Sustainability
within our
shop
We have always strived to be as sustainable as possible in a great many aspects of our business and community.
The Booksellers Association have a new Green Bookselling Manifesto which we are adhering to and have done for last 7 years.
Many points of reducing waste and lowering our carbon footprint are on our agenda and we are working hard to make this better each year.
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We applied for a grant from the BA to make our business more sustainable, with this grant we purchased an electric bike for which I save roughly 150 miles a month of driving!
What we achieved in 2023
It's difficult to pick out key achievements when really you're just happy that your shop is still opening it's doors everyday. That in itself is a huge achievement in the current climate of the British High Street.
Here we are, however many years it is after Covid now, and we're doing really well. Liznojan isn't just some hobby of ours, it's a thriving business built on hard work and determination. It's built on knowing our community, working with others within the community and being business savvy. Before embarking on opening our own shop, we didn't know anything about bookselling! Shocker, I know. But, what we did know was retail in our town. We knew what our town needed and went from there. Now we have a business which supports multiple families.
Author Events
Huge thanks to Tara and Nigel at Ashley Court who have worked with us on so many occasions over 2023.
We managed to pin down two pretty big authors this year; Robin Ince and Raynor Winn. Both sell out talks and what wonderful events they were.
Ashley Court also hosted Sophie Pierce, Marc Hamer, Kate Strasdin, Sophie Pavelle, Anita Roy and Pippa Marland. We love the events at Ashley Court and hope to host more again in 2024. Check out our events page soon.
We also hosted our own events at the bookshop. We had a night of crime with Holly Watt and Lucy V. Hay. Psychotherapy for children talk with owner of CIC Bounce. Alex T. Smith popped by to sign a huge stack of Children's Christmas books. Let's also talk about Vanessa De Haan who launched her latest book with us, A Time to Live. Vanessa has always been a supporter of us, and us of her. It was a special launch with friends, family and Harper Collins supplying the bubbly!
M.G. Leonard visited us for a very special book signing where we had some fantastic outfits from some very dedicated fans!
Working with schools.
A huge thank you to Blundell's senior school teachers for ordering lots of books from us over 2023. It makes a big difference to us, so thank you.
Also, to Sampford Peverell school for consistently ordering books for their library and teacher's subjects over the course of 2023. We can compete with prices from other wholesalers and make the process as smooth as possible. We look forward to working with other schools over 2024.
I was lucky enough to be a judge for the Indie Book Awards, children's category. I was blown away by some of the fantastic books for children.
Obviously a big feat in 2023 was that we were shortlisted for Independent Bookshop of the Year in the South West. What an honor and reassurance to us that we are indeed a real bookshop!! I got to chat on BBC Radio Devon multiple times from this and I do love to ramble on the radio.
We turned our bookshop into a catwalk for the night, all to support local fashion designer Eve Copper. The community really supported Eve and her sustainable fashion, usually seen worn on Jackie or myself.
Our Durin Room therapists have grown in ranks and success. The room is booked out regularly and they have a great customer base. We loved it when they had an open day and customers could try a quick hand massage, reflexology, reiki and more.
We opened on Thursday evenings for Cosy Evenings. A quiet time to read with a cuppa. It's been asked to be repeated so watch this space...and keep asking us!
Our new Non-Fiction Bookclub has been a success and is now a year old! We have read some incredibly poignant books and usually discuss each book for nearly 2 hours afterwards! Our fiction bookclub continues to be popular and has a waiting list.
We sadly lost some friends and customers to cancer and mental health in 2023. We honor Bev Wheatly, fellow Gold Street shop owner, by stocking her children's book. It was a moment to remember when she had her final farewell down Gold Street and the entire town fell quiet while we all threw white flowers over her hearse. We also want to include Becky Brown, we miss you, and Adrian who had been our window cleaner and friend for 7 years.
Please, always talk to us if you need to.
