and the author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen (Text). She will be appearing at the Wheeler...

Future reading: Nonfiction top picks for 2016

Thursday, 22 October 2015
Be Mindful and Simplify Your Life (Kate James, January) is ‘a cracking way to start the year’, says Affirm Press publisher Martin Hughes. This book of useful and positive bite-size tips will be...

Selling strong: Australian publishers’ rights highlights

Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Books+Publishing asked a range of Australian publishers to share their recent rights successes ahead of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. This article first appeared in Think Australian. Allen & Unwin Kate Morton...

Adventures in publicity: Caitlin Neville on her career journey

Monday, 19 October 2015
Caitlin Neville recently launched her freelance publicity business Tiny Fox Communications after working as a publicist for Hardie Grant Books, Pan Macmillan and HarperCollins. She shares her career journey.I was the...

On tour: Meet the author Ayelet Waldman

Sunday, 18 October 2015
Ayelet Waldman is the author of several novels and the nonfiction book Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace (Two Roads). She will be travelling...

Rhonda Black on assisting Indigenous publishing

Sunday, 18 October 2015
Before retiring as director of Aboriginal Studies Press, Rhonda Black oversaw the publication of the Guidelines for Ethical Publishing, a free resource to assist publishers working with Aboriginal and Torres...

Future reading: Fiction top picks for 2016

Sunday, 18 October 2015
A ‘brilliant, dark Tasmanian gothic novel’ tops Affirm Press publisher Martin Hughes’ most-anticipated fiction list. Debut author Sarah Kanake’s Sing Fox to Me (February) tells the story of 14-year-old twins who are sent to Tasmania...

The dark art of digital production

Sunday, 18 October 2015
While many Australian publishers have outsourced their ebook production, there is a strong case for building those skills in-house, writes Simon Collinson. It’s no secret that many in the...

Lessons in leasing

Sunday, 18 October 2015
Two booksellers share their rental experiences with Brad Jefferies.According to Australian Booksellers Association CEO Joel Becker, one of the leading causes of recent bookshop closures has been the cost of leasing. Electric...