Around Indies

Storybook Shoppe Changes Hands

Nancy Beautre, owner of The Storybook Shoppe in Bluffton, South Carolina, has retired after seven years at the helm of the children’s bookstore, which opened in 2009, the Island Packet reported. Beautre plans to retire to Asheville, North Carolina.

Sally Sue Lavigne, a resident of nearby Beaufort, took over the store beginning January 23. An avid reader, Lavigne was a frequent customer at the bookstore when she had young children, she told the newspaper.

The store is in an ideal location and has a loyal customer base, noted Lavigne, and its staff is particularly skilled. “We know the books,” she said. “We can give recommendations. We are people who love books and who read children’s books.”

In terms of changes to the store, Lavigne plans to increase the shop’s social media presence, initiate a rewards program, expand the store’s service discounts, and add to inventory based on customer feedback.

Misty Valley Books’ “New Voices” Program Highlights Aspiring Authors

For more than two decades, Misty Valley Books in Chester, Vermont, has showcased up and coming writers as part of the store’s “New Voices” public literary program, and in recent years, many have gone on to become bestselling authors, VTDigger.org reported.

The New Voices program launched in 1997 with Dennis Lehane’s novel A Drink Before the War. Since the program’s start, more than 100 authors have been featured early on in their careers, including Gregory Maguire, Colum McCann, Arthur Golden, and Jennifer Egan.

Bill and Lynne Reed, who purchased the store in 2001, discover these authors at industry events such as BookExpo America and the New England Independent Booksellers Association’s fall trade show.

This year’s five New Voices authors are John Bragg, Ron Childress, C.W. Huntington Jr., Ed Tarkington, and Jennifer Tseng. On Saturday, January 30, the authors will discuss their work at an offsite, ticketed event in Chester. Readers can join the authors for cross-country skiing or snowshoeing before the event and for dinner and drinks following.

Now in its 22nd year, this event is particularly important to the Reeds as they look forward to retirement. “Ideally we’d like the store to continue being a strong and vibrant part of the community,” said Bill Reed. “We keep hearing from former New Voices that the weekend was a significant moment in their early careers and that the other authors they met here have become and remained close friends. It’s an institution that deserves to continue.”