The pandemic has thrown publishing and booksellers into crisis – and left customers struggling to obtain books when they most want them. But some in the industry sense an opportunity to drag it into the 21st centuryOn 18 March, Emma Corfield-Walters received the news that for the second year running, her shop, Book-ish, in Crickhowell in the Brecon Beacons, had landed the title for Wales in the regional round of the independent bookshop of the year award. Corfield-Walters has run Book-ish for 10 years. It has 16 staff and a cafe, is the base for a literary festival that she also organises, and is credited with having played a major part in the regeneration of Crickhowell’s award-winning high street. Above all, it is a highly successful business: 2019 was a record year. The fact that it would now again be a contender for the overall prize – to be announced in June at the British book awards – was for Corfield-Walters a hard-earned affirmation of a decade’s passion and work.But she was hardly celebrating. Britain was then five days from lockdown. “It was surreal,” she says. “We’d won best bookshop in Wales, yet I wasn’t sure for how much longer I’d have a shop that people could visit. It was like that scene in Star Wars when the walls are moving in, and the room’s getting smaller and smaller. The goalposts were shifting every day. At first, we thought: OK, we’ll buy hand sanitiser! But by the weekend, it was clear the shop would have to close.” Her first thought was for her... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2020-05-10 08:00:20 UTC ]
Coven, an English language bookshop and café in Paris, has fulfilled its crowdfunding goal of around £21,000 to open a store dedicated to "intersectional feminism, engaged literature and ethical hospitality". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-08 16:28:22 UTC ]
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Wakefield indie Rickaro Books will close its bricks and mortar bookshop in March and move its focus to its website selling rare and antique books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-07 01:28:46 UTC ]
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Mary Webber O'Malley of Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, Ill., recommends 'The Roxy Letters' by Mary Pauline Lowry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The independent family-run Kennys Bookshop & Art Gallery in Galway, Ireland, is celebrating 80 years in business this year after attributing its success to "innovation and experience". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-06 04:40:44 UTC ]
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A crowdfunding campaign to create a “feminist safe haven” bookshop in Paris has only a week left to raise the remaining £7,000 needed to secure premises, after securing two-thirds of its financial target. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-02 16:26:28 UTC ]
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IT’S LATE ON the first night of a literary festival in Kampala, Uganda, and I use my phone to order an Uber. Pickup location: Kampala National Theatre. I drop the pin on the street entrance nearest my location’s the pulsing blue dot: Siad Barre Avenue. I’d glimpsed the street name when I... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-12-27 20:00:19 UTC ]
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The only actor to appear in every film of the Skywalker saga reflects on his experience in the book “I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story.” Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-12-20 13:00:00 UTC ]
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A Kickstarter is under way to create a 'feminist safe haven' bookshop in Paris called COVEN to offer English language books, a café and range of events. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-20 11:14:17 UTC ]
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When it was announced that the legendary bookshop Le Pont Traversé would definitely close down on the 31st of December in Paris, many French TV stations put in phone calls and tried to convince Josée Comte-Béalu to do a filmed interview. She refused every single one of them. “They are like... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-20 09:48:10 UTC ]
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A new independent bookshop has opened in Barnsley, run by a mother and son team who became fed up watching the big chains leave their town. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-19 02:33:27 UTC ]
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George R R Martin has opened an independent bookshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-17 08:15:25 UTC ]
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The Times Literary Supplement has opened a new online shop selling books, prints of its covers and illustrations alongside branded merchandise. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-16 03:59:25 UTC ]
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Earlier today, the employees of the New York City-based indie bookshop McNally Jackson voted to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU). RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum says, “We’re proud to welcome the workers of McNally Jackson into our union. Tonight, they showed that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-13 20:10:34 UTC ]
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Waterstones and Barnes & Noble c.e.o. James Daunt has become the first trade figure to be named person of the year for the second time in The Bookseller's annual listing of the most powerful and influential people in the British book trade. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-13 05:14:10 UTC ]
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In “A Bookshop in Berlin,” Françoise Frenkel describes a life devoted to French literature and her escape from the Nazis across occupied France. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-12-12 16:02:39 UTC ]
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The Nibbies are to return in 2020 to celebrate three decades, with another gala ceremony awarding the best of the British book trade. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-12 04:47:19 UTC ]
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The Bookseller is to create a Rising Stars-style listing of individual booksellers to coincide with the Booksellers Association Conference in September 2020. The Bookshop Heroes special, supported by the BA and sponsored by HarperCollins, will be published to coincide with the annual conference. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-11 22:52:50 UTC ]
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Grand Marais, Minn., held its third North Shore Readers & Writers Festival early last month, attracting literary types from across the state. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-11-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
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A new bookshop has been opened in Farnham, Surrey, as a “gift” to say thank you to the town. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-24 14:46:01 UTC ]
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John Lewis' Christmas advert has come under fire as author and former bookseller Jen Campbell highlighted the similarities between the advert and her children’s book Franklin’s Flying Bookshop (Thames & Hudson). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-18 10:24:18 UTC ]
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