Christmas Press acquires Kelleher SF novel ‘The Lastling’
Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Christmas Press has acquired world rights to The Lastling, a science fiction novel for upper middle-grade readers by Victor Kelleher, via Margaret Connolly of Margaret Connolly and Associates. The Lastling,...
Shankari Chandran recommends
Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Winnie Dunn’s debut, Dirt Poor Islanders (Hachette). She explores Australian Tongan life with defiance and audacious honesty. It’s something we’ve never seen in Australian literature before. It was ferocious and...
Larrikin House acquires ‘I Can’t Believe…’ nonfiction series
Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Larrikin House has acquired world rights to a nonfiction series with multiple authors, including John Larkin, Cristy Burne, Louise Park and George Ivanoff, to be illustrated by Jules Faber. The...
New York, New York: Insights from the 2024 Australian publishing delegation
Wednesday, 13 March 2024
This year’s New York Publishers’ Program took place between 12 and 16 February, with nine delegates accompanying Creative Australia’s Jo Simpson as part of the program. Alex Adsett of Alex...
Hachette acquires Paris debut ‘The Unravelling’ in two-book deal
Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Hachette Australia and Hachette New Zealand have acquired world rights to The Unravelling, a debut novel from Rachel Paris, in a six-figure two-book deal. Describing the book, Hachette said it...
Shankari Chandran on ‘Safe Haven’
Tuesday, 12 March 2024
Australian Tamil lawyer and author Shankari Chandran, who won the 2023 Miles Franklin Award for her novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens (Ultimo), returns with her fourth novel, Safe Haven (Ultimo,...
Sort Of Books acquires UK rights to De Kretser novel
Tuesday, 12 March 2024
UK independent publisher Sort Of Books has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (ex ANZ) to Michelle de Kretser’s forthcoming novel Theory & Practice, via Sarah Lutyens at Lutyens & Rubenstein....
Needham wins 2024 MUD Literary Prize
Tuesday, 12 March 2024
Kylie Needham has been announced as the winner of the 2024 MUD Literary Prize, at an event at the Adelaide Festival, for her novel Girl in a Pink Dress (Hamish...
International Booker Prize 2024 longlist
Tuesday, 12 March 2024
The longlist for the 2024 International Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$96,900), has been announced. The titles in the running for this year’s prize are: Crooked Plow (Itamar Vieira Junior, trans...
Zhan receives 2024 Kat Muscat Fellowship
Tuesday, 12 March 2024
Express Media and the Kat Muscat Fellowship Committee have announced that Xiaole Zhan is the recipient of the 2024 Kat Muscat Fellowship. Selected from a shortlist of six announced last...
Garmus, Patchett, Connelly, Ng to headline SWF
Friday, 8 March 2024
The program for this year’s Sydney Writers' Festival (SWF), which runs 20–26 May under the theme Take Me Away, has been announced. The program includes almost 300 guests and comprises...
No newsletter on Monday
Friday, 8 March 2024
There will be no Books+Publishing newsletter on Monday, 11 March, due to the Labour Day public holiday in Victoria. The next Books+Publishing newsletter will be published Tuesday, 12 March. The...
Penguin Literary Prize 2024 shortlist announced
Thursday, 7 March 2024
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has announced the shortlist for the 2024 Penguin Literary Prize. The shortlisted manuscripts are: ‘What Is Left for Us’ by Sophie Stern (Sydney, NSW)—When Rebecca...
Aotearoa publishers receive audiobook funding
Thursday, 7 March 2024
The successful recipients of the second round of funding in the Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage audiobook publishing seed program in Aotearoa New Zealand have been announced by...
Affirm acquires Hardy’s ‘Unbury the Dead’
Thursday, 7 March 2024
Affirm Press has acquired world English rights to Unbury the Dead, a debut adult crime novel from Fiona Hardy, via Jacinta di Mase and Danielle Binks at Jacinta di Mase...
Former PRH, Macmillan executives launch new profit-share publishing venture
Thursday, 7 March 2024
In the US, three former high-level staff from Penguin Random House (PRH) and Macmillan have launched a new publishing company, Authors Equity, reports Publishers Weekly. Former PRH US CEO Madeline...
Australian Book Design Awards 2024 longlists announced
Wednesday, 6 March 2024
The longlists for the 2024 Australian Book Design Awards, presented by the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), have been announced. The longlisted titles in the first three categories, and the...
Book publicity in the TikTok age: What moves the needle now?
Wednesday, 6 March 2024
With the consolidation of print reviews that appear in some of Australia’s key newspapers and a reduction in the number that appear in others, how much effort should publishers expend...
What influences book sales? ‘It’s still maddeningly difficult to tell,’ says Richard Charkin
Wednesday, 6 March 2024
Richard Charkin has held executive positions at Oxford University Press and Reed Elsevier, among others, and is former chief executive of Macmillan Publishers Limited and former executive director of Bloomsbury,...
Ockham 2024 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 6 March 2024
The shortlists for the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. Chosen from longlists announced earlier this year, the shortlisted titles in each category are: Jann Medlicott Acorn...
Grenville longlisted for 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction
Wednesday, 6 March 2024
In the UK, the longlist for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced. Local author Kate Grenville has been longlisted for Restless Dolly Maunder (Text). The longlisted titles...
Amazon ebook anticompetition lawsuit to proceed
Wednesday, 6 March 2024
In the US, a federal judge has formally adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation that a consumer class action against Amazon for anticompetitive conduct in relation to the ebook market be...
Breen appointed Affirm agency manager
Wednesday, 6 March 2024
Affirm Press has announced former marketing and publicity manager Grace Breen has returned from parental leave to take up the newly created role of agency manager. Breen will head Affirm’s...
Ultimo acquires Khurana’s ‘The Passenger Seat’
Tuesday, 5 March 2024
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to Vijay Khurana’s debut novel, The Passenger Seat, in a three-way acquisition deal via Philip Gwyn Jones at Greyhound Literary. Described by the agent...
Gender pay gaps revealed for large Australian booksellers
Tuesday, 5 March 2024
Many larger Australian booksellers’ gender pay gaps are now viewable through the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) data explorer, which was made available last week. As reported by...
US diversity baseline survey shows ‘incremental’ gains
Tuesday, 5 March 2024
In the US, results from Lee & Low’s 2023 ‘Diversity Baseline’ survey of the publishing workforce have been released, finding the industry ‘has made incremental gains in broadening its workforce...
Stella Prize 2024 longlist announced
Monday, 4 March 2024
The longlist for the $60,000 Stella Prize for women and non-binary writers has been announced. The longlisted books are: Praiseworthy (Alexis Wright, Giramondo) She Is the Earth (Ali Cobby Eckermann,...
Spotify adds audiobook-only subscription offer
Monday, 4 March 2024
Music streaming platform Spotify has announced a new subscription category ‘for literary enthusiasts who are looking for more audiobook-specific content’. The new audiobooks access tier, available only in the US...
T&H announces sales and marketing staff changes
Monday, 4 March 2024
Thames & Hudson (T&H) has announced several changes to its sales and marketing departments, alongside the upcoming retirement of its head of sales, Louise Lawson. Lawson’s last day with T&H...
Booktopia half-year revenue down 21%; profit down 34%
Monday, 4 March 2024
Booktopia has reported $86.3 million in revenue for the six months to 31 December, down 21% compared to the corresponding period last financial year ($109.3m). The company also reported an...
