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Nordic Countries Overachieve at Selling Foreign Rights
In 2024, publishers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands signed 4,250 contracts representing $85 million in foreign rights sales—a significant sum relative to the size of their markets.
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Amazon Publishing Veteran Launches Nonfiction House
Eoin Purcell, who spent over a decade leading Amazon Publishing in Europe, and former BBC editor Blathnaid Healy have cofounded Full Set, a Dublin-based independent nonfiction publishing house. Its first list will debut later this year.
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Interactive AI Features in E-books, Audiobooks Drive Debate
Amazon’s “Ask this Book” and ElevenLabs’ “VoiceChat” features add a new layer of AI-powered interactivity between books and readers—and raise questions about the legality and reliability of such tools.
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Harlequin France to Test AI-Assisted Translation
Following backlash from the French Literary Translators Association, HarperCollins France confirmed it is “conducting tests” with a company that “uses experienced translators who utilize artificial intelligence tools” to translate Harlequin titles into French.
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Europe’s #ReadForReal Initiative Scales Up
The reading promotion program expanded from a one-day event into a monthlong celebration for the first time in 2025. More than 300,000 people participated in 6,573 events across 34 countries from November 11–December 12.
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Finnish AI Company Launches Market Analysis Tool for Books
The Helsinki-based Get Lost has begun testing BookID, an AI-powered manuscript analysis tool aimed at helping authors and publishers position their work in the market.
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S&S Australia Names New Managing Director
Jane Curry, who will take the helm of Simon & Schuster Australia and New Zealand January 19, succeeds Dan Ruffino, who announced his resignation last month. She is currently managing director of Sydney-based independent publisher Ventura Press.
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Storytel Adds English Audiobook Sales to Streaming Platform
Citing the growing popularity of reading and listening to books in English across Europe, the Stockholm-based company has begun offering English-language titles from PRH and Hachette for sale in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
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Spotify Tests Audiobooks in Middle Eastern, African Markets
The streaming service will include English-language audiobooks as part of a new Premium Platinum subscription it’s testing in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa, marking Spotify’s first expansion of its audiobook service into these regions.
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Next-Gen Iranian Publishers Don’t Want to Be Pirates
PW talked with Mehdi Tajallaei, a translator and foreign rights assistant at Houpaa Publishing House and Borj Books in Tehran, about the growing number of publishers in Iran seeking legitimate rights deals despite the nation’s disregard for copyright law.
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IPA Membership Continues to Grow
The International Publishers Association will add three new members—Bulgaria, Georgia, and Latvia—starting in January 2026, bringing its total membership to 107 associations spanning 85 countries.
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World Caribbean Books Launches Book Fair
The Nassau, Bahamas–based hybrid publisher and online bookseller will host its inaugural Christmas Book Fair next month—the latest effort in its mission to bring together Caribbean authors under one roof.
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OUP Plans 113 U.K. Layoffs
Oxford University Press in the U.K. has proposed making more than 100 employees redundant due to “organizational changes,” primarily impacting the eduction and English-language teaching divisions.
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Booker Foundation Announces Children’s Prize
Marking the organization's first new prize announcement since 2005, the Children’s Booker Prize will be administered annually beginning in 2027 for a work of fiction aimed at readers ages eight to 12 and published in the U.K. or Ireland.
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Ukrainian Rights Sales Surge, New Platform Promotes Books Abroad
Ukrainian publishers signed more than 160 licensing agreements in the first half of 2025, setting records, while Chapter Ukraine, an interactive platform, offers readers abroad information about Ukrainian books published in English translations.
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Freedom Letters Receives AAP’s International Freedom to Publish Award
The Russian- and Ukrainian-language publisher, founded by exiled journalist Georgy Urushadze, is the recipient of the Association of American Publishers annual award for international publishers defending freedom of expression.
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Hay Festival Brings Literary Stars to Ukraine, U.S., and Beyond
Wales-based Hay Festival is positioning itself at geopolitical flashpoints around the world, bringing top authors to this weekend’s Lviv BookForum. Later this month, A-listers will visit Dallas for Hay’s only annual event in the U.S.
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Canadian Publishing 2025: New Titles from Canada
A selection of the most anticipated books publishing in spring 2026.
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Canadian Publishing 2025: Ken Whyte’s Journey from Broadsheets to Books
Ken Whyte’s acquisition of Fitzhenry & Whiteside transforms Sunderland House into a serious player.
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Canadian Publishing 2025: Tundra’s Tara Walker Takes Risks and Reaps Rewards
Tara Walker, the publisher of Tundra Book Group, discusses turning Canada’s oldest children’s publisher into its most successful.



