Pantomime misanthropy is tempered with bursts of sweetness in the secondhand bookseller’s latest dispatches from WigtownThere’s a moment in the first season of the short-lived but influential sitcom Black Books in which an elderly customer appears with a box of attractive old editions of classics to sell to Dylan Moran’s crosspatch bookseller Bernard. Barely looking at them, Bernard offers him £40. But they’re worth more than that, the man says. “I know, I know,” Bernard concedes. “But I don’t want them. I’ll have to price them, then, and put them up on the shelves, and store them, and people will come in and ask about them, and buy them, and read them, and come back and sell them and the whole hideous cycle will just go on and on and on ...” He gives the man £40 to take the books away.Shaun Bythell’s dispatches from the Wigtown Bookshop, which he has run for nearly 20 years, read like a knowing riff on the persona of Bernard Black. He started out grousing about his life, pillorying his eccentric staff and venting about his noisome customers on a Facebook page. Then he did the same in his hit Diary of a Bookseller, continued with Confessions of a Bookseller, and here he is – an actual franchise – with a slim little listicle-titled till-point follow-up for the Christmas market. His inner Bernard Black will be heaving a world-weary sigh. The more he parades his contemptus mundi, the more the world loves him.Much steam is enjoyably vented over customers who whistle... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-11 09:00:33 UTC ]
The Bookseller has been acquired by the publisher of theatre magazine the Stage, in a move that will see the 162-year-old book trade newspaper join forces with the 140-year-old brand. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-06 12:20:48 UTC ]
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If you tuned into yesterday’s historic House Judiciary Subcommittee antitrust hearing, during which the top executives of some of the world’s largest tech companies tried convincing politicians that they weren’t monopolies, you may have heard a bookseller chime in during Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-30 19:54:55 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has scooped an “exceptional” debut novel from journalist and former Waterstones bookseller Jo Hamya. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-21 17:27:41 UTC ]
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After the shutdown, layoffs, and a major redesign, the bookseller is reopening its stores in an uncertain book market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Dhara Snowden, senior commissioning editor at Rowman & Littlefield takes The Bookseller behind the scenes. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-14 01:03:02 UTC ]
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The Bookseller would like to capture the trade’s thoughts on social media and, in particular, "cancel culture" and its impacts on UK publishing, bookselling and writing. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-01 19:32:20 UTC ]
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Just one week remains until the Bookseller Marketing & Publicity Conference 2020, themed How We Work Now and tackling the challenges presented by our post-Covid world. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-26 00:05:47 UTC ]
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This week, Louise Candlish is publishing her latest novel The Other Passenger, the first title in her latest two-book deal with Simon & Schuster UK. She spoke to The Bookseller on Twitter about her new book, her influences and her past successes. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-23 00:11:29 UTC ]
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"Eager" customers have "welcomed" the opening of bookstores in Ireland this week, The Bookseller has heard. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-10 05:57:23 UTC ]
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Frontline booksellers are the first people customers see when they set foot in bookstores across America, and are among the most vulnerable workers in the publishing industry. This is what their world looks like now. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s never too early to learn that racism is wrong and we should be doing something about it. These books will help show our kids how, writes publisher and bookseller Aimée FeloneDo the work: Layla F Saad’s anti-racist reading list The weight of the world seems heavier than ever right now. The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-04 07:00:00 UTC ]
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On the 1st of June, the day thousands of pupils returned to school as part of the government’s plan to end lockdown, I received a call from my manager. As a bookseller with Blackwell’s, I had been glad when we shut our doors in March to protect the health of our staff and customers. I imagined... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-04 02:42:56 UTC ]
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Pandemic Dispatches Elena Poniatowska In this column that originally appeared in La Jornada, Elena Poniatowska considers the role of editors and talks with Diego Rabasa, founder of publisher Sexto Piso. Already precarious, the pandemic lockdown has made... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-03 21:05:48 UTC ]
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Cultural Cross Sections Elena Poniatowska In this column that originally appeared in La Jornada, Elena Poniatowska considers the role of editors and talks with Diego Rabasa, founder of publisher Sexto Piso. Already precarious, the pandemic lockdown has... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-03 21:05:48 UTC ]
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Last August, I wrote about the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, or “Binc,” a Michigan-based non-profit created to support booksellers who have fallen on hard times. If a bookseller winds up in the hospital or a bookstore has a flood, Binc can step in and pay their bills, no questions asked... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-29 08:48:18 UTC ]
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A survey of indie presses shows that 60% fear they could be out of business by the autumn, writes Galley Beggar Press cofounder Sam JordisonOver the past few years, the success of independent publishers such as Fitzcarraldo, And Other Stories, Bluemooose and Influx Press has been something to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-05-15 06:00:32 UTC ]
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Survey shows 60% expect the impact of the pandemic may put them out of business, prompting calls for concerted helpMore than half of the UK’s small publishers fear they could be out of business by the autumn as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to research by the Bookseller, which... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-05-07 15:02:20 UTC ]
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The Bookseller will begin this week to republish its May and June previews showcasing titles that have been rescheduled, as a result of the lockdown, as well as those that are still being published during those months. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-04 16:17:03 UTC ]
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The Bookseller and writer development charity Spread the Word have launched a survey of small independent presses to assess the financial pressures they are under as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-04 09:12:42 UTC ]
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Amazon has been revealed as the mystery donor which pledged £250,000 to a fundraising drive to help booksellers impacted by the coronavirus crisis. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-23 04:37:57 UTC ]
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