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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Firefighters arrived at the bookstore’s 5433 College Avenue location just before 5:30 a.m. on July 30, and Bay Area media described the business as a total loss. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-31 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Local newspapers in the UK are disappearing fast, creating news deserts and leaving councils unscrutinised. Now, though, a new generation is reinventing community journalism. Tina Brown, for one, is a fanI’m not sure what I was expecting of Mill Media’s HQ: en route to Manchester, where the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-07-28 07:00:48 UTC ]
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Forward-thinking booksellers are reinventing community programming staples, from author visits to subscription boxes. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Forward-thinking booksellers are reinventing community programming staples, from author visits to subscription boxes. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Samuel Roth was the sort of bookseller whose wares came wrapped in brown paper. Titles like Gershon Legman’s The Sexual Conduct of Men and Women, Maxwell Bodenheim’s My Life and Loves in Greenwich Village, and most notoriously his anthologized periodical of high-brow smut, American Aphrodite: A... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-03 08:56:41 UTC ]
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A little more than three months after Small Press Distribution abruptly closed, leaving some 400 indie publishers without a trade distributor, publishers and distributors both are finally moving forward—even as damage assessment continues. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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As the saying goes, you know you’ve fucked up when the librarians start protesting—and while New York City makes a sport out of hating its mayors, current problematic mayor Eric Adams really stepped in it when he announced cuts to the city’s libraries in the mid-year budget last fall. As we... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-28 14:01:00 UTC ]
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Robert Winnett’s departure is the latest of the news outlet’s woes. The Washington Post said Friday that newly named editor Robert Winnett has decided not to take the job and remain in Britain instead, another upheaval at a news outlet where a reorganization plan has gone disastrously wrong.The... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2024-06-21 14:48:23 UTC ]
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Teens have been at the forefront of fighting for the freedom to read. BANNED TOGETHER, publishing in March, is a YA anthology to encourage and support them while talking frankly about contemporary book censorship. Check it out! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-06-11 12:30:00 UTC ]
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Brave Books is bringing its right-wing See You at the Library Storytime events to public libraries again in August. Now is the time to prepare. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-06-10 15:54:09 UTC ]
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With Helsinki Literary Agency selling up to 150 books yearly, its former CEO, Urpu Strellman, heads for her publishing roots at Art House. The post Rights Edition Interview: Agent Urpu Strellman, Back to Publishing appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-06-07 17:49:17 UTC ]
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Four years after two Minneapolis specialty bookstores were destroyed amid unrest following George Floyd's murder, Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore and Uncle Edgar’s Mystery Bookstore are thriving in their new locations. Their owner, Don Blyly, is also celebrating his 50th anniversary as a... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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See the new pick, find your summer reading mood, get the deets on James Patterson's latest literary eruption, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-05-29 18:13:29 UTC ]
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Reese Witherspoon, with the help of her two teen nieces, announces the return of her popular YA Book Club picks. Here's the first title. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-05-29 12:31:32 UTC ]
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Amid an ongoing battle over book banning, the ousted board members are suing St. Tammany Parish claiming they are victims of a “smear campaign that vilified them, and sought and achieved their ouster.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In “Reading the Room,” Paul Yamazaki, the chief buyer for City Lights Booksellers, calls this “one of the richest and most rewarding times” to be a literature fan. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-05-23 09:00:58 UTC ]
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The management of Chicago's Seminary Co-op and and 57th Street Books has voluntarily recognized a union formed by bookseller employees of the member-owned cooperative. SCBU IU 660 is a branch of the Industrial Workers of the World. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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On May 22, the much-anticipated U.S. Book Show, held by Publishers Weekly and the Association of American Literary Agents, will present an in-person educational conference for agents, editors, marketers at NYU’s Kimmel Center in New York City, bringing the industry together for continuing... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple and Google recently held events to showcase new products and services. From a deals perspective, that means some older iPads are hitting new low prices — we even spotted a few modest $30 and $50 discounts on brand new iPad Air and iPad Pro models. Google's latest smartphone, the Pixel 8a,... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-05-17 16:39:00 UTC ]
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New Orleans indies are vibrant community hubs in one of the liveliest and most colorful cities in the country. They not only sell books -- many offer innovative programming for both adults and children. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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