We recently connected with Julie Wernersbach and have shared our conversation below.
Julie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Hive Mind Books centers books by queer and trans writers as a core tenet of our mission. The other core tenant is offering affordable books.
Despite the fact that New York City is home to the largest queer population in the country, until recently, there weren’t enough queer bookstores to serve everyone. Before Hive MInd, there were one and a half queer bookstores in Manhattan, and none in Brooklyn. As a queer writer, and the partner of a trans writer, I was frustrated by how difficult it was to find a quality, in-depth selection of books by queer and trans writers. I didn’t want to just buy a book online, I wanted to walk into a bookstore and be able to browse a wide array of books by my fellow queer writers. That’s what drove me to start popping up with queer book fairs in Brooklyn, and then opening Hive Mind Books as a queer bookstore.
Both my co-owner and I grew up in families that could not afford brand new books. We relied on libraries, friends, book swaps, and thrift stores to get our books. As bookstore owners, it’s vital to us that we have affordable books on our shelves.
Julie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I have been a bookseller for twenty years. I started in my early twenties, when I was looking for a job after college. A local independent bookstore had a hiring sign in the window and I applied, thinking it was great that I could finally put my English degree to use. I had no idea what independent bookselling was about then. I thought it was just like any other retail job. It is not. Bookstores are centers of community, culture, and conversation. You don’t walk into a clothing store to have a chat about an idea or a character the way you do in a bookstore. I was hooked.
After being a floor bookseller for a little while, I was promoted to event manager, which launched a long career in bookstore author events for me. I’ve hosted author events of all sizes, from self-published authors to President Clinton, President Carter, Tom Hanks, John Grisham, and many, many others. For a while, I was the literary director of one of the largest book festivals in the country. Coordinating opportunities for readers to meet authors is one of the most satisfying, life-affirming jobs out there. Knowing that you’ve created this space, this set of hours, for that type of connection is deeply meaningful to me.
I had to come back to retail after the festival. I missed the daily conversations with customers and the constant flow of books. I am still very much doing events, which I love.
The biggest problem we solve for our customers is access to books by queer and trans writers. I am especially proud when people walk into our store and tell us they’ve found so many books they’re excited to read. I’m also proud of stewarding a community space, putting together events that bring people together and help neighbors know one another. Community is everything. Being able to provide space for people to bond over books, which is always a gateway to bonding over life and the universe, is an incredible privilege.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
My business partner, Robyn, and I met as booksellers together more than fourteen years ago at an independent bookstore in Austin, Texas. We’d both recently moved to town and were discovering the city and ourselves. Since then, we’ve done many, many author events together, and seen each other through a lot of life’s ups and downs as friends. When we both wound up on the east coast during Covid, we started dreaming about what our own bookstore would look like and how it would be different from other bookstores where we’d worked: truly mission-driven, with community at its core and not just used as a marketing buzz word. We’ve had a blast operating as a traveling bookstore, hauling our books and tables and pop-up tent all over town. It’s good that we’ve known each other for as long as we have. We have a good sense of each other’s strengths and also our respective anxieties. We can help each other stretch a little farther or encourage rest when we need it.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 2020, I moved from Austin, Texas to Long Island to take over a bookstore. I’d been working on the business plan and talking with the owners and landlord for more than a year. When I got there, I found the store was in worse operational shape than I’d anticipated, but I was ready to dig in and start making changes to make it viable for the long-term. Then Covid hit. I spent the year leaping through state and local protocols to keep the store open and staff safe, running the shop as online-only for a while and hosting virtual events. By the end of the year, the store was making more money than it had previously–and the owner refused to pay rent. It also became clear that, the more successful the store was, the less inclined he was to retire. Exhausted, betrayed, and incredibly frustrated, I made the difficult decision to walk away from what I’d thought was going to be the rest of my life. It was simply quite obviously a very bad business decision to stick with it. I poured my heart and energy into the store, but I knew I couldn’t make it what I’d envisioned under those circumstances. Now, four years later, I’m sitting in my own shop, created with my own instincts and serving a queer community that is embracing what we’re doing in such a warm way. A door closes for a reason: because there are other doors to unlock and open!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.hivemindbooks.com
- Instagram: @hivemindbookstore
Image Credits
Julie Wernersbach, McKenzie Wark