Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell review – a brilliant sequel

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 ]
News tagged with: #book shop #shaun bythell #tender age #book trade #bookseller

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The Prose Factory by DJ Taylor review – beware the suggestion that literary life isn’t what it used to be

The truth about book prizes, why Amazon is like an old-fashioned library and how much famous writers really earned from their journalism …Periodically, signs go up saying that Grub Street is closed to through traffic. Observers speculate that the street is being redeveloped as gentrification... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Missing Hong Kong booksellers: US 'disturbed' by disappearances

State department echoes sentiment expressed by chief executive of the special administrative region, who noted threat to one-country, two-systems arrangementThe US said on Friday it was disturbed by reports that five Hong Kong booksellers critical of China’s leaders had disappeared. Related:... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Groups Voice Concern About Hong Kong Booksellers

Five book industry organizations issued a statement expressing "extreme concern” about the mysterious disappearance of five employees of a Hong Kong publishing and bookselling company. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ABA Winter Institute 2016: A Look at Bookselling Trends

Over the past year, Peter Hildick-Smith, founder and CEO of the Codex Group, and Kristen McLean, director of new business development for Nielsen Book, have been following several industry developments that could well shape book sales going forward. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookselling Roundup, Week Ending January 8, 2016

New stores are opening in Key West and Clanton, Ala., while a temporary store in Bremerton, Wash., is converting to a permanent one. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Review of 2015: Print's seven-year itch scratched

A quirk in the data cannot detract from a buoyant print return, with 2015 recording the first rise in sales for the print market for seven years. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ABA Winter Institute 2016: Bookselling Peaking in Colorado

Denver is “a real boomtown right now,” says Len Vlahos, who with his wife, Kristen Gilligan, is the new owner of Tattered Cover Book Store, which has four branches in the greater Denver metropolitan area and three at Denver International Airport. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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UK 'urgently' seeking assistance tracing missing Hong Kong bookseller

The UK's Foreign Office has confirmed that one of the five missing Hong Kong book publishers is a British citizen and has said it is "deeply concerned" over the publishers' apparent abduction and detention. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hong Kong activist hits out at Beijing in video over missing booksellers

After fifth disappearance, umbrella movement’s Agnes Chow criticises China regime in video that has gone viralA young pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong has released a video, which has gone viral, attacking Beijing’s campaign of “political suppression” following the disappearances of five... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Prose Factory by DJ Taylor review – a lament for Grub Street

DJ Taylor’s survey of the English literary scene of the last century is vivid and rich but lacks analysisTo Dr Johnson, it was Grub Street, where “no man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money”. To Thackeray, it was “the Corporation of the Goosequill”. In the 20th century, Bloomsbury’s... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Godfray hails bookselling entrepreneurship in 'challenging' year

The Booksellers Association chief executive Tim Godfray has said it has been "really heartening" to see the creativity and entrepreneurship of booksellers in 2015, with industry sales figures bucking the high street footfall trends. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Review of the year: October to December

In our final review of the year, we look at the big stories from September to December. See our reviews for January to March, April to June, and July to December. October Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookselling Roundup, Week Ending December 23, 2015

As the year draws to a close, booksellers continue to make plans to open new stores in places across the country, including New York City’s Lower East Side. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Review of the year: July to September

In the third part of our review of the year, we look at the big stories from July to September. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Campbell made news editor of The Bookseller

Lisa Campbell has been made news editor of The Bookseller, reporting to Benedicte Page, deputy editor. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Review of the year: April to June

In the second part of our review of the year, we take a look at the big stories from April to June. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book-related product preview in The Bookseller

The Bookseller is to feature a ‘book-related products’ preview within the weekly magazine for the first time in its history. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookseller's Christmas Trading Survey now live

The Bookseller's annual Christmas Trading Survey for independent bookshops is now live. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookselling Roundup, Week Ending December 18, 2015

New stores are opening in Midlothian, Va.; Anchorage; Plattsburgh, N.Y.; and Houston, Mo. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Pickle Index: A review

"I'm bullish on Sudden Oak," writes Ami Greko. And when Sudden Oak's Eli Horowitz and Russell Quinn ran their The Silent Story app-novel event in 2012 and 2013, many more people were bullish on them. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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