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 ]
Increasing number of black authors forced to self-publish or promote work on social media, says Selina BrownThe founder of a book festival celebrating black authors has said they are “forced” to pave their own way into the publishing world because of a lack of diversity within the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-10-02 16:06:33 UTC ]
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A party supported by pals who made it through rush hour rain was appropriate for an anthology celebrating female friendshipNervous as I am of organising parties, I could hardly have launched a book about friendship without throwing one. And so it was that last Tuesday night, I found myself in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-14 15:00:31 UTC ]
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Although the holiday weekend has come to a close, some Labor Day sales are still available. Historically, Labor Day isn't a boon for tech deals but there are always a few decent ones that pop up, particularly in the outdoor tech space. Labor Day sales often overlap with back-to-school sales as... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-09-03 14:30:14 UTC ]
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Bookshop gets into used books, guessing the 2024 NBA Long List for Fiction, and a couple of real bummer stories in today's book news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-08-28 21:45:13 UTC ]
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It’s almost Labor Day so the sales have started to trickle in. Here’s a cool one. A whole bunch of Lego sets are on sale for 25 percent off from, uh, Barnes & Noble. That may not make sense on paper, but we assure you that these discounts are very real. It’s tough to pick the “best”... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-08-26 15:23:20 UTC ]
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Dutch illustrator Aimée de Jongh talks about turning William Golding’s haunting novel into a visual artwork, while the author’s daughter and others reflect on its evolving message of humanityLike many Dutch teenagers – like many teenagers, full stop – Aimée de Jongh first read Lord of the Flies... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-08-25 13:00:02 UTC ]
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It’s been a rough year for the literary festival. Sparked by a campaign from Fossil Free Books (FFB), nine festivals that previously relied on support from the Baillie Gifford Foundation dropped or lost that company’s sponsorship after the firm failed to divest from fossil fuel companies and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-19 16:14:49 UTC ]
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From fairy porn to romantasy via the Omegaverse, publishing is sexier than ever. The reason? A big shift in gen Z and millennial attitudes to respectability and shame ...I spent a fortnight reading nothing but smut and I don’t need to give you a reason. But since there is one, here it is:... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-08-06 04:00:33 UTC ]
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Founded in 2013, Letters Bookshop in Durham, N.C., is transforming from a privately owned business to a community-supported cooperative, selling shares for $116, in an aim to sustain the store in amid a challenging retail environment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-06 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A public-facing event, the September Macondo Literary Festival will feature authors and culture from across Africa. The post Kenya: Nairobi’s Macondo Festival Plans for Its Fourth Iteration appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-08-02 19:13:35 UTC ]
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The second annual Queen’s Reading Room Festival at Hampton Court Palace celebrated what Queen Camilla has called the “great adventure” of the written word. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-07-03 09:01:09 UTC ]
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I love it when a text centers the dynamics of conversation. In my own life, talking to others gets me out of my head, and introduces me to possibilities I would never have dreamed of alone. I think of a quote by the activist Valerie Kaur, which my local bookshop has printed on some of […] The... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-06-12 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Now in its seventh year, the Deep Water Literary Festival will return to Narrowsville, N.Y., in the Catskills June 21–23. This year, it has added a new independent book fair and expanded its programming to year-round. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Journalist Maria Ressa named Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk in speech at Hay literary festival in Powys“Tech bros” such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are “the largest dictators”, Maria Ressa, who won the Nobel peace prize in 2021 for her defence of media freedom, has said.The American-Filipina... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-27 15:11:47 UTC ]
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The 2024 British Book Awards had their big night at Grosvenor House in London, celebrating both book and trade award winners. The post British Book Awards: The 2024 Trade and Book Honors appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-05-14 03:51:46 UTC ]
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Bookshop and arts centre run by Salmon Poetry is saved from closure after raising more than €60,000 from 700 individualsA bookshop and arts centre run by a prominent Irish poetry publisher has been saved from closure after a GoFundMe campaign raised more than €60,000 – enough to buy new premises... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-13 15:18:10 UTC ]
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5 Questions for Ethel Rohan, by Michelle Johnson Interviews [email protected] Tue, 04/16/2024 - 08:28 Ethel Rohan’s second novel, Sing, I, was published by TriQuarterly Books on April 15. The novel’s heroine, Ester Prynn, works in a convenience... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-04-16 13:28:17 UTC ]
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From books about disintegrating relationships and countries to a worker’s-eye view of Korea and a story of farmers in Brazil, the selected titles engage with current realities, say the judging panelKorean writer Hwang Sok-yong and German author Jenny Erpenbeck appear on this year’s International... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-09 13:00:09 UTC ]
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During the summer of 1896, a poster of a redheaded woman riding a bicycle appeared in bookshop windows and newsstands in cities across the United States. Sporting a fashionable outfit, the cyclist gazes blankly beyond the viewer, seeming to exert little effort. Though her body occupies most of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-03 08:55:47 UTC ]
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Just as Engadget was hitting publish on its first posts, I was putting a freshly minted English degree to use working at an indie bookshop in Los Angeles. In seemingly unrelated news, Amazon had just reported its first profitable year after switching from selling books to selling “everything”... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-03-08 14:15:57 UTC ]
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