How we came up with the idea...
Opening our own little bookshop has been our biggest dream. We're two book-nerds with a passion for customer service and to find the right book for everyone. Even our own love story is fully connected to books - we met, worked, and fell in love together in a Charity bookshop in Surrey. And since settling in the Lake District last year and starting new jobs in the local hospitality and retail sector, we have realised that we are missing the beautiful atmosphere of books and the customers of bookshops.
This is why we've been trying to save up enough money to open our own little shop. The original idea was a little bookshop café with a coffee counter. But the rent in the Lake District, as well as the initial refurbishment and stock costs before the opening have dampened our hopes. So, we've been looking into alternatives and have (found the courage and) made the decision to open a mobile bookshop business instead.
We've seen more than three successful mobile bookshop businesses around the world with incredible stories: Becca Flory's Little Travelling Bookshop in Scotland (who is sadly not operating at the moment), Rita Collins' Saint Rita's Amazing Bookstore in the USA, and Brandi Morpurgo's Daisy Chain Books & Co. in Canada (who, by now, has opened two additional static bookshops in cities on top of the book van).
We want to bring the same amazingness to the Lake District and England, and create our own little dream travelling bookshop: "Nomadic Books" and reach people near and far, tourists and locals in villages.
Why we're crowdfunding...
So, we dug out our savings and took the first exciting step by purchasing a box van! We’ve already begun repairing and refurbishing our van this week, working on it during evenings and days off while keeping our jobs to fund the project and cover living expenses. However, we need a little more extra help to complete the conversion, to be able to stock up, pay the bills, van insurance, and to sort trading licenses, which is why we’ve launched this crowdfunding campaign.
While some aspects of the conversion may be possible cheaper (i.e. repairing the roller shutter door of the van instead of replacing it with barn doors), we want to do it thoroughly and prevent it from rusting, rotting, and from failing. We want it to be the ultimate quirky and unique bookshop that will travel around for a long time. Moreover, one of the expectedly most expensive installations are going to be the bookshelves in the van. Because of the idea of a mobile bookshop, securing the books on the shelves makes the installation a woodwork project itself: we need to build the shelves at a 15 degree angle which will keep all the books tugged in nicely when driving around with them.
When will it happen?
We have already started on getting the van cleaned up and repaired, and will start the conversion into a bookshop in a few days time. We're working on the van on our days off and in the evenings as we still have day jobs. We are hoping to finish the van conversion this summer and stock up straightaway. Then we'll be on the road and operating, hopefully, from the end of September. We would love to be finished in time for the Guildford Book Festival and travel down there.
Where will it happen?
We are currently based in Ambleside, the Lake District which is why we we are planning to acquire trading licenses for the surrounding areas. However, in addition to more regular weekly markets and places where we will pop up in the Lake District, we want to travel further for bigger events - Christmas markets, book fairs, and festivals - and reach you and people all over Great Britain.
As for weekly markets, we want to become a trader at the Keswick Outdoor Market, the Ulverston Outdoor Market, and in Kendal. Moreover, we want to acquire a spot in Ambleside where we can be on a weekly basis.
What we will sell
We'll be selling new books that we are going to acquire mainly from Gardners. We want to stock a range of fiction books, adult, children's and YA books, as well as some selected non-fiction categories.
On top we will be selling stationary, especially eco-friendly and recycled products, as well as bookish merchandise.
What are the rewards
First things first: Your help will not stay unmarked. Everyone who donated will be marked with their name on our van to show our appreciation and to show that you are part of why it exists as well.
On top of designing tote bags and badges that we will send out as little rewards and thank yous, we are introducing memberships as reward schemes. They will entitle you to a 1 (or 3) year long discount on our products.
Moreover, we are giving 20 people the chance to decide a location where they would like us to travel to when we are up and running. That way, we will come to you once we're up and running - we want to make sure that the people who help and who care about our project will see it and be able to visit and access it.
Thank you
We want to express our biggest thank you to everyone who has taken their time and read this far. A thank you to everyone who spreads the word about our brilliantly mad bookish project, and to everyone who donated some of their own personal money for the cause. We will forever be grateful to you.
Follow our journey
We’ll be sharing our journey, with all its ups and downs, through vlogs and blog posts on social media, so you can follow our progress every step of the way.
Lots of love,
Emma and Chris x
Any Questions
Just drop us an email or message us on social media:
Email address: [email protected]
Instagram: nomadic_books_van
Facebook: Nomadic Books
Additional Rewards Information:
Memberships: Discount applies to standard titles ordered for you. Membership cards can only be used in person, not on our website. You can order by phone/email for postage though! Discounts don't include postage which is charged at cost. We can only post books in the UK. Also please note discount excludes sale items and any future book subscription schemes. Special orders such as for specialist academic titles/print on demand titles or other non-standard orders are also excluded. Other rare exclusions may apply, such as limited special edition or signed books. Membership is for one person only and may not be shared or transferred.