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 ]
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 14:25 Literary agent Geraldine Cooke is calling on members of the book trade with links to Brent to join demonstrators in their vigils outside the north London borough's closed libraries. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 14:25 Literary agent Geraldine Cook is calling on members of the book trade with links to Brent to join demonstrators in their vigils outside the north London borough's closed libraries. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The launch of C&T Publishings Stash Books imprint in early spring 2010 was a key factor in driving up sales last year at the Concord, Calif., craft and quilting book publisher, and the new imprint, aimed at a younger audience than C&Ts usual customers, continues to do well in 2011.... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 13/10/2011 - 09:02 The UK is the worst country for protecting its high street chains, which are essential for the long-term health of the book trade, the chief executive of Hachette Livre has claimed. Arnaud Nourry was speaking yesterday (12th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oh boy, do I have a contest for you long-winded Facebookers and personal bloggers. It's called, "Your Life: The Reader's Digest Version." The venerable magazine is willing to shell out $25,000 if you can keep The Story of You to a crisp and compelling 150 words (words, not charactersthis isn't... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jay Hancock: Is the death of Borders a bell that tolls for the book trade? Or a business opportunity? Continue reading at Baltimore Sun
[ Baltimore Sun | 2011-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 09:45 Analysis has revealed that £4.6m of books were sold under the W H Smith Spring Richard and Judy Book Club promotion, as the retailer released the celebrity couple's new summer titles. The eight Spring Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page and Philip Stone Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 09:40 Book sales have slumped on both sides of the Atlantic as the British and American markets experienced year-on-year declines in the first quarter of 2011. Book sales in the UK were down 3.1% to £324m, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 28/03/2011 - 09:37 The book trade is anticipating a buzzing London Book Fair after the washout of the 2010 event, with a stronger US presence than there has been in recent years. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 17/03/2011 - 15:57 Luke Johnson, best known in the book trade for his spell owning Borders, and fellow Financial Times journalist Mrs Moneypenny are writing business titles for Penguin's business imprint Portfolio. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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