Tell us a little about your bookstore, Wasted Words Book Nook!
Wasted Words Book Nook is a woman owned mobile bookshop offering a unique book shopping experience. On the bus customers can buy new and used books, hand-made bookmarks, shirts and other bookish related items. We pride ourselves on also offering local and independent authors not found in chain bookstores.
Book Genres to be found in the shop are:
Adult Fiction
Fantasy
Romance
Tell us a little about yourselves!
We have known each other since 2018. We met at work and quickly became besties. We both enjoy game nights, D&D, & Hiking/ Backpacking. Obviously we love reading and we also share a “Bookstagram”. That account has taken a backseat while we were getting the bus launched the past four months, but we will be getting back to it!
How did you come up with the idea for a mobile bookstore?
We were discussing how we wish we could open a bookstore, a topic that would come up often. Obviously the overhead that goes into that was concerning and we didn’t want to take on any debt. It branched into “what if we could do it like a food truck?”, sat our husbands down together the next night, and bought a bus a month and a half later. We were able to convert the bus and obtain inventory within 4 months completely debt free. This allows us to hold pop-ups as frequently or infrequently as we need. We both do have full time jobs and children.
Sarah Emmer Note: I didn't realize this entire bus was bought, remodeled, and stocked without going into debt! Holy moly! I'm so impressed!
Readers, hop onto their IG for a before and after reel by clicking here.
What are your goals with your indie bookstore on a bus?
Right now our goals are to get the bus out there and build relationships with other local businesses. We also want to bring more attention to indie authors and their books. There are so many that we love and want to share with the world! Or at least Lorain county and the surrounding areas for now.
What should customers know about your biz?
We are women owned, support indie authors and want to get the books we love in front of others.
You are supporting Ohio authors (like me) in ways I’ve not seen anywhere else. What prompted you to do this?
This is something that started with our Bookstagram (Wasted Words Book Review). We generally avoid posting about books that are already widely popular, they may be great, but they don’t need more attention. We try to use our platform, regardless of how small it may be, to bring attention to indie books. So naturally we wanted a lot of indie books on the bus, which stemmed into trying to stock Ohio authors as well. We do sell popular, traditionally published books, but we try to recommend indie books to customers whenever possible.
Sarah Emmer's Note: Sarah and Ashley put bookmarks with an Ohio sticker to help shoppers find and support local indie authors.
How should other Ohio authors reach out if they’re interested? What are the
requirements?
They can email us via our social media, or our contact us section in our linktree. Our only immediate disqualifying factors would be nonfiction, or children’s books. Otherwise we are pretty open!
When you aren’t doing book work, what do you do?
When not working on the bus, we both work from home for the same company. Sarah is a Product Owner, and Ashley is a Data Analyst.
Do you have a newsletter we can sign up for? (Please include a link if so.)
No, just follow us!
Do you have a website where readers can purchase books or merchandise straight from you online?
We do not have a website where people can shop online, however we do have a form in our linktree. If someone would like us to order a book for them, or if we are doing pre-orders, that would be the method. We also take orders for t-shirts if someone has a specific request or wants one of the shirts in a different size.
Sarah Emmer's Note: I bought a tshirt with the Wasted Words Book Nook logo and it's good quality. It's true to size and has held up to a few washes so far. I'm really pleased with it.
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