We recently connected with Charlie Hunts and have shared our conversation below.

Charlie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

There are more than 2,800 brick-and-mortar bookstores in the country, and last year we became the 8th LGBTQ bookstore and the only one on the West Coast. “Third spaces” like this are so critical at a time when we’re seeing organized attempts to eradicate queerness from public life. The American Library Association is tracking record book bans and nearly half of the 4,240 books targeted were queer. This year more than 500 bills were introduced in states across the U.S., shadowing a prior record. Our little bookstore aims to provide community connection and the chance to see yourself represented on the page.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I didn’t have a conventional path to bookselling. I began my career as a Harley-Davidson mechanic, but after a motorcycle accident left me bedbound for a year, I fell in love with reading. After going back to college, working in publishing, marketing, and later getting my MBA, it felt like the right time to return to literature.

We offer books in every genre you would see in a conventional bookstore (mystery, romance, cookbooks, poetry, etc.) all by queer authors and/or have queer main characters. We also sell stickers, art prints, shirts and more by queer makers. Our store hosts events from author talks to shi*tty craft night to D&D 101 – even a bisexual comedy show!

Our store is Palm Springs-esque, complete with a mural of a bear reading in a Hawaiian shirt to greet customers and an airy white and pink flooded interior. Even the bathroom is covered in flamingos, a swan faucet, and a feather chandelier! Upstairs, there are reading nooks, tables to work from, and a bookable meeting room that can host anything from book clubs to workshops.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

One of the most proud moments for me so far is creating a Queer Book Fair. We had vendors, a DJ, prizes like slap bracelets and tiny erasers, plus author meet and greets. I had never put together an event of that size or with vendor booths before; I just wanted to do something for Pride Month that only we could do. I had so many amazing people help with advice, organizing, outreach, and grunt work. That day was truly a community creation. Even though it poured rain, we were able to create revenue for local authors and other small businesses.

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

We don’t take ourselves seriously on social media. Of course we share book recommendations and event news, but we also make memes and share selfies people take in our bathroom. To me, we’re just speaking the same language as our customers. Irreverence and silliness is a great bonus to running a queer business – we get to do things others businesses can’t.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://charliesqueerbooks.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/charliesqueerbooks
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/charlie-s-queer-books-seattle
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@charliesqueerbooks