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 ]
American myths and monsters, goddesses in Greek myth, a bookstore stuck in the past, and more of today's best book deals Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-09-27 15:11:57 UTC ]
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The feminist bookstore, founded in 1979, has been named the Great Lakes Bookstore of the Year by the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association. It is the inaugural recipient of the award. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Plus the second annual Banned Wagon tour, books about books, gifts for indie bookstore lovers, and more today on Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-09-23 13:45:00 UTC ]
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On Saturdays in late ’90s, my father, a taxi driver, would pool his tips for the week and take me, a child too precocious for his own good, to a local bookstore in search of my next read. Together, we silently wandered the store, picking up paperbacks and inspecting their pages. On shelves that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-09-17 08:55:21 UTC ]
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A party supported by pals who made it through rush hour rain was appropriate for an anthology celebrating female friendshipNervous as I am of organising parties, I could hardly have launched a book about friendship without throwing one. And so it was that last Tuesday night, I found myself in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-14 15:00:31 UTC ]
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A funny spy thriller, a classic album, a blockbuster feminist exhibition, a good book about a bad childhood and the end of our summer of sport Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2024-09-06 15:43:26 UTC ]
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A sweetly situated bookstore and its bookseller in France leads Richard Charkin to speculate on job titles in publishing. The post Richard Charkin in France: What’s in a Name? appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-08-30 19:45:11 UTC ]
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Evan Friss’ The Bookshop, Katherine Bucknell’s Christopher Isherwood: Inside Out, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde all feature among the best reviewed books of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * 1. The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-30 08:56:41 UTC ]
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Bookshop gets into used books, guessing the 2024 NBA Long List for Fiction, and a couple of real bummer stories in today's book news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-08-28 21:45:13 UTC ]
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The story of the sale of a bookstore heiress’s penthouse seems to have ended on a bittersweet note.Stephanie Riggio Bulger, whose father, Len Riggio, is the former chairman of the Barnes & Noble retail chain, has finally found a taker for her four-bedroom duplex condo in Chelsea after two... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2024-08-22 15:41:31 UTC ]
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“Although Nazis were more famous for burning books, they also sold them.” Evan Friss on when the Nazis opened a propaganda bookstore in Los Angeles. | Lit Hub Bookstores Get ready for the literary film and TV you need to watch this fall. | Lit Hub Film “He was not one of those people who […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-21 10:30:24 UTC ]
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In the first half of the twentieth century, radical bookstores took many forms and often served as part of larger, multichannel campaigns. Nazis, as well as Communists and Socialists, organized festivals and parades, dances and concerts, and schools and camps to disseminate critiques of American... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-21 08:56:24 UTC ]
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Bookstore Romance Day, held last Saturday, has grown to include 550 bookstores, up from 150 stores when it was founded in 2019. It now offers online events and giveaways from Libro.fm, in addition to in-store promotions. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Christie’s auction house is extending its sizeable lease at Rockefeller Center for another 25 years, landlord Tishman Speyer announced Tuesday. It’s a significant win for an older office complex whose peers have struggled to retain tenants.Christie’s American headquarters at 20 Rockefeller Plaza... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2024-08-20 15:35:35 UTC ]
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5 to 9 Books, a new online-only bookstore run through Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, aims to help burned out professionals and new retirees cope with the stresses of life by introducing them to new hobbies and feeding their passions. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The bookstore bar aspires to combine two beloved things: wine and stacks. Though people have been pairing vittles and pages as long as either have existed, the retail trend has taken off in recent years. As Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner reported in Eater this week, the book bar creates “a third... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-16 17:01:25 UTC ]
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The Ubik bookstore in Syracuse's Ortigia district has reopened under new management ahead of Italy 's guest of honor turn at Frankfurt. The post Italy: A New Ubik Bookstore on Sicily’s Island of Ortigia appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-08-07 15:14:55 UTC ]
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From fairy porn to romantasy via the Omegaverse, publishing is sexier than ever. The reason? A big shift in gen Z and millennial attitudes to respectability and shame ...I spent a fortnight reading nothing but smut and I don’t need to give you a reason. But since there is one, here it is:... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-08-06 04:00:33 UTC ]
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Founded in 2013, Letters Bookshop in Durham, N.C., is transforming from a privately owned business to a community-supported cooperative, selling shares for $116, in an aim to sustain the store in amid a challenging retail environment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-06 04:00:00 UTC ]
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London's Spiracle co-publishes independent houses' audiobooks and sells them to bookstore consumers using in-store cards with QR codes. The post UK: Spiracle Opens ‘Audiobook in a Card’ for Bookstores appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-08-05 18:30:21 UTC ]
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