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 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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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 ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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As Theresa May triggers Article 50, Philip Jones considers what this means for the future of the book trade. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book trade is celebrating International Women's Day today (8th March) with a host of events and publications ready to show solidarity with women worldwide, as well as the launch of a new prize for Women in Translation to address the gender imbalance in literature in translation. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Retailers blame the presidential campaign and postelection anxiety for the year ending on a flat note, but some categories are growing in the book trade and in the comics shop market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book trade has generally welcomed Amazon’s new ebook offer, but questioned the five year cap for the new deal and raised concerns over whether it will hold in the UK in a post-Brexit world. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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