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 ]
An Essex-based indie bookshop is doubling in size after "thriving" during the pandemic. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-25 20:03:30 UTC ]
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A new independent bookshop which nods to Bristol’s “radical past and present” has opened in the city’s Harbourside area, near where Edward Colston's statue was brought down last year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-25 11:33:12 UTC ]
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Big news for booksellers, or even aspiring booksellers: The Times Union has reported that Owl Pen Books, a bookstore nestled in the hills of Washington County, is for sale, along with its 40,000 titles. As perhaps hinted by its location, it’s not just any bookstore: it’s a remodeled hog pen and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-08-20 17:01:40 UTC ]
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A story for children about families with same-sex parents has been published in Russia as part of a campaign to have the country’s ‘gay propaganda’ law repealedA month after a Hungarian bookshop chain was fined for selling a children’s story about a day in the life of a child with same-sex... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-08-17 14:33:19 UTC ]
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A total of 39 employees at two locations of Greenlight Bookstore and one location of Yours Truly, Brooklyn, a stationery store, all located in Brooklyn, N.Y., have voted to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-08-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookstore sales skyrocketed 811% in June over a year ago, and finished the first half of 2021 with a 30% increase over the first six months of 2020. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-08-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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More than 60 bookshops launched in the UK and Ireland in the past 18 months – but who would open one in a pandemic? We asked five to share their stories, while bestselling author Val McDermid remembers the bookshops of her youthWhen I was growing up in a small Scottish town, we had a bookshop... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-08-15 11:00:06 UTC ]
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The fourth outing of the award produced by the Desperate Literature bookshop in Madrid features work centered on colonial oppression. The post Madrid’s ‘Desperate Literature’ Short Fiction Prize: Paige Cowan-Hall appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-08-13 21:40:40 UTC ]
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Industry Notes: In Mexico, seven independent publishers form an alliance, and Spain's Liber program honors the 100-year-old Balmes bookstore. The post Industry Notes: Guadalajara Publishers and Bookstore Honors in Barcelona appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-08-13 20:06:29 UTC ]
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How do you make a book about bookstores even better? With a little romance, of course! Prepare to swoon over these bookstore romances, including Meet Cute Club by Jack Harbon. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-08-11 10:36:00 UTC ]
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A steadfast member of the radical bookselling community is to retire after 45 years at Liverpool store News From Nowhere. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-10 05:23:08 UTC ]
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A “kitchen anthropologist,” he created a mecca in Manhattan for chefs, writers, scholars, everyday cooks and anyone else who is, well, hungry for culinary knowledge. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-08-08 00:23:01 UTC ]
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An independent bookshop spotlighting women’s writing is opening in Edinburgh today (6th August), inspired by a successful book club. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-06 19:47:21 UTC ]
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After working a used bookstore for many years, I picked up some strange habits that I just can't seem to shake. Here are 5 of them. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-08-06 10:33:00 UTC ]
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Before Covid, A Good Used Book was a pop-up bookshop thriving across L.A. It's back to physical business this month — at the end of a long, hard road. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-08-05 13:00:28 UTC ]
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Matt Haig has become the first author to feature on Bookshop.org's Indie Champions list with two titles in the same month. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-01 01:03:15 UTC ]
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Well, this is kind of heartwarming. A full quarter-century after shuttering his old store in Bloomington, Indiana, Rick Morgenstern has opened what suddenly becomes the state’s largest independent bookstore. The reboot of the eponymous store has been in the works for years and is reopening in a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-07-28 18:29:10 UTC ]
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The California Independent Booksellers Alliance announced that Ann Seaton, CALIBA’s former director of operations and Kristin Rasmussen, general manager of {pages} a bookstore in Manhattan Beach, have been appointed coexecutive directors of the association. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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After four moves and 43 years as a hub for children’s books and visits by local and nationally renowned authors, The Children’s Bookstore is closing. Continue reading at Baltimore Sun
[ Baltimore Sun | 2021-07-23 20:26:06 UTC ]
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One avid reader on why being taken to the bookstore is way more anxiety-producing than it is enjoyable. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-07-20 10:32:00 UTC ]
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