As you may have noticed, we're not open for business yet. (Though we do have a really cool sidewalk sign -- check out our Facebook page for pics, or walk by!) The fantastic bookseller staff we hired is still spending their days on tasks related to building fixtures, cleaning, and receiving -- they haven't gotten to exercise their real skills on customers yet. The store is full of mountains of boxes of books, still waiting to go on shelves. The artisans are still working on completing our cash desk and the bench shelving in the front window.
It would be possible to get a little discouraged.
Luckily, we know better.
One thing that has helped is all of the fellow booksellers and other business people who have explained that this kind of delay is pretty normal. One veteran bookseller related the tale of how her bookstore was three months late in opening, because they lost their contractor halfway through the process. A local Fort Greene shop put it this way: "We worked and worked on buildout, and at some point we ran out of money, and then we had to open." The owner of my local wine shop admitted that his pre-opening process went on so long that he missed being open for Thanksgiving, a huge sales period for wine sellers.
It's helpful to note that all of these small business went on to actually open and become successful, profitable, beloved independent businesses.
It also helps to remember that this delay isn't happening because anyone has been negligent or lazy or dishonest. It's happening partly because 1) we're in a very unusual space that demands a lot of custom work, 2) custom work takes a long time, 3) because the building is very old, the floors and walls have settled and aren't necessarily parallel or plumb, so the custom work becomes even more customized to work around the unexpected angles. And it's happening partly because, it seems, everything just takes longer than you think it will.
But as Rebecca points out, "It takes a long time to do a good thing right." And every time a visitor comes into the space and exclaims over the beauty of the shelves, the lighting, the shapes and textures we've been working so hard to build, we're reminded of that. All the Fort Greene locals who walk by and wave or give us thumbs up remind us too. (I just said hi to a group of very small children and their guardians who are VERY excited to be able to come into the bookstore when it's open!)
We are still planning our Launch Party for October 24, wherever we are in the process at that point. (We've decided "Launch Party" sounds more accurate than "Grand Opening," but it will still be a very celebratory, very literary, very champagne-y event.) In the meantime, we're doing our best to do this good thing right. Thanks for continuing to share your enthusiasm and anticipation with us.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A Logo Is Born
We're taking a couple of days away from the store to let the painters and woodworkers get things done. So in the interim: some backstory.
One of the most difficult -- and rewarding -- aspects of creating Greenlight Bookstore for Rebecca and I has been defining our aesthetic. We know we want Greenlight to embody both the traditional and the progressive, our urban setting and our literary focus. But how does that actually play out in wood stain colors, images, shapes, and typefaces? We've discovered that we have overlapping (but definitely not identical) tastes, and it's in that overlap that the look of Greenlight is evolving.
One aspect of that we've been working on for a very long time is our logo. Early on, we talked to a couple of talented friends about logo ideas. Michael Kindness, a fab sales rep from Random House (and noted blogger at Books on the Nightstand) with a sideline in graphic design, graciously took a stab at a logo design:
It was a step in the right direction, but somehow felt... not quite right -- too smooth and modern, perhaps? Michael's hectic schedule didn't give him time to develop more ideas, but he'd started us thinking.
Another friend, Megan Barron -- bookstore afficionado and talented artist (check out her gorgeous art blogs wrack line and auk wrecks and ark larks) agreed to work on another idea: a logo with a central concrete image. Megan was incredibly patient with creating sketches as we hemmed and hawed about what the image of the store should be: a traffic light? the Fort Greene Park martyr's memorial? a tree or a plant? a dock light, like Gatsby? a Brooklyn subway light?
Heartbreakingly though, none of the versions Megan came up with seemed quite right either. Ultimately, we had to admit that "Greenlight" conjures up numerous kinds and varieties of images and associations for us, and we wanted customers to have that same imaginative privilege -- no single image in particular could capture what Greenlight means. So, while I still have some of Megan's drawings (and we're hoping to get some of her art into the store somehow), we had to start over again, looking for a logo that was text-only, but somehow more textured, to fit our idea of the store.
Luckily, Rebecca and had met Esther Smith when her book How to Make Books was published, and I'd met Esther and her husband Dikko Faust at McNally Jackson for book events. Esther and Dikko run Purgatory Pie Press, a wonderful printing studio in Tribeca.
Esther and Dikko are totally excited about Greenlight (they're actually part of our Community Lender program), and Esther offered their services should we find ourselves in need of a type-set logo. PPP's aesthetic fit ours perfectly. They use old-school wood and metal handset type (some of the sets are a century old or more) on manual printing presses -- but they use them to make funky, very contemporary designs (definitely check out their website for some samples). They offered to let Rebecca and I come to the studio and play around with some type in hopes of finding something that suited us. So, one stormy day this summer we showed up, and the fun began.
Esther and Dikko laid out an array of versions of our name, in different type faces, sizes and capitalizations. We chose some that looked promising, in various combinations, and Dikko set the type into one of their incredible old printing presses. He also mixed a thick ink for us, in a very dark green we liked -- you can see it smeared on the edge of the press, ready to be rolled onto the type.
Unlike designing on a computer, there was no click-highlight size change, or layout change, or color change -- every variation meant a new layout! Esther and Dikko's patience throughout this project was amazing -- it's a testament to their craftsmanship that they were willing to indulge (and contribute to) our ideas about which fonts and layouts really said Greenlight Bookstore. Ultimately it took a couple of visits and a lot of emails, but at last we got what we wanted:
The two typefaces we chose are from the turn of the century -- we don't know their exact names. We liked the way that these very old, traditional typefaces could be combined in a non-traditional, funky way. We liked the way the letters fit together. We like that the two words are instantly readable, but the more you look the more you notice the unique shapes of the letters and combinations (the e's, the k, the g over the t). We especially like the large lower-case g at the beginning of Greenlight -- it's a striking visual element in itself, and one we'll likely be using a lot.
Once we were happy with the logo, Esther and Dikko's frequent collaborator Lissi Erwin of the independent graphic design company Splendid Corp developed an electronic version, so we could use it on the web. Today is the first day we've added it to our blog masthead! Eventually Lissi will be helping to design our actual, e-commerce enabled website. Like Esther and Dikko, she shares our aesthetic sensibility of taking the best of tradition and thinking of it in new, funky ways.
You can see lots more pictures of the logo design process, including lots of views of Purgatory Pie Press's studio, here and here, and see lots more Greenlight photos in our Flickr set. Hope you enjoyed our aesthetic journey -- we're so happy with the way things worked out!
One of the most difficult -- and rewarding -- aspects of creating Greenlight Bookstore for Rebecca and I has been defining our aesthetic. We know we want Greenlight to embody both the traditional and the progressive, our urban setting and our literary focus. But how does that actually play out in wood stain colors, images, shapes, and typefaces? We've discovered that we have overlapping (but definitely not identical) tastes, and it's in that overlap that the look of Greenlight is evolving.
One aspect of that we've been working on for a very long time is our logo. Early on, we talked to a couple of talented friends about logo ideas. Michael Kindness, a fab sales rep from Random House (and noted blogger at Books on the Nightstand) with a sideline in graphic design, graciously took a stab at a logo design:
It was a step in the right direction, but somehow felt... not quite right -- too smooth and modern, perhaps? Michael's hectic schedule didn't give him time to develop more ideas, but he'd started us thinking.Another friend, Megan Barron -- bookstore afficionado and talented artist (check out her gorgeous art blogs wrack line and auk wrecks and ark larks) agreed to work on another idea: a logo with a central concrete image. Megan was incredibly patient with creating sketches as we hemmed and hawed about what the image of the store should be: a traffic light? the Fort Greene Park martyr's memorial? a tree or a plant? a dock light, like Gatsby? a Brooklyn subway light?
Heartbreakingly though, none of the versions Megan came up with seemed quite right either. Ultimately, we had to admit that "Greenlight" conjures up numerous kinds and varieties of images and associations for us, and we wanted customers to have that same imaginative privilege -- no single image in particular could capture what Greenlight means. So, while I still have some of Megan's drawings (and we're hoping to get some of her art into the store somehow), we had to start over again, looking for a logo that was text-only, but somehow more textured, to fit our idea of the store.
Luckily, Rebecca and had met Esther Smith when her book How to Make Books was published, and I'd met Esther and her husband Dikko Faust at McNally Jackson for book events. Esther and Dikko run Purgatory Pie Press, a wonderful printing studio in Tribeca.
Esther and Dikko are totally excited about Greenlight (they're actually part of our Community Lender program), and Esther offered their services should we find ourselves in need of a type-set logo. PPP's aesthetic fit ours perfectly. They use old-school wood and metal handset type (some of the sets are a century old or more) on manual printing presses -- but they use them to make funky, very contemporary designs (definitely check out their website for some samples). They offered to let Rebecca and I come to the studio and play around with some type in hopes of finding something that suited us. So, one stormy day this summer we showed up, and the fun began.
Esther and Dikko laid out an array of versions of our name, in different type faces, sizes and capitalizations. We chose some that looked promising, in various combinations, and Dikko set the type into one of their incredible old printing presses. He also mixed a thick ink for us, in a very dark green we liked -- you can see it smeared on the edge of the press, ready to be rolled onto the type.
Unlike designing on a computer, there was no click-highlight size change, or layout change, or color change -- every variation meant a new layout! Esther and Dikko's patience throughout this project was amazing -- it's a testament to their craftsmanship that they were willing to indulge (and contribute to) our ideas about which fonts and layouts really said Greenlight Bookstore. Ultimately it took a couple of visits and a lot of emails, but at last we got what we wanted:
The two typefaces we chose are from the turn of the century -- we don't know their exact names. We liked the way that these very old, traditional typefaces could be combined in a non-traditional, funky way. We liked the way the letters fit together. We like that the two words are instantly readable, but the more you look the more you notice the unique shapes of the letters and combinations (the e's, the k, the g over the t). We especially like the large lower-case g at the beginning of Greenlight -- it's a striking visual element in itself, and one we'll likely be using a lot.
Once we were happy with the logo, Esther and Dikko's frequent collaborator Lissi Erwin of the independent graphic design company Splendid Corp developed an electronic version, so we could use it on the web. Today is the first day we've added it to our blog masthead! Eventually Lissi will be helping to design our actual, e-commerce enabled website. Like Esther and Dikko, she shares our aesthetic sensibility of taking the best of tradition and thinking of it in new, funky ways.
You can see lots more pictures of the logo design process, including lots of views of Purgatory Pie Press's studio, here and here, and see lots more Greenlight photos in our Flickr set. Hope you enjoyed our aesthetic journey -- we're so happy with the way things worked out!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Once more, with wood stain!
Hey volunteers!
It's going to be sunny and cool on Friday and Saturday. What better way to spend a few hours than hanging out in Fort Greene, surrounded by book people and the beautiful beginnings of a bookstore?
Once more, we're looking for folks to help with bookshelf staining and other tasks at Greenlight -- so if you haven't been able to make it yet, here's your chance! The job is a big one, and it is taking a lot of people-hours to complete. Our bookselling staff will be working alongside you to get things done this weekend. We'll provide tools, training, and lunch.
The volunteer shifts for the weekend are:
Friday 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Email info@greenlightbookstore.com with the hours you'd like to help -- we'll send you a confirmation. Partial shifts are okay.
Whether or not you can volunteer, thanks for your support of Greenlight Bookstore!
It's going to be sunny and cool on Friday and Saturday. What better way to spend a few hours than hanging out in Fort Greene, surrounded by book people and the beautiful beginnings of a bookstore?
Once more, we're looking for folks to help with bookshelf staining and other tasks at Greenlight -- so if you haven't been able to make it yet, here's your chance! The job is a big one, and it is taking a lot of people-hours to complete. Our bookselling staff will be working alongside you to get things done this weekend. We'll provide tools, training, and lunch.
The volunteer shifts for the weekend are:
Friday 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Email info@greenlightbookstore.com with the hours you'd like to help -- we'll send you a confirmation. Partial shifts are okay.
Whether or not you can volunteer, thanks for your support of Greenlight Bookstore!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Volunteers, We Need You! (Wood Staining Edition)
Okay, would-be Greenlight volunteers -- your moment has come! We're working on getting Greenlight ready to open and we could use your help. First order of business: creating bookshelves.
We have a great local Brooklyn artisan creating custom shelves for our unique space. He has cut all the wood pieces to size and is in the process of installing them in the store -- after that they need to be stained and finished. That's where you come in.
Working in shifts, we think a team of volunteers can get a store's worth of bookshelves stained and finished before the week is over. Volunteers will be trained by our staff on the best sanding / staining / finishing methods, and we'll supply rags, brushes, and protective gloves; all you need to bring is your elbow grease. Don't forget to wear work clothes that are okay to get messy.
The volunteer shifts are listed below. We're asking you to sign up for particular shift (or shifts) via email; we'll reply to confirm or let you know when a shift is full.
We're having so much fun working on Greenlight -- we can't wait to have you join us!
Volunteer Shifts for Staining/Finishing Bookshelves
Morning shift = 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Afternoon shift = 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday 9/15 Morning shift (4 volunteers)
Tuesday 9/15 Afternoon shift (4 volunteers)
Wednesday 9/16 Morning shift (4 volunteers)
Wednesday 9/16 Afternoon shift (4 volunteers)
Thursday 9/17 Morning shift (4 volunteers)
Thursday 9/17 Afternoon shift (4 volunteers)
Friday 9/18 Morning shift (4 volunteers)
Friday 9/18 Afternoon shift (4 volunteers)
Saturday 9/19 Morning shift (20+ volunteers)
Saturday 9/19 Afternoon shift (20+ volunteers)
Please email info@greenlightbookstore.com and indicate which shift or shifts you are available to work. Include your first and last name. Partial shifts are OK. You will receive a confirmation email, or we will let you know if a shift has already been filled.
Whether or not you can volunteer, thanks for your support of Greenlight Bookstore!
We have a great local Brooklyn artisan creating custom shelves for our unique space. He has cut all the wood pieces to size and is in the process of installing them in the store -- after that they need to be stained and finished. That's where you come in.
Working in shifts, we think a team of volunteers can get a store's worth of bookshelves stained and finished before the week is over. Volunteers will be trained by our staff on the best sanding / staining / finishing methods, and we'll supply rags, brushes, and protective gloves; all you need to bring is your elbow grease. Don't forget to wear work clothes that are okay to get messy.
The volunteer shifts are listed below. We're asking you to sign up for particular shift (or shifts) via email; we'll reply to confirm or let you know when a shift is full.
We're having so much fun working on Greenlight -- we can't wait to have you join us!
Volunteer Shifts for Staining/Finishing Bookshelves
Morning shift = 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Afternoon shift = 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday 9/15 Morning shift (4 volunteers)
Tuesday 9/15 Afternoon shift (4 volunteers)
Wednesday 9/16 Morning shift (4 volunteers)
Wednesday 9/16 Afternoon shift (4 volunteers)
Thursday 9/17 Morning shift (4 volunteers)
Thursday 9/17 Afternoon shift (4 volunteers)
Friday 9/18 Morning shift (4 volunteers)
Friday 9/18 Afternoon shift (4 volunteers)
Saturday 9/19 Morning shift (20+ volunteers)
Saturday 9/19 Afternoon shift (20+ volunteers)
Please email info@greenlightbookstore.com and indicate which shift or shifts you are available to work. Include your first and last name. Partial shifts are OK. You will receive a confirmation email, or we will let you know if a shift has already been filled.
Whether or not you can volunteer, thanks for your support of Greenlight Bookstore!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
It's Festival Day!
If there is any possible way you can make it, we officially encourage you to make your way to Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza today between 10:00 and 6:00 for the fabulous Brooklyn Book Festival!
The Festival celebrates so many things we hold dear: literacy, creativity, community, and our own beloved borough of Brooklyn with its rich culture of writers and readers.
The lineup of talent speaking on various panels and readings today is mind-boggling, including the cream of the crop of Brooklyn authors, plus bloggers, booksellers, editors, and other movers and shakers. The topics covered are incredibly diverse and intelligent -- I'm hoping somebody is doing video.
And the booths of books for sale will also be irresistible. Indie presses selling their own wares, and the best bookstores (and comic shops) of Brooklyn offering you their selections -- luckily there are ATMs on site.
The Greenlight Bookstore crew may be amongst the only book lovers in Brooklyn NOT at the Festival. That's because we'll be working like mad on painting walls, staining shelves, and receiving mountains of book boxes into our inventory, in hopes of opening our doors as soon as possible.
But we feel represented at the Festival anyway: the organizers were kind enough to put our ad in the Festival program, so you'll see our logo and address right there alongside the Festival sponsors.
We are not -- repeat NOT -- open for business. But we wouldn't say no to you stopping by and poking your head into the store after the Festival -- especially if you're visiting from out of town.
Enjoy the Festival for us, and hurrah for books and Brooklyn!
The Festival celebrates so many things we hold dear: literacy, creativity, community, and our own beloved borough of Brooklyn with its rich culture of writers and readers.
The lineup of talent speaking on various panels and readings today is mind-boggling, including the cream of the crop of Brooklyn authors, plus bloggers, booksellers, editors, and other movers and shakers. The topics covered are incredibly diverse and intelligent -- I'm hoping somebody is doing video.
And the booths of books for sale will also be irresistible. Indie presses selling their own wares, and the best bookstores (and comic shops) of Brooklyn offering you their selections -- luckily there are ATMs on site.
The Greenlight Bookstore crew may be amongst the only book lovers in Brooklyn NOT at the Festival. That's because we'll be working like mad on painting walls, staining shelves, and receiving mountains of book boxes into our inventory, in hopes of opening our doors as soon as possible.
But we feel represented at the Festival anyway: the organizers were kind enough to put our ad in the Festival program, so you'll see our logo and address right there alongside the Festival sponsors.
We are not -- repeat NOT -- open for business. But we wouldn't say no to you stopping by and poking your head into the store after the Festival -- especially if you're visiting from out of town.
Enjoy the Festival for us, and hurrah for books and Brooklyn!
Friday, September 4, 2009
"So, when is the opening, already?"
A fair question! If you've been following our progress online, or walking by our storefront at 686 Fulton (like this commenter), you just want to know when you can come in and buy books.
If we told you a date, we'd be lying. Honestly, we just don't know.
But here's what we do know about the schedule.
Construction work -- that's the ceiling, floor, and walls -- should be finished by the end of the day on Wednesday, September 9. We had originally hoped to be done before Labor Day, but with the delay in building permits we feel lucky to be finished this soon -- our contractor Hugo and his crew have been working like madmen.
The bookshelves that will line the outer walls are already made, and waiting in the basement to be assembled. They can't go in until the floor is done, though, and the floor is the last thing to happen with construction. As soon as the floor is finished, our trusty millwork genius Iris will begin the installation of bookshelves in the store. He thinks it will take 72 hours; we think he's on speed. (Not really -- but he does seem to work on very little sleep.) So that would put us at the end of the day on Sunday the 12th, using his optimistic estimate.
In the meantime, our tech expert Dan will get our computers set up and networked, and we'll install our inventory system, Booklog. That will happen sometime around the 10th or 11th. Then another friend, Cynthia (the owner of Archivia Books) will come in to train all of us on how to use it.
In the midst of all this books will be arriving, beginning on Tuesday the 8th. Some will come from UPS and FedEx; one giant shipment will come on its own truck. (Pallets and pallets of book boxes -- the mind whirls.)
Beginning on Thursday the 10th, our awesome team of booksellers* will be in the store: cleaning, painting, preparing. As soon as Booklog is set up, they'll begin cracking open the boxes of books that will have already begun to arrive, receiving them into our inventory system, and sorting them on to the appropriate shelves (assuming the shelves are there).
As soon as the shelves are installed (or perhaps concurrently), Iris and his fellow artisans will begin installation of the cash/wrap -- the counter where book sales will happen. That's mostly built already too, but it will take some time and care to assemble.
And at some point, we'll have the systems, inventory, and physical setup to be able to ring in a sale.
And then we'll open the doors.
Believe us, you will be the first to know when that moment arrives. We would love for it to be in time for those attending the fabulous Brooklyn Book Festival on the 13th to stop off at Greenlight on their way home -- but we don't want to jump the gun and screw things up, and we can't promise we'll be ready by then. We don't mind you seeing some chaos (we're having what's called a "soft opening"), but we don't want to risk a situation that might be precarious or unsafe, or that might cause us to make mistakes in receiving or sales that will haunt/nag us for years.
Even after we open the doors, there will be a long way to go. Additional shelving fixtures will be in the process of installation until possibly the end of September. Book shipments will be coming in on a rolling basis. Cards will arrive at some point, and magazines.
There's one date (or two rather) that we can tell you, though. Our Grand Opening Weekend will be October 24 and 25 -- by that point we should be entirely presentable, and in the mood to celebrate. We've got festivities planned all weekend long, for kids and grownups and everyone in between. You'll be hearing a lot more about that as we get closer, but you might want to save the date.
In the meantime, bear with us as we struggle toward that moment of the first sale. We're counting the hours!
* We hired our booksellers! We had our first staff meeting on Wednesday the 2nd, and man are they a great crew. We're totally looking forward to working with Alexis, Jesse, Natalie, Deborah, Brette, and Jasmine -- we'll take some pictures and introduce them as we go along.
Update: one thing we hadn't factored in time-wise: once the bookshelves are installed, there's still the staining and finishing to be done -- and then the shelves have to set untouched for a few days while the finish dries. So we'll be doing a lot of sorting books back into boxes by category, waiting until they can go on the shelves without getting smudged with wood stain. That pushes things back by another couple of days -- but we're still looking at what, maybe the weekend of the 19th/20th? Believe us, we'll open the doors as soon as humanly possible -- but you don't want smudged books, do you?
If we told you a date, we'd be lying. Honestly, we just don't know.
But here's what we do know about the schedule.
Construction work -- that's the ceiling, floor, and walls -- should be finished by the end of the day on Wednesday, September 9. We had originally hoped to be done before Labor Day, but with the delay in building permits we feel lucky to be finished this soon -- our contractor Hugo and his crew have been working like madmen.
The bookshelves that will line the outer walls are already made, and waiting in the basement to be assembled. They can't go in until the floor is done, though, and the floor is the last thing to happen with construction. As soon as the floor is finished, our trusty millwork genius Iris will begin the installation of bookshelves in the store. He thinks it will take 72 hours; we think he's on speed. (Not really -- but he does seem to work on very little sleep.) So that would put us at the end of the day on Sunday the 12th, using his optimistic estimate.
In the meantime, our tech expert Dan will get our computers set up and networked, and we'll install our inventory system, Booklog. That will happen sometime around the 10th or 11th. Then another friend, Cynthia (the owner of Archivia Books) will come in to train all of us on how to use it.
In the midst of all this books will be arriving, beginning on Tuesday the 8th. Some will come from UPS and FedEx; one giant shipment will come on its own truck. (Pallets and pallets of book boxes -- the mind whirls.)
Beginning on Thursday the 10th, our awesome team of booksellers* will be in the store: cleaning, painting, preparing. As soon as Booklog is set up, they'll begin cracking open the boxes of books that will have already begun to arrive, receiving them into our inventory system, and sorting them on to the appropriate shelves (assuming the shelves are there).
As soon as the shelves are installed (or perhaps concurrently), Iris and his fellow artisans will begin installation of the cash/wrap -- the counter where book sales will happen. That's mostly built already too, but it will take some time and care to assemble.
And at some point, we'll have the systems, inventory, and physical setup to be able to ring in a sale.
And then we'll open the doors.
Believe us, you will be the first to know when that moment arrives. We would love for it to be in time for those attending the fabulous Brooklyn Book Festival on the 13th to stop off at Greenlight on their way home -- but we don't want to jump the gun and screw things up, and we can't promise we'll be ready by then. We don't mind you seeing some chaos (we're having what's called a "soft opening"), but we don't want to risk a situation that might be precarious or unsafe, or that might cause us to make mistakes in receiving or sales that will haunt/nag us for years.
Even after we open the doors, there will be a long way to go. Additional shelving fixtures will be in the process of installation until possibly the end of September. Book shipments will be coming in on a rolling basis. Cards will arrive at some point, and magazines.
There's one date (or two rather) that we can tell you, though. Our Grand Opening Weekend will be October 24 and 25 -- by that point we should be entirely presentable, and in the mood to celebrate. We've got festivities planned all weekend long, for kids and grownups and everyone in between. You'll be hearing a lot more about that as we get closer, but you might want to save the date.
In the meantime, bear with us as we struggle toward that moment of the first sale. We're counting the hours!
* We hired our booksellers! We had our first staff meeting on Wednesday the 2nd, and man are they a great crew. We're totally looking forward to working with Alexis, Jesse, Natalie, Deborah, Brette, and Jasmine -- we'll take some pictures and introduce them as we go along.
Update: one thing we hadn't factored in time-wise: once the bookshelves are installed, there's still the staining and finishing to be done -- and then the shelves have to set untouched for a few days while the finish dries. So we'll be doing a lot of sorting books back into boxes by category, waiting until they can go on the shelves without getting smudged with wood stain. That pushes things back by another couple of days -- but we're still looking at what, maybe the weekend of the 19th/20th? Believe us, we'll open the doors as soon as humanly possible -- but you don't want smudged books, do you?
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Pre-Order the Best Books of the Fall!
This fall has more amazing titles coming out than any publishing season in memory! We want you to know you can get these books from Greenlight, and we also want to pass along the buzz about just a few of the upcoming highlights of the season. The list below has some titles to look forward to, and the release date when they'll be available in the store.
When you click to pre-order, be sure to include in your message: 1) how many copies you want to reserve, 2) your first and last name, 3) the best way to contact you (phone number or email address).
You don't need to pre-pay; we'll reserve a copy (or copies) of the book of your choice, and contact you as soon as it's available. Then you can tell us whether you'd like to pick up the book in the store, or have it delivered or shipped. Email Jessica if you have any questions.
September 15: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
The long (long) awaited follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, this book will be the hot ticket at every bookstore in town. You could get it anywhere, but wouldn't you rather get it from your local independent bookstore?
Click here to pre-order The Lost Symbol
September 22: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
A sequel to Atwood's powerful Oryx and Crake but one that can be read independently, Year of the Flood promises more of Atwood's literary imagining of a post-apocalyptic world.
Click here to pre-order The Year of the Flood
September 22: Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro (a Rebecca favorite)
Ishiguro is a master of interpersonal nuance and finely observed details, from Remains of the Day to Never Let Me Go. This collection of short stories is linked by the themes of night and music, and is already inspiring passionate adoration in the author's fans.
Click here to pre-order Nocturnes
September 29: Generosity by Richard Powers (a Jessica favorite)
This highly original -- potentially life-changing -- novel by the National Book Award-winning author of The Echo Maker is essentially about happiness, and the Algerian refugee at its center is a believable saint for our times.
Click here to pre-order Generosity
September 29: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
The Time Traveler's Wife is a big movie this fall, and Niffenegger's success is highly deserved. Grab the newest work by a new beloved author -- lots of buzz on this one!
Click here to pre-order Her Fearful Symmetry
October 6: The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt (a Jessica favorite)
A novel that's part social and artistic history of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, part steamy multi-generational soap opera, part fairy-haunted ode to the power of myths and legends, and all told with a consummate storyteller's skill at characterization and suspense. This one will keep you up night!
Click here to pre-order The Children's Book
October 13: Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem (a Jessica AND Rebecca favorite)
Lethem, one of our favorite local authors, described this book as "a Saul Bellow novel that gets taken over by H. P. Lovecraft," and we like that definition. Set in a New York that's not quite our own, it's epic and funny and clever and sad and odd: Lethem at his finest. Read it and find yourself inhabiting a slightly stranger and more meaningful world.
BONUS: Jonathan Lethem reads from Chronic City at Greenlight on November 5! Reserve your copy now and pick it up on the release date or at the event.
Click here to pre-order Chronic City
And this is just the beginning! So many old favorites and new discoveries await you this fall at Greenlight...
When you click to pre-order, be sure to include in your message: 1) how many copies you want to reserve, 2) your first and last name, 3) the best way to contact you (phone number or email address).
You don't need to pre-pay; we'll reserve a copy (or copies) of the book of your choice, and contact you as soon as it's available. Then you can tell us whether you'd like to pick up the book in the store, or have it delivered or shipped. Email Jessica if you have any questions.
September 15: The Lost Symbol by Dan BrownThe long (long) awaited follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, this book will be the hot ticket at every bookstore in town. You could get it anywhere, but wouldn't you rather get it from your local independent bookstore?
Click here to pre-order The Lost Symbol
September 22: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
A sequel to Atwood's powerful Oryx and Crake but one that can be read independently, Year of the Flood promises more of Atwood's literary imagining of a post-apocalyptic world.
Click here to pre-order The Year of the Flood
September 22: Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro (a Rebecca favorite)Ishiguro is a master of interpersonal nuance and finely observed details, from Remains of the Day to Never Let Me Go. This collection of short stories is linked by the themes of night and music, and is already inspiring passionate adoration in the author's fans.
Click here to pre-order Nocturnes
September 29: Generosity by Richard Powers (a Jessica favorite)
This highly original -- potentially life-changing -- novel by the National Book Award-winning author of The Echo Maker is essentially about happiness, and the Algerian refugee at its center is a believable saint for our times.
Click here to pre-order Generosity
September 29: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey NiffeneggerThe Time Traveler's Wife is a big movie this fall, and Niffenegger's success is highly deserved. Grab the newest work by a new beloved author -- lots of buzz on this one!
Click here to pre-order Her Fearful Symmetry
October 6: The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt (a Jessica favorite)
A novel that's part social and artistic history of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, part steamy multi-generational soap opera, part fairy-haunted ode to the power of myths and legends, and all told with a consummate storyteller's skill at characterization and suspense. This one will keep you up night!
Click here to pre-order The Children's Book
October 13: Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem (a Jessica AND Rebecca favorite)Lethem, one of our favorite local authors, described this book as "a Saul Bellow novel that gets taken over by H. P. Lovecraft," and we like that definition. Set in a New York that's not quite our own, it's epic and funny and clever and sad and odd: Lethem at his finest. Read it and find yourself inhabiting a slightly stranger and more meaningful world.
BONUS: Jonathan Lethem reads from Chronic City at Greenlight on November 5! Reserve your copy now and pick it up on the release date or at the event.
Click here to pre-order Chronic City
And this is just the beginning! So many old favorites and new discoveries await you this fall at Greenlight...
Friday, August 21, 2009
This Saturday: Authors (famous and underage) in Fort Greene Park!
We love our neighborhood. Not only is it home to some of the most exciting writers working -- including Colson Whitehead, Toure, and Nelson George, among many others -- but it's also a place that values education and community. They're putting it all together this weekend with the 5th Annual Fort Greene Park Literary Festival, hosted by the New York Writers Coalition. The Festival is the culmination of a series of writing workshops for young people, and a chance for them to showcase their work at an event that, as the Fort Greene Park page puts it, "brings several generations of writers together to build on the rich literary traditions of the neighborhoods surrounding beautiful Fort Greene Park." Seriously, this makes me kinda choke up. What could be better or more important?
Starting at 3:00 tomorrow, Saturday August 22, writers ages 7 to 18 will be reading from their work. Around 4:00, the big names will take the stage: Colson, Toure, and Def Poetry Jam alum Staceyann Chinn. Rumor is there will even be free milk and cookies from local restaurant Rice.
Bring a picnic or some cold drinks, and enjoy the best of what Fort Greene has to offer, for free. I'll be there -- hope to see you.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Greenlight blowing up!
As we might have expected, the more we have going on with Greenlight, the less time we have to blog about it. So, apologies for a couple of weeks without an update. Here are some of the highlights of the last couple of weeks, in no particular order:
* Greenlight is featured as one of four startup small businesses on AOL's new "online reality series" The Startup. The first installment is their summary of how we got here (and around lunchtime on Tuesday 8/19 our grinning faces were featured on the top newsfeed on the AOL home page, along with Shania Twain and Celine Dion!) We'll be blogging about issues of interest to the small business world (as opposed to the book world or Brooklyn): how we formed partnerships and found a space, setbacks we experienced, our marketing plan and financing and all of that. Yet another way to follow along with your local indie bookstore -- we're grateful that AOL approached us and looking forward to how the series plays out.
* The third installment in our architect Fred's renovation blog on Brownstoner went up: check it out for some insights on bookshelf design, and some interesting architectural jargon.
* We made some important aesthetic decisions: the exact shade of wood stain on the bookshelves (as noted on Facebook), the design of the cash desk and other architectural elements, the placement of speakers (for ambient music and events). Interior design is no joke, y'all -- making these decisions was often agonizing! But we're so happy with what we ultimately chose -- we think you'll like it.
* We're in the process of interviewing some of the top candidates for Greenlight Bookstore staff. This too, obviously, will be a tough decision -- all the more so because there are so many awesome, qualified book people to choose from! We're hoping to get a team in place in time to help with setting up the store before it opens, so we're on a fast track -- we'll hope to introduce our crackerjack booksellers to you once the roster is confirmed.
* We're working on pulling together our backlist orders: the bulk of the store's inventory of books. After some negotiations with the major wholesalers, we're placing our major initial order with Ingram. This involves looking carefully at around 24,000 lines of an Excel spreadsheet to make our best guess at the core books our store should stock (knowing full well this will begin to change and evolve immediately when the doors open). Some late nights and early mornings have been experienced.
* We've also continued to meet daily with publishers to order the frontlist titles for fall -- so much good stuff coming out this season!
* We ordered computers -- Jessica now has 9 large boxes from CDW sitting in her apartment, awaiting configuration.
* We bought some display tables. One is a former library table; one is an industrial sewing machine table topped with a church door. (That one took two trips.) We love them -- they go with our best of the old / best of the new / funky / welcoming Brooklyn vibe. These are now sitting in Rebecca's living room, and will hopefully soon be joined by others.
* We went to the New York Gift Show on Sunday (as many of our bookselling peers and other retailers will do this week), to find some great greeting cards, journals, kids toys, and other sidelines to round out the bookstore's offerings. We found some great products and beautiful designs, and experienced some surreality as well (watch out for the animatronic life-size orangutan, and stay far away from the realistically breathing stuffed cats.)
* It's been pointed out by some of our fans (hi Mom!) that we haven't posted a picture of the storefront since its total conversion to green. So, see below! You can also catch a glimpse of the small painting in tribute to Robert Fulton, to the left of the storefront above the pink-and-blue entrance to the apartment buildings above, and get a little bit of a feel for the stretch of Fulton Street where we'll be making our home.
Thanks for reading -- we'll keep on keeping you posted!
* Greenlight is featured as one of four startup small businesses on AOL's new "online reality series" The Startup. The first installment is their summary of how we got here (and around lunchtime on Tuesday 8/19 our grinning faces were featured on the top newsfeed on the AOL home page, along with Shania Twain and Celine Dion!) We'll be blogging about issues of interest to the small business world (as opposed to the book world or Brooklyn): how we formed partnerships and found a space, setbacks we experienced, our marketing plan and financing and all of that. Yet another way to follow along with your local indie bookstore -- we're grateful that AOL approached us and looking forward to how the series plays out.* The third installment in our architect Fred's renovation blog on Brownstoner went up: check it out for some insights on bookshelf design, and some interesting architectural jargon.
* We made some important aesthetic decisions: the exact shade of wood stain on the bookshelves (as noted on Facebook), the design of the cash desk and other architectural elements, the placement of speakers (for ambient music and events). Interior design is no joke, y'all -- making these decisions was often agonizing! But we're so happy with what we ultimately chose -- we think you'll like it.
* We're in the process of interviewing some of the top candidates for Greenlight Bookstore staff. This too, obviously, will be a tough decision -- all the more so because there are so many awesome, qualified book people to choose from! We're hoping to get a team in place in time to help with setting up the store before it opens, so we're on a fast track -- we'll hope to introduce our crackerjack booksellers to you once the roster is confirmed.
* We're working on pulling together our backlist orders: the bulk of the store's inventory of books. After some negotiations with the major wholesalers, we're placing our major initial order with Ingram. This involves looking carefully at around 24,000 lines of an Excel spreadsheet to make our best guess at the core books our store should stock (knowing full well this will begin to change and evolve immediately when the doors open). Some late nights and early mornings have been experienced.
* We've also continued to meet daily with publishers to order the frontlist titles for fall -- so much good stuff coming out this season!
* We ordered computers -- Jessica now has 9 large boxes from CDW sitting in her apartment, awaiting configuration.
* We bought some display tables. One is a former library table; one is an industrial sewing machine table topped with a church door. (That one took two trips.) We love them -- they go with our best of the old / best of the new / funky / welcoming Brooklyn vibe. These are now sitting in Rebecca's living room, and will hopefully soon be joined by others.
* We went to the New York Gift Show on Sunday (as many of our bookselling peers and other retailers will do this week), to find some great greeting cards, journals, kids toys, and other sidelines to round out the bookstore's offerings. We found some great products and beautiful designs, and experienced some surreality as well (watch out for the animatronic life-size orangutan, and stay far away from the realistically breathing stuffed cats.)
* It's been pointed out by some of our fans (hi Mom!) that we haven't posted a picture of the storefront since its total conversion to green. So, see below! You can also catch a glimpse of the small painting in tribute to Robert Fulton, to the left of the storefront above the pink-and-blue entrance to the apartment buildings above, and get a little bit of a feel for the stretch of Fulton Street where we'll be making our home.
Thanks for reading -- we'll keep on keeping you posted!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Early August Updates: Textures, Titles
The second in our architect Fred Tang's construction blog series on Brownstoner went up today! It's got some conceptual renderings of the plans for the space, which are pretty cool to look at.
Advice from experience, though: keep in mind that computer renderings are good for spatial orientation, NOT for getting the "feel" of what the bookstore will be like. They don't, for example, show much of the bookcases, or the display tables, or the textures of wood and paint, or the signage. I think we got a little hung up on this at first while planning, as we were imagining the store having the weightless, textureless feel of virtual reality -- but now that we're seeing the wood and sheetrock and drywall coming in to the store, it's easier to imagine the store as a physical, living place.
And if you're wondering about the status of construction itself, as Fred puts it: "Demolition is now complete and we're pausing for a moment while we wait for the NYC Dept. of Buildings to approve our construction application and grant us a permit." We've gotten quite a ways, and now we just have to sit tight for a bit and wait for the (good, kind, compassionate, tasteful) folks at the DOB to give us their final approval. We're still on track for our hoped-for opening in September, though -- we'll let you know when we can narrow down that window a little bit more.
In the meantime, I've been having almost daily meetings with publisher sales reps to buy the frontlist for the fall. (A bit of bookstore jargon: "backlist" signifies the books you keep on the shelves in the sections, that have been published already and stay in print. "Frontlist" includes all of the new books published this season -- the ones that get most of the media attention, and that you'll display in stacks or face-out until their moment has passed, or they become backlist.) We're doing our best to get in all the good stuff -- what we love and what we think our customers will love. It's a challenge, since we're new to the neighborhood and we don't have a sales history to show us buying patterns, so we're trying a broad range of things so that we have a chance to see what works.
And man oh man, is it a good fall for frontlist! So many amazing new books coming out, the other challenge is not breaking the bank with all the books we'd like to buy. In fact, there are so many big-name authors with books coming out this fall, we'd like to give you a chance to pre-order them. We'll be sending out an email soon with a few of our top picks for the fall, and giving you a chance to reserve one at Greenlight. Sign up for our mailing list, at right, to get the list. Hooray for exciting new books, and your own exciting new bookstore!
Advice from experience, though: keep in mind that computer renderings are good for spatial orientation, NOT for getting the "feel" of what the bookstore will be like. They don't, for example, show much of the bookcases, or the display tables, or the textures of wood and paint, or the signage. I think we got a little hung up on this at first while planning, as we were imagining the store having the weightless, textureless feel of virtual reality -- but now that we're seeing the wood and sheetrock and drywall coming in to the store, it's easier to imagine the store as a physical, living place.
And if you're wondering about the status of construction itself, as Fred puts it: "Demolition is now complete and we're pausing for a moment while we wait for the NYC Dept. of Buildings to approve our construction application and grant us a permit." We've gotten quite a ways, and now we just have to sit tight for a bit and wait for the (good, kind, compassionate, tasteful) folks at the DOB to give us their final approval. We're still on track for our hoped-for opening in September, though -- we'll let you know when we can narrow down that window a little bit more.
In the meantime, I've been having almost daily meetings with publisher sales reps to buy the frontlist for the fall. (A bit of bookstore jargon: "backlist" signifies the books you keep on the shelves in the sections, that have been published already and stay in print. "Frontlist" includes all of the new books published this season -- the ones that get most of the media attention, and that you'll display in stacks or face-out until their moment has passed, or they become backlist.) We're doing our best to get in all the good stuff -- what we love and what we think our customers will love. It's a challenge, since we're new to the neighborhood and we don't have a sales history to show us buying patterns, so we're trying a broad range of things so that we have a chance to see what works.
And man oh man, is it a good fall for frontlist! So many amazing new books coming out, the other challenge is not breaking the bank with all the books we'd like to buy. In fact, there are so many big-name authors with books coming out this fall, we'd like to give you a chance to pre-order them. We'll be sending out an email soon with a few of our top picks for the fall, and giving you a chance to reserve one at Greenlight. Sign up for our mailing list, at right, to get the list. Hooray for exciting new books, and your own exciting new bookstore!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Greenlight series on Brownstoner!
Our fab lead architect, Frederick Tang of deFT Projects, has just begun a weekly blog series chronicling the renovation/construction process of Greenlight Bookstore. Thrillingly, the series is being featured on the uber-famous Brooklyn real estate blog Brownstoner. The Brownstoner folks are the force behind the Brooklyn Flea, which has been an exciting addition to the Fort Greene neighborhood, and we're pleased they're interested in our project as well. We'll continue to blog here (and on the New York Times Local blog) about other aspects of the bookstore opening process, but we're leaving it to Fred to talk about the nitty gritty (literally - cough cough) construction itself.
Check out the first Brownstoner post here!
Thanks to Fred and to Jonathan at Brownstoner for making this happen. Even though we're both visiting the space every day to see the construction happening, we're looking forward to hearing it described by a professional!
Check out the first Brownstoner post here!
Thanks to Fred and to Jonathan at Brownstoner for making this happen. Even though we're both visiting the space every day to see the construction happening, we're looking forward to hearing it described by a professional!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Third Place
Every time I pick up the free Edible Brooklyn magazine, I get a little jealous. There are so many people doing cool stuff in Brooklyn, so many that I haven't discovered or wish I had thought of first! But in fact, I think that Brooklyn's vibrant culture of locally produced food and funky independent restaurants is part of what makes an independent bookstore such a good idea here. Brooklynites value the quirky, the independent, the idiosyncratically local -- and they understand the ethical and cultural reasons for valuing locally grown produce as well as locally owned businesses, in order to decrease our environmental impact AND support local, sustainable economies. As indie booksellers, the foodies are our comrades.
The most recent issue of Edible Brooklyn has an article on Red Hook cafe/bar Fort Defiance (pictured above), which talks about the idea of the "third place" -- something Greenlight hopes to embody. As owner St. John Frizell eloquently describes it (referencing Ray Oldenberg's famous book The Great Good Place), it is
"that place between home and work that has existed in every human society, where one can interact with people who aren’t family or coworkers, meet new people, get community news. In early rural America, it might be the feed store; in France, the café; in Germany, the beer garden; in China, the teahouse. Our society is suffering from the lack of good third places."
At Book Expo back in June, I spoke on a panel called "Bookstore as the Third Place: Making Your Store a Community Center Through Innovative Events." I was awed by my fellow panelists: Kelly Justice of The Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia, who puts together entire festivals involving authors, cooks, artisans, and readers together; and Robert Sindelar of (appropriately) Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Washington, who has a massive event space dedicated to events for (and often curated by) his community.
Obviously, a bookstore has incredible potential to become the kind of place Frizell is talking about, and that potential is something we actively pursue. I'm proud to be working toward the same goals as these other incredible independent business owners, foodies and readers both, to help create more of these places for our community in Brooklyn to come together.
(More construction news soon, we promise!)
The most recent issue of Edible Brooklyn has an article on Red Hook cafe/bar Fort Defiance (pictured above), which talks about the idea of the "third place" -- something Greenlight hopes to embody. As owner St. John Frizell eloquently describes it (referencing Ray Oldenberg's famous book The Great Good Place), it is
"that place between home and work that has existed in every human society, where one can interact with people who aren’t family or coworkers, meet new people, get community news. In early rural America, it might be the feed store; in France, the café; in Germany, the beer garden; in China, the teahouse. Our society is suffering from the lack of good third places."
At Book Expo back in June, I spoke on a panel called "Bookstore as the Third Place: Making Your Store a Community Center Through Innovative Events." I was awed by my fellow panelists: Kelly Justice of The Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia, who puts together entire festivals involving authors, cooks, artisans, and readers together; and Robert Sindelar of (appropriately) Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Washington, who has a massive event space dedicated to events for (and often curated by) his community.
Obviously, a bookstore has incredible potential to become the kind of place Frizell is talking about, and that potential is something we actively pursue. I'm proud to be working toward the same goals as these other incredible independent business owners, foodies and readers both, to help create more of these places for our community in Brooklyn to come together.
(More construction news soon, we promise!)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Counting Down, Ramping Up
Okay, now it's getting serious.
I've left my day job to focus full time on Greenlight Bookstore business -- and the countdown to opening day is beginning!
As we've mentioned elsewhere, we're hoping to have Greenlight Bookstore open for business sometime in September (earlier would be better than later, but given the many factors that have to come together, we're looking at a pretty wide window).
Some days that seems very far away -- and sometimes it seems like tomorrow, as there is a LOT that has to happen between now and then! With that in mind, all kinds of things are now beginning to ramp up -- here's a little bit about where we are right now.
Last week, after lots of bid-sifting and negotiating (thank goodness for having a partner who is a good negotiator!), Rebecca and I signed a contract with Hugo Construction, a general contractor based here in Brooklyn. They're a great firm that has worked with our architects before, and they can do the work within our budget and time frame -- hooray! You may see them at the space this week, bringing in materials and doing the last bits of demolition.
And starting next week, our architect Fred Tang of deFT Projects will be blogging about the construction process on the fantastic Brooklyn real estate blog Brownstoner! So I won't tell you too much about our building plans here -- I'll be linking to Fred's posts where you can get a more in-depth view of the project (and lots of pictures) from a real expert.
In the meantime, we're working on the other side of things: the books we're going to sell! I've made buying appointments for almost every day in August with sales reps from the various publishers we'll be buying from. We're also working on getting a "suggested opening order" from a book distributor -- that's a list of bestselling titles in the areas we cover, which Rebecca and I will look through and edit to determine the books that will be in the store on Day 1. Looking through the lists and catalogs is in some ways the most fun part -- it's certainly what we got into this business to do! I feel especially lucky that we're opening this fall -- everything I hear from booksellers suggests that there are a ton of great books being published this season, so our "New Releases" display is going to be fantastic.
And there are a million and one other things, of course. We've applied for and received our Certificate of Authority to collect sales tax, so we can send our Resale Certificate to vendors and buy wholesale. We've purchased our inventory and point-of-sale software (it's called Booklog), and we're working on finding a good price on the computers we'll need. We're working with the American Booksellers Association to get set up with their website platform, which includes e-commerce (much more on that in a later post!) We're working on creating a logo. A bit later we'll need to sift through the many wonderful folks interested in working for us and hire our staff. And we'll need to get set up with electricity, telecom stuff, trash pickup -- all that stuff.
As I said -- a lot has to happen between now and September. But we're on our way!
Got questions about the store or the startup process? Want to join our growing list of volunteers? Leave a comment here and I'll answer it, or email me at jessica@greenlightbookstore.com and I'll do my best to get back to you. We love the community's involvement in this project, and we want to stay connected with you!
I've left my day job to focus full time on Greenlight Bookstore business -- and the countdown to opening day is beginning!
As we've mentioned elsewhere, we're hoping to have Greenlight Bookstore open for business sometime in September (earlier would be better than later, but given the many factors that have to come together, we're looking at a pretty wide window).
Some days that seems very far away -- and sometimes it seems like tomorrow, as there is a LOT that has to happen between now and then! With that in mind, all kinds of things are now beginning to ramp up -- here's a little bit about where we are right now.
Last week, after lots of bid-sifting and negotiating (thank goodness for having a partner who is a good negotiator!), Rebecca and I signed a contract with Hugo Construction, a general contractor based here in Brooklyn. They're a great firm that has worked with our architects before, and they can do the work within our budget and time frame -- hooray! You may see them at the space this week, bringing in materials and doing the last bits of demolition.
And starting next week, our architect Fred Tang of deFT Projects will be blogging about the construction process on the fantastic Brooklyn real estate blog Brownstoner! So I won't tell you too much about our building plans here -- I'll be linking to Fred's posts where you can get a more in-depth view of the project (and lots of pictures) from a real expert.
In the meantime, we're working on the other side of things: the books we're going to sell! I've made buying appointments for almost every day in August with sales reps from the various publishers we'll be buying from. We're also working on getting a "suggested opening order" from a book distributor -- that's a list of bestselling titles in the areas we cover, which Rebecca and I will look through and edit to determine the books that will be in the store on Day 1. Looking through the lists and catalogs is in some ways the most fun part -- it's certainly what we got into this business to do! I feel especially lucky that we're opening this fall -- everything I hear from booksellers suggests that there are a ton of great books being published this season, so our "New Releases" display is going to be fantastic.
And there are a million and one other things, of course. We've applied for and received our Certificate of Authority to collect sales tax, so we can send our Resale Certificate to vendors and buy wholesale. We've purchased our inventory and point-of-sale software (it's called Booklog), and we're working on finding a good price on the computers we'll need. We're working with the American Booksellers Association to get set up with their website platform, which includes e-commerce (much more on that in a later post!) We're working on creating a logo. A bit later we'll need to sift through the many wonderful folks interested in working for us and hire our staff. And we'll need to get set up with electricity, telecom stuff, trash pickup -- all that stuff.
As I said -- a lot has to happen between now and September. But we're on our way!
Got questions about the store or the startup process? Want to join our growing list of volunteers? Leave a comment here and I'll answer it, or email me at jessica@greenlightbookstore.com and I'll do my best to get back to you. We love the community's involvement in this project, and we want to stay connected with you!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Report from the Preview Party
On Sunday evening, Greenlight Bookstore became a little more a part of Fort Greene when Rebecca and I opened wide the blinds at 686 Fulton Street for the first time. "Wow," said our architect, "it's almost like being outside!" We felt like a part of the street life, as passers-by pointed out our brand-new "Coming Soon!" banner and pressed noses against the window to see inside. And we invited a few members of the community – those who have helped us to get this far – into the space for a look around.
Sunday night was our long-awaited Greenlight Bookstore Preview Party, which was conceived as kind of a big "thank you" – to the Fort Greene Association folks who have helped us connect to the neighborhood, the Community Lenders who have helped us to raise start-up capital, the small business professionals who have worked with us for little or no fee, and the book industry professionals who have given us invaluable guidance. Wine and home-made snacks were served, but the real treat for the attendees was meeting fellow Greenlight supporters, and of course imagining the bookstore that is taking shape.
Our great architects, Frederick Tang of deFT Projects and Jarrett Pelletier, brought along some visuals to help with the imagining, including poster-size mechanical drawings and artistic renderings of the construction plans.
(Don't mind the leftover electrical wiring, which is still draped all over the store!) We also had a mock-up of what the bookshelves will look like, and a couple of 3-D posterboard models of the future store. We gave tour after tour of the 2000 square foot space, until our voices were hoarse from describing the fiction wall, the children's section, the "den" reading area, the cash desk, the author events, and everything else we envision.
In the meantime, the many parts of this community effort got to meet each other. For example, below, from left to right: Fred, Jarrett, Toby Cox (owner of Three Lives Bookstore and a Fort Greene resident), Mike Gross of the Fort Greene Association and the Fort Greene Indie Bookstore Initiative, and Greg Callendar of the Pace Small Business Development Corporation (who helped us secure a small business loan and also lives in the neighborhood).
As the evening wore on, we proposed a toast: to the powerful community that is helping to create Greenlight Bookstore, with the hope that we will be able to give back all that they have given to us, and more.
As you can see by our faces in this photo taken by Mike, Rebecca and I were glowing by the end of the night. I love the way the composition of this shot turned out. Inside the window behind us, you can see the wonderful people who are helping to bring the bookstore together; in the reflection, you can see the beautiful Brooklyn neighborhood we're becoming a part of.
Sunday night was our long-awaited Greenlight Bookstore Preview Party, which was conceived as kind of a big "thank you" – to the Fort Greene Association folks who have helped us connect to the neighborhood, the Community Lenders who have helped us to raise start-up capital, the small business professionals who have worked with us for little or no fee, and the book industry professionals who have given us invaluable guidance. Wine and home-made snacks were served, but the real treat for the attendees was meeting fellow Greenlight supporters, and of course imagining the bookstore that is taking shape.
Our great architects, Frederick Tang of deFT Projects and Jarrett Pelletier, brought along some visuals to help with the imagining, including poster-size mechanical drawings and artistic renderings of the construction plans.
(Don't mind the leftover electrical wiring, which is still draped all over the store!) We also had a mock-up of what the bookshelves will look like, and a couple of 3-D posterboard models of the future store. We gave tour after tour of the 2000 square foot space, until our voices were hoarse from describing the fiction wall, the children's section, the "den" reading area, the cash desk, the author events, and everything else we envision.
In the meantime, the many parts of this community effort got to meet each other. For example, below, from left to right: Fred, Jarrett, Toby Cox (owner of Three Lives Bookstore and a Fort Greene resident), Mike Gross of the Fort Greene Association and the Fort Greene Indie Bookstore Initiative, and Greg Callendar of the Pace Small Business Development Corporation (who helped us secure a small business loan and also lives in the neighborhood).
As the evening wore on, we proposed a toast: to the powerful community that is helping to create Greenlight Bookstore, with the hope that we will be able to give back all that they have given to us, and more.
As you can see by our faces in this photo taken by Mike, Rebecca and I were glowing by the end of the night. I love the way the composition of this shot turned out. Inside the window behind us, you can see the wonderful people who are helping to bring the bookstore together; in the reflection, you can see the beautiful Brooklyn neighborhood we're becoming a part of.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The HarperStudio Interview
HarperStudio is a very cool new imprint of large publisher HarperCollins -- they're working on smart new models for publishing, paying authors, and marketing in the 21st century. They also have a very cool blog, 26th Story. Earlier this week, they asked me for an interview about Greenlight Bookstore.
And here it is!
Thanks to the HarperStudio folks for listening, and to Fort Greene for being the community that makes us not seem crazy.
And here it is!
Thanks to the HarperStudio folks for listening, and to Fort Greene for being the community that makes us not seem crazy.
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