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 ]
Booksellers Association calls in celebrity support for Books Are My Bag campaign after more than 500 closures since 2005The number of independent bookshops gracing British high streets has fallen below 1,000 – a third fewer than nine years ago, amid cut-throat competition from supermarkets,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales at academic and professional publisher Rowman & Littlefield rose 8% in 2013, to $51 million. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Daunt Books in Marylebone is holding its first literary festival on 27th to 28th March. Authors... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thrill to the sight of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker raising a toast in honor of Sir Alec Guiness's birthday!Today in vaguely surreal photographs: Peter Mayhew, the 7'3" actor and mainstay of the traveling sci-fi/comic book convention circuit whose claim to fame is being the man inside the... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blueprints for the Death Star battle station that featured in the Star Wars films have been published by maintenance book publishers Haynes. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2013-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones has said it will be the first retailer to go on sale with signed copies of Dan Brown... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House enjoyed a record year in 2012, with worldwide sales up 23% and profits up by 76%. In... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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B&N will cut up to a third of its brick-and-mortar stores, slowly and carefully over 10 years. Bookseller Barnes & Noble has said it expects to shut up to a third of its real-world stores. CEO Mitchell Klipper has confirmed the plans in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. But... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Born out of a British book and funded by Hollywood, The Hobbit is also a movie that has its heart in New Zealand. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Retailers say sport could play a major part in the Christmas market, as publishers hasten to sign... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A debut novel has won the Orange Prize for Fiction for the second year running, with US author... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The newest 'Star Wars' novel, 'Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse,' holds the No. 8 slot on the New York Times bestseller list. Success has become the norm for the books. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dark Horse Comics has penciled a contract with Barnes & Noble (it'll be sent off to be inked and colored next week*) to get the former's content onto the latter's Tablet and Color e-readers. Available in the Nook Comic store, you'll be able to pick up a mix of the publisher's licensed titles... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If self-publishing is a major part of the future of the publishing business, then its most uncharted region, and the frontier of greatest possibility, is digital self-publishing, where authors can make their own names and sell infinite numbers of books with the help of a handful of increasingly... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 24/08/2011 - 15:06 The Royal Society is holding its first literary festival in its 350-year history, with the likes of Sebastian Faulks, China Miéville and John Banville taking part. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 09/08/2011 - 13:45 An independent bookshop to be run by an indie publisher will host an interactive website and offer home delivery when it opens in London next month. Belgravia Books, launched by publisher Gallic Books, will first welcome... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 06/07/2011 - 07:53 An independent bookshop in the Scottish Borders has said it will close, blaming the recession and the strain on customers incomes. Latimer Books in Kelso, Scottish Borders, will shut up shop at the end of August after... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 08:49 The Oldie magazine team is launching a new literary festival, based in London's Soho, with authors including Man Booker-winner Howard Jacobson and Michael Morpurgo set to appear. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 18/05/2011 - 07:45 An independent bookshop on the remote Scottish Isle of Mull has closed its doors after 40 years. Coffee and Books in Dervaig, on the Isle of Mull, part of the Inner Hebrides, closed last Friday (13th May) after its owner David... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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