A heart-warming love letter to books and bookshops, by an amenable fellow turned antisocial old misanthrope“I was in here two years ago and you had a book by Roger Penrose. Do you know what happened to it?” Shaun Bythell – owner of the Book Shop in Wigtown, Galloway – has 100,000 books in stock, sells 20,000 a year, and has handled nearly 1m second-hand books since he bought the shop in 2001. Unsurprisingly, the Roger Penrose volume had not stuck in his mind.Before he entered the book trade at the tender age of 31, he was “amenable and friendly”. Now, after many years of fielding bizarre questions, constant haggling over prices (why is it “acceptable to try to screw the profit out of struggling small businesses” but not supermarkets?), and struggling to survive despite Amazon’s “icy grip” on bookselling, he has been forced to embrace the stereotype of the “impatient, intolerant, antisocial proprietor”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-08-24 10:58:38 UTC ]
A proprietor’s journey from ‘amenable and friendly’ to ‘intolerant and antisocial’According to George Orwell, “there are always plenty of not quite certifiable lunatics walking the streets and they tend to gravitate towards bookshops”. Bythell’s diary suggests that not much has changed, in this... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A literary agency in Turkey is calling on publishers and agents around the world to support the country's book trade with their "understanding" following the economic crisis and fall of the lira. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Combined North American sales of graphic novels and periodical comics declined about 6.5% to $1.01 billion in 2017, although graphic novel sales via the book trade were essentially flat. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The annual list of the book trade’s next generation features a number of youngsters who are already right at the heart of the contemporary book trade. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a signal of the continuing growth of the category in the book trade, graphic novel publishers announced new titles and had a lively presence at BookExpo, BookCon, and at the inaugural New York Rights Fair. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Members of the book trade are supporting author Charles Sprawson with a fundraising iniative to raise money for care fees, as Vintage prepares to reissue his “cult swimming classic” Haunts of the Black Masseur. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Members of the book trade braved the hottest London Marathon in history yesterday in the name of charity. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book trade has reacted with shock and dismay to the “tragedy” that Quick Reads has been scrapped for next year after organisers struggled to find sponsorship. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Increasing the number of children and families who enjoy reading is the Holy Grail for BookTrust and the book trade. New research shines a light on why children read (and why others don’t read), and the findings could be transformative, says Diana Gerald. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book trade has wrestled with its gender pay gap revelations this week, with the overall trend emerging that despite women forming more of the workforce in companies across the sector, it is men who dominate the most senior positions and attract the highest pay and bonuses. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book trade is a “custodian of empathy” and plays a vital part in reminding the world of the universality of the human condition, writer and broadcaster Sally Magnusson has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The international terror threat, a weaker pound and ill feeling towards the election of Donald Trump have contributed towards a shift in the travel market, but the book trade is still bullish about its long-term health, despite a drop in sales last year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Over the course of its four decades in business, the tiny Boston-area specialty bookstore has weathered monumental changes in publishing, and had an outsized role in the world of children’s books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It has been a “bumpy year” for the trade, with the market “a little unpredictable” in the face of “huge uncertainty” created by Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidency, The Bookseller has heard. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Christmas comes but once a year, but for the book trade it can never come soon enough, says Philip Jones. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poll by the Bookseller finds 54% of female respondents reporting sexual ‘harassment, assault or predatory behaviour’A survey suggests that more than half of people working in the books industry have experienced sexual harassment, with 54% of women and 34% of men reporting “harassment, assault or... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book trade is gearing up for one the biggest releases of the year for Philip Pullman’s La Belle Sauvage with midnight openings, a “magical” event on the eve of publication and activity in several countries around the world. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Research indicates diversity has improved in recent years, but a generational change is needed to balance the book trade, according to researchersA survey of more than 1,000 people working in UK publishing has found that more than 90% currently in the industry classify themselves as white... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sainsbury’s has partnered with BookTrust, Penguin Random House and Peppa Pig brand owner, Entertainment One, to commission and exclusively sell children's book Shop With Peppa. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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