Author Archives: dorian thornley

About dorian thornley

I own a used bookstore in Manhattan.

Net Giving

In the run up to Christmas 2011, in a moment of weakness and against my better judgement, I opened my checkbook and actually Gave To Charity. I fell for it because it was a children’s charity. My thinking is that … Continue reading →

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Apple, publishers agree to settle EU e-book price-fixing inquiry

Posted on September 19, 2012

Apple, publishers agree to settle EU e-book price-fixing inquiry.

Posted in books, e readers, Paradigm Shift, Publishing, Trends | Leave a comment

The Amazon Effect | The Nation

Posted on June 13, 2012

Great article on Amazon & Publishing. Steve Wasserman May 29, 2012   |    This article appeared in the June 18, 2012 edition of The Nation. The Amazon Effect | The Nation.

Posted in books, kindle, Paradigm Shift, retail | Tagged , | Leave a comment

What could they be sinking?

Posted on June 9, 2012

We all have that one irrational thing that just scares the living crap out of us. Or that one irritant that gives us the keebles so bad, we’d do anything to get away from it. Winston Smith was petrified of … Continue reading →

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Startling innovations in democratic publishing.

Posted on April 2, 2012

A few months ago in the post, Kindle: The New Slush Pile, I talked about how publishers were offering old school deals to authors who had achieved significant sales on their own with the e-books format. Now, rather than wading … Continue reading →

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BOOK WARS: A New Hope

Posted on March 6, 2012

I moved into my new place in Washington Heights a few years back. The building on the next block, facing Broadway, is one of those massive, featureless apartment buildings with permanent scaffolding all around and a heavy rotation of store fronts. On the corner there … Continue reading →

Posted in books, kindle, Manhattan, new york retail, Paradigm Shift, retail, Uncategorized, Used Book Business | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Norman’s Outburst.

Posted on February 26, 2012

I remember exactly the hour that I abandoned my childhood dream of becoming a Biology teacher, because it began as the most boring hour of my life thus far and ended with Norman’s famous outburst. It was double ‘A’ Level … Continue reading →

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Kindle: The New Slush Pile

Posted on September 19, 2011

It used to be that if you couldn’t get your novel published it was because you probably couldn’t write very well. Discerning editors at the big publishing houses stood between you and the reading public, wading through and rejecting the trite, the clunky and the … Continue reading →

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Attack of the Killer Cyclists

Posted on July 30, 2011

I’m on my bike, hacking up the endless incline of Broadway in Hamilton Heights. It’s over 90 degrees and I’m slick with sweat, the heat baking off the moving engine blocks around me feels unbearable. My heart is beating faster … Continue reading →

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Oh My God, It’s.. A Case of Mistaken Identity.

Posted on July 13, 2011

Doppelganger  1: a ghostly counterpart of a living person.  2: a double 3: an alter ego For years now, since I was a teenager in fact, I have regularly been mistaken for other people. Not in the way that someone says ‘hi’, thinking you’re … Continue reading →

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