independent booksellers Archives - Page 24 of 25

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Rumpus Round-Up: The Fight to Unionize a Bookstore

Late last month, employees of Book Culture, an independent New York City bookstore, voted to unionize. Five employees were promptly fired. Punitively firing employees who participate in labor unions violates…

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Saving a Book’s Life

The rules of shelving can seem arbitrary, even arcane, but the fundamentals are easy to learn: two hard covers, and no more than three paperbacks of the same title, on…

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Summer Reading List

If you’re looking for independent bookstores to visit on your Southern road trip—or, in the absence of a road trip, want to know what Southern booksellers are reading this summer—then…

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Indie Bookstores Win Amazon/Hachette War

The ongoing battle between Amazon and Hachette has been a boon for independent booksellers. Hachette’s refusal to capitulate to Amazon’s demands has meant that big-name books, like J.K. Rowling’s latest mystery…

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Literally in Pictures

“Literally” is a photographic project by Steve Kenward. Each shot in the series is a portrait of an independent bookseller in his shop—head over to Kenward’s website to see all…

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Bookstore Privilege

Good literary citizens shop at local independent bookstores, and Amazon’s ongoing trade war with Hachette underscores the fragility of a marketplace dominated by a single online retailer. But are local…

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So Long, Marcus Books

Sad news for San Francisco and the independent bookstore community: Marcus Books, the country’s oldest black bookstore, has been evicted. The store has been in its location in the Fillmore since…

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Can Beer Save Bookstores?

Independent booksellers face plenty of competition from national chains and the Internet, but a new kind of hybrid store might offer a model that Amazon can never replicate: bookstore bars.…

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The Tale of Two Community Bookstores

Brooklyn has two independent Community bookstores—Park Slope’s Community Bookstore and Cobble Hill’s The Community Bookstore. John Scioli, owner of the latter, tells MobyLives that he founded the original with his…

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Amazon Guilt

We’ve all felt a little bit guilty saving a few pennies buying from Amazon rather than our neighborhood independent bookseller. But what about Amazon employees—do they experience guilt when shopping…

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Oases in the Bookstore Desert

While many of Manhattan’s bookstores are closing shop or fleeing to outer boroughs, a few continue to thrive in the “bookstore desert.” New York Magazine takes a look at how six independent…

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Features & Reviews

A Bit More on Amazon

This week has seen a lot of Amazon talk around the Internet. After Richard Russo’s New York Times op-ed on Amazon’s predatory practices, Farhad Manjoo responded at Slate, arguing against…

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