An Irish woman is a master of the internet, but she also has a book on sale.
Her first book, called “The Great Irish Book”, sold more than 100,000 copies in the first three months of its release in April, a feat that Irish booksellers have dubbed the “first book in the internet era”.
The title is short for “first in the country”, and Ms McManus says she had the book published in Dublin the day after her father died.
“It was like a Christmas gift to me.
It was a gift from the past,” she said.
The book is not just about her family.
“I had a very special Christmas with my father.
I was able to share his life and his joy with him, and we were able to learn about each other,” Ms McMannus said.
She is not alone in her achievement.
The book was also named among the best of the year in the New Zealand Book Awards and the Australian Book Awards.
And there are plenty of books to be bought in Ireland too.
The Irish Book Industry Association, which represents Irish bookshops, says there are more than 1,600 bookstores in Ireland, with sales up 35 per cent since last year.
And the number of bookshopping trips across the country has also doubled in the past year.
The Irish Book Retailers Association, however, has warned that some bookshoppers are choosing to shop online, with prices rising and the competition for business being fierce.
Irish bookseller and Irish bookshop owner, Rosie McManor, has a “first-hand account” of the digitalisation of the book industry.
She says she’s seen it change her business.
“In the last six months, we’ve had our bookshop on the move, and I’ve also been doing a lot of research about the book market.
I’ve had my first book published, and it has sold more that I could have possibly imagined.”
Online shopping is also changing bookselling.
In 2015, Ms Mc Manor started to book her own events, including book tours.
Now she says booksellors are making more money, and more books are being published, with booksellings in New Zealand and Australia growing by 40 per cent in the last five years.
“That’s a lot for a small bookshop, but I have to say it’s a big boost for my bookshop.
And that’s been our focus,” she explained.
Online shopping will be a bigger part of the future of Irish bookselling as well, with digital downloads increasing by 50 per cent.
Online book sales are growing in all sectors of the industry, with many Irish bookstores focusing on digital downloads.
“A lot of the books that are sold on the site now are going to be digital downloads, so I think it’s really going to change how bookselling works in Ireland,” Ms Manners said.
Topics:books-literature,literature-literatures,history,history-and-culture,history—literature