A Staffordshire author has swapped the corporate publishing world for the high street after opening her own independent bookshop.
Fiction and Fairy Lights, owned and run by novelist Kim Nash, has opened on Market Street in Hednesford, offering a curated range of commercial fiction, pre-loved titles, gifts and refreshments.
Kim, who is the author of 11 published novels with her 12th due out on 1 April, took over an established bookshop before relocating it to larger premises further down the road, refurbishing and rebranding the business.
The venture marks a new chapter for Kim, who recently stepped away from a 13-year career in publicity, social media and author relations at publisher Bookouture/Hachette to write full-time.
She said: “As a little girl, I had three dreams. The first was to be an author. The second was to work for a book publisher because I thought it meant that you got to sit and read books all day long, and my third dream was to own a bookshop.
“While working my notice, I did a volunteer day in my local bookshop, where I’ve helped with many past author events. The owner and I chatted, and I said I’ve always wanted a bookshop, and she said, ‘well why don’t you buy mine?’.
“Eventually, after much soul-searching and dithering on my part, I listened to a podcast where the interviewer said the magical words ‘if not now, when?’ It really resonated with me. So, I took a deep breath and decided to go for it.”
Described by customers as ‘cosy, warm and inviting’, the shop features sparkly paint and fairy lights, alongside shelves of books, stationery and book-themed gifts. It also offers drinks, cake, Blind Date With A Book packages and a pre-loved range, with an ordering service for titles not in stock.
Kim said: “I believe my work as both a novelist and for a publisher, and also from being a voracious reader and being a book blogger in the past, helps me to know the commercial market and what readers and book lovers are reading. This in turn means that I can stock – hopefully – the right books in my shop.
“People seem to want the escapism of physical books and shutting the world outside. I’m quite sure that people are fed up of phones and computers and iPads, and being device free for an hour or two is actually doing people the world of good. It’s good to switch off and reading allows this to happen.”
Kim hopes to use her industry contacts to bring well-known authors to Staffordshire as part of a planned events programme.
“I’m hoping that the author contacts that I’ve made over the years will also encourage well-known authors to come and spend some time in Staffordshire to talk about their books and their writing journeys. This is an area that I’m particularly interested in developing as this is what I love doing.
“It’s been lovely to see lots of parents, grandparents and carers bringing in children to choose a book. There’s pure magic in watching a child’s face light up when they find a book they like the look of – adults too for that matter – and we’re always up for a bit of book banter in the shop.”
Fiction and Fairy Lights is open Wednesday to Saturday from 9.30am to 4.30pm and Sunday from 10am to 1.30pm.
