Will browsing be allowed, or will we have to judge a book by its cover? With Waterstones and some indie shops set to open on 15 June, Alison Flood finds out what the plan isMelissa Davies had planned to fulfil a lifelong dream and open her independent bookshop, Pigeon Books, in Southsea, at the beginning of April. Those plans were put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic, but with a relaxation of lockdown rules from next week, bookshops will be able to open to customers – for the first time in over two months. Davies and her husband are now preparing for a very different sort of opening. “We had to quickly rethink our entire business plan and how we could operate, and now we’re gearing up to open our doors for the first time under really different circumstances,” she says. The tiny Pigeon Books will ask its browsing customers to use hand sanitiser, or wear gloves, before and after touching books, and will restrict the number of customers in the shop to two at a time.“We’re excited about opening but also worried about how we’re going to make it work and how we can keep ourselves and our customers safe,” Davies says. She continues to work full time in customer service, and to write (her first poetry collection, Pineapples in the Pool, was published by Unbound in 2018). “We’ll be opening with reduced hours for a few weeks to see how things go. We’re so nervous about it though. Who opens a bookshop in a pandemic?” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-12 06:00:14 UTC ]
The Victoria & Albert Museum is closing its dedicated bookshop and making 103 roles redundant across its retail and visitor experience teams as the Covid-19 crisis hits its finances. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-05 09:58:53 UTC ]
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Love in Colour by Bolu BabalolaEvery story in this collection of love stories by Bolu Babalola has been adapted from ancient folklore from all around the world. Babalola chooses to centre women in these stories, giving the women unique and passionate perspectives on love. While the original... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-10-01 09:59:00 UTC ]
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This has been an exciting month for Kaveh Akbar. Earlier this month, the author of Calling a Wolf a Wolf was named poetry editor of The Nation, a glittering position once held by writers like Langston Hughes, Anne Sexton, and William B. Yeats. There’s much to look forward to from Akbar,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-29 14:00:33 UTC ]
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Independent press Little Toller is to open a bookshop in the Dorset town of Beaminster next month. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-24 21:34:39 UTC ]
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In the early summer of 1994, I walked into Alice’s Bookshop in North Carlton; a small shop in an old terrace on a straight boulevard that runs north out of Melbourne, Victoria. Being so close to the venerable sandstone of Melbourne University, there’s an old-fashioned gravity about the place.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-24 08:48:13 UTC ]
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Trapeze has acquired a new poetry collection from Nikita Gill, titled Where Hope Comes From, written in response to the global crisis. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-17 15:46:00 UTC ]
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It's no secret that most authors are introverts. That doesn't mean that we don't enjoy bookshop events and literary festivals. Who doesn't love talking about their books or their writing process? But afterwards, we are spent, drained of energy, and need to recharge. Writing is a solitary... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 01:39:18 UTC ]
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Booksellers have generally reacted enthusiastically to news that the US indie-focused retail site Bookshop.org is launching in the UK this November, although some remain cautious. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-13 19:17:12 UTC ]
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The shortlist for the first Sceptre Bookshop Award shortlist has been revealed, featuring independent retailers across the UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-09 22:30:21 UTC ]
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Seven months into the novel coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., ad buyers are still entering the market with uncertainty. Spending on traditional offline media is expected to be slashed by almost a third, although this could be offset by the continued rise in digital media investment by... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2020-09-02 14:20:11 UTC ]
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The London Review Bookshop has partnered with the MUBI streaming service for the broadcast of eight films to be accompanied by fortnightly conversations with writers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-01 17:23:15 UTC ]
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Ross Bradshaw responds to an editorial on the boom in publishing We were interested to read that “Bookshops in big city centres … are wary of taking risks” (Editorial, 23 August), and that this autumn’s harvest includes books by Ant and Dec, Jilly Cooper and Arsène Wenger, which have the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-08-26 16:44:13 UTC ]
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Many publishers are enjoying record sales – but not all. We must take care that those with the biggest names and deepest pockets are not the only beneficiariesAs the weather turns and the days shorten, as trees bend low with fruit and blackberries darken the hedges, bookshops are bracing for a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-08-23 17:25:02 UTC ]
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After seeing advertising in the travel category disappear, publishers including Insider, BuzzFeed and Condé Nast Traveler are seeing signs of life. The post ”Pivot” has been the word’: How travel publishers are navigating the coronavirus pandemic appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2020-08-20 04:01:00 UTC ]
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E-commerce firm Monwell has launched the Mail Bookshop with Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-19 17:01:04 UTC ]
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For years, Penny Muse Abernathy—the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism—has been studying the disintegration of journalism’s traditional business model, mapping losses of physical newsrooms across the United States. The current financial... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-08-19 12:57:27 UTC ]
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More than half of Tate's London bookshop staff are facing redundancy, with several roles in its books team and publishing operation also at risk, The Bookseller has learned. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-16 14:07:35 UTC ]
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Seeing unexpected pairings of readers and books quickly dispels the idea of who reads what• Time to reset: more brilliant ideas to remake the worldI have a party trick. If you name three books you like and two you hate, I can write you a reading list of 10 books you will love.I’ve gained this... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-08-15 10:00:40 UTC ]
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Hodder Faith, in partnership with mini-chain St Andrew’s Bookshop, will launch a national church book club this autumn, to be known as The Big Church Read. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-12 13:00:50 UTC ]
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Bookshop has helped many independents weather the pandemic, but some booksellers say the ABA is not being transparent about its financial relationship with the online retailer and worry that Bookshop poses new competition. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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