Looking at the (near) future of Uncharted Books
So it looks like we're all going to be doing this for a while...
Hello, friends. By now we’ve learned that in the absolute best case scenario, we’re all sheltering in place for another month. By most projections, we’re looking at closer to 3-4 more months. Which means… a lot of different things to a lot of different people, tbh. But for our bookstore, specifically, it means that functioning digitally is not a temporary inconvenience but the stark reality for the foreseeable future.
As a bookstore which has staked its reputation as an interesting, physical place to shop with a cozy atmosphere and knowledgeable, opinionated employees, this puts us in something of a pickle. Over the years, we’ve tried to position ourselves in direct opposition to soulless, corporate online booksellers, and that isn’t going to change. (Believe me, when we sell out you’re going to hear all about it) Our values as a community-focused independent bookstore remains as strong as ever. But now we need to expand our idea of “community” to all you lovely new friends out here in cyberspace. Hello, space cadets!
If our store or our staff (Ramona counts!) has touched your heart over the years, this is where we really and truly ask for your patience and support. If you have already purchased a subscription to this newsletter, then thank you! That is an enormous help. If you’ve signed up for the free newsletters, then we thank you as well! But today I want to tell you about some other ways you can participate if you have some disposable income and you’ve been picking up the vibes we’ve been throwing down.
For starters, we’re launching a new digital storefront to bring all of our online services to one central place. From this new storefront, you can…
Purchase curated “mystery bags” of books
Browse our rare book collection
Instantly order new copies of our staff picks and bestsellers
Place an order for nearly any new book
Buy merch, including shirts, mugs, stickers, and tote bags (most of which is Ramona-themed!)
Subscribe to this very Substack blog
Buy digital gift cards, usable online or in-store once we reopen
That’s so many things! It’s almost like we’re a real store! In the near future, we’ll also be adding Rachel’s handmade candles, virtual shopping sessions, and several other new ideas we’ve been chewing on.
There’s a good chance that we’ll be trying to sustain ourselves mostly through new and rare book orders in the near future, so expect some more refining of our offerings in those departments. If you’re curious about what you can purchase that puts the most money directly into our pockets, that would be the rare books and the mystery bags. But any little bit helps!
If you have ideas for other services we could offer, suggestions on improvements we could make to our current offerings, or represent another indie business who would like to partner up, send an email to contact@unchartedbooks.com and we’ll chat!
We understand that this quarantine is affecting everyone differently, and we understand that not all of our fans are in a position to spend money right now. We totally understand, and we know that you’re hustling, and we hope that you’ll forgive a bit of hustling on our end. If you’d like to help us out without spending a dime, consider making a post about us on your social media and linking to our digital storefront or blog!
To the actual front line heroes in the service and medical fields who have to work outside their homes in this environment, we would like to offer paid subscriptions to this newsletter on the house. If that sounds like you, and you would like to receive the Too Hot for TV nonsense that our paying subscribers get every day, send me an email at contact@unchartedbooks.com and I’ll hook you up.
Lastly, I want to thank you all once more for your patience and support, even if you’ve never spent a dime with us before. We hate being marketed to. We hate it the very most. If you’ve hung out in our store, you know that we don’t hard-sell, we don’t push, we try to give our customers space to do their thing. Without the ability to have a brick and mortar storefront, we frankly feel hamstrung, suddenly stuck in a position where we must rely on our weaknesses instead of our strengths. This new (and hopefully temporary) digital direction is going to take some refinement on our part, and if we’re tipping a bit too far into over-marketing right now, please know that we do appreciate you bearing with us as we recalibrate for a new reality.
Thanks for sticking this out with us, friends. Chat with us on social media if you’re bored or have questions, and please, please consider posting about us and helping us get the word out about our online services. We’ll make it to the other side together!
Much love, from Tanner, Mattie, and Ramona