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” four years before. (It still sold a lot of books.) Our bookstore did a good job keeping shelves stocked with a balance of the more worthy popular hits and smaller, better fare. But we couldn’t have every book a customer might want, so we offered to order any in-print title. If a distributor had it, it’d take about a week to get in, longer if we had to go through the publisher. That seemed fine for most customers. But sometimes “about a week” was too long. A few people came right out and said, “Nah, I’ll order it on Amazon.” In 2005, Amazon launched Prime, the membership program that, for $79 a year, gave customers unlimited two-day shipping on most orders. At launch, CEO Jeff Bezos called it “‘all-you-can-eat’ express shipping.” No one knew at the time how hungry the world was for Amazon’s brand of convenience. And now, nearly two decades later, we’ve seen the shifts that accommodate that buffet — in labor, retail and the entire customer experience. Prime wasn’t an overnight success. It’s estimated that six years after launch, just four million households paid for the service. But 10 years later, in 2021, Bezos claimed it had accrued 200 million members worldwide. Outside of that... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2024-03-08 14:15:57 UTC ]
Sotheby’s describes 17th-century Cervantes editions as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity for collectorsOne day in the early 1930s, a young Bolivian diplomat named Jorge Ortiz Linares walked into the illustrious Maggs Bros bookshop in London to ask if they might have a particularly fine edition... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-10-06 13:44:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Author Alex George, the owner of Skylark Bookshop in Columbia, Mo., was named Midwest Bookseller of the Year by the Midwest Indie Booksellers Association. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-10-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Tom Hanks—who previously spent time crushing a beloved indie bookstore with his discount big box chain (which was then probably crushed by Amazon and yes I am talking about his role in You’ve Got Mail and not his real life)—will publish a novel with Knopf this spring. The book, The Making of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-09-27 15:17:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Nicole Sullivan, the owner of Denver's BookBar, a bookstore and wine bar that she founded in 2013, announced that she will close the store on January 31 to focus more on her other business, the Bookies. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-09-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Books are written in solitude, but writers do some of their finest work with crowds—in public talks, interviews, and events. The best moments from those strange, dramatic interactions often go missing, however: either they’re never recorded, or nobody will ever find the recordings. Fortunately,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-09-14 09:05:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Strand Bookstore is taking the idea of the “status tote” to a whole new level and is now selling a special Bottega Veneta limited edition black tote back for $1,500. I hate it. Yes, we here at Lit Hub are definitely part of the Literary Tote Industrial Complex, which traffics in superficial... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-09-13 13:56:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Bookstore visits and author addresses were among the primary events for booksellers attending the California Independent Booksellers Alliance's conference this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-09-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
What makes for a good book club question? Here are some tips to consider before your next book club meeting. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-09-09 10:37:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
There are very few things in the world that we at Electric Lit love more than bookstores, but one of those things is pets. We are absolutely obsessed with our furry friends. It only stands to reason that to our minds, there is no greater place in the world than a bookstore with a pet. […] The... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-09-05 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
With design elements inspired by nearby Tiantai Mountain and the Haishan Islands, a new bookstore in Taizhou City (on China’s central coast) is putting all our cute little corner bookshops to shame. This article was posted in English but is essentially a long string of AI-translated... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-29 14:32:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Translated by Charlotte Whittle At some point in the last century, I arrived in Paris and that very day bought a copy of Madame Bovary in a bookstore called Joie de Vivre in the Latin Quarter. I stayed up nearly all night reading it and by dawn I knew what kind of writer I wanted […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-29 08:52:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this
We talk with Jill and Adlai Yeomans, owners of White Whale Bookstore in Pittsburgh, Pa., which focuses on literary fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
I think every aspiring writer should work in a used bookstore. For a little while, at least. If nothing else, the ego death is electric. * I am lucky. A fellowship after my MFA has left me with all kinds of time to write and live out this romantic dream job. Ensconced in an Ann […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-24 08:53:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The summer Christian Product Expo (CPE) took place in Lexington, Ky. Aug. 14-16, attracting 648 attendees, including Christian bookstore owners, publishers, authors, and agents for training sessions, product launches, and networking. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Almost 400 bookstores plan to participate in Bookstore Romance Day, a combination of virtual programming and national in-store events on August 20. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
As an aspiring writer I loved many exiled authors, from Márquez to Kundera, but with Rushdie the stakes were raisedIt was more than a decade ago when I was introduced to the work of Salman Rushdie, thanks to the recommendation of a writer in my homeland of Pakistan. As an aspiring writer myself,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-08-14 14:47:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The just-concluded New Voices New Rooms joint virtual gathering of the New Atlantic and Southern Independent Booksellers Associations delved into such issues as book banning, de-escalating confrontations, and ways to generate additional revenue. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Kant’s Thief I entered the bookshop already terrified and sweaty-palmed, determined to steal Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. I would have liked for the whole thing to be over in the blink of an eye. To be able to run as fast as I could to the section where I’d seen the book before, snatch […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-08 08:50:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Yep, you guessed it: “Barefoot Bookseller,” the greatest job in the literary world, is once again accepting applications. Would you like to run a bookstore on a desert island in the Maldives for a year? What if I told you that you weren’t allowed to wear shoes . . . or read the news? I […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-01 13:04:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this
I was 13 years old in a suburban mall Barnes & Noble, holding a copy of Please Don’t Kill the Freshman by Zoe Trope. The cover—featuring the silhouette of a young cheerleader whose stance seems sarcastic, her pom-poms flopping against gashes of blue and red—was young, angry, and awesome. I... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-19 14:56:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this