Come hang out with me on Saturday at 2 PM at Green Apple Books for indiebookstoreday !!!!

I'm going to be doing cat doodles. I will also challenge YOU to draw cats doing various human jobs.

Can you draw a Cat Archeologist? A Cat Fire-Fighter? A Cat Therapist??? A CAT CAT BURGLAR????

You can win everlasting glory!!!!

Job opening: Retail Manager at Letterform Archive in San Francisco.

Help the Archive realize its potential as the premier shop to buy design books and gifts. Apply by May 18. https://letterformarchive.org/news/new-job-opening-retail-manager/?utm_source=Mastodon

Craig Topham, our Copyright & Licensing Associate, got together with the founder of #Abelujo, a #FreeSoftware solution for managing #BookStores. Read about Abelujo's backstory, uses, and future here: https://u.fsf.org/46d #FSF #AGPLv3

100 #books to get to know #Ukraine, in all of its facets.

Many links to Amazon in there, I recommend to order and buy at local #bookstores instead, or via ethically acceptable mail-order alternatives.

»100 books from Ukraine or about Ukraine are presented in this selection. They were all published after 1991, were written in different #genres, and communicate a wide range of topics. They each represent Ukrainian #identity in their own way. Our list focuses on #English, #German and #French translations.«

• #History and politics
• #Culture
• #Fiction
• #Poetry
• #Children's literature

https://pen.org.ua/en/100-knyzhok-yaki-dopomozhut-zrozumity-ukrayinu

"Bookshop.org enters the e-book arena, giving indie stores a new way to compete with Amazon"

[It is not yet available for non-Android eReaders (e.g., Kobo, Kindle, Nook)] ". . . but Hunter says that’s the company’s next step – a necessary one given that Amazon’s e-reader is the preferred device of three-quarters of digital bibliophiles."

https://www.salon.com/2025/01/28/bookshoporg-enters-the-e-book-arena-giving-indie-stores-a-new-way-to-compete-with/

#eBook #Bookstores #Amazon #LocalBookstores @bookstodon @writers

BookshopOrg is launching an ebook store to take on Amazon.

Local bookstores should benefit from ebooks, too, BookshopOrg thinks. Making that happen at scale will take a fight.

https://www.theverge.com/tech/597137/bookshop-org-ebooks #BookshopOrg #Books #eBooks #Bookstores #Amazon #Tech

@andi Thank you for the tips! We loved both bookstores - and both were an easy walk from our hotel. #London #Bloomsbury #bookstores #Skoob #GaystheWord

TIL about "fixed book pricing (FBP), a policy adopted by many EU countries, designed to discourage discount pricing of books. It works by restricting physical and online stores from selling newly released #books below the recommended retail price for a period between 6 to 18 months. #Australia had its own #FBP scheme until it was abolished in 1972."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-10/impact-cheap-books-on-independent-bookstores-australian-writers/104672738

With online shopping on the rise, bookstores are turning to libraries to survive. A survey by the Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture found that 493 municipalities, had no bookstores as of November 2024. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/12/30/japan/book-stores-libraries-collaborate/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #bookstores #libraries #books

A New Chapter: Bookworms crawl back to Canada’s independent bookstores.

Great news. Edmonton has a number of independent bookstores that I like visiting and Saskatoon has a few that are quite good.
#Bookstores #Canada #Books #Saskatchewan #Edmonton

https://globalnews.ca/news/10935412/a-new-chapter-bookworms-canada-independent-bookstores/

I belong to the Sci-Friday Book Discussion Group at Phoenix's wonderful The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, even though I live many states away from them. Many live events can also be watched virtually. I consider them my local bookstore. https://poisonedpen.com/

Historic Day of Action Against #BookBans Held in New York, Brooklyn, and Queens Public Libraries

First-ever #AntiCensorship rally mobilizes scores of New Yorkers against the alarming rise of #BookBans

October 19, 2024

https://www.nypl.org/press/historic-day-action-against-books-bans-held-new-york-brooklyn-and-queens-public-libraries

#NYC's #libraries are leading a nationwide effort to combat book bans this weekend

Book giveaways, speeches and DJ sets are part of this day of action on Saturday.

Ethan Beck, Friday October 18 2024

"More than 10,000 books were removed from public schools, at least temporarily, during the 2023-24 school year, according to #PENAmerica. In response, NYC libraries are holding events this Saturday, October 19, 'to inspire action against book bans and for the freedom to read.'

"NYC’s three library systems have come together to lead nearly 200 libraries and #bookstores across the country in the #FreedomToRead Community Day of Action, which will include events in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. It's the first nationwide day of action to combat book bans and censorship."

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/nycs-libraries-are-leading-a-nationwide-effort-to-combat-book-bans-this-weekend-101824
#Libraries #Censorship

Indie Publishing friendos:

How does one/can one approach small independent bookstores about getting one's books sold by them?

In your experience, are they open to sexy stories - I'm thinking my erotic romance novellas. And maybe the novel I have planned for next year. Like. It probably won't happen, but I've never looked into it and was wondering if anyone has experience (or a bookstore...)

Independent book store @prismaticpages published an end of year round up of their finances.

TLDR: Support your local book store

"It's pretty clear where the money comes from - we mostly sell books, both used and new, and a few other items like notebooks, stickers, totes, etc. But where does the money go?"

https://prismaticpages.substack.com/p/the-real-cost-of-running-a-bookshop

@bookstodon

Don’t have enough small/local bookstores in my feed. Any suggestions? Don’t care where they’re located!

Where do folks go to get DRM-free epub books when they're trying to avoid Amazon and Barnes & Noble?

I use bookshop.org and thriftbooks.com for my hard copies of things, but I LOVE my eBooks too.

Right now the only advantage to Amazon is that I can legally break the DRM, so the book is truly mine once I purchase it (I won't buy eBooks I can't unlock). But I'd really like to find alternate sources of DRM-free books. Ideas?

I ended my subscription to the Washington Post. Bezos has trashed things I cherish: bookstores and responsible journalism. Journalism and democracy need to uphold each other. Without democracy, journalism is at risk, and without responsible journalism, democracy is at risk.

Vote!

"I don't argue for not selling certain books – I argue for not stocking them."

Josh Cook quoted in Dan Sinykin's (excellent) review of The Bookshop by Evan Friss:

https://thebaffler.com/latest/bookselling-out-sinykin

#books #reading #writing #publishing #bookshops #bookselling #bookstores #bookstodon @bookstodon

#SEOUL, #SouthKorea — South Koreans flocked to #Bookstores on Friday, October 11 and crashed websites in a frenzy to snap up copies of the work of novelist #HanKang in her home country, after her unexpected win of the 2024 #NobelPrize in #Literature.

However, the author herself was keeping out of the limelight.

Nobel Prize winner Han Kang’s books fly off the shelves in South Korea
https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/literature/nobel-prize-winner-2024-han-kang-books-fly-shelves-south-korea/