Stepping tentatively into the world…
With a name, a team and a place to call home — the next step in the adventure was to introduce ourselves to the local book scene and start meeting local publishers and suppliers — exciting!
As if by fate the annual New Zealand Booksellers Conference was scheduled to take place at exactly the time we needed it most. All the major publishers and suppliers together in one room — an easy way to meet sales reps and introduce ourselves to a wide range of people we’d be working with to get Book Hero off the ground.
We were terrified to attend, as on the one hand we weren’t ready to start talking publicly about Book Hero, but on the other hand we needed to get out of our comfort zone and start learning the ins and outs of the mechanics of the book industry, of which we knew almost nothing! Tim was even more reluctant than me — but with a little arm twisting and a bit of YOLO we printed some express business cards (time to make a decision on the logo Tim — blue or green?), paid the registration fee and we were off to the conference the very next day. Until now — Book Hero was only something we talked about with close friends and family — now we’d be running into fellow booksellers and industry people — there’s no going back — time to burn the boats!
This would be a great time to mention how welcoming and supportive the local book community has been — and in particular, Renee from the New Zealand Booksellers Association — who organised the conference and is also a powerhouse behind the scenes helping small independent bookshops like ours. Bookshops are precious and we need more of them — and I couldn’t think of a better person than Renee to champion their place in local Kiwi communities. Go Renee! We learned a tonne over the two days and our heads were exploding with dozens of new names to remember, data points of where the opportunities could be to grow the local market, as well as countless anecdotes of the does and don’ts of shop owners who’ve walked the potentially treacherous path ahead of us. We didn’t have time to get around everyone but it was inspirational to experience first-hand the passion from local authors such as Ruth Shaw and local booksellers including Jenna from Time Out and Mary-Liz from Matakana Village Books — two of my favourite stores near-ish to my home in Auckland.
With the excitement of the conference behind us — it was time to refocus our efforts on setting up our warehouse and creating a physical space for Book Hero to operate. Jeremy was quick to start with painting the drab white walls our beautiful Book Hero blue, disassembling some excess bulk racking kindly left behind by the previous tenant, and supervising the installation of commercial sized bookshelves that would soon be home to the many amazing books we’d have arriving in the weeks ahead. Warehouse units can feel pretty bleak, but I’m pleased with how we’ve managed to transform a modest space into something that feels like home. I enjoy heading into work each day and it’s really cool to be building something in the local Hobsonville community that’s also close to where I live.
With some shelving in place and a desk to plunk some laptops — we had the bare essentials required to configure our basic inventory system and start buying and receiving some books. We’d spent a bit of time in previous weeks building up lists of books we wanted to buy — based on what we read personally, friends and family, magazine articles, reviews, recommendations, podcasts and radio shows. For example, my Mum has very kindly sent me photos of book recommendations in The Listener as well as links to radio interviews I just haven’t had time to listen to. I’ve scrolled through people’s Kindle libraries and awkwardly photographed people’s bookshelves — anything I could do to learn about the very best books to buy.
It was at about this time we learned of the supply chain challenges of landing books into New Zealand with many books taking over a month to arrive from Australia. But arrive they did — slowly at first, but then more and more as our ordering picked up speed. We have no doubt that we’ve made many mistakes with our buying — some hilariously niche titles that Tim has agreed to buy personally if they’re still on our shelves 12 months from now — and many new release titles that are sure to sell out based on the conservative quantities we ordered. With no customer base or trading history to look back on — our crystal balls are really being put to the test — but we’re here to learn quickly and learn we most certainly will…
When I look back at how far we’ve come in a few short months — from crazy idea to seeing books on the shelves — it’s heartening to reflect on how generous so many friends and new faces have been with their support of what we’re trying to create with Book Hero. Books truly are a magical product — and it seems there are more than a few Kiwis with a shared passion and excitement for books and reading.
My life is pretty full on at the moment —more than a bit stressful, certainly not boring, but I can’t wait for Book Hero to open. Our opening date is in sight and we’re hard at work putting the finishing touches on our brand, website and Pick Ups space…oh…and shelving just a few more books…
To be continued…