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
If you are looking for an entertaining book that explores the nature of science, I recommend Chad Orzel's Eureka! Discovering Your Inner Scientist. The post Book Review: Eureka! Discovering Your Inner Scientist appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2014-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book review
Everyone poops.It's not just the name of a children's book by Taro Gomi, it's a simple fact of life. But it's not something you'd pick up if you watched toilet-related advertising. Take toilet paper, for example. If you were an alien anthropologist who sat through three decades of toilet paper... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#simple fact
#recent memory
This weekend bookstores around the country, and a few abroad, will be taking part in the fifth annual Take Your Child To a Bookstore Day. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#taking part
#bookstore day
Booksellers are usually tasked with selling books but, in a twist this holiday season, they’ve been invited to write the ending to one. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#selling books
#holiday season
George Osborne is to pledge to overhaul business rates in a review in his Autumn Statement later today (3rd December). The Chancellor is expected to announce a review of business rates in the pre-budget statement in the House of Commons at 12.30pm, although it won’t be completed until early 2016. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#george osborne
#autumn statement
#business rates
Booksellers are reporting a boost in online retail sales for the period covering both Cyber Monday (1st December) and Black Friday (28th November). The Book People ran themed Black Friday offers including on Cyber Monday yesterday (1st December) offering customers up to 80% off the r.r.p in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#year increase
#seni glaister
The owner of the award-winning Catarina Marina bookstore discusses the day-to-day struggle of selling books to children in Mexico. The post Mexican Kids Bookseller Tells of Struggle for Survival appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#selling books
Booksellers Association chief executive Tim Godfray heads up our latest Bookseller 100, the sixth annual compilation of the people who have had the biggest impact across the book trade in the past year. Godfray has been named 2014's "101st", a position which honours a member of the industry who... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#biggest impact
#book trade
Literary Review has launched a digital archive of all of its issues over the last 35 years for app and print subscribers. The digital archive ha been launched in conjunction with the announcement that all print subscribers to the magazine will also gain free access to the digital edition of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#print subscribers
#literary review
#digital archive
#digital edition
The eagerly-awaited Sieghart Review on the public library service will argue for a dedicated task force involving "all key players working together" to deliver changes at "a fast pace", a panel member has revealed. Public policy consultant Sue Charteris, talking at the Speak Up for Libraries... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sieghart review
Pan Macmillan has acquired a new novel by former musician J B Morrison. Natasha Harding acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, including Canada, to Frank Derrick’s Holiday of a Life Time from Nicola Barr at Greene & Heaton. Morrison, also known as Jim Bob, is part of Carter the Unstoppable... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#pan macmillan
#including canada
#nicola barr
#greene heaton
B&N is leading off the holiday push for bricks-and-mortar bookstores. This weekend it launches an expanded Discovery Weekend, one week in advance of Indies First/Small Business Saturday. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bricks-and-mortar bookstores
The Bookseller notes that HarperCollins Australia and Kobo have teamed with two indie Australian booksellers to sell print and digital titles together. The post HarperCollins Tests Bundling Packs With Australian Booksellers appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#australian booksellers
#harpercollins australia
#sell print
#digital titles
If you have grown tired of hardback and paperback books, then a Kindle may be your answer. Coincidentally, Amazon has released two new models, a standard and the Voyage, which my colleague Brian Fagioli reviewed recently. These complement the existing Paperwhite, which has not yet been updated.... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2014-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#paperback books
#ll find
#ll discuss
Publishers have been in the direct-to-consumer sales business for some time now, offering titles online, through direct mail, and at book fairs. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#direct mail
#book fairs
As the holiday season approaches, several cities are getting in the book spirit with book fairs, including Miami and New Orleans. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book fairs
Buddhist poet Gary Snyder in conversation; Eben Alexander returns to the subject of heaven. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#forthcoming religion
#spirituality books
Canadian publishers and booksellers are still digesting last week’s news that HarperCollins Canada will be getting out of the distribution business. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#canadian publishers
#harpercollins canada
#distribution business
Washington, D.C., is on its way to becoming capital booktown. It got its first new bookstore in a decade this week, Upshur Street Books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Publishers are confident their digital sales will continue to increase, but at a slower rate than in the past, The Bookseller’s 2014 Digital Census has found. However, over three quarters of publishers think digital will lead to a collapse of territoriality and there continues to be... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#digital sales