On the bubbles we carve out for ourselves, plus Most Positive Update

1. A conversation at the front desk

2. This bookstore LIVES! An update, all good news!

3. Design contest--our window needs vinyl!

4. For the long run--we have a Patreon

5. Cool event with Canada Reads author Loghan Paylor

Yesterday a young Australian lesbian popped into the shop on her way to Whistler, and expressed her delight at what seemed to her a wealth of queer spaces she had encountered on her visit. '[Australians] think we're so modern and so forward, but I come here and I see we have nothing like this,' she said.

(Richard Beech Photography/Science Photo Library)

While we chatted, I hopped on the Googles and Everywhere Is Queer and searched Australia's major cities. T explained that there's a strong perception in Australia that small businesses just can't compete with big ones, so there aren't queer bookstores or many queer clubs. I did find one very gay bookstore, Hares and Hyenas in Melbourne, but nothing in Sydney or Brisbane. But overall, while there are queer-owned businesses, my search backed up T's perception of a real lack of dedicated queer third spaces.

I told T that spaces like these are bubbles we carve out for ourselves. We hold up the walls and we have to recognize that the bubbles are fragile. The legislative and cultural horrors of the US, and even recent events in parts of Canada, have shown that no matter how much progress we think we have made in achieving basic human rights, they can be erased wherever the political will exists. That this place has existed precariously for three years, that our neighbours Little Sisters have existed for 40 years (paving the way for us, do not doubt it), that Glad Day and Gay's the Word have existed for decades, is because people have held them up from within and tried to shield them from without. The local climate in Vancouver is peaceful, largely accepting, generous, but no place is perfect and as one of my favourite poets says, 'The darkness around us is deep.'

My last words to T as she left were to encourage her to think about opening the space she needs to see, or finding community to create one with. I hope she does it, or puts a bee in the ear of someone who will. Let there be bubbles.

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That said, I am really writing this post to let you all know that thanks in large part to you, this bubble persists. Still fragile, and like all such bubbles entirely dependent on you. But still here.

Our Gofundme stalled out (like, y'all have budgets and needs too) but it absolutely did get us through a very bad moment, thank you.

And then, and then! Because of the supporters who bought books in February, our sales showed an upswing that allowed us to qualify two months sooner than expected for renewed financing from the better of our two commercial lenders. YAY! 

And a substantial cash gift from a fan is dedicated to restocking key sections. Yesterday we got a wee delivery of queer romances and kids' books and a few other badly needed titles...more next week! I told them I might name a new rolly shelf after them, so watch for that.

Thank you, always.  I've ordered a box of thank-you notes for the folks I know by name, and when Meesh is able they'll share a note via the Gofundme. (They're off tending to their own life's complexities for a minute, so kindly bear with.)

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What about that Gofundme, and its stretch goals? Well, now that we know we are carrying on for the next little while, it's time to look at how our environs are changing and what we should do. 

One of the most frequently suggested updates for the shop is exterior signage. It's expensive--$5k or northwards, including permit and safe installation--so doing without was a deliberate choice at a time when we knew foot traffic would be uncertain. (I underestimated how uncertain, and for how long, boy HOWDY.) Hanging a sign that few people would see didn't seem like the best use of limited cash.

But now I can look across the street and see a finished building, soon to be occupied. I can open the door and hear just ordinary noise. The windows aren't shaking from concrete pumps and concrete saws. I'm hoping, hoping, to be discovered now that it's just more possible. 

So we'll leave the GFM up through March. If you are one of the folks who has raised the issue of signage, the GFM is specifically for that. If it raises some but not enough, I'll look at revising the sign plan to something that fits that budget. If it's not even close, I'll direct what is gathered to events and programming in the shop (there will be some paid opportunities coming up, y'all, so if you have something queer and connecting that you want to create, watch for the application on our Insta).

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Design Contest! The front window also needs a sign, and decal-type signage is pretty affordable, so we're inviting the community to contribute ideas for a sign that will grace our front window for one year. The selected artist will get $150, not a lot, but what we can swing, and there will be free books for the longlisted artists. Details on our Instagram.

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If you'd like to support us over the long term but don't need a ton of books right now--join our Patreon! This resource is focused on funding events in the shop, which bring people in (good for us!) and provide opportunities for writers and artists to connect with community and vice-versa (good for them!). Paid members get a modest discount and one tier even offers you an actual book! We're basing offers of paid opportunities on the funding that comes through the Patreon and now that we have 35 paid members, that's a more solid thing. Think what we could do with 50 members, or 100! 

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Last--next Saturday we are SUPER excited to welcome back Loghan Paylor, the author of CBC Canada Reads pick The Cure for Drowning! Join us on 7 March, 1-4pm (come and go as you please) for a fundraiser for QMUNITY! This event is Pay-What-You-Can but as the bookstore is no longer in immediate crisis, all funds raised will be donated to QMUNITY because so many of our local folk have benefited from their good work.

We'll have a community art project, games, and bookish chat with this marvellous BC writer. Loghan regularly joins us to create cozy conversation space in the shop and this will be no exception. Always a good time, and they bring delicious homemade baked treats as well!

What's with that Gofundme? OMG, are you okay? How can I help?

Hello friends!

Thank you so much for all your interest and care these last few weeks. Over 160 of you have backed the Gofundme started on our behalf by Meesh, Friend of the Bookstore--including folks we've never met as well as cherished regular visitors. Over 20 of you have joined our Patreon. Lots of you have dropped in to buy books, or sent your friends to us, trusting that they would like it here. CBC Radio sent Gurpreet Kambo to talk to Meesh, me, and Rev. Cat Webb (CLICK TO LISTEN)! Almost 60 of you attended Queer Lust Stories 2 on Saturday evening! The outpouring has been encouraging and inspiring...just lovely. Thank you again and again. You are the best people to be on this road with.

I'm here to share

• what happened
• what's been accomplished
• what still needs to be done
• what we're doing about it
• what you can do to help
• what's next

I'm aiming for a balance between 'could be more detailed' and 'too long; didn't read,' guided by the most frequently asked questions folks have brought to me. If you read this and have more questions, please do shoot me an email and I'll do my best to answer. 

What happened?

In short, October happened, but then November behaved just like it and December was not enough to undo that damage.

We've now had three fall and winter seasons in this space. Your Data-Driven Bookseller has pored over the records. I expected October to be slow, because every October is slow, and that's true for lots of shops in lots of places.

What I expected: October to be down from September, and little to no growth in November and December compared to the previous year.
What I got: a deeper-than-expected dip in October, a flat November, and a significantly lower December than 2024. Between rainy weather, dreadful world news, and an increase in noise and activity from the construction site across the street, weekday visitor numbers dropped to around 5 a day. We had our first-ever $0 day in November.

Since I had purchased stock and structured major bills based on the anticipated zero-growth scenario, this was a problem. Our landlord kindly allowed additional time to pay rent while I focused on keeping the books moving and trying to increase sales, but the results were not as good as I hoped.

Finally, our landlord sent a set of deadlines for catching up the arrears. A couple of cherished regulars, who count on this space as part of their social lives, were on hand when I received that email. They urged me to start a Gofundme. I was reluctant to do that type of donation-based fundraising (the idea here is to exchange books for money) but Meesh was sure it would be the best short-term step, and they were right.

What has been accomplished?

The Gofundme quickly raised enough to meet the first deadlines at the end of January/beginning of February.

What still needs to be done?

We need to pay the remaining arrears by the end of February, while also paying our bills and upcoming rent.

We need a further $10k by 2/28. We need a total of $15k by mid-March, after costs. If we can gather in $10k through the Gofundme and other fundraisers, and $10k in bookstore sales--or some similar combination of the two--we are caught up. This includes paying an electrician to deal with a light fixture that failed on Sunday. Unfortunately, this one is not readily DIY (I would not have chosen these fixtures because they're not user-serviceable). So we are having to add that cost to the heap. Estimate TBA, sigh. 

Beyond these immediate needs, we do have stretch goals we'd like to fundraise for, and we must stay caught up until a set of things happen in April. Keep reading for more info!

What are we doing about it?

Meesh is tending the Gofundme, and we are hosting in-store fundraisers, and of course we will sell you books!

Join us for these art fundraisers, organized on our behalf by local artists and authors:

SATURDAY. 2/21, 3-5PM: The Squirrel Interleaf Postal Arrangement is a playable installation by Jackson Tegu, all about writing sweet notes to strangers! $25/PWYC

Saturday, 3/7, 2-4PM: Community Art Fundraiser with Author Loghan Paylor and Friends! Join Canada Reads shortlisted author Loghan Paylor and guests (TBA) for a community art project that will be displayed in the shop. $25/PWYC

What can you do to help?

There's a whole list!

• Buy books (and stickers and things)
• Back our Gofundme (for short-term stabilization)
• Join our Patreon (for long-term support)
• Attend our events, especially the fun fundraisers above
• Share our socials posts (don't just like them, share them--your shares actually help us sell more books)
• Tell folks about us (bring your friends, share your book hauls on your socials, create your birthday wishlist on our website)

What's next? 

Are things going to get better? What are we doing to move forward?

These are the real questions. Yes, I believe things are going to get better. 

The construction that has plagued us with noise and traffic disturbances appears to be nearly done. This is what we've been waiting for, the reason we picked this location and have worked to hold on through all the difficulties. I did underestimate how long and how badly the process would affect us. But we're in the home stretch. This summer and fall, we will find out what the shop and the neighbourhood can really do!

As recently as two weeks ago, workers across the street on the ACE building site were cutting concrete--you could hear them in the background of our CBC interview! However, that has ceased and the shop is finally peaceful on weekdays. The building appears to be done except for appliance installation and some interior finishes. While the commercial spaces on the ground floor are not leased, many of the condos above have been sold. Move-in is set for April. That's potentially 61 new households of neighbours, in addition to the tenants of the NOLO building that was completed last year. 

Further, in just the few days since the exterior work was completed, the shop has received first-time visits from longtime area residents who didn't know we were here, because they hadn't been walking on this block! I knew that was happening but these folks confirm it when they walk in and ask with puzzled expressions how long we've been here. Then they nod ruefully and say, I just live a few blocks away but I haven't come over here in a while. Welcome back, friends.

(This photo taken at 1:30pm today gives an idea of what weekdays have been looking like for the last several months--where is everybody? Come find us, beauties!)

Your shares and outreach have also made a huge difference to us. Again, they've brought us an influx of first-time visitors who just had no idea we were here. Lots of these folks are members of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community we seek to serve. Some had heard of us before, and meant to visit sooner, but some are just learning about us, because you told them. Thank you!

As for the holiday budget plan that contributed to landing us in this pickle--I learn every year and will keep refining how I buy. It's challenging to walk the line between understocking and overspending, and predictions are always guesses, but I do try to make them educated guesses. And I'll be watching to see if we actually do get the increased foot traffic we hope for.

Some other nitty-gritty improvements expected this spring: 

• we will retire one of our commercial loans by the end of April. The terms and interest on this particular loan are pretty beastly, so it has been throttling cash flow. Our daily existence will cost less!
• the other piece of commercial financing we carry will become renewable in April. It offers decent terms and will provide a cash boost we like to use to build up fresh stock for Pride season!
• Indie Bookstore Day, the last Saturday in April, has shown itself to be the beginning of the lively season--one of the busiest days of the year--so early spring is kind of a countdown to that. Here's a look at last year during the bookstore crawl organized by Romancing the Data.

Stretch goals for fundraising:

• the long-deferred signage for the front of the building! ($5-7k) When there was little foot traffic, this didn't make the best financial sense with our tiny budget. Now that there's a real chance folks will be out on the street to see a sign, it's time to get one! The cost estimate includes the required City permit and an electrician for part of the installation. An awning would be nice but is likely to be more like $8k.
• Signage for the actual front window. ($250)
• Additional/decorative lighting. ($2-3k)
• funding a part-time position for the summer. ($6k) Folks want to work here and building the shop's internal community can be a key part of building community around us. 
• adding a BookManager station in the back room. ($3k) This will let us move receiving and used book processing away from the overloaded front desk.

SO THERE! That's the news. I hope this helps everyone understand what's up and decide how best to participate in keeping this little bookstore moving forward. Thank you again and every moment. 

--Nena

That was lovely. Thank you. Now back to our regularly scheduled....

Indie Bookstore Day 2025–how good was that?

April’s driving force was the run-up to Indie Bookstore Day last Saturday, and what a beauty it was. Our queerly awesome author and maker guests had an amazing time meeting over 100 of you marvellous people. Our pop-up guest, romance specialist Perfect Match Bookshop, got to start dozens of new relationships. Folks showed up expecting the best of us and left with books, talking of how happy they were. Our new layout seems to have met the challenge of accommodating more table guests and tons of browsers, hurray! 

Also, congratulations to the winners of our Indie Day raffle for prizes that included gift cards, a copy of My Shelfie from our friends at Games on the Drive, and even a book a month for a whole year! All have been notified and one person has already used their gift card—it’s always so cool to see what people choose, you know?

Don’t forget, your book purchases on Indie Day are your entries into the Contest for Booklovers, a nationwide drawing for one of five gift cards to your favourite indie! Click here to register—entries close on 2 May so you’ll want to get that done. If you need a copy of your receipt, we can help if you provided your name at time of purchase.

Filling this bookstore fills my heart with hope for its future. Thank you.

The other side of the coin

We are not making rent. Unfortunately, our beautiful Indie Day could not make up for weeks of slow sales, and our current special on used books has not made a notable difference. In the last three days, sadly, we’ve had only about 15 visitors. This, even with a smokin' Buy-1 Get-1 deal on used books! Overall, April is down about 25% from March. This, combined with smaller accumulated shortfalls from January and February, means we are once again up against it. 

I think everyone is feeling beat up by the uncertainty emanating from the US, and inflation on necessities…two of our folk shared that they’ve been laid off due to the Trump’s economic misbehaviour. It's going to harm entire communities as well as individual members. For us as a small shop focusing on queer community and this neighbourhood, it does highlight that a place like this needs lots more friends, if only to share more widely the effort of keeping it standing.

Even in our slowest times, almost every day we have someone talk about how necessary they feel we are, how much they cherish the experience of being here. It happened again on Monday—a day when only six people crossed our threshold—the browser who said as they were checking out, ‘I needed this. Thank you.’ People find so much more than books here. So we keep trying to get it on its little financial feet, but that is simply going to need a lot more people showing up every day.

What the future holds

• We are still paying on the back rent from last year. The last $9800 will come due at the end of June. 
• Our landlords recently told us they are rescheduling our triple net billing to align with the calendar year, for an additional $1200 they want paid by that same time. Yes, they can do that. (Mercifully, our rent will only go up $250 starting in July, so not as hard a blow as last year.)
• We will get a bill for any excess usage on our Equal Pay hydro plan (last year it was $1200 so we switched to a higher monthly payment to prevent at least some of that in future). 
• Our phone and internet contract is up for renewal at the same time, and will not get cheaper. 
• Some taxes come due at the end of June.

What this means: in the next 8 weeks, we have to make our regular baseline of about $26,000 (rent, utilities, books and merch sold, current loan payments). We also have to sell enough books to pay off that $11,000 in back rent and triple net by the end of the lease year, plus an estimated $1000 in additional utilities, plus about $2000 in taxes. And we have to pay for the books sold to cover those expenses. If most of those books are new (almost all the queer books we sell are new because hardly anyone actually lets go of queer books) they will cost us $20,000.

That’s $60,000 in two months. 

That's 1818 average purchases ($33). Sounds like a lot, right? It breaks down to 30 people per day. Someone can buy a $5 sticker and someone else can fill a tote with $60 in books, but at our average sale of $33, that's how many times we have to sell books each day, to make it into our next year. 

However we do the math—in April we have averaged only 9 such sales per day. So that’s a big hill to climb. We have to more than triple our average daily sales for the next two months. It's a huge number. Breaking it down into a number of people per day, rather than looking at it as a giant lump sum, makes it seem more doable. Seeing how many folks visited on Saturday also fuels that hope.

Can we do it? I don’t know. I do know that if we do, it will be thanks to you.

So. Keep telling your friends about us. Come to some of the amazing events we have scheduled for May. Support both us and the authors when you buy their books! Choose from some of the amazing books coming out in May that are available quickly from our preferred local warehouse! Invite your friends to meet you here, especially if they're among the folks who tell us they've been meaning to visit but haven't found the time. People showing up, every day, is the only way places like this keep existing. 

Affairs of State, the State of the Shop, some cool events, and more

AFFAIRS OF STATE: The latest on tariffs 

In a departure from a long tradition of honouring books as powerful vehicles of cultural sharing to be traded freely, Government is now looking at adding books to the list of imports from the US that will be subject to retaliatory tariffs. As you can imagine, we're concerned.

Why we're worried
Summed up by the Canadian Independent Booksellers' Association (CIBA) in its statement, "the proposed 25% tariff would have devastating consequences for Canadian readers, our businesses and our cultural landscape: 

1. Tariffs on Canadian books: The majority of books sold in Canadian bookstores, including books by Canadian authors, are published by multinational publishers whose Canadian divisions rely on U.S. printers and warehouses for distribution. This onerous tariff therefore would unfairly apply to books not only from U.S. authors but many Canadian and international authors. 
2. Economic Harm: Canadian bookstores serve as cultural hubs in our communities and all operate on thin margins. Unlike interchangeable consumer goods we know that readers will not likely substitute a book arriving via the U.S. for a Canadian printed and warehoused book. At this time there is nowhere near the capacity in Canada to handle all of our printing and warehousing. This tariff threatens the survival of bookstores and the livelihoods of thousands of Canadians. 
3. Access to Knowledge: Books are fundamental tools for education, research, and intellectual development. This tariff would create an unnecessary barrier to information and learning for all Canadians. 
4. Cultural impoverishment: By making books less affordable, we risk limiting Canadians’ exposure to diverse perspectives, stories, and ideas that foster empathy and broaden worldviews. 
5. Affordability Crisis: At a time when many Canadians are struggling with rising costs, books represent one of the most accessible and enduring forms of entertainment and enrichment. This tariff would place them out of reach for many families. Consumers will already be asked to absorb the impact of tariffs on books published in the U.S. as the U.S. printers buy their paper from Canada and paper will now carry a U.S. tariff. 

"Furthermore, while Canadian bookstores would bear the brunt of these tariffs, American competitors—such as Amazon—would likely evade them by leveraging their North American fulfillment network and print-on-demand capabilities, further disadvantaging local businesses." (Side note, we fully expect that A is stuffing all their Canadian regional warehouses right now.)

We note that despite all the other tariffs on Canadian products, the US has not targeted books. A tariff would expose Canada's publishers to potential retaliation.

Finally, the impact of the proposed book tariff would fall disproportionately on Canadian booksellers, authors, and publishers, while the US publishing industry would likely be very little affected, which rather misses the point of retaliatory trade barriers.

What are we doing?

We are communicating with other booksellers and publishers, and gathering all the information we can about what we can expect if these tariffs go forward. This week, we will be attending an online meeting with CIBA to get as much clarity as possible. We will communicate with you about how we expect the changes to affect you.

What can you do?
Click here to submit a comment up to 750 words as part of the consultation process.
Email a longer comment to consultations@fin.gc.ca.
Email your MP--here's a directory!

For reference, here are the tariff codes in question: 4902.90.00, 4901.99.00, 4903.00.00, 4905.20.00, 4901.91.00, 4901.10.00.

And try to stick with us bookstores, whatever comes. The only way we get through this is with your support.

THE STATE OF THE SHOP

...is better! Not perfect, still a lot of growing to do, but better. 

This time last year we were bleeding cash as folks were just beginning to find out about us, the slow rainy season kept folks at home, and the construction nearby drove the hardier pedestrians away from our block. Six months ago we were consistently pulling about 30% less than our monthly "nut," the amount needed to pay both cost of goods sold and overhead. But in January and February, which are reliably lousy months for most retailers, we narrowed the gap to 10%! That's a major improvement! 

We still need to see about 2 more people per day, every day, to fully meet current expenses. That nagging 10% shortfall will pile up if we don't contain it. And of course, any tariffs will probably mean needing to see more people each day, and our rent will go up in July.  We still are on precarious ground, and far from being able to buy the books or hire the people we'd like to bring in. Quaking in our boots is just our normal, around here. But to have both January and February go so much better than most of last year is really encouraging, and it wouldn't have been possible without you lovely beings and all the new friends you have sent our way.

EVENTS IN YOUR BOOKSTORE (Masks required)

Sunday, 23 March, 3-6pm: Queer Fibre & Needle Crafters

Chill, casual drop-in time to sit with other LGBTQ2SIA+ folk and work on your projects, admire each other's creations, swap stories, sip tea, whatever. It's unprogrammed and very mellow.

Monday, 31 March, 5:30-7:30pm: All-Trans Silent Reading Time

On Trans Day of Visibility, we invite Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, Agender, 2-Spirit, and otherwise gender-nonconforming folks who are looking for a way to be visible in a quiet setting to take over the bookstore. Comfy chairs await! Cis folks, we love you and you are welcome to attend as the guest of a trans guest. 

Wednesday, 2 April, 5:30pm: Métis poet, scholar, and teacher Lorri Neilsen Glenn presents The Old Moon In Her Arms 

A powerful, lyrical collection of essays from the award-winning author of Following the River, exploring the pivotal moments in her life, and how art and nature have shaped her.Like both memory and the moon, what's written here aims to shed what light it can, bringing it home to now. How does a woman compose a life? The Old Moon in Her Arms is a hybrid book of fragments, pivotal moments and images in the phases of a woman's life, turning points rendered in Lorri Neilsen Glenn's lyrical prose. Neilsen Glenn's artistry weaves personal history, philosophy, pop culture, and contemporary thought to examine moments and people who've inhabited her life. "Over time and circumstance," she says, "haven't we all been various?" Guiding her exploration are the Cree concept of wahkohtowin, the kinship in all of creation, and the elliptical path of the moon. This hybrid collection of singular moments celebrates connection, wonder and endless curiosity.

Saturday, 5 April, 11-2pm: Distro Disco Spring Donation Drive & Book Fair!

We'll host the lovely folks from DD as they gather in survival supplies for folks living outside in our area. We're setting aside 10% of our sales from the day for them, as well! Please click here for a list of items particularly needed.

Tuesday, 15 April, 7-8:30pm: Matsui de Roo hosts Unspeakable Grief for Queer, Trans, Nonbinary, and Two-Spirit Support Workers 
NOTE: Registration is required for this event. The bookstore will be closed to the public for this event, which offers space for confidential conversations. Click here to register via the facilitator's website.
As healthcare, frontline, or other support workers, it's not uncommon for us to experience the death of a client, colleague, or community member—but it can often feel like we have nowhere to turn. Our work environments aren’t typically built to support these types of losses. Client confidentiality carries beyond death, and workplace norms may make it hard to open up about our emotions. And we may be active in small communities, where our personal and professional lives overlap. But it’s important to allow ourselves space to grieve. This free, in-person grief circle will be a facilitated space where you will be encouraged to acknowledge your feelings, and participate in a healing ritual together.

Friday, 25 April, 6pm: the little gallery presents Disabled & Disorderly Art Opening and Open Mic Poetry
Featuring art by Adishi Gupta, Goldbard, Bug Cru, and Grae Salisbury! Poetry mic is open to all experience levels and folks are invited to share up to 3 poems/10 minutes of work.

Monday, 21 April, 7-9pm: Non-monogamy Discussion Group

A peer-to-peer discussion group facilitated by Maddi & RJ.  New topics every month! For more details or to contact the facilitators, visit Non-monogamy Discussion Group Vancouver on Facebook.

Saturday, 26 April: Canadian Independent Bookstore Day!

It's the return of the annual celebration of bookstores and their place in the fabric of our communities! Follow our socials for updates on a nationwide contest, plus local opportunities to win fun things, pick up schweet swag, and indulge your love of books and bookstores. Be sure to visit that day to meet our author and maker guests. And if you're planning a bookstore crawl or other bookish activity, let us know so we can make you welcome with special offers. 

Sunday, 27 April, 3pm: ONLINE LAUNCH! Estlin McPhee presents In Your Nature with guests Leah Horlick and River Halen

Poems that show us a world in which precedent for gender transition is everywhere if you know how to look.
"I delete my history / badly," writes Estlin McPhee in this searing, witty, lyrical, and elegiac debut collection of poems about intersections of trans identity, magic, myth, family, and religion. The line refers at once to a young person's browser data that reveals an interest in gender transition; an adult's efforts to reconcile complicated relationships; a culture's campaign to erase queerness and transness from the historical record; and a religion's attempt to pretend that its own particular brand of miraculous transformation is distinct from the kind found in folktales or real life. Populated by transmasculine werewolves, homoerotic Jesuses, adolescent epiphanies, dutiful sisters, boy bands, witches, mothers who speak in tongues, and nonnas who cross the sea, this is a book in which relational and narrative continuity exists, paradoxically, as a series of ruptures with the known.

WOULD YOU LIKE A NEWSLETTER?

We've been looking for ways to share book reviews and other book-geeky things we create, and invite folks like you to earn perks by contributing book reviews. If you're interested in receiving an occasional email with our recommendations, reviews, and a digest of bookish fun, please click here to fill out an interest form. 

UPDATES! The state of the store + a SALE (yes, we still need you! did I mention there's a sale?), the chelonian movements of cross-continent orders, event news, and a shmancy new NEWSLETTER!

Hello, my winter warblers! Feels like a month since I've checked in with you here! Since it has in fact been a month, that stands to reason.

Thank you to all of you who have been bringing your friends and talking us up. This is how any living thing is sustained, by constant feeding. Just last week, an award-winning SF author from the US dropped by with a companion and told me that when she asked her local queer friends about places to visit in the area, everyone talked up this place--and she says she really enjoyed her visit and plans to come back! It was gratifying, for sure, but it also showed us that you are behind us. Thank you. Thank you.

CRISIS AVERTED just in time for the next one
First up, as you may have guessed from our continued existence, we did in fact make our critical goal at the end of December. Thanks to you, we ended the month at almost where we had originally budgeted, paid a chunk of back rent, and made our landlords much happier. On our annual graph, it looks like a December should!

January is behaving like January--retailers expect that things will slow wayyyy down. That's normal. We do still have bills to meet, and dodging that big bullet last month didn't leave us with reserves. And the political situation down south, besides raising all our fears for our siblings there, has added to the economic stress all are feeling, so naturally folk are pulling in their horns. So far we have mostly caught up our bill payments, but we must bring in $12,500 every month from now through July (when the rent and bills will go up again). That's our monthly "nut," no getting around it. We are presently $2500 short and the rent will hit on Monday. We need to make up that shortfall ASAP.

SO--there's a SALE on! BUY 2 GET 1 FREE on all used books
We've been offering this sale all week, with a few little extras in the evenings...but it's been really quiet on the weekdays, and today's cold rain has put an end to foot traffic. So tell your friends, as usual, that there is a deal here for them. If you want to shop online, the promo code RENTPARTY will get you the deal on used books. The site's filters will help you see what's in stock. In-store, we are happy to be flexible and apply the deal to mixed new and used purchases, but the website isn't as smart as we are. And in-store, we have tea to warm your insides while you browse! So if your spirits need lifting, come hang out with us this weekend. We have a lot of good nourishment here for tired souls.

WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO?
If you haven't picked up a Cross & Crows tee, we have sizes M-3X! Specify size in the Instructions box at checkout.
PREORDER, PREORDER, PREORDER! This helps us know what books to prioritize, and make sure to have the books you want here for you as soon as they're available. Click here to check out the amazing queer titles coming out in February. Click here for March!

I'm going to pause the bookstore management stuff for a moment here.

These last few weeks have been hard for so many of us, in so many ways. What's happening in the US, the targeting of our queer and trans siblings, the destruction of efforts to push back against literal centuries of inequality and colonial violence, on top of the long year of barely comprehensible violence unleashed on Palestinians, plus all the things that wear on us closer to home--it is a constant fight. What I want to say is, it is a fight that can be fought. We have done it before. We shouldn't have to do it again, but I believe that we can. I believe in us, I believe in you, I keep this space for us and for you so that you can find what you need to go out and fight it when you have to. If you need to fortify your spirit by sitting in a comfy chair in a space where you are welcomed and wanted and cherished for being who you are, I hope you're finding that here. If you need to fortify your mind with knowledge and wisdom from the history of queer resistance, one resource is this excellent book published by Vancouver's own Arsenal Pulp Press: Our Work Is Everywhere by Syan Rose. It's in stock now. Please come in and take a glance at it, if you haven't read it already. It's just one of the many kinds of medicine for this moment to be found in books.

Has my special order come in yet?Thank you for asking. I've contacted some folks individually but this is a general note. Orders from three of our most distant sources have been very slow to arrive. This was happening before the postal strike, but hasn't gotten better since. One supplier is doing inventory and will only process rush shipments until that's done. One formerly fast source is experiencing a 5- to 7-day lag in processing orders before they even invoice us. At present, some shipments already in transit are flagged by the carriers as delayed. Fortunately, our preferred suppliers, the nearest and fastest, are getting restock of some things that ran out over the holidays, so where possible I am shifting orders to them. Orders already in transit will get here, just not within our original estimates. Thank you for bearing with. NOTE: If you're looking for a speedy turnaround, titles on our website showing arrival in 2-7 days really do show up that quickly, from warehouses right here in the lower mainland, so they are your best bets.

EVENTS at your bookstore

Tuesday, 11 February, 7:00pm: Dr. OmiSoore Dryden presents GOT BLOOD TO GIVE Through storytelling, theorizing and discourse analysis, Dr. OmiSoore Dryden investigates how anti-Black homophobic nation-building policies became enshrined in blood donation. The event will feature a reading, Q&A session, and book signing. Click here to reserve a copy of the book! Dr. OmiSoore H. Dryden (she/her/hers) is a Black queer femme and professor at Dalhousie University. Her academic appointments include founding Director of the Black Studies Research Institute (in STEMM), the James R Johnston Endowed Research Chair in Black Canadian Studies, Faculty of Medicine (2019-2024), and co-founder and co-lead of the national organization, the Black Health Education Collaborative. OmiSoore engages in interdisciplinary scholarship and research that focuses on Black LGBTQI communities, blood donation systems in Canada, and addressing anti-Black racism in healthcare and medical education, and developing Black health curricular content.

Saturday, 15 February, 6:30pm: Valentinian Open Mic Fundraiser for Bug's Backyard Theatre
See and be seen at this fundraiser for Bug's Backyard, a theatre company founded and run by queer students! The mic is open, and the evening will also feature performances by members of the company as they raise resources for their summer musical, Carrie! There will be art and treats available to purchase, with proceeds going to the company.






Monday, 17 February, 7:00pm: Vancouver NonMonogamy Discussion Group This is a free monthly meeting of nonmonogamous folks to discuss issues in relationships and culture. For more details or to contact the facilitators, please check out their Facebook group!

Monday, 24 February, 7:00pm: Open.Mic.Night. Bring your work to read or perform. Headlining the evening is a featured poet, TBA. For more details or to contact the organizers, follow them on Instagram @open.mic.night.1.

NEWSLETTER!
You asked and we are answering, with a new way to stay in touch with us apart from social media. If you'd like to receive a periodic newsletter featuring everything from book recommendations to news to special offers, please click here to sign up.

Reporting in, friends, and not with much good news. A little good news here and there, to be sure, and I'm thankful for it. As all too often of late, there will be snippets of math. To bounce back to the webstore and browse books, click here.

Bad News First

1. We expect to end December 40% under budget. That's a lot, during what we estimated would be a much busier month. Based on last year's month-over-month from November to December, and this year's average increases over same period last year, we expected December to be about double November. That's not what we got. As you can see from the following graph, of December's 24 "shopping days," only four were what we could legitimately call busy days. Five more were around what we expected them to be. Fifteen days were below budget. Eight were below average. Our highest highs were above last year's, but our lowest lows were below last year's worst days. On our most troubling rainy day this month, we had three visitors in total, and two sales--not enough to cover the day's rent. We've grown used to our graph being spikes and troughs, but this one is mostly trough.

2. We had deferred a significant chunk of debt to December, based on expectations that we thought were reasonable based on our limited but carefully studied data, combined with decades of retail experience. Our rather decent and patient landlords are approaching their limit. They're willing to accept a payment plan, but we have to make the payments AND stay current going forward. Most of our suppliers are paid up front, which keeps our leash tight but also helps us avoid racking up the kind of massive vendor debt that kills young businesses. However, there are a few places we owe, and they are quite reasonably expecting us to pony up. And we do have personal lenders in addition to our commercial resources, with whom we are fighting to keep faith.

3. Only a dozen people took advantage of special offers we created to encourage buzz about the shop and try to connect with new people.

IN SUM: You may have heard me say that every slow day burdens the next day with more weight to carry. December is a clear example of that. The season started late, and slowly, and didn't really begin to feel like what we expect from a retail season until just about the Solstice. We're not alone in this. Other retailers we know are puzzling over their data and having to carefully plot their ways forward. To get out of this pit, we need to come up with about $10,000 in the remaining 5 days of this month. (And then we have to consistently make $12,500 per month in sales to stay out of it.) We deeply need to meet more people, STAT.

The Sprinkling of Good News

1. We had the loveliest Solstice/Christmas evening celebration, with a visit from the Mari Lwyd and a storytime featuring Frog and Toad--attended mostly by queer grownups who cheered for the Mari, and hung out for over an hour after storytime sharing warm cider and chatting about the stories that still resonate for them as queer adults. Some folks brought Frog and Toad accessories, and handmade wearable art, and masks! We are so hoping to host more gatherings like that. Everyone seemed to be warmed by it. I certainly was. Communal joy is powerful stuff. Thank you to everyone who helped co-create that experience for each other.

2. We did see twice as many of you as we did in October.

3. Our "conversion rate," the percentage of visitors who find things they like and buy them, remains exceptionally high at 80%. That's retail speak, but it means that 8 out of 10 folks who visit find things they like or need enough to pay money for, and choose to do so here. (For a typical brick-and-mortar store, that figure is more like 4 out of 10.)

4. Our average sale has continued to hover around $33, which compares well with other bookstores in the area whose histories we know. This means most folks leave with a new book and a used book, or three used books and a sticker, or something along those lines. For December, that average did bounce up to $41.33 because more folks were getting new books or gift items like Lil So and So book sleeves.

5. An author we love, the marvellous Kai Cheng Thom, kindly used her platform to share our concerns about the season. We're pretty sure, based on visitor comments, that Kai's support is a key the reason last weekend went as well as it did.

6. Our new neighbours should start moving into the Nolo building next week, at long last. We hope this will bring more life and activity to our block.

IN SUM: We keep meeting new people every day. They're like you--they love it here. They find us offering books and gifts and activities and queer space and community connections they treasure, and they do come back. When folks tell their friends about us, we do see the difference in our bottom line. We just need to meet more lovely people, faster.

What's to be done?

Both the bad news and the good news point us toward the same basic need: reach more people. So we are lighting the beacon on the hilltop, dear ones. What we need is a mild case of virality, and not the kind that makes you sneeze.

1. MOST URGENT: Tell your friends about us! Do it today! We keep saying this because it really does matter. Some of you have, but not that many, as far as we can tell. We've already seen it work here on a small scale. If even ten percent of our Instagram followers connect us with five new local people each, the math starts looking pretty sexy. Thought experiment: 250 of our followers are local, and each convince five locals to visit. That's 1250 people. If 60% of those folks make purchases similar to our current average sale, that's two months of expenses covered, right there. And so many first-timers do come back, becoming part of the network of relationships we must build if this place is to thrive. We might be hard-pressed to keep up at first, but we would certainly try. More connections mean a stronger store, with a richer selection, more events, and more community involvement. Click here to check out our special offer for your friends.

2. If you don't need a book right now, would you like a tee or a tote? Now in stock, our rainbow crow logo gear is a great way to support and celebrate this place, and spread awareness of us in the community.

3. Join our Patreon. It's a great way to help support what you love about this place, even when buying books isn't the right choice for you.

4. Buy a book when you can. Most of us aren't in a position to get a book every day or even every week, but remember us when you're looking for great reading.

5. And remember also that we love to see you whether you are buying a book that day or not. The Comfy Chairs™ are always here for you.

IN SUM: Tell your friends. This place must grow or die, and we are close to the edge. Five days, friends. Five days that will make or break us.

Here's hoping that we come into the new year with a joyful pack of new friends (and see a bunch of old friends as well!). We look forward to connecting you with more wonderful books, and the writers and artists who nourish your souls. Let's all get there together.

Nena
for Cross & Crows and all its people

Keeping the lights on takes everything we've got

I hate fundraising drives. I truly do. But that's what we've come to, after a month that included A*****'s fall sale and a few other hits that, while anticipated, were again far bigger than expected.

Brace yourselves--there is some math involved. Or if it's tl;nr, skip to the end to find out what you can do, and what's in it for you!

First, at the end of September we took on a really cool opportunity-slash-responsibility, as booksellers for a special event. Any bookseller will tell you that offsite events can be a gamble, and I bet wrong. I bought $4000 in books and did not make the money back, or even close. They're terrific books--no shade to the authors, nor the organizers of the event. It just wasn't a big day for anybody, but we are bearing the consequences now. We do still have most of the books, now on sale at 40% off.

Then came our Large Online Competitor's Large Fall Sale, the one that rhymes with Crime Pays. It made a measurable dent in our sales last October so I knew a hit was coming. I estimated a similar percentage drop this year, but it was in fact quite a bit larger. Ths time, that week showed a 45% reduction in sales compared to the previous week. That's a massive whack for any business, but especially a small and still relatively new place like your bookstore. Among other things, this means that almost half the people who usually come here went to the 'Zon that week. This shows how pervasive and powerful that entity is. Our folk love us, but in the face of all that relentless marketing, it's hard to remember your own name sometimes, isn't it. Click. Click. (That fall sale affects many small retailers similarly--I compared notes with some neighbours and all of us agreed our graph for the week looks like someone scooped out the middle with a melon baller. It's notably worse than the summer sale of the same name.)

Next came the rain last weekend, which just killed our normally mellow foot traffic. One expects rain in October, even heavy rain. This is a rain forest, after all. However, coming hard on the heels of the previous blows, this has put us in a really bad place.

For the first time, we are not showing growth over the same month last year. In fact, as things are going, I expect we will wind up about 25% below last October. For a small shop just into its second year, this is pretty rough. Coming on top of months of struggle to keep up with cost increases, it's devastating. We are in debt, and the hole is getting deeper. We need to turn this around.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. Buy books, of course--not only do we have great deals on our event overstock and clearance items, we've put together two sponsorship options that link your purchase to the specific ways your book dollars contribute to our survival. And each one comes with a little bonus for you. Click here for details.

2. Order bookstore merch! We've found a great local printer to make our Rainbow Crow gear, and we really want to put him to work! Plus when you carry a tote or wear a tee, you're letting everyone you meet know about us. Click here for details.

3. Make sure your favourite people know about your favourite bookstore! This one is really important, because to be financially resilient we must expand our community. We've got a great little deal specifically for you to give to your friends and beloveds--at no cost to you: a Buy-2 Get-1 deal just for them. And when they use it, you get a little bonus! Click here for details.

What else do you get when you support this bookstore?

A queer space. We regularly see queer and trans folks come in the door and let out a breath. Their body language changes. It's like they're taking off armour. This is what we are consciously and carefully trying to create. We hope everyone who brings good will and kindness experiences the same sense of safe harbour, but we build it with our LGBTQ2SIA community at the centre of our thoughts, and our queer folks tell us they are finding something they need here.

A place to gather. Whether it's a scheduled discussion group, a book launch, a pop-up art event, or something cool created by a community member, we offer this bookstore up as a 'third space' where you can participate in an enriched experience of books and stories and culture.

A welcoming, all-ages, free destination in the Trout Lake/South of Broadway part of East Van. No purchase necessary. We want you to turn to us as a part of your lives. We want you to feel like your neighbourhood has places where you can simply be, whether you buy anything that day or not. No pressure, ever. Just remember that we depend on your purchases for our continued existence, and come to us when you do want a book (or anything else we offer).

Thanks, loves. See you soon?

--Nena