Could lockdown herald an exciting new chapter for the book trade?

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 ]
News tagged with: #year running #major part #record year #star wars #huge relief #signed copies #bookshop #british book #literary festival #independent bookshop

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ BBC News | 2015-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What's hotter than a sequel to 'Mockingbird'? A coloring book for grownups

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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Danielle Steel joins Pan Mac in 10-book deal

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tech journalists may have been wrong about Meerkat but they're right to get excited about new apps

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[ The Guardian | 2015-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rare, Revolutionary Photo Book Is Back in Print

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[ Wired | 2015-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-books Gained, Online Retailers Slipped in 2014

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Travel book wins odd title prize

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[ BBC News | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Go Set a Watchman': Here's the book cover

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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Piracy, Bookstore Closures Hamper Spain’s Book Industry

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Go Set a Watchman book jackets: a designer reads the artwork

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[ The Guardian | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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