In 2009, two bookshops a week were closing in the UK and the days of physical books seemed numbered. Now, indie stores are booming. What explains the turnaround – and can it be sustained?When Sarah Mullen was asked to set up a children’s book festival in a leafy suburb of Birmingham in 2012, she couldn’t find an independent bookseller to run the bookstall. “So we all rolled up our sleeves and did it ourselves,” she says. Pregnant with her third child, she had recently given up her job as a solicitor to work for the Bournville Village Trust. Mullen’s task was to set up the Bournville BookFest, which ran for 10 years before being brought to a halt by the Covid pandemic. But far from accepting defeat, she rolled up her sleeves once again and “pivoted the whole thing into a bookshop”. Two years on, the Bookshop on the Green is thriving – a living rebuttal to the once widely held idea that the digital era meant certain death for the neighbourhood bookstore.When I visit early on a Friday morning, a turquoise vintage Smith Corona typewriter holds centre stage in the Bookshop on the Green. Beside it stands Bradley Taylor, a poet whose job is to write poems on demand for anyone who asks. He has composed a lot of Batman and football poems for the children who pile in on Saturdays, he says, before sitting down to tap one out for me about the joy of bookshops. In the multitasking tradition of small retailers, Taylor also works in the shop. He made his cosplay debut last month as the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-27 09:00:32 UTC ]
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Bookshops up and down the country say they saw footfall increase on Saturday thanks to the Bookshop Day campaign, organised by Booksellers Association. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[caption id="attachment_109685" align="alignright" width="488"] Meredith Corp.'s Des Moines, Iowa headquarters.[/caption] Meredith has taken further steps in its long-term reorganization strategy that began after its acquisition of Time Inc. nearly two years ago. The Wall Street Journal first... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2018-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Small publishers in Russia see a book market unfairly dominated by large publishing groups and their control over the country's major bookselling chains. The post Russian Independent Booksellers and Publishers Say Big Players’ Partnerships Hurt Business appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Big Green Bookshop has received a "fantastic" response to its proposal for an independent bookshop alliance, with over 90 expressing interest since the idea was first mooted. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Big Green Bookshop is proposing to set up an alliance of independent bookshops in order to negotiate better discounts on books to compete with the bigger chains and retailers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booksellers from more than 71 stores attended the SIBA Discovery Show in New Orleans last weekend, where diversity and race were major topics—as was the impending move of the organization's executive director, Wanda Jewell, who is relocating to the West Coast. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Big Green Bookshop co-owner Simon Key came face to face with presenter Piers Morgan on ITV this morning (26th June) - months after the pair had a heated Twitter feud over the merits of J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent bookseller Simon Key has been snapped up to write a book with Head of Zeus, based on his parenting tweets. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishing industry has rallied round to help the independent Big Green Bookshop after one of its owners sent out a desperate tweet appealing for customers because they were “seriously skint”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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North London retailer the Big Green Bookshop is tweeting out every word of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Bloomsbury) to broadcaster Piers Morgan following his Twitter spat with its author J K Rowling. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The owners of The Big Green Bookshop are to launch a YouTube channel next month that will feature videos showcasing a “mix of the strangeness” that goes on at the shop. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Just six months ago, Reddit—whose famous slogan is "The front page of the internet"—was a dangerous place for marketers because of its reputation as a pool of trolling and harassment. Now, the viral-minded site is trying to flip the narrative and draw in advertisers with new ad targeting and... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2016-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While some attendees, especially booksellers, rejoiced at a more “intimate” BEA, this year's show, in the Windy City for the first time in 12 years, left others concerned about what’s lost when the event leaves its standing locale of New York City. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Big Green Bookshop has been inundated with donations after it was targeted by a thief on Wednesday. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Big Green Bookshop in London's Wood Green had £600 stolen from its till yesterday. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The enduring popularity of coloring books for adults and a successful Small Business Saturday got the holiday season off to a strong start for independent booksellers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Big Green Bookshop is set to hold events at The Old Café – in the former Foyles Charing Cross Road – in an “exciting new partnership.” The Old Café in Foyles’ former home was always a popular venue with literary folk and is still operating after the bookseller moved its flagship store down... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hannah Moushabeck, age 25, is the children's department director at Odyssey Bookshop, a children's book editor for Interlink Publishing Group, and co-chair of the New England Children's Booksellers Advisory Council. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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North London independent The Big Green Bookshop is teaming up with Angry Robot Books to offer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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