Ian Irvine has sold the last four books of his Runcible Jones fantasy quintet to Penguin Australia, and The Sorcerer's Tower quartet to Scholastic Australia.

Ana Vivas has recently been appointed commissioning editor for Scholastic Press.  She was formerly the children's publisher at Hachette Livre.

Louise Thurtell, the fiction publisher at Arena (Allen & Unwin), has made Friday the day you can pitch your novel by sending your FIRST chapter and a synopsis via email to louiset@allenandunwin.com.  She will only reply if she wants to take it further, so please don't expect a response.  Please only send on a Friday.

Following the announcement of the launch of new imprints in the USA and Australia, Orbit concludes its first major World Rights deal.

Orbit, the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Little, Brown Book Group announced that it has recently concluded a four-book World Rights agreement with Trudi Canavan. The seven-figure deal, negotiated with Canavan's Australian agent, will comprise a sequel trilogy and a stand-alone prequel to The Black Magician Trilogy.

All the team at Aurealis congratulate Trudi for this success. Well done and keep writing those great fantasies, Trudi!