Everything Harder Than Everyone Else (Jenny Valentish, Black Inc.)
Tuesday, 27 April 2021
Don't be fooled by the Motörhead-inspired title: journalist Jenny Valentish’s latest work of nonfiction isn't about music but is instead an accessible deep dive into extreme bodily endurance. A spiritual...
Wyld wins 2021 Stella Prize for ‘The Bass Rock’
Friday, 23 April 2021
Evie Wyld has won the 2021 Stella Prize, worth $50,000, for her novel The Bass Rock (Vintage). Judging panel chair Zoya Patel said the novel was ‘a consuming and perplexing...
S&S acquires El Masry body inclusive wellbeing guide
Thursday, 22 April 2021
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to Be You Be Free by Shreen El Masry. El Masry is a non-diet, body inclusive and Health At Every Size...
Pan Mac sells ‘Heartsick’ to US, UK
Wednesday, 14 April 2021
Pan Macmillan Australia has sold US and UK rights to debut nonfiction title Heartsick (Jessie Stephens) after ‘a highly contested auction’. US rights were sold to Henry Holt in a...
Magabala sells Janson’s ‘Benevolence’ to HarperVia
Tuesday, 13 April 2021
Magabala Books has sold US and UK rights in Benevolence by Julie Janson to HarperCollins imprint HarperVia, in a deal negotiated by Natasha Solomun at The Rights Hive. ‘Benevolence is...
ABIA 2021 shortlists announced
Monday, 12 April 2021
The shortlists for the 2021 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) have been announced. The titles in each category are: General fiction book of the year The Dictionary of Lost Words...
One Hundred Days (Alice Pung, Black Inc.)
Thursday, 8 April 2021
Is there a right way to love? Karuna feels suffocated by her mother—and her entrapment multiplies when her dad leaves and she’s forced to move away from private school and...
Bridgeman’s ‘The Subjugate’ to be adapted for TV
Tuesday, 6 April 2021
Perth science fiction author Amanda Bridgeman's novel The Subjugate (Watkins) will be adapted into a dystopian crime thriller series by independent production companies Aquarius Films and Anonymous Content. The development...
A Glasshouse of Stars (Shirley Marr, Puffin)
Tuesday, 30 March 2021
Meixing and her family have recently arrived in the New Land with hopes of a better life. Everything is different for Meixing, including the large house that is now the...
CBCA 2021 Book of the Year shortlists announced
Tuesday, 30 March 2021
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its 2021 Book of the Year shortlists. The shortlisted books in each category are: Older readers The End of the World...
MidnightSun acquires Burge debut novel
Friday, 26 March 2021
MidnightSun Publishing has acquired debut novel Tank Water by Michael Burge, a story of homophobic hate crimes and the dangers of growing up feeling different in rural Australia. Burge met...
Stella Prize 2021 shortlist announced
Thursday, 25 March 2021
The shortlist for the 2021 Stella Prize, worth $50,000, has been announced. The six shortlisted books are: Fathoms: The world in the whale (Rebecca Giggs, Scribe) Revenge: Murder in Three Parts (S...
Australians comprise majority of Walter Scott Prize shortlist
Wednesday, 24 March 2021
Three out of the five books shortlisted for the £25,000 (A$44,900) Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction are by Australian authors. The five shortlisted novels are: The Tolstoy Estate (Steven Conte,...
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (River of Dreams) (Anita Heiss, S&S)
Wednesday, 24 March 2021
Exploring themes of family, belonging, courage, equality and heartache, this important new historical novel from Anita Heiss raises awareness of First Nations perspectives on the early days of white settlement...
As Beautiful As Any Other (Kaya Wilson, Picador)
Tuesday, 23 March 2021
As Beautiful As Any Other is a joyous and thoughtful memoir–travelogue covering the terrains of both the body and the environment. Kaya Wilson's voice makes the reader feel immediately at...
‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’ wins 2021 Indie Book of the Year
Tuesday, 23 March 2021
Pip Williams's debut novel The Dictionary of Lost Words (Affirm) has been named Book of the Year at the 2021 Indie Book Awards, presented by Leading Edge Books. The winning...
The Silent Listener
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
In the cold, wet summer of 1960, 11-year-old Joy Henderson lives in constant fear of her father. She tries to make him happy but, as he keeps reminding her, she...
A Voice in the Night
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
‘A fast-paced and emotional page-turner.’—Christian White, bestselling author of The Nowhere Child Following a bitter separation, Lucie moves to London to take up a position with a prestigious law firm....
The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
When Zimdalamishkermishkada starts a new school, he knows he’s got to do something about his long name. When no amount of shrinking, folding or crumpling works, he simply settles for Zim—but deep down, it...
The Underdogs: Catch a Cat Burglar
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
In a city gone to the dogs … get yourself a cat. The Underdog Detective Agency has a proud tradition of sniffing out trouble (plus sniffing each other’s butts). They’re on a...
The Success Experiment: FlexMami’s formula for knowing what you really want and how to get it
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
How would our lives change if we set our goals based on what would actually fulfil us, instead of what feels easy or achievable? Lillian Ahenkan’s hypothesis: anyone can create...
New talent: Australian publishers, agents nominate their top new authors
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
The first issue for 2021 of Books+Publishing’s sister publication Think Australian is shining a spotlight on debut and early-career authors. In this preview, Think Australian asked Australian publishers and literary...
Spotlight on new authors
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
The longlist for the Stella Prize for Australian women’s writing was announced earlier this month, and it was interesting to see that five of the 12 works on the list...
Meet literary agent Jacinta di Mase
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Jacinta di Mase is the founder and lead agent at Jacinta di Mase Management, which she established after working under ‘formidable’ agents Lyn Tranter and Jenny Darling. She spoke to...
Dalton, Pape, Bluey top Australian bestsellers 2020
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
For the second year running, Trent Dalton’s debut novel Boy Swallows Universe and Scott Pape’s guide to household finance The Barefoot Investor have come out on top as the year’s overall bestselling Australian...
Pandemic novel wins Australia’s richest literary prize
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Laura Jean McKay has won Australia’s richest literary prize, the Victorian Prize for Literature, for her second book The Animals in That Country (Scribe)—‘a literary spec-fic novel that imagines a...
‘Sorrow and Bliss’, ‘Jane in Love’, ‘The Geography of Friendship’ acquired for screen
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Meg Mason’s novel Sorrow and Bliss has sold into 21 countries since it was published by HarperCollins Australia in 2020, and now Hollywood has come calling. The US production company...
New children’s acquisitions include collaboration from Alice Pung, Sher Rill Ng
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Author Alice Pung and illustrator Sher Rill Ng have teamed up on a highly anticipated new children’s book that was acquired at auction by HarperCollins Children’s Books Australia via Curtis...
Two China memoirs on Australian nonfiction line-up
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Two new memoirs that explore life in modern-day China have been acquired by Australian publishers. Allen & Unwin has acquired ANZ rights to Vicky Xu’s memoir You’re So Brave at...
‘Superstar’ Mirandi Riwoe among Australian fiction acquisitions
Wednesday, 17 March 2021
University of Queensland Press publisher Aviva Tuffield describes author Mirandi Riwoe as a ‘superstar who deserves all the recognition she’s received to date for Stone Sky Gold Mountain—and I’m sure...
