Battling bias on the shop floor: how bookstores can support diversity

A bookseller explains how Kamila Shamsie’s call for gender equality in the industry, and the fiery debate it provoked, could lead to greater diversity all aroundKamila Shamsie calling for a year of publishing only women has certainly unleashed a storm. Some disagree that gender bias exists, while others would rather celebrate the commercial success of some female authors. A couple of publishers have even taken Shamsie at her word.Most people agree that this is a complex issue, with so many levels during the publishing process at which bias can be perpetuated that it is impossible to pinpoint why and how many female writers struggle for recognition against their male counterparts. But one vitally important aspect of this debate seems to have been overlooked: books, once published, must be sold, and while many transactions are conducted online, many others continue to occur in old-fashioned brick-and-mortar shops. Customers don’t just buy what they’ve read about, they come in to browse, to find out what’s available, or to see what their local booksellers have enjoyed. Related: Kamila Shamsie: let’s have a year of publishing only women – a provocation Related: No men allowed: publisher accepts novelist's 'year of women' challenge Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #commercial success #female authors #male counterparts #conducted online #customers don #ve read #local booksellers

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Battling bias on the shop floor: how bookstores can support diversity'


LBF: More support needed for children's poetry

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 15:36 Publishers called for more retail and library support for children's poetry as Chris Holifield, director of the Poetry Book Society, warned that children's poetry "faced extinction" during a seminar about children's poetry... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eason launches "diverse" marketing campaign

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 15:56 Eason has today (11th April) launched a new marketing campaign to emphasise the diversity of the customers it caters for. The Irish bookselling chain's new strapline is "Whatever you're into, get into Eason", and will start... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Finding love in bookstores: an eyewitness account.

Several years ago, when I was not a bookstore employee but merely a regular customer, I wrote up BookCourt, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, for the Village Voice's Best of New York. My entry posited, though I had no evidence to support it, that single people claimed the bookstore was good... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WH Smith reopens shops under British Bookshops deal

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 28/03/2011 - 08:54 Seventeen former British Bookshop & Stationers stores have held their first weekend of trade under WH Smith ownership. Nine venues opened their doors as WH Smith stores and eight re-opened under their original name of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Easons board reiterates support for Whelan

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 25/03/2011 - 08:34 The board of Easons has reiterated its support for managing director Conor Whelan after a second vote of no confidence in him was passed by management union members. The Bookseller believes a second unanimous vote of no... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hardback fiction added to UK's shopping basket

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 15/03/2011 - 14:47 Adult hardback fiction books have been added to the basket of goods that the government uses to calculate the cost of living in the UK. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Morpurgo and Wilson support new Guardian kids site

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers express support for Gardners Hive

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Look Beyond Bookstores

The clothing boutique Kitson sold twice as many books in 2010 as the year before. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Downward Trend in Bookstore Sales Continues

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Xcite to launch "one-stop shop" for romance

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookmarc: Bookstore as Luxury Brand

Bookstores may be many things, but fashionable isn’t usually one of them. That could change now that designer Marc Jacobs has put his imprimatur on Bookmarc stores on both coasts and added branded Bookmarc sections to a handful of MJ stores from Provincetown, Mass., to San Francisco, as well as... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Goldsboro Books to double in size with new shop

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Small Bookstores Struggle for Niche in Shifting Times

Morgan Entrekin, holding book, publisher at Grove/Atlantic, met with booksellers at the Winter Institute book fair last week. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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