We were lucky to catch up with Kendra Gayle Lee recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kendra Gayle, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

It’s an interesting question because, on some level, I’ve always been immersed in stories. I loved reading from the time I was a tiny kid. I focused on literature in grad school. And, because I love people, I’m always watching for and listening to how their stories unfold.

But the way I deal with stories now–as a bookseller–happened at the perfect time in my life. Serendipitously.

I was working as a freelance writer, which is what I thought I wanted to do. But I felt isolated. I didn’t have a place to go daily to connect with co-workers or clients. I felt adrift and slightly dissatisfied.

At the same time, I’d reached a new level of confidence in my ability to find a situation where I could thrive. I knew if a solo writing career wasn’t the right fit for me, I needed to seek out or create a position that was. What was new for me–and the reason that Bookish started at just the right time in my life–was that I finally believed, whole-heartedly, that I could create what I was looking for.

My family and I had recently moved to East Atlanta Village. As I looked around this neighborhood that I wanted very much to set down roots in, I realized that there was no bookstore. I’d never considered running a bookstore before that moment. But I had spent the prior three years co-managing the Scholastic Book Fair at my daughter’s elementary school. That was a wild ride. And it was the place I fell in love with helping kids find just the right book to spark their love of reading. I figured if I could help reluctant kids find books that really spoke to them, maybe I could also help nudge some adults back toward the joy of a good book.

That coalescing of believing in my own potential, finding a niche in bookselling at the Scholastic Book Fair, and moving into a new neighborhood where I felt like I could fill a community need sparked the perfect moment to launch Bookish.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Bookish Atlanta is an independent bookstore in East Atlanta Village, specializing in diverse fiction and social justice oriented nonfiction. We’re a small but mighty store, with about 800 square feet of bookselling space. Our carefully curated selection of new and used books highlights diverse authors and perspectives. We’ve got everything from the latest releases to beloved, dog-eared classics.

When I founded Bookish, I had two goals: 1) to offer an affordable, curated selection of books, because everyone should be able to have a collection of books they love in their home, and 2) to make sure every person that walked into Bookish saw some aspect of themselves reflected on the shelves, because representation matters.

I love when new customers stumble upon Bookish for the first time. The wonder with which they approach the shelves is so satisfying. It’s fun to watch people ooh and ahh over exciting new releases that they hadn’t heard of before–or to see them find precisely what they’ve been wanting to read. It’s also amazing when people spend well over an hour going through all of the used books one by one, reading the backs, and deciding just which story they want to take home with them.

Bookish is ultimately about community. I love hearing what my customers are reading, what has moved them and why. I get book recommendations from customers all the time. We special order books, and often I’ll grab an additional copy for the store shelves (especially if its a special order from a tried & true customer!). Customers also end up chatting with each other frequently. They’ll hear me recommend a book & chime in with another title they liked as well. I love to see people connect over books.

I want Bookish to be a constant and positive presence in the community. We’ve attended East Atlanta Parents Network events, had a tent at the East Atlanta Strut, been a sponsor at the Ormewood Makers Festival, sponsored Paint the Village Pink (a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood Southeast). Bookish is about so much more than selling books. It’s about knowing that everyone has a story–and that story matters. We are better when we listen to each others’ stories. And when we ultimately discover that we are not alone.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When the pandemic hit (remember back when we thought the world would shut down for two weeks & then we’d all move on?), Bookish sold 95% used books. And none of that used book inventory was online.

When we shut down, I immediately began posting books to sell on social media. I needed to fill my time and figured it was a quick way to earn a little bit of cash for the store during those two weeks. At the same time, special orders for new books were rolling in, because people were worried that, because Bookish was so new, even those two weeks with little to no income would really hurt us.

I shifted into hustle mode. I facetimed with people to show them the stock on the shelves. I texted book recommendations and answered questions. And once I helped someone settle on a book (new or used), I delivered that book to them. I drove all over Atlanta delivering books. It was fun. It was exhausting. And it kept the store open.

Delivering books to customers’ front porches allowed me to connect with them and become a fixture of sorts in their worlds. It meant a lot to people that I was delivering a book to them. Books mean different things to different people, but especially during the pandemic’s early days, books meant comfort, normalcy, and escape. I am grateful I had that opportunity be of service that way. It earned Bookish a place in our customers’ hearts that it might have taken me years to earn otherwise.

I’m so grateful that I didn’t panic, that I found a way to get books into customers’ hands instead. And I think Bookish is still reaping the benefits of that time when we were able to offer a little solace in incredibly bizarre and scary times.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Bookish would not exist without social media.

I swear it’s not hyperbole. Before we even opened our doors, we hit Nextdoor, Facebook, and Instagram asking for book donations (we started out as an entirely used bookstore) and chronicling our progress in collecting books. We posted photos of neat treasures we found in books (drawings, old receipts, family photos). We posted photos of all the boxes of books piling up. We documented our move into a storage unit. Then into a larger storage unit.

Everything that happened before the store opened unfolded on social media, including the launch of our Indiegogo campaign that allowed people to invest in the initial opening of Bookish (and to get cool swag!)

Why the focus on social media? I wanted people to be excited about Bookish opening. And to feel a connection to the store, even thought it didn’t exist yet. And I wanted my neighbors to connect me to the store. I posted all kinds of silly photos of me with books and boxes and thrifting and just about anything that would get the store out in front of folks.

And it worked.

The pandemic hit 6 months after we opened. We had a solid enough following on social media (and consequently in our surrounding neighborhoods) to keep the store open during the initial shutdown (we were closed for 6 months). And even now, after almost three years in business, social media still drives a large chunk of our business (IG in particular).

Contact Info:

• Website: BookishATL.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookishatlanta
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookishatl