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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Data points and anecdotes about middle grade reading intertwined at a panel on "Recapturing the Tween Middle Grade Market," held at Winter Institute. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-22 05:00:00 UTC ]
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A win for Paris booksellers, an adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada, and a reading list for fans of True Detective: Night Country. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-02-19 15:27:51 UTC ]
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This was a regular feature of my childhood, though it feels so long ago and far away, conceptually as well as literally, that I nearly forgot it ever happened: I’d go into town to the mall with my mom, and she’d drop me at the doors of the Borders or Barnes and Noble while she […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-19 09:55:59 UTC ]
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At the ABA Community Forum, held at Winter Institute 2024 in Cincinnati on February 14, a developing coalition of booksellers spoke on behalf of Palestinians under fire in Gaza and advocated for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
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On February 13, WI2024 presenters brainstormed ways to sustain connections with readers, listened to a 'Beyond the Binary' panel on identity, and lined up to have ARCs signed by nearly 80 authors at a bustling evening reception. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The first day of the ABA's annual conference tackled topics including the basics of bookselling, marketing and media strategies for booksellers in the digital age, and how publishers can make booksellers' lives easier. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-13 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Frustrations over the most critical development in digital media shared at flagship industry conference. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2024-01-31 05:01:00 UTC ]
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Booksellers and authors prepare to gather in Ohio’s Queen City for the 2024 ABA Winter Institute. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Fiction and nonfiction writers presenting their work at this year’s Winter Institute range from renowned keynotes and all-star bestsellers to love-at-first-read newcomers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-25 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The organization, which has had offices in the New York City metro area since its formation in 1900, confirmed this week that it will become a “permanently remote organization” at the end of February. CEO Allison Hill said that the closure “doesn’t change the way we've been working.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-25 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Our annual pick of the most exciting debut fiction has previously tipped Sally Rooney and Louise Kennedy, Tom Crewe and Douglas Stuart. Here the class of 2024 tell us their storiesEach year since 2014, the Observer New Review’s writers and editors have read scores of forthcoming debut novels... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-01-14 07:00:20 UTC ]
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Tamara Megrelishvili, founder of Georgian bookstore Prospero's talks about the impact of diminished tourism, war, and political unease. The post In Tbilisi: Bookseller Tamara Megrelishvili on Sales Trends appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-01-10 17:45:34 UTC ]
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Out this week are three memoirs that tell the full, unvarnished truth about breaking up with alcohol, defecting from right-wing conservatism, and living with a traumatic brain injury. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Thanks to mild weather and a strong economy, December sales at bookstores across the Midwest were up, with booksellers reporting increases ranging from 13% to 31%. Adult fiction and political nonfiction were popular, as were children's picture books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Your TBR has just grown by leaps and bounds, thanks to the winter 2024 YA paperback releases about to hit shelves. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-01-08 11:33:00 UTC ]
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My longtime girlfriend is a longtime bookseller. Her relationship with bookselling predates ours three times over. It is a surprisingly taxing career path—one that asks of the body, and of the mind. There are the bad days, where she brings home the classic bookseller gripes: failed hand-sells,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-01-05 09:56:55 UTC ]
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Palestine, Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Joe Sacco’s seminal nonfiction graphic novel about Gaza, which pioneered the medium of “comics journalism” upon its publication over twenty years ago, has been rushed back into print in response to surging demand. First published across nine issues by... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-11 17:26:58 UTC ]
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The Authors Guild and other artists’ groups say that it's unfair to train AI algorithms on their work without permission. Tech companies generally argue that it counts as “fair use.” Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2023-12-07 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Amid a historic surge in book challenges in schools and school libraries, the Fight Book Bans Act would offer federal funding to support school districts fighting challenges to books and educational materials. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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