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 ]
Kerri Maher’s novel “The Paris Bookseller” celebrates the life of American Sylvia Beach, a bookstore owner who saw promise in James Joyce’s “Ulysses.” Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2022-01-11 20:01:10 UTC ]
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The number of independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland has grown for the fifth consecutive year despite challenges brought by the pandemic, the Booksellers Association says. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-07 22:34:12 UTC ]
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Danny Caine, the owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kans., has sold a 49% stake in the 35-year-old bookstore to a group of seven employees. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-01-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Regardless of how 2021 went for you, 2022 is another chance for all of us to make the new year better than those that came before it. We set New Year’s resolutions with the best of intentions, but it’s no wonder that so many people fail after just a few weeks – old habits die hard. Just as it’s... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-01-01 14:34:42 UTC ]
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The UK's first Black specialist bookshop is to shut its doors and move entirely online, as financial constraints jeopardise its future. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-28 16:05:54 UTC ]
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Independent book shop McNally Jackson staged a public protest with a melodic twist in New York this week, reworking classic seasonal songs and sending carolers to perform in front of the Amazon four-star store in the SoHo neighborhood. The newly written lyrics, from agency DCX Growth... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2021-12-23 20:20:41 UTC ]
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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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