Penguin Books Australia

Kibble Literary Award for best work by an established Australian woman writer.

Longlisted for this award is The Engagement by Chloe Hooper

For more information vist the Nita B. Kibble Award website

A big congratulations to Majok Tulba on making the Commonwealth Book Prize 2013 Shortlist! 

Beneath the Darkening Sky by Majok Tulba

See the full list here: http://pen.gy/XCkErK

Pearson and Bertelsmann today announce that they have been notified by the European Commission that it has approved the proposed merger of Penguin and Random House, without conditions. 

The two companies announced their agreement to combine Penguin and Random House in October 2012. The proposed merger is currently under review by a number of other regulatory authorities around the world.  To date, approval has been granted by the US Department of Justice in the US, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and The New Zealand Commerce Commission.  Pearson and Bertelsmann continue to expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2013, after all necessary approvals have been received.

Following completion, Bertelsmann will own 53% and Pearson 47% of Penguin Random House.

It will encompass all of Random House and Penguin Group’s publishing units in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa, as well as Penguin’s operations in China and Random House’s publishers in Spain and Latin America.  Pearson and Bertelsmann believe that the combined organisation, the world’s leading consumer publishing company, will have a stronger platform and greater resources to invest in rich content, new digital publishing models and high-growth emerging markets. 

Contemporary Single Title Romance

Zoe's Muster by Barbara Hannay

Historical Romance

Bride By Mistake by Anne Gracie

For more information please visit the RWA website

GLOBAL PUBLICATION OF DIARY OF A WIMPY KID BOOK 8
The biggest book of 2013 will have a major simultaneous international release in November 2013. 

BOLOGNA, Italy, March 25, 2013—Today at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, ABRAMS announced that its Amulet Books imprint will join forces with seven publishers around the world including Penguin Group (Australia) for a global release of the eighth book in the blockbuster Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The release of the latest book is one of the most anticipated publishing releases of the year.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 8 will go on sale in the United States in November 2013. The United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Greece, Japan, Korea, and Norway will release the book in their respective territories just after the U.S. debut. An original new image by Jeff Kinney, featuring Greg Heffley under an umbrella being bombarded by raining Magic 8 balls, was revealed to tease fans about what might next happen to Greg Heffley.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that Greg Heffley’s stories would be enjoyed by this many kids around the world,” says Kinney. “I’m incredibly excited that ABRAMS is launching the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book with an international release of this size." alt="" />

Following major marketing and social media promotions in the U.S. for the November 2013 release, international partners will launch their respective campaigns around the world as fans cheer the arrival of the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid story.

Books in the core Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney include Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2008), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (2009), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2009), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth (2010), and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever (2011). On November 13, 2012, book 7 in the series, The Third Wheel, released with a 6.5-million-copy first printing in North America. Jeff Kinney has also written and illustrated The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book and The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary. The books are a fixture on the USA Today bestseller list (the first book in the series has remained in the top 150 for more than 200 weeks) and the Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. The series has remained consistently in the top spots on the New York Times lists since the publication of the first book.

More than 85 million Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are in print around the world. The books have been sold in more than 44 territories in 42 languages. Jeff Kinney was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people in the world. Three movies based on the book series have grossed more than $250 million internationally. The book series won Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in 2010, 2011, and 2012 (and is nominated for one in 2013), and Jeff Kinney won a Children’s Choice Book Award in 2012. The books have won numerous awards voted on by students and teachers around the globe. The Wimpy Kid Island on poptropica.com, a virtual world for kids, remains one of the most visited on the site.