Around Indies

Queens Bookshop Reaches Fundraising Goal

Former Barnes & Noble staff members Vina Castillo, Natalie Noboa, and Holly Nikodem have reached their Kickstarter fundraising goal of $70,000 to open The Queens Bookshop in Queens, a borough of New York City with more than two million people and only one general bookstore selling new books.

On Wednesday, June 22, with 12 hours left to go in their campaign, the trio had raised $70,815 from 807 backers. According to their Kickstarter page, the money will be used to purchase inventory and for essentials such as a point of sale system and publicity costs.

The initiative to bring another bookstore to the borough had received a lot of positive press over the last three months, including coverage by local TV channels NY1 and WCBS, local newspapers like the Queens Tribune, as well as the Huffington Post and amNY.

Bethany Beach Books Celebrates 25th Anniversary

To commemorate a quarter-century near the beach and boardwalk in Bethany Beach, Delaware, Bethany Beach Books will be offering 25 percent off its 25 most popular books for 25 days, store owner Jackie Burns told Delmarva Now.

Though its beach location attracts many tourists, Bethany Beach Books is firmly focused on meeting the needs of the area’s yearlong residents, the newspaper said, and has become known for its community involvement through book clubs, story times, a holiday book drive for local charities, and other outreach efforts.

The store also offers a consignment program for local authors, as well as the Book Drop, a subscription-based service, which provides a title a month to customers from 48 states and 15 different countries.

Moon Palace Books Expanding

Moon Palace Books, which was recently featured in BTW’s What’s in a Name? series, is expanding.

On the store’s Facebook page, owners Angela and Jamie Schwesnedl said they were busy painting and setting up bookcases and shelves, so that later this summer Moon Palace can move “from the long, narrow space at the back of the Wonderland Park building that we’ve been in for almost four years and open in the front of the building.”

The new location will provide almost twice as much space for the bookstore, which will also be extending its hours. “We’re thrilled to be able to offer a bigger selection of books, host more events, and give everyone more opportunity to see and visit their neighborhood bookstore in South Minneapolis,” the Schwesnedls said.