Investing in the Fort Greene bookstore!

This is an adapted version of the letter we've just sent out to everyone who has expressed interest in investing in the bookstore. You hate to send a form letter about something so personal as money, but we wanted to make sure everyone has the basic information before we talk to them by phone. And in case there's anyone out there who isn't on our list yet who might be interested -- or if you're just curious about how we're doing this financing thing -- I thought we might share the information with you too! Feel free to email us if you want more info.

Investing in the Fort Greene bookstore!

Now that the overwhelming excitement of election season is behind us at last, it's a great time to look toward the future! We'd like to take this moment to check in with you about our Fort Greene bookstore project.

In the past few weeks we have worked out the details on the financial side of things, so now it's time to ask everyone who expressed interest in investing in the bookstore to turn their support into a reality. We now have a working loan agreement and promissory note; you can email us if you'd like to see it. As we outlined in our initial pitch letter, the investment we're asking for is actually a loan, to be paid off in five years. The final payment date is tied to the opening date of the store. We have fixed the interest rate at 5.00%, one percent above the Wall Street Journal prime rate on November 2.

We realize the economic climate has changed quite a bit since our launch party. We're lucky that none of the startup capital we have was tied up in the stock market, so we are still in exactly the same financial position that we were in before the market started to flounder. If someone's financial circumstances have changed since they expressed interest, we completely understand. But we still have every confidence in our business plan and our ability to turn the bookstore into a reality. With the overwhelming support we've already seen from the Fort Greene community, we know that bringing a bookstore to this neighborhood is the right decision, and that we'll find a market here. Feel free to contact us if you have questions.

We feel that loaning your money to the bookstore is one of the wisest financial decisions you can make right now. It's effectively the same as putting your money into a CD – you will get back the principal and interest after a given time period, and there's no danger of fluctuation. Additionally, as a Founding Member of the bookstore, you'll get 20% off on bookstore purchases until your loan is paid off – and that's good for your bottom line!

We'll be in touch by phone with everyone we can during the month of November to check in and confirm. Feel free to contact us first – we can let you know the next step. For those who are able to finalize this loan by the end of the year, interest will begin to accrue January 1. If you can't make a financial commitment until after the new year, we can revisit things later.

Thank you again for your support for the future bookstore of Fort Greene – we look forward to speaking with you!

P.S. One thing you will notice on the loan document: the bookstore now has a name! Soon we won't be referring to it as the eponymous 'Fort Greene Bookstore' any longer. In the next week or two, we'll be sending out an email to our mailing list about the new name and what it means to us. Potential investors will be among the first to know, and you'll hear much more about it soon.