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 ]
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
Former Europe minister and author Denis MacShane outlines some of the effects that Brexit may have on the book trade. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The book trade has been welcoming a fresh batch of interns today (23rd June) as part of #TakeYourDogToWorkDay. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Many in the book trade have reacted with surprise and excitement to the shock General Election result, which saw the Conservatives fail to win a majority government, and Labour increase its number of seats by 29 – contradicting many pollsters’ predictions of a large Tory majority. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
According to The Bookseller’s online survey of the trade, 64.1% intend to vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s party at the polls next Thursday (8th June), while 15.7% will put a cross in the box of the Liberal Democrats, with the Conservative Party coming a close third on 13.1%. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Liberal Democrats have received a surge in support from the book trade ahead of the general election on 8th June thanks to the party’s clear stance against Brexit, according to a survey conducted by The Bookseller. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The book trade has expressed surprise over the snap general election called by prime minister Theresa May and is divided over whether it will harm or boost the book market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this