This site is getting changed around a bit. Again. (Stop laughing, Friar!)
Although EditQuest has got more traffic on this blog than it did on its own, I’ve found it difficult and restricting to have it on my personal blog. Thus, I plan on getting EQ back on its own, with its own design, so I can be free to do what I like with this blog both with the design and content. I hope to do that very soon. I’ll still link to EQ from here, though.
Bear with me as I get all this stuff sorted, will you, please? I hope that once I do I’ll be content enough for a very long time to leave well enough alone.
A main reason for my constant changing here has been boredom and a lack of focus. But a lovely chat with the hubby over tea and coffee (he had coffee, I had Lady Grey) this morning in the living room, a rare and wondrous occurrence, has given me the impetus I need to begin grounding myself with some sort of resolve and deciding what I truly want to do with my life.
It was so exciting and validating to hear what C had to say. First he said he had had an idea about me going to see the parents of a friend for advice on what to do about Biblio. These people are millionaires because they once owned MacDonald’s, which they sold, and now own a chain of pizza places. They would certainly have experienced input as to how best to pursue my business idea. (Who knows, C pointed out, maybe they’ll even like your idea so much they’ll fund it.) I’ve already been to see the local business consultant people and it was that brief meeting that freaked me out and convinced me I could never do this, even though my proposal was good. I’m ready, though, to explore other options.
I wish I could have recorded what C said to me; it’s quite interesting and pleasing to hear yourself described in a positive way by your significant other, I’ll tell you. Knowing that person observes you in such a way and pays attention to what he or she sees is so cool!
All the time he’s known me, C said, he’s seen me irrevocably committed to and passionate about one thing—books. He recalled my time working at Chapters, how I had always prattled on about what books had come out and what was going to come out and how excited I was. He remembered how I gushed to the customers about the books I loved and how I made them fill their baskets with novels because of my enthusiasm, and how every moment of the day I had free I had my nose in some new book. I studied books for five years in uni, I’ve worked in a bookstore, libraries, for a publishing company. I constantly keep up on what’s being published and by whom. I collect books. I know books. I have a good background with which to start.
Most significantly, he said he felt sure, from observing me in my different jobs, that I should be buying and selling books, not signing them out for people, not repairing them (as cool as I think being an antiquarian book expert and restorer would be. I stole the idea from Geraldine Brooks’s People of the Book, an excellent novel). He didn’t think editing books was what I should do, either. For now it’s okay, but obviously, with the waffling back and forth I’ve done over the years, it’s not IT.
Books and me are intertwined, C observed rather poetically. That was one thing I could say was consistent all of my life, one thing I should know for sure. And it wasn’t true that I couldn’t commit to anything: I’ve had the idea for Biblio for three or more years now and he reminded me that I can’t stop thinking about it, fleshing it out in my head, imagining it so perfectly I want to cry in frustration that it doesn’t actually exist for us to go there. I have to admit, the thought of it, picturing me so clearly doing it, makes my heart pound.
And in the end, he said, who cares if you change your mind? All you do then is sell the business. Or who cares if we want to move from Belleville? You sell the biz and move on and open another, or you have two. It’s okay to change your mind, he said. But you have to commit to something at least for the time being or you’ll float around feeling frustrated forever.
The conversation we had left me feeling pointed in a certain direction because I found myself constantly agreeing with what C said. First I need to convince myself that just because I can’t see all the options, establishing Biblio is not impossible. There are several options, and if I decide that I’ll never have the money to open my bookshop tearoom, I’m closing off those I don’t yet know about. Second, I need to prepare. My sister actually has her master’s in coffee and tea (she passed with distinction, I add!) and this is something I think I should look into. I also need to flesh out my business plan further, or rather finish it: I stopped at the financial part because I got freaked out.
Anyway, I won’t bore you. But I thought I’d put this on paper, so to speak, because that seems to make things more concrete. And now, since it’s after one in the morning, I’ll sleep on it, too.
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Hey, nice theme (you’ve got an eye for these things…)
Colin’s right of course, it is advice any of us could take (“just start” – so I did).
I had a thought while I was tidying up the kitchen.
What if you could test drive Biblio, see what works, what you like to do, find your ideal customer, build a network, for low or practically no cost (other than time)?
I thought, what if you did the reverse of Wine Library TV, what Gary Vaynerchuk did.
He has a successful daily wine blog – video reviews of wine – and a very large following.
But he started by taking a business his parents started from $4M to $50M, by talking to people about his passion every day at the store – wine.
What if you did “Biblio TV”, you could talk about new books that came out, read from them (not sure if that’s legal, though), talk about different kinds of teas, drink tea while you do it etc.
Obviously you could embed the video in your Biblio TV blog, but there is also software that allows for “live chat” embedded right in a blog (sort of – I think the video is only one way).
And there’s Skype, of course.
What if Biblio started out online, built a huge following, and then moved to bricks and mortar?
Maybe it could work like this.
I believe you are the one to make it work.
Perhaps your sister can do guest posts, too.
Lots of ideas!
Brett: You rock!! I know you’ve actually suggested this before and it did spark interest in me but then I actually forgot about it. It’s so weird: whenever I look for a theme for this blog I am always thinking about one for Biblio, how the site would look, and yet I never make the connection that I can indeed plan and start the blog and when and if it actually gets popular and maybe even makes money I could put that toward materializing the wonderful place!!
Another step forward. I have to plan.
Thank you!
I miss our chats like this. Keep me in the loop on what you’re doing too!
Steph,
No, you rock!
Well, I’m standing here cheering you on, I want to see you succeed because I know you can do it.
I’d love to see Biblio TV online, and someday I will walk through the doors of the bricks and mortar Biblio!!!
Won’t that be the most amazing thing ever?!
Steph,
Nice new theme. I had to laugh when I saw it had changed again, like that one time I caught you in the process of looking for a new one. Sounds like your conversation with C has brought you closer to hitting a moving target. That’s something I think we all do in life, for no matter how well-defined our targets are, outside circumstances do cause them to change. As C said though, so what if you change your mind? Sell the business and move on. Redirect your life.
It’s something I’ve been working on too, though not in a professional sense (this too will come, however). I’ll be reading to see how things go. I also look forward to EditQuest’s new page. I’ll be interested in seeing the theme you settle on both there and here when the time comes around.
Keep in touch, Lady.
Brett, Great Idea!
Starting Biblio online is a great idea. It’s a perfect way to build your new business by your bootstraps.
You could blog about the books, have an affiliate amazon store selling all your favorite books, and you could even sell coffee, tea and accessories as well.
The income would all be passive, so you could spend your time doing what you love, writing and talking about books.
I like the video idea as well. You could record bedtime stories for kids. Saving parents from having to spend the time reading to the kids themselves
.
I wouldn’t close off the brick and mortar idea just yet though. As I said, impossible is just an opinion. Keep looking for new ideas and new ways to make it happen that you might not be aware of just yet.
Online is a great way to start, but for you, I think it’s ultimately touching, feeling, and sharing the physical books is what will connect with you the most.
Hub: No way will I close off the brick and mortar idea. I can’t. It’s not possible. for one, you’re totally right: it is the physical experience of books and tea that gets me going and that will grow a customer base as well.
Mainly, though, the place is so real I can’t get over it not being material. It is going to happen. I’m getting braver telling people about it, in detail, because it helps me flesh it out further and I can tell by how excited I am about it that it’s really something I want to do. So far I’ve had all positive responses, too, nothing like, yeah, whatever, Steph, dream on! No, these people are saying it sounds awesome and one afterward told me to keep intending it and it will happen. Wow. I’ve also noticed that I haven’t any fear of it failing. My fear is that someone might use the ideas before I get to materialize them.
But Brett’s ideas and yours and mine and those of others are going to build this place. It’s exciting. Thanks for supporting and encouraging me!
Kat: LOL, thank you!
I’m curious as to where you’re going with your ideas. I mean, I know the author one, but you said also not in a professional capacity (I think of being published as rather professional after a time). I know you have a ton of challenges right now and without having a modicum of stability it’s really hard to direct your life, isn’t it?
Nevertheless, keep on some sort of path. I admire your strength, really. You sound quite grounded.
Steph,
Right now being published is going to have be a dream. There’s too much going on in my life to adequately pursue it, a sad reality. Mine’s more related to my Quality of Life. I have stopped eating sweets entirely (one and one half days without so far, no big accomplishment, but the start of a life change), am walking twenty minutes a day, and have set myself a small list of goals to accomplish in whatever time I can, but I try to knock one or more off per day.
Writing fantasy refuses to come to me, and I simply can’t force it. Even sitting to write and forcing the first pages won’t scrape deep enough to give me something ‘real’. To that end my concepts are more bare-bones than usual and my book is stalled for the moment. I think this is stress related. I’m hoping it will lift when I’ve improved my life.
In the meantime, I can’t wait to see your Biblio progress. I’d love to hear about it if I ever catch you online again, but I’ve been busy lately so it’s not likely for a while. If you do what C said and record bedtime stories for Biblio you know I’ll make use of them, and not for my kids! As much trouble as I have sitting down and reading getting to hear books is a real treat.
Keep in touch, Lady, and keep dreaming. Dreams can become reality given time and dedication.
I totally concur with Colin that buying and selling books is your forte. Hell, it’s the reason why every time I need something to read, I send you a message asking for What’s Next. (Our bookshelves are quite similar). And every time I’m at the bookstore, I try not to make a long distance phone call – “Hey what’s that author’s name again?” “Hey, what’s that book called with the really cool cover?” “Hey, I need a mystery….” and so on.
I also think that customers will trust your judgment because you are WIDELY read. Also, your enthusiasm is totally catching.
And you should totally invite authors to do readings….
P.S. I think this is my favourite theme so far…most fitting for you.
P.P.S. I’m just started reading Edgar Sawtelle. I rented the audio book from the library but renewed it twice, and never got to finish it! Anway, it is FANTASTIC. Really beautiful.
Mandie: What you’re doing is a great start, and not only because it’s good for you but because it’s also targeting your other issues, the main one being stress. Taking better care of yourself and improving your health might not lessen your stress so much as make you better able to cope with it, which in turn may also turn back on your creativity tap. I know what you mean by creativity being stanched by stress: you really have to be in a certain space to produce something of value. But it will come. I truly have faith in that and in you. You’re stronger than you think. I guarantee it.
T: I love it when you talk like that!
Seriously, it makes me happy to read it.
As for the authors doing readings: well, in my ideas book I have Atwood and Huggan lined up for sure. I feel certain they’d come, esp. Huggan, who was once the local newspaper editor here. But I also have the idea written down for the online Biblio. I can post video or audio of authors reading, either ones they do for Biblio or ones I might get permission to use. After all it’s promoting them and their books, so I don’t know why not, unless there’s some weird copyright law. I’ll have to find that out.
PS. Thank you.
PS. I LOVED Sawtelle. It’s also physically one of my favourite books. It smells like heaven, and feels like a piece of it too.
PS. I think the Book of Negros might be my next one. I have a gorgeous illustrated edition.
I’m ready for this adventure: I just did a quiz where in 6 minutes you had to type in the titles of 24 books having seen only a snippet of their covers. I got 22 out of 24 right (and the 23rd I knew the author but not the title)! Yay me!!
PS. I did it in just over three minutes.
Atwood would TOTALLY do a blog video. In fact, she’s probably done one already! However, you’d probably have to contact the author’s publishers to get permission, or something.
Edgar Sawtelle is a gorgeous book. The design is really well done. Reminds me a bit of The Origin of Species. And both are the same in that you can get right inside the character’s heads.
I know she would; she’s so into tech stuff. I think when things are set up and all I’ll send her a letter describing the whole venture. Bricks and mortar, especially. I mean, I’m thinking I might be able to set something up with mainstream and major authors, you know? Something to help keep the literary dream alive and all that.
I got Sawtelle and OfS because of those lectures and readings we went to at Hart House. So I think I got them at the same time, even.
Steph
I love how energetic and focused you become when you talk about this. The energy is infectious.
In our small little town, there is a second hand book store and as I read this I am thinking of that place. it’s small, intimate, there is coffee, tea, little chairs to sit and read…
The owner is also an artist and their are excellent paintings and framed photos for sale all over the shop giving it beauty and ambiance. They have an online presence and search for antique books for people. They do shop readings, lectures.
It is an adorable place to spend time. Competing with the Amazons and on-line book stores of the world is difficult for the “supermarket bookstores” they are having a run for their money and some have predicted the decline and eventual end of the physical bookstore in our future. However I believe that true lovers of books- people who actual feel restored in the presence of the written word- will always want a haven of books.
It’s creating the haven of restoration of the Book Lover’s soul that they will always come for.
And yes…by appealing to all the other senses besides the physical touch, this can happen on-line as well….and should. It’s a delightful and inspired idea.
Wendi,
Well, that’s the thing! About almost everything else in my life I have doubts and crippling thoughts and I’m cynical. But for some unknown reason, I don’t have to fight anything at all when it comes to Biblio. I have no doubts whatsoever, even when I almost feel as though I should, that Biblio will be totally successful online and in bricks and mortar. Whenever I have thoughts about it—for instance when I woke up this morning, the first words were about which tea company I would use—it’s all like it’s really happening. It’s so real to me, and I feel somehow certain that it will be special enough that it will not flop, even though businesses are closing all over the place here, even similar ones. I believe people fail, not businesses. Where there’s a will and a solid plan, there’s a way.
And I’m not about to fail at the only thing I’m truly good at. I know there are people like me out there who appreciate the finer things of life—anything books and tea—so I have no doubt that Kindles and Amazon and such will not shut me down. There is a place for Biblio, and I know it’s up to me to make it real.