...when readers, publishers and independent bookshops shared their delight about the new books retail platform, Bookshop.org, launched on Monday, it was the result of some of the most exciting news we’ve had in publishing for aeons.
Wow! Things must be really boring in retail, is all I can say! What's new about this platform, then?
Following its success in the US, Bookshop.org has arrived in the UK and promises something we have all been asking for – an ethical and transparent platform for buying books that amplifies the uniqueness of independent bookshops, with reading lists curated by humans rather than algorithms.
Who's been asking for that? Have you, Reader? If I want 'reading lists curated by humans', there's Goodreads.
Bookshop.org allows any independent shop to customise its own online store front, select books to recommend and, any time a bookshop directs a customer to the site through one of its links, it gets 30% of the sale.
Well, we'll see. But don't write off Amazon just yet.
5 comments:
Will I brave the speed bumps, pinch points and sky high parking charges to visit the bookshop? Will I put up with the aggressive beggers, drunks and pavement cycling jobs when I pop into town to pay well over the odds while avoiding the occasional act of random violence that blesses the town centre. Well of course I will because I am as mad as a box of frogs.
"Don't write off Amazon just yet!"
Hmmm - local news: Amazon had two Prime days a few weeks ago. They were such a success that they had many of their delivery staff on standby - unpaid! - over the following week with nothing to deliver. My daughter was one of them and she left because she wasn't earning enough to make it worth her while. She's now working for another delivery company for better money, better conditions and sensible hours.
What's wrong with Ebay?
I've bought Senora O'Blene hundreds of books over the last few years, and most of them seem to have come from the polished hardwood shelves of Walsall Public Library for some reason!
"Well of course I will because I am as mad as a box of frogs."
😂
"Hmmm - local news: Amazon had two Prime days a few weeks ago. They were such a success that they had many of their delivery staff on standby - unpaid! - over the following week with nothing to deliver."
I browsed, but there wasn't anything I really needed, or even wanted. Perhaps their famous algorithms let them down? Whatever the cause, I'm confident they'll crack it.
"What's wrong with Ebay?"
I've really only used it for specialist items. Too many dodgy characters!
"Following its success in the US..."
I'd go as far as saying, "Following its unheard of success in the US," since I don't know of anyone who actually has heard of it, aside from a few Guardian readers who tend to wear moth eaten sweaters year round.
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