The Bookseller

Canongate has acquired the debut novel by poet and UK Poetry Slam Champion Keith Jarrett. The book will be published in July 2027. 👇

Oneworld has acquired The Knight and the Lioness, a new Arthurian novel by Sophie Keetch, author of the Morgan le Fay trilogy. The novel will be published in hardback in spring 2028. 👇

Bonnier Books UK has hired Ali Shepherd in the newly created role of group publishing operations director. Shepherd will join the business in January 2027. 👇

Viking has acquired Maybe Everything by Ann Napolitano, the bestselling author of Hello Beautiful, Dear Edward, A Good Hard Look and Within Arms Reach. Viking will publish in hardback, e-book and audio in June 2027. 👇

Canelo has acquired Matt Glasby's “terrifying, twisted” British horrors in a two-book deal. Press Play will be published in paperback, audiobook and e-book on 5th August 2027. 👇

Former Affirm Press colleagues Keiran Rogers and Grace Breen have launched Manuka Books, a sales representation business for independent publishers, with Australian children’s publisher Five Mile Press as its first client. 👇

Virago has acquired a “journey through British women’s everyday lives over the last century”, drawn from the Mass Observation Archive. In Her Own Words: Stories From a Century of British Women’s Everyday Lives will publish in April 2027. 👇

Penguin Random House, Bonnier Books UK, HarperCollins and Nosy Crow are among the nominees for the 2026 Audio Production Awards, with Penguin Studios also shortlisted for Production Company of the Year. 👇

Bookshops and bookclubs from across the UK host midnight launch parties and lock-ins tonight as the latest Sarah J Maas book is released globally (27th October).👇

The Publishers Association (PA) has called on the government to restrict the scope of Oak National Academy ahead of the Autumn Budget on Wednesday 28th October. 👇

The multitalented author and narrator of the Mr Gum series Andy Stanton, on how his perfectionism made for a gruelling recording process. Read more 👇

With her thrilling middle-grade adventure, Finnish author Lottie Saahko has written a love letter to her country’s wildlife, and nature itself. Read more 👇

Books in the Media: Tessa Hadley's book on reading deeply wins praise. Read more 👇

Wales’ children’s laureate Nicola Davies and Ireland’s children’s laureate Chris Haughton have said they will give royalties to Sally Rooney following the removal of her books from UK distribution following legislation on the Palestine Action group from the UK government. 👇

‘Everybody comes to Frankfurt Book Fair’ is no longer true. Here’s why – and what we can do, writes book industry analyst, Rüdiger Wischenbart. Read more 👇

Chatto & Windus has acquired Preti Taneja’s “state-of-the-nation” novel Kindness in a “competitive” nine-publisher auction. Publication is scheduled for 2028. 👇

HarperFiction has acquired a trilogy by actor and author Graham McTavish, beginning with Blood of the Highlands, his fiction debut. The first book will be published in June 2027. 👇

Goldfinch Books in Alton, Hampshire, has launched a community share offer to buy and refurbish a new premises “that will be forever in community ownership”. 👇

Halloween is upon us, which you will know by the crispness in the air of an evening, pumpkins materialising in both supermarkets and lattes, plus hardy perennials such as Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s Funnybones making their annual appearances on front-of-shop tables and bestseller lists. 👇

Simon & Schuster (S&S) UK has acquired two books by Catherine Cooper. For Her Own Good will be published in paperback, e-book and audiobook in 2027. 👇

Oxford Children’s has acquired Ursa the Star Bear, a picture book written and illustrated by Greg Stobbs, for publication in April 2027. 👇

Penguin Michael Joseph has signed wellness creator and fitness expert Meggan Grubb’s first book Stronger Through Motherhood: Rebuild Your Mind, Body and Confidence. The book will be published in hardback on 28th January 2027. 👇

Arts Council England (ACE) is supporting Inpress for a second year to host a stand at London Book Fair (LBF) 2027, taking place from 16th to 18th March at ExceL London. 👇

Weidenfeld & Nicolson has appointed Duckworth’s Clare Bullock as senior commissioning editor, publishing non-fiction. 👇

Joffe Books has revealed the seven-strong shortlist for its 2026 prize, with the winner set to receive a two-book publishing contract, a £25,000 Audible audiobook contract for their first book, £1,000 and two years’ membership of the Society of Authors. 👇

The winners of the Diverse Book Awards (DBA) 2026 were unveiled at a ceremony held at Waterstones Piccadilly on 22nd October, with Catherine Johnson awarded the 2026 Malorie Blackman Impact Award for her “extraordinary contribution to diversity, representation and inclusion in literature”. 👇

ICYMI: The Society of Authors (SoA) has withdrawn from its Ethical AI Charter, launched last week, following backlash and a subsequent statement from CEO Anna Ganley that aimed to clarify the organisation’s position on generative AI. 👇

ICYMI: Bring poetry to the people, and the people become poets, writes Chris McCabe. 👇

ICYMI: Around 300 authors have brought individual copyright claims against Meta over allegations that it copied their books and used them to train its AI models without permission. 👇

ICYMI: A number of independent bookshops have told The Bookseller they stopped stocking David Walliams’ titles “years ago”, while large chain bookshops say they are selling their final stock “with no plans to replenish”, following HarperCollins’ decision to stop publishing the author altogether. 👇

ICYMI: Helen Fielding has launched the Bridget Jones Prize for unpublished and unagented comedy writers based in the North of England, with £2,000 for the winner and £1,000 for the runner-up. 👇

"Friends, it is with great pleasure that I present the shortlist for this year’s The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year" Read the latest from Horace Bent 👇

The publishing industry is "missing a trick" by not engaging more with other media sectors, according to TV and digital media expert Greg Childs. 👇

Orbit UK has signed a new dystopian romantasy series by Nisha J Tuli, author of the bestselling Artefacts of Ouranos series. The series will begin with When Rage Broke Heart, which will be published in October 2027. 👇

Writer and editor Jamal Mehmood has launched Celestia Press, a London-based independent publisher focusing on contemporary Muslim literature, with its first title planned for autumn 2027. 👇

Between 2019 and 2026, Hollywood “shifted its acquisition philosophy to proven readership”, according to new research by American IP search engine Rightscenter, with the period representing a “pre-publication request collapse”. Meanwhile, series are "a rising share of what the market pursues”. 👇

Jonathan Cape has acquired And This Is Pain, the sequel to Mary Gaitskill’s 2019 novella This Is Pleasure. Jonathan Cape will publish And This Is Pain with This Is Pleasure in a single hardback volume in April 2027. 👇

Weidenfeld & Nicolson has acquired Slipskin, a queer coming-of-age folktale by The Lamb author Lucy Rose, set over a summer in a decaying seaside caravan park. W&N will publish in July 2027. 👇

Sales, marketing and distribution company Publishers Group UK (PGUK) has appointed Alex Goatman and Deborah Dyson as joint managing directors, effective from 1st January 2027, with co-founder Medwyn Hughes to assume the role of executive chairman. 👇

Thélyson Orélien’s Canadian publisher Les Editions du Boréal has cut all ties with the award-winning author of C’était ça ou mourir (It Was That or Die) over allegations of use of AI. 👇

The chief executive of High Line Publishing and former managing director of Hodder & Stoughton Oliver Malcolm appeared on the TRIGGERnometry podcast on 17th October, where he spoke on the number of women working in publishing, DEI efforts, and monoculturalism in the industry, among other topics. 👇

Authors should feel free to focus on their books, not their image, writes author Elspeth Wilson. Read more👇

Stories of love, friendship, and connection in a time of geopolitical crisis dominated the discussions on recent podcast episodes, including the latest novels from Sebastian Faulks and Elif Shafak, while John Grisham discussed his pacy new novel of international espionage. 👇

After a summer that saw Virginia Evans’ The Correspondent (Penguin) take up near-permanent residence at the summit of the Independent Bookshop Top 20, it looks like there may be a similar extended stay for Gruffalo Granny (Macmillan Children's) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. 👇

Bloomsbury has reported a 30% fall in adjusted pre-tax profit and a 5% decline in revenue for the first half of its 2026/27 financial year, but maintains expectations of record full-year results on the strength of its second-half publishing programme. 👇

Founder of phonics publishing programme Letterland, Evelyn Haldane Wendon, known throughout her working life as Lyn Wendon, has died aged 98 (15th September 2026).

Puffin has acquired Fantastic Miss Fox, a middle-grade novel written and illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson, inspired by the world and characters of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox. The book will be published on 6th April 2027 in hardback, trade paperback, audiobook and e-book. 👇

Harriet Bradley, Saadiya Chaudary Alam, Eleanor James, Tom Milner and Donagh O’Malley have been shortlisted for the Nero New Writers Prize, run in association with Brunel University of London. 👇