Grand Central and Crown pre‑empted Gossip Girl and Nancy Drew novels for adults, while Firefinch, Transworld and Orion acquired high‑octane thrillers and horrors. Sceptre toasted forty years as prizes and longlists—from the Highlands to the Women’s and Walter Scott prizes—dominated the news. QUT rescued literary journal *Meanjin* and Harlequin announced the end of its historical romance line. Claude plugged into WordPress, Panda clarified its self‑publishing model and Storytel boasted record profits amid debates about measuring AI‑driven reading. Reviews and features spanned Hollywood’s 1970s renaissance, presidential incapacitation, picture books and book‑to‑film adaptations.
Publishing Industry News
Grand Central pre‑empted world rights to Cecily von Ziegesar’s “Blair”, a novel that imagines the Gossip Girl characters as adults, while Crown acquired a new trilogy by E. Lockhart and Sarah Mlynowski that follows a grown‑up Nancy Drew embarking on new mysteries. Both deals signal renewed interest in childhood favourites reimagined for older audiences.
Firefinch Publishing bought screenwriter Susan Walter’s locked‑room thriller “Murder at 30,000 Feet”, set on a flight to Puerto Rico. The book combines high‑altitude claustrophobia with a twisting plot and is slated for release in July 2026.
Transworld has acquired world rights to Benedict Anning’s debut novel “Atomic Coffin”, a Cold War‑era horror tale praised as “nightmare fuel”. The deal positions the novel as a breakout horror title for 2026.
Hachette Children’s Group will issue new illustrated editions of Benjamin Zephaniah’s poetry collections “Talking Turkeys” and “Funky Chickens”. The refreshed volumes pair Zephaniah’s playful poems with new artwork and are expected next year.
Orion Fiction has bought world rights to Andrew Hunter Murray’s novel “Everything Happens So Much”, a speculative thriller about an artificial‑intelligence breakthrough that throws society into disarray. The deal reflects publishers’ appetite for technology‑driven storylines.
Speakers at the Independent Publishers Guild conference warned that publishers must invest in meticulously researched non‑fiction to combat misinformation. Delegates said only credible, fact‑checked books can sustain readers’ trust in the industry.
Sceptre, the literary imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, marked its 40th anniversary with a salon celebrating a year of commercial and critical success. Executives highlighted hits across fiction and non‑fiction and toasted to continued growth.
The Highland Book Prize released its 2025 longlist of 12 titles spanning fiction, non‑fiction and poetry. The list showcases works rooted in or inspired by the Scottish Highlands and will lead to a shortlist later this spring.
The Women’s Prize for Non‑Fiction announced a 16‑book longlist that includes names such as Lady Hale, Sarah Perry and Arundhati Roy. Organisers praised the breadth of topics and voices represented in the sophomore year of the prize.
The Scottish Book Trust named journalist Sukhada Tatke and a cohort of emerging writers as recipients of its 2026 New Writers Awards. The programme supports promising authors with mentoring and financial grants.
Celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Jane Grigson Trust announced the shortlist for its Sous Chef Award for new food and drink writers. The prize recognises first‑time authors whose work celebrates culinary culture.
BookBrunch reported that poet Nicola Davies will head the 2026 CLiPPA jury. The award honours outstanding children’s poetry collections and has opened submissions for the coming year.
At an IPG panel, Bonnier Books UK executives said they are planning for the long term and are evaluating the impact of artificial intelligence on publishing. They urged peers to focus on sustainable strategies rather than quarterly metrics.
Publishing Perspectives announced that Profile Books founder Andrew Franklin will receive the London Book Fair’s 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contributions to independent publishing and support for emerging writers.
Melbourne University Publishing is transferring the long‑running literary journal *Meanjin* to Queensland University of Technology. The university pledged to maintain the magazine’s editorial independence and recruit a new editor as it brings the publication back to Brisbane.
Melissa Lucashenko’s novel *Edenglassie* has been longlisted for the 2026 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. Judges praised the book’s inventive portrayal of 1890s Brisbane and its exploration of colonial history.
Harlequin announced that it will shutter its historical romance imprint in September 2027 after 50 years, citing declining sales and increasing competition from self‑published romances and social media‑driven discovery. Existing series will wind down over the next year.
PEN America named Summer Lopez and Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf as its new co‑chief executive officers. The human rights nonprofit said the pair will jointly steer the organisation’s advocacy, programmes and strategic vision.
The New Publishing Standard reported that Saudi Arabia will embed video games into school curriculums through partnerships led by Savvy Games Group. Officials said the move would spur a local games industry and create opportunities for educational publishers and developers.
Self-Publishing & Independent Publishing News
The Self‑Publishing Advice Center’s news summary noted that Anthropic’s AI assistant Claude now integrates with WordPress to help authors analyse site traffic and suggest improvements. It also highlighted Amazon’s record fourth‑quarter sales, driven by AWS, and mentioned a Twitch streamer who read books on‑air to thousands, reflecting the changing landscape of book promotion.
Panda Publishing Agency UK issued a statement emphasising that authors retain rights when working with the company’s service‑based self‑publishing model. The agency charges upfront fees for editing, design and distribution and offers optional marketing services, seeking to dispel confusion about its role in the industry.
Good e‑Reader reported that Kindle Scribe users will soon be able to send handwritten notes to Alexa so the voice assistant can summarise them or create to‑do lists. The update will roll out initially on the latest Kindle Scribe models before expanding to older devices.
Academic & Scholarly Publishing
A guest post on The Scholarly Kitchen argued that traditional usage metrics ignore interactions with AI tools like ChatGPT, which deliver answers without directing readers back to original articles. The author urged publishers and libraries to adopt new infrastructure such as the Model Context Protocol to measure zero‑click usage and ensure authors receive credit for AI‑assisted access.
Audiobook News
Publishing Perspectives reported that audiobook subscription platform Storytel achieved record profits of SEK 504 million in 2025 and grew its streaming subscriber base to 2.67 million. The company credited new features and a pay‑per‑book option for the gains and predicted continued expansion in 2026.
Notable Book News & Book Reviews
Publishers Weekly’s round‑up highlighted the release of Cynthia Platt and Iz Pobikhyi’s picture book “The Vanishing Sea”, a World Read Aloud Day partnership between authors and students, and other children’s book happenings. The brief celebrated creative events that encourage young readers.
At the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators winter conference, editors and agents said they are looking for distinctive voices, humour and diverse stories. Speakers also discussed the importance of library funding and the popularity of graphic novels and informational books for kids.
The Library of Congress announced plans to open a 4,000‑square‑foot youth learning space called The Source. The centre will offer interactive exhibits and workshops to encourage families and young people to explore literacy and creativity.
Quill & Quire reported that Canadian journalist Lyse Doucet is the sole Canadian longlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Non‑Fiction for her book *The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan*. The prize celebrates excellence in non‑fiction by women and highlights global perspectives.
Books+Publishing noted that Tull Suwannakit’s picture book *Higher Ground* has been longlisted for the 2026 Carnegie Medal for Illustration. The book uses a scrapbook‑style collage to depict a family’s resilience after a flood.
Australian bookseller Readings revealed its 2025 “Best of the Best” winners across categories including Australian fiction, international fiction, nonfiction and children’s books. The list, chosen by staff and readers, celebrates standout titles from the past year.
Lit Hub curated five standout reviews, covering Jonathan Miles’s satire *Eradication*, Daniyal Mueenuddin’s novel *This Is Where the Serpent Lives*, Lionel Shriver’s futuristic thriller *A Better Life*, Namwali Serpell’s literary study *On Morrison*, and Helle Helle’s minimalist novel *they*. The piece highlights critics’ insights into each work.
In a Lit Hub essay, Brian Alvarez examined how political thrillers portray presidential incapacitation under the 25th Amendment. He argued that novels like *Night of Camp David* expose gaps in succession protocols and reflect public anxiety about leadership crises.
PEN America interviewed novelist Naeem Murr about his book *Every Exit Brings You Home*, in which a middle‑aged doctor travels to his Palestinian ancestral village and confronts questions of identity and belonging. Murr discussed weaving diaspora experience into universal themes of home and memory.
The Washington Post reviewed Paul Fischer’s nonfiction book *The Last Kings of Hollywood*, which chronicles how filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg reinvented Hollywood in the 1970s. The review highlights the directors’ creative risks and the business upheavals that followed.
In a Washington Post roundup, critic Mark Athitakis spotlighted five historical novels—set in a Colorado labor uprising, 1970s Uganda, a Korean orphanage, a French château and 1950s Tehran—that unearth hidden traumas and family secrets. Each work uses its setting to examine personal and political truths.
On NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, panelists discussed what makes some book‑to‑film adaptations successful. They praised movies like *Blade Runner*, *Little Women* and *The Nickel Boys* for capturing the spirit of the source material and noted that adaptations can succeed when they reinterpret rather than replicate.
