Could a bespoke book subscription service break you out of your reading rut or encourage you to explore new genres?Heywood Hill bookshop has stood on the same spot since 1936. It inhabits a Georgian townhouse at 10 Curzon Street in Mayfair, London, a blue plaque outside commemorating its most famous employee, Nancy Mitford. Behind its heavy wooden door, a customer explains that she is visiting the UK from Australia, and would like to speak to someone about the shop’s subscription service. The word has clearly travelled far.From chocolate to coffee to beer to grooming products, subscription boxes are big business, and books are no exception. There are countless online companies that ship out a monthly read, some adding artisan teas, hot chocolate, or an adaptation on DVD of the book. But Heywood Hill’s subscription is as bespoke as possible: each package is individually tailored to the reader’s tastes following a conversation between the subscriber and a bookseller. Camille Van de Velde, one of Heywood Hill’s five booksellers, takes me down a rickety staircase into the basement from where the scheme is run. Staff are at work in a series of pokey interlocking rooms, stacking titles on shelves, ready to be wrapped, packed and shipped. They won’t be specific about numbers, but each has hundreds of people to choose for each month, and it has, by all accounts, transformed the business.Suddenly I realise just how intimate a simple question like ‘What is your favourite book?’ can... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2020-02-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 08:30 Penguin is topping the table with an industry-leading six nominations in the 2011 Bookseller Industry Awards. Following closely behind in the nomination league tables are HarperCollins and Hodder & Stoughton, both listed... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones and Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 09:15 Publishers are having to spend more money to keep up with the pace of piracy, the chief executive of the PA has said, as robust debates over piracy affecting royalty rates dominated the first day of London Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 09:06 The publisher behind The Bookseller is launching an ambitious new quarterly consumer book magazine and website this June, We Love This Book. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 15:34 Penguin, Hachette Livre and Random House have all joined with PEN International for the launch of the literature-championing organisations latest initiative, the PEN International Publishers Circle. The scheme will see... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The breakaway group of Angus & Robertson franchisees say they're surprised by legal action from the group's administrators. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 28/03/2011 - 09:37 The book trade is anticipating a buzzing London Book Fair after the washout of the 2010 event, with a stronger US presence than there has been in recent years. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 21/03/2011 - 15:45 Waterstone's has called for academic publishers to "significantly" increase their support for the chain, warning bricks and mortar academic bookselling could vanish from the high street within a few years. The retailer's m.d.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 2010, a cloud hung over the publishing worldliterally. When a tongue-twisting Icelandic volcano blew its top last April, halting air travel, stranding travelers, and ruining the best-made plans of the 2010 London Book Fair. But this year's London Book Fair is back on track. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Googles algorithmic changes (which the search giant claims will effect 11.8 percent of queries) take aim at what it says are low-quality sitessites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other web sites or sites that are just not very useful. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zinio's digital newsstand is back up and running after experiencing problems last Thursday through this past weekend. On Sunday, March 6, the company posted, Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 04/03/2011 - 09:12 National Reading Group Day is among the new features designed to boost the importance of indie retailers during this years Independent Booksellers Week. The Booksellers Association has just announced that the annual IBW will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 02/03/2011 - 08:44 HMV Group has "substantially" backed a social networking site called aNobii, which aims to help readers find buy and share books. The website, www.anobii.com, has existed since 2006 but was bought recently by internet... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Thu, 17/02/2011 - 09:34 The Australian book trade has been hit by the surprise collapse of REDgroup, which owns the country's largest bookshop chain Angus & Robertson, as well as Borders and the Whitcoulls chain of newsagencies in New Zealand. It... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Joe Wilcox, Betanews Well, that didn't take long. One day after Apple dropped its subscription plan bomb on suspicious publishers, Google officially countered with One Pass. Google strips out the onerous restrictions Apple imposes. It's a brilliant marketing response, and aptly timed with new... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Overdrive c.e.o. Steve Potash has said there is enthusiastic support for library e-lending from many trade publishing houses, describing fears over remote downloading as not a real issue. Potash was visiting London this week for talks with the major publishers,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip stone Jamie Oliver's Jamie's 30-minute Meals (Michael Joseph) has returned to the summit of the Official UK Top 50 after a three-week hiatus. The bestselling hardback non-fiction book since records began sold 37,407 copies in the seven days to 29th January, up 77%... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Waterstone's is cutting orders it makes on new titles from March to reduce its number of returns. The book retailer contacted suppliers this week asking them to reduce initial orders by about 20%. Publishers were asked to cancel existing pre-orders so that new orders... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NewPage Paper and Verso--the largest makers of coated paper and the subject of merger rumors last year--are b Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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