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 ]

Other news stories related to: "Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell review – a brilliant sequel"


A Bookseller’s Awkward Run-in With Lou Reed

How one bookseller found herself idiotsplaining a certain bookstore bathroom predicament to the legendary musician Lou Reed. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-01-25 11:34:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Perry appointed Book Trade Charity chief exec

Vic Perry, formerly of Jaguar Land Rover, has been appointed as the c.e.o. of the Book Trade Charity (BTBS), taking over from David Hicks when he retires on 31st March after 27 years. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-18 13:49:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this


My Job in Five: Lucy Jones

Pan Macmillan's Lucy Jones give The Bookseller an insight into her role as UK sales key account executive. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-18 02:02:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Barnes & Noble's Book Publishing Arm Gets a New Publisher

The bookseller has hired Emily Meehan as publisher and chief creative officer of Sterling Publishing in what it called part of a relaunch of its publishing division. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


PW Launches New U.S. Book Trade Fair for May

Publishers Weekly will launch a new American publishing trade fair. The U.S. Book Show will run virtually May 26-28 and will offer events and programming for the domestic and international publishing industry, including booksellers, librarians, publishers, and self-published authors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-07 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Storefront (place)

THE FOLLOWING EXCERPT is the opening section from chapter three of my book in progress, Unpacking My Father’s Bookstore, a memoir and critical study about growing up in my father’s Jewish bookstore. As Harelick and Roth Books and then J. Roth / Bookseller of Fine & Scholarly Judaica, the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-01-06 16:00:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Blackwell's drops click and collect in almost all stores as lockdown hits

Blackwell's is the latest bookseller to announce it has closed its stores during the new lockdown and will not be offering click and collect, with the exception of its Oxford branch. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-06 09:24:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this


TKO Studios Expands to the Book Trade, Movies

TKO Studios, an independent comics publisher based in Los Angeles designed around an unusual business model offering graphic novels and serial comics, is expanding its program into the book trade and TV and film development. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-01-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Relief at EU trade agreement but concerns over the 'maze' ahead

Some book trade leaders have expressed relief that the "nightmare" scenario of a no-deal scenario for post-Brexit trade has been averted—but a new burden of bureaucracy is descending on the industry, while many questions for the future remain unanswered. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-03 19:23:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Bookseller's Tale by Martin Latham review – a literary celebration

Latham, a bookseller for 35 years, has put together a heady mix of history, philosophy, anecdotes and entertaining factsWhat most people know about the American librarian Melvil Dewey is his phenomenal classification technique, the Dewey decimal system, which is still used in 135 countries. Less... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-12-19 09:00:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


PW Notable: Adam Lerner

Adam Lerner has been leading Minneapolis-based Lerner Publishing Group for roughly 20 years, and this year the independent children’s press’s reach has extended far beyond the traditional community of young readers, the book trade, and the school and library market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Fungi and local authors prove Christmas hits for indies

A non-fiction work about fungi and books with local interest are among the top-selling titles for indies ahead of Christmas, The Bookseller has been told.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-17 16:31:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this


'It’s been a rollercoaster': how indie publishers survived - and thrived - in 2020

When lockdown came in March, many small presses feared they would go out of business. But then came an outpouring of support from the publicThe best books from indie publishers in 2020Six months ago, independent publishers Jacaranda and Knights Of were warning publicly that their income had... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-12-16 08:00:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this


BA and Bookshop.org respond to bookseller criticism

The Booksellers Association and Bookshop.org have responded to criticism following the launch of the online website in the UK in November. The criticism, which is focused on how effective the website will be at supporting independent bookshops and the BA's role in facilitating the launch, came... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-04 19:10:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Generational shift in the Covid-challenged Bookseller 150

The Bookseller's 12th annual list of the industry's most influential people reveals a spate of pandemic heroes. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-03 23:15:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Let an Indie Bookseller Pick the Best Book Subscription for You

Missing the recommendations of your favorite independent booksellers? Let a bookseller choose your next read through these subscription boxes. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-12-02 11:38:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Major publishing fairs BookExpo and BookCon to 'retire' after pandemic cancellations

BookExpo, the largest bookseller trade show in the U.S., and its consumer-facing sibling BookCon have been indefinitely canceled because of the pandemic. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-12-01 20:30:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Viking pre-empts debut from former bookseller Ben Hinshaw

The debut novel from former Daunt Books bookseller Ben Hinshaw will be published by Viking in spring 2022.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-25 14:18:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Weldon 'optimistic' amid pandemic as consumer demand soars

Penguin Random House UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon has praised the resilience of the book trade in an interview at FutureBook 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-19 21:20:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell review – virtuosic venting

Pantomime misanthropy is tempered with bursts of sweetness in the secondhand bookseller’s latest dispatches from WigtownThere’s a moment in the first season of the short-lived but influential sitcom Black Books in which an elderly customer appears with a box of attractive old editions of... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-11-11 09:00:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this