Amazon Rival Cancels Plans for Online Store

Bookman & Black Project Abandoned

It was in the autumn of 2015 when we first heard plans of the new online bookstore Bookman & Black. The new online seller was set to be a rival to Amazon, and was to be funded by London bookshop Goldsboro Books and web developer Lee Wilson. However, now it’s been announced that the plans are cancelled and the international book site will no longer launch this year, or in fact at any time in the future.

David Headley, founder of Goldsboro Books, one of London’s largest independent bookstores, says he’s hugely disappointed by the development, which followed some unexpected setbacks. The project has not even been put on hold, but completely abandoned, although the precise reason is unknown.

Amazon pretty much own the market place when it comes to online book selling, and a new independent voice in the market is something we were all looking forward to. Just last month subscribers to the site’s beta newsletter received news that the site would be launching soon with an inventory of over 250,000 books, but now it seems that the whole project is in the ditch.

The project received a lot of support from the literary community and we can only hope that this support shows booksellers that there are still gaps in the market and a fresh look at online bookselling is still needed.