The New Way to Sell Books Part 2

This is the second part to an interview we did with Book Bound - A Wandering Book Shop and one of their founders Denise Spicher.

I would be remiss if I left my amazing husband out of this part of the story. Without him, Book Bound would not exist. Truly. Doug was at first, the gentle nudger, who could tell I was a bit hesitant to try this idea. I go all in when I commit to something so I knew I would only do this if I knew we could do it well. Having Doug completely on board (and committed to be our Marketing Director and Driver), I was ready!

When deciding on where to pop-up, who to partner with and what markets/festivals/fairs to attend, I first just thought about my family’s favorite places to support on the Seacoast that would have space for Book Bound and that would pair well with a bookshop. Many of these business owners are, themselves, readers which makes this a lot of fun! From there, we get customers and our business partners sharing other places they feel would enjoy partnering with Book Bound and I reach out to the owner/event coordinator to see if we would be a good fit.

There are several things I love about owning and running this small, wandering bookshop. We get to know the customers of wherever we are parked who then become our customers. We also get to bring new customers to some of our favorite businesses. If I can create a win/win situation for everyone that is ideal. Also, the conversations with people. Since we are so small, the environment lends itself to getting the chance to learn about people and what they like to read and do. I try to get names when I can and when we get repeat customers, which we do already, I really try hard to call someone by name since each and every customer is important to me.

Also, because we are so small, our customers start conversations with each other in the shop-even if they don’t know each other. We don’t often have more than six people in the bookshop at once (we never put limits on how many are allowed but customers seem to self-regulate the number of people who are in there at once). I will often hear someone get excited about a book someone else is holding or recommend a book to someone else (who they don’t know) simply because they are physically close to one another and can often see what someone else is picking up or thinking about buying. That doesn’t often happen in a huge bookstore with people spread out over thousands of square feet.

I also love being a book matchmaker! That is a true joy of my job! Since I personally curate and hand select every single book that is on the shelves in Book Bound, I get so happy when I see people purchase and get excited about something we carry because it means I did a good job at selecting books for our readers. I try and select a good blend of books that are currently popular, books that I have read and loved, books I know sell in their categories, classics, titles that sound interesting and intriguing even though they may not be in a genre I read a lot of. I have many ways I learn about books and do my best giving our customers the very best selection of “like new” used books. When people come out to make their purchase and share with me that they love the selection in the shop, it is very rewarding.

Last, but certainly not least, are the children! We have so many children who come in to Book Bound and just feel right at home. We have been told by a few parents that their kids want to live in the bookshop. We have two areas full of children’s books and it’s so fun to see kids just plop down on the floor or sit on the stools and get lost in a book. I love watching and hearing conversations between kids/young teens about what books they are looking at and why. To be even a small part of a child’s enjoyment of reading means the world to me. I desperately want to be part of keeping books around, important and in the forefront of young lives.

We have been open and popping up for just about two months now and sell a good number of books at each event. Readers have shown up and it’s been fantastic!

My favorite genre to read personally is fiction/literary fiction. I also love a good memoir and actually, as I have been running the shop, I am starting to find other genres more intriguing than I have in the past such as fantasy/sci-fi. Again, being surrounded by so many stories of so many kinds is really fun and eye-opening.

The genres that sell the most are Fiction, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Children’s and Romance. But we do sell books regularly in about 10 genres or so. One of the great things about the shop being so small is that it is easy to change things up based on purchasing data.

Some people do come into the shop looking for certain books and much of the time, I have been able to help them find a specific book. Many will come in looking for their Book Club pick or books for their Book Club challenges; one woman came in with a list of Pulitzer Prize winners she wanted to read and was able to find a couple that fit the bill for her challenge. One man is making his way through Cormac McCarthy’s catalog and I was able to provide a title he hadn’t read yet. A couple people have needed gifts for a baby shower or a child’s birthday and were successful finding picks they were happy with. Because we are such a small shop, being able to help people with specific requests like these always brings me great satisfaction.

I have been slowly getting to know some local authors and starting to carry a few of their books. I would like to continue to expand in this area as supporting local (of any kind) is very important to me.

People can find us on Instagram at @bookbound_shop and on Facebook the same way; Bookboundshop and our website is www.bookboundshop.com. Our website has our whole schedule through the end of October as does our Linktree (via IG). Keep checking though because we continue to add more partners and pop-ups as the season progresses. We don’t know yet what the “off-season” brings. I am sure Book Bound will be out there in some form or fashion whether it be hosting a local book swap or an author event.

Lastly, we do take book donations and have a donation reward program to thank those who donate their books to us. Our website has all of those details but, in a nutshell, we have punch cards just like your favorite coffee shop and for each book you donate we give you a punch. Once you reach 8 punches you get a free book. Keep going and you can earn Book Bound merch or more free books-your choice!