PRH, authors file lawsuit against Iowa book banning law
Monday, 4 December 2023
In the US, Penguin Random House and the Iowa State Education Association have joined with four authors and five additional plaintiffs to file a federal lawsuit against Iowa to block...
Armfield, Ransom win 2023 Polari Prizes
Tuesday, 28 November 2023
In the UK, Julia Armfield and Jon Ransom have won the 2023 Polari Prizes for work that explores LGBTQ+ experience, reports the Bookseller. Armfield won the £2000 (A$3823) Polari Prize,...
Lynch wins 2023 Booker Prize for ‘Prophet Song’, Aus reprint available from Friday
Monday, 27 November 2023
In the UK, Paul Lynch has won the 2023 Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$95,670), for Prophet Song (Oneworld). Prophet Song follows scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack as she tries to protect...
Yong wins Royal Society Science Book Prize
Thursday, 23 November 2023
In the UK, Ed Yong has won the 2023 Royal Society Science Book Prize, worth £25,000 (A$47,740) for An Immense World: How animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us (Vintage), reports...
Vaillant wins Baillie Gifford Prize
Tuesday, 21 November 2023
In the UK, John Vaillant has won the £50,000 (A$95,350) Baillie Gifford Prize for Fire Weather: A true story from a hotter world (Sceptre). Judges said Fire Weather is a ‘meticulously researched,...
National Book Awards 2023 winners announced
Monday, 20 November 2023
In the US, the winners of the 2023 National Book Awards have been announced. The winning titles in each category are: Fiction Blackouts (Justin Torres, FSG) Nonfiction The Rediscovery of America:...
Vivendi closes Editis sale
Thursday, 16 November 2023
French media company Vivendi has closed the sale of publishing house Editis to International Media Invest for €653 million (A$1.1b), reports the Bookseller. The sale price is less than the...
Kochanski wins £50k Wolfson History Prize
Tuesday, 14 November 2023
In the UK, Halik Kochanski has won the £50,000 (A$96,280) Wolfson History Prize for Resistance: The underground war in Europe, 1939–45 (Allen Lane). Kochanski's book was chosen from a shortlist of...
Report shows continued growth in UK audiobook sales
Monday, 13 November 2023
In the UK, Nielsen BookData's Books & Consumers survey found there was 6% growth in volume and 12% growth in value of audiobooks in that market in the first seven...
Myers wins Goldsmiths Prize for Cuddy
Thursday, 9 November 2023
In the UK, Benjamin Myers has won the £10,000 (A$19,200) Goldsmiths Prize for Cuddy (Bloomsbury), a retelling of the story of the hermit St Cuthbert. Cuddy incorporates poetry, prose, play,...
US survey finds drop in reading participation
Monday, 6 November 2023
In the US, a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) found reading rates among adults declined over the past five years, reports Publishers Weekly. The report...
PRH UK to cut 38 roles
Thursday, 2 November 2023
In the UK, Penguin Random House (PRH) has proposed removing 38 roles as the publisher faces ‘longer-term’ challenges to profitability ‘in the face of increasing cost pressures’, reports the Bookseller....
SoA calls for UK government to ‘urgently review’ proposed cuts to PLR rate
Friday, 27 October 2023
In the UK, the Society of Authors (SoA) is calling on the government to ‘urgently review’ a proposed 55% cut to the Public Lending Right (PLR) rate, reports the Bookseller....
Scholastic to end controversial diverse stories collection
Thursday, 26 October 2023
In the US, Scholastic will stop offering its diverse stories collection—Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice—following accusations its rollout aided censorship at book fairs, reports Publishers Weekly. In a letter...
Scholastic accused of censorship over roll-out of diversity collection
Monday, 23 October 2023
In the US, Scholastic has denied accusations that the creation of its new collection—Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice—is censoring diverse stories at its book fairs, reports Publishers Weekly. In...
Global book revenue up in 2023
Thursday, 19 October 2023
A joint market report from Nielsen BookData and GfK Entertainment, analysing 16 countries, shows an increase in turnover for the majority of book markets in the first eight months of...
Arab publishing orgs pull out of Frankfurt
Tuesday, 17 October 2023
The Arab Publishers’ Association, the Emirates Publishers Association, the Sharjah Book Authority and the PublisHer network have withdrawn from the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF), following the fair’s statement at the...
US print book sales down 4.1%
Monday, 16 October 2023
In the US, print book sales fell 4.1% in the first nine months of 2023 at outlets reporting to Circana BookScan, compared to the same period in 2022, reports Publishers...
UK Society of Authors questions Spotify deal
Friday, 13 October 2023
The UK Society of Authors (SoA) has expressed ‘deep concern’ about Spotify’s deal with major book publishers announced last week, reports Publishing Perspectives. In a statement to Publishing Perspectives, the...
Wiley CEO Napack steps down
Thursday, 12 October 2023
In the US, Wiley president and CEO Brian Napack has resigned from the company, reports Publishers Weekly. Napack has held the roles of president and CEO since December 2017. He...
Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction shortlist
Tuesday, 10 October 2023
In the UK, the shortlist for this year’s Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction has been announced. The six shortlisted books are: Time to Think: The inside story of the collapse...
Goldsmiths Prize 2023 shortlist announced
Monday, 9 October 2023
In the UK, the shortlist for the 2023 Goldsmiths Prize, worth £10,000 (A$19,170), has been announced. The shortlisted novels are: Lori & Joe (Amy Arnold, Prototype) The Long Form (Kate...
Hardie Grant sells UK publishing arm to PRH
Friday, 6 October 2023
Hardie Grant has sold its UK publishing arm, comprising Hardie Grant UK and Quadrille, to Penguin Random House (PRH) UK. Hardie Grant UK is a publisher of high-end, high-quality illustrated...
Fosse wins Nobel Prize
Friday, 6 October 2023
Norwegian author and playwright Jon Fosse has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature for ‘his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable’. Fosse is the...
National Book Award finalists announced
Thursday, 5 October 2023
In the US, the finalists for the 2023 National Book Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Fiction Chain-Gang All-Stars (Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Pantheon) Temple Folk (Aaliyah Bilal, S&S)...
US$75K Cundill History Prize shortlist announced
Tuesday, 3 October 2023
The shortlist for the 2023 Cundill History Prize, which rewards ‘the best history writing in English’, have been announced. The shortlisted works are: The Huxleys: An intimate history of evolution...
Writing income for authors below the poverty level: Authors Guild survey
Monday, 2 October 2023
In the US, a new Authors Guild survey has found that most authors are far from earning a living from their craft, reports Publishers Weekly. The survey drew responses from...
Polari Prize 2023 shortlists announced
Thursday, 28 September 2023
In the UK, the shortlists for the 2023 Polari Prizes for LGBTQ+ literature have been announced. The titles shortlisted for the £2000 (A$3820) Polari Prize, which awards an overall book...
Martin, Picoult among authors in Authors Guild lawsuit against OpenAI
Monday, 25 September 2023
The Authors Guild—along with 17 authors including George R R Martin, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham and Jonathan Franzen—filed a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI in the United States last Tuesday, said...
Booker Prize 2023 shortlist announced
Friday, 22 September 2023
The shortlist for the 2023 Booker Prize has been announced. The six books shortlisted for the £50,000 (A$95,756) prize are: Study for Obedience (Sarah Bernstein, Granta) If I Survive You (Jonathan Escoffery,...
