Something more positive this week, as the London heat melts my brain. I can’t deal in negativity until the temperature drops. I’m enjoying the prospect of a slew of indie bookshops opening in places vaguely close to me over the next few months. Isn’t that great? Whenever I get depressed about the AI situation and the growing reluctance of many publishers to take a punt on anything that isn’t a safe bet, I remember that it’s not so long ago that we were told that the e-book was going to render the physical obsolete. That we’d all buy our books online and the bookshop was over. Which is so not the case.
What I love about this new generation of indies is that so many of them are also going in hard on events and also creating small hubs where people can hang out. You go in to buy a book, sit down with an iced cappuccino or a glass of wine and read it. On the noticeboard is a run down of upcoming events, one of which might be with your favourite author. They may also do a spoken word night, or have live music on. Morocco Bound have just opened a second branch near me in Wandsworth (their original store is in Bermondsey) and I’m looking forward to visiting more often. The traditional book club might be a thing, or it might be focused on genre. Most of these new bookshops have a strong social media presence, here on Substack or on Insta or Tik Tok. It feels like the focus isn’t just books (though of course that’s still the main point) but on building community. And with so many of us heavily online or working from home, I feel that can only be a good thing.
For a while now the genre bookshop has been a niche but important subsection of the bookselling community. Forbidden Planet has been selling books, comics and collectibles to fans of sci-fi, fantasy and cult entertainment since the 1970s and has stores across England. In York, one of my favourite cities for an indie bookshop crawl, Criminally Good Books are the go-to for true crime and crime fiction. In recent years, the romance book community has grown ever stronger, particularly since the rise of romantasy and helped along by bestsellers such as Emily Henry and the rise of the sports romance.
People are a bit sniffy about romance which is quite ridiculous. Actually, most genre fiction has been looked down on at one or another, crime included. But actually, I end up telling a lot of authors whose books I edit to read at least one good romance book if they want to understand how to write a romantic relationship. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve written ‘but why does he love her?’ on an editorial report. It’s really hard to build realistic relationships in fiction and successful romance authors are the experts. Which is why I’m excited about The Scarlet Shelf which opens soon in southwest London (exact location TBC).
Of course, opening a bookshop doesn’t mean the job is done. It can be a constant battle to keep the lights on, just like any other small business. This week came the news that Newham Bookshop has been hit with a 30% rent increase from the local council, leaving them at risk of closure. I’m not an East Londoner but I have benefitted from their support at various events and they’re such a huge part of the community. I know their local authors love them and I hope the council rethinks. For anyone in the UK, you can sign this petition, set up by a local member of the public, here.
If you have a favourite indie store, feel free to leave it in the comments!
I don't live in the UK(sigh) but wish I could sign the petition anyway. I live in a section 8 facility for senior citizens and my rent for my apartment is now crawling towards $1000 a month.