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 ]
The Margate Bookshop has collected almost £3,000 to buy books for local schoolchildren with plans to run the fundraiser as an ongoing scheme alongside other independent bookstores, potentially as part of a charity. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-23 07:48:13 UTC ]
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Newham Bookshop is giving over a thousand books to children and communities in need this Christmas. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2021-12-21 06:12:46 UTC ]
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An independent Somerset bookshop is being forced to close for good after Storm Arwen damaged the roof. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-20 01:26:46 UTC ]
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DCist reports that workers at DC’s indie bookstore Politics and Prose have decided to unionize, joining a growing list of bookstores (and other workplaces) that have unionized this year. If they do unionize, they’ll become the only bookstore in DC with a unionized workforce. But Politics and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-17 16:47:07 UTC ]
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Now in its second year, the publisher-owned Fraktura Bookshop serves as a hub of literary events and trusted recommendations in Zagreb. The post Croatian Publisher Fraktura and Its Bookshop: ‘To Present Quality Books’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-12-13 07:33:12 UTC ]
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Alongside Richard Osman and JK Rowling, figures show huge successes for relative unknowns Ellery Adams and Brenda ChapmanThe UK’s library users are widely seen as a traditional bunch when it comes to choosing their next read, but while Richard Osman might have topped the list of the year’s... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-12-08 16:34:37 UTC ]
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It might seem odd for a magazine called The Bookseller to have a dedicated issue for “booksellers”, but this week’s issue is a dedicated one for, well, booksellers, including our now-annual listing of the Bookshop Heroes, those purveyors of the written word who, when push came to shove in 2021,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-03 15:21:51 UTC ]
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Black bookshop owners are finding that their efforts are paying off by sharing stories and bringing communities closer together through their local store. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-03 08:27:39 UTC ]
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Zenith Bookstore sells both new and used books, and has become a community hub in a part of the city where residents never expected to have a bookstore. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-12-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Twenty-three people have been included in The Bookseller's Bookshop Heroes class of 2021, a list of some of the best individual booksellers in the UK and Ireland. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-03 04:23:58 UTC ]
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In the early 2010s I lived near a bookstore called KAYO Books, in an area of San Francisco sometimes called Tenderloin Heights. They stocked an incredible array of pulp and genre fiction: two dizzying floors of detective fiction, mysteries, westerns, schlocky movie and TV tie-ins, and erotica.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-11-24 09:55:50 UTC ]
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In her essay collection “These Precious Days,” the novelist and bookstore owner explores friendship, marriage and mortality. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-11-19 15:41:34 UTC ]
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A library goldfish finds a new job as a therapy fish and more good book news this week. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-11-12 11:41:00 UTC ]
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Author and former acquisitions editor W. Terry Whalin explains how a good book proposal can really clinch a deal. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-11-12 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Founded in October 2009 by Rebecca Fitting and Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, Greenlight Bookstore is an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York. Combining the best traditions of the neighborhood bookstore with carefully curated, community-minded events, Greenlight has earned a reputation as a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-11-11 09:49:39 UTC ]
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Will Smith has partnered with Black-owned bookshops and artists of colour across the UK and America to celebrate his upcoming memoir Will (Century), with Sevenoaks Bookshop featuring an artist’s display. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-11 02:48:04 UTC ]
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Following the acclaimed author’s decision not to have Beautiful World, Where Are You translated by an Israeli publisher, two major retailers have removed her work from their shelvesBooks by Sally Rooney will no longer be sold in two Israeli bookshop chains, after the acclaimed writer’s decision... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-11-05 16:14:29 UTC ]
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Rebecca Fitting, co-owner of Brooklyn’s Greenlight Bookstore, is leaving the store she cofounded with Jessica Stockton-Bagnulo 12 years ago, and has sold her stake in the business to Stockton-Bagnulo. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Here are the best bookish things that happened this week, from library chickens to literacy funding and, of course, WonTon the bookstore cat. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-10-22 10:42:00 UTC ]
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Anyone who has worked in a bookstore knows only too well that moment when a customer approaches by saying, “So I don’t remember the title, or the author, but—.” And we’ve all been on the other side of the counter, trying to pinpoint something we can’t quite describe at a bookstore (“It’s a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-21 08:55:42 UTC ]
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