News Today’s Book News Friday, 12th December

[AgentPete]

Today’s Book News Friday, 12th December 2025

Amazon will allow Kindle Direct Publishing authors to offer DRM‑free books, signalling a shift in digital rights management. Meanwhile the Booker prize revealed its 2026 judging panel led by classicist Mary Beard, with Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and other writers. The literary world mourns Sophie Kinsella, beloved author of the Shopaholic series. PEN Belarus highlighted mass book bans and imprisoned authors, while PublisHer opened nominations for its Excellence Awards. New prizes and imprints were announced, including the Biographers’ Club award for David Warren and Altneuland Press’s US programme.

Amazon Is Loosening Its DRM Policy for Kindle​

Starting January 20, Amazon will allow Kindle Direct Publishing authors to make their titles DRM‑free and offer downloads in EPUB or PDF format. This policy change comes after the company removed USB downloads earlier in the year and will apply only to books marked DRM‑free after December 9. Most Kindle titles will remain protected by DRM.

Jarvis Cocker and Mary Beard announced as Booker Prize judges​

The 2026 Booker Prize panel will be chaired by classicist Mary Beard and includes musician and writer Jarvis Cocker, novelist Patricia Lockwood, poet Raymond Antrobus and editor Rebecca Liu. The judges will consider novels published in the UK or Ireland between October 1 2025 and September 30 2026; a “Booker dozen” longlist will be announced on July 28, with a shortlist in September and a winner in November who receives £50,000. Beard admitted she may need to speed up her reading but said she is excited to celebrate the variety of fiction and readers.

Sophie Kinsella obituary​

Novelist Sophie Kinsella (Madeleine Wickham) died of a brain tumour at age 55. She sold more than 50 million books worldwide with her Shopaholic rom‑com series and other novels, after initially publishing “Aga sagas” under her real name. Kinsella created the character Becky Bloomwood and adopted her pen name when *Confessions of a Shopaholic* became a hit; the series captured early‑2000s consumerism and spawned a 2009 film adaptation. Diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2023, she kept her illness private for a year and wrote a semi‑autobiographical novella, *What Does It Feel Like?*, chronicling her treatment.

Belarus: Where Independent Work Is Branded Extremism​

A Publishing Perspectives report describes how PEN Belarus launched a new website to showcase books banned by the Belarusian authorities. More than 258 books are banned for political or ideological reasons, over 208 authors are forbidden to publish, five independent publishers have been liquidated and at least 35 writers are imprisoned. The site categorizes banned works into “extremism materials,” publications deemed harmful to national interest and an informal ban list enforced through intimidation. Authors like journalist Yauhen Merkis have been jailed, and the International Publishers Association plans to open nominations for its 2026 Prix Voltaire and Freedom of Expression Defenders Awards.

Nominations Open for the PublisHer Excellence Awards​

The Sharjah‑based women’s network PublisHer has opened nominations for the 2026 PublisHer Excellence Awards, which celebrate female leadership and innovation in publishing. The awards promote professional achievements, diversity and inclusion, and self‑nominations are encouraged. Past winners include Shirley Yvonne Carby, Hana Hamzeh and Anne Friebel. Shortlisted candidates will be announced on March 12, with winners revealed at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in April; categories include Emerging Leader, Innovation and Lifetime Achievement.

Biographers’ Club announces Elizabeth Buccleuch Prize 2025 winner​

The Bookseller reports that historian David Warren has won the Biographers’ Club’s Elizabeth Buccleuch Prize for his proposed biography *Sir Ernest Satow: A Victorian Diplomat and the Birth of Modern Japan*. The prize recognises promising non‑fiction proposals, and Warren’s project will explore the life of Satow, a British diplomat whose work influenced modern Japan.

Altneuland Press launches US publishing program​

Berlin‑based Hebrew‑language publisher Altneuland Press is launching a US publishing programme in 2026 in partnership with New Vessel Press, Pushkin Press and Steerforth Press. Its first titles include *In the Belly of the Whale* by journalist Ruth Margalit, *Our Lady of Kazan* by Maya Arad and *Bandit* by Itamar Orlev, aiming to build a cross‑border publishing structure that reflects the circulation of literature across languages and markets.

Publishing industry job moves​

Publishers Weekly reports that Erinn Pascal, formerly senior editor at Andrews McMeel Kids, has joined PJ Library / PJ Publishing as author stewardship manager. Caroline Timmings has been promoted to editor at Harlequin Intrigue.