Supporting Christian Bookshops

I do love a good bookshop, don't you?

We live near Cambridge, a city of libraries, and have a number of bookshops on our doorstep. If I want to buy discount books, rare books, academic books, children's books, second hand books or new releases, the chances are that I can probably find what I'm looking for somewhere. Sometimes authors and illustrators visit our these bookshops. We have a local Literary Festival. There are courses on writing and on teaching others how to write. Every other telephone box seems to be a second hand book swap location. 

We do not, however, have a Christian bookshop.

We used to, but it clearly wasn't viable and it closed down. It's not the only one. These days if I want specialist Christian books I go online and support various independent sites - either to buy new (to support the author) or second hand (to support the environment).

Some Christian bookshops are finding creative solutions. Green Pastures, based in Norfolk, operate pop-up book sales and one of these is a monthly gig in Bury St Edmunds. The event ties in with a day where the church is open for meals, and encourages people to drop in and browse. 

Green Pastures spoke with Amy Scott Robinson about linking some ACW authors with their pop-up shops and the Brecks, Fens & Pens group agreed to give it a try. Two of us - Amy and I - will be around at the first event in October and will give introductions to our upcoming books, both of which feature church engagement. This experiment, connecting authors with those selling books, and finding ways to engage with a potential customer base, may be a fruitful option all round. 

Have you had experience doing anything similar? What about finding out which Christian bookshops in your region might do a pop-up if you haven't got a bookshop nearby? Can you find a few authors willing to attend such a session? As well as meeting the author, signing copies and raising the profile of each others' work, you may well find some great titles to take home yourself.  

Lucy Marfleet is a tutor for Spurgeon's College 'Equipped to Minister' course and writes about the Bible. Her new book, Telling the Big Story: The Bible in 60 Minutes is coming out later this year.