I love bookstores. Always have.

But it’s funny the specific memories that stand out. I remember being in junior high school and discovering the Sweet Valley High series, scanning the shelves for the latest release. They published those on a rapid schedule, but certainly not as fast as I could read them. (Remember back when you only knew what books were available by going to the store?) And I remember being in high school (when I developed a deep love for Shakespeare and Wordsworth, among others), browsing the classics shelves of the B. Dalton in the Bridgewater Mall.

I’m not sure exactly when the trend of putting coffee shops and bookstores together started, but I discovered them when I was in college. I had developed a taste for coffee while spending time in Madrid and although the American version of café au lait didn’t hold a candle to Spanish café con leche, it was lovely to have a warm mug of sweet, creamy coffee while I sat reading. The aroma of roasted beans mixed with paper and leather to create what seemed a most literary perfume.

Bookstores feature prominently in my life, obviously. I witnessed the rise and fall of Borders. I started shopping at Amazon.com in 1999. I’ve watched more independent bookstores come and go than I can count.

I even fantasized about running my own bookshop/coffee house one day.

But I thought my imagination was where that particular daydream would stay.

Until recently, when WMG bought a bookstore.

And not just any bookstore: one founded by the great Sheldon McArthur (after he sold the Mystery Bookstore in Los Angeles and “retired”).

Now, WMG can not only sell the books it publishes online and in brick-and-mortar bookstores, but we can sell them in our own bookstore…and we can sell lots of other books, too.

Like books from your favorite Fiction River and Pulphouse authors, for example.

But first, we could use a little help.

Our bookstore, North by Northwest Books in Lincoln City, is well-loved but well-worn. The building that houses it has sat in the harsh coastal air for many years, and it needs work. So, we’re running a Kickstarter to jumpstart the repair process. Our first goal was to raise enough funds (our goal was $5,000) to remodel an unused room in the bookstore to expand our offering of indie books. We hit that goal in less than 48 hours. And we’ve already hit our first stretch goal, too! Plus, we made Kickstarter’s “projects we love” list on it’s very first day.

But now, we’re working on our next stretch goals. The more we raise, the faster we can achieve all of the renovations needed to expand our selections and modernize our ordering systems. Here’s a video we made about those stretch goals.

 

Plus, we’ve got some very cool rewards, including bags of books, writing workshops, and even the option to buy books to donate to libraries or schools throughout the continental US.

You can read all of the details here. But you’ll need to act fast. The Kickstarter ends at 9:33 p.m. on February 28.

So, thank you to all of our current and future supporters. We couldn’t do this without you.

Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer.