My Independent Bookshop

By Rachel
My Independent Bookshop

My Independent Bookshop is a joint venture between Penguin Random House and hive.co.uk. It’s a social website that allows anyone to set-up an on-line “bookshop” in the UK and link it to an actual local independent retailer. The individual’s page showcases their favourite reads, and when someone buys a book through the bookshop, a small percentage of the sale goes to the real independent retailer.

I’ve set up a store called Confessions of a Book Geek (what else would I call it?!), which currently showcases some of my ultimate favourite reads from a wide selection of genres. I’m thinking I might update this weekly/monthly in-line with my Top Ten Tuesday posts and other happenings on my blog, or ask you guys to vote in a poll for your favourites. That could be fun.

The site also allows people to contact me to ask for recommendations, I don’t know if anyone will use this facility, but if you would like to, please do!

About Rachel

Avid reader & #bookblogger. Lover of all things business. A fan of drinks & dancing. Ever optimistic. Feminist.

30 Responses

    1. Rachel

      It’s a shame it’s UK only so far, but you can still browse, and I’m sure you can purchase, just not set up a store of your own as it has to be linked to a local independent. It would be good to see this rolled out to other countries R x

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    1. Rachel

      Hi Claire, thanks for commenting! It does look good and if other UK bloggers make a store we can favourite each other’s stores to keep an eye on updates, and there are monthly prizes and giveaways for store owners!

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    1. Rachel

      It’s a great idea! Not sure how well it will take off, but worth a go to purchase online and still try to support local independents. I’m assuming independents have to sign up somehow to be a part of this, but I was saddened to see only 3 listed in the entirety of where I live…

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      4. Wendleberry

        No, i didn’t remove it… but it did disappear and make me go through ALL the steps of opening it again. Faaaaff. For as slick as the website looks, i think it has a few problems.

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    1. Rachel

      I stumbled upon it – I don’t think it’s been overly publicised very well even though it’s a pretty slick site! If you set one up let me know, if UK bloggers set up a shop I want to favourite them to keep tabs on recs! R x

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    1. Rachel

      I don’t get paid for it… Oops, have I messed up the description??? The on-line store/profile I set up on the site doesn’t pay me, it gives a percentage of any sales made through my profile to a local independent retailer I have linked up with – it’s supposed to help support them. I can add up to 12 books of my choice (any 12) to my shelves and people can also ask me for recommendations, any purchase of a recommendation I make will provide a % of that sale to the independent retailer too. As a member I can enter competitions and giveaways though, which is pretty cool. I entered one this week and was sent a copy of Popular – A Memoir from Random House. R x

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      1. thebookgleeks216

        Wow!! This is even better than I thought and ya oops I must’ve misread 🙂 but I think it’s even better that you’re helping someone else out! It’s absolutely fantastic!

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      2. Rachel

        It’s only in the UK at the minute, but I’m hoping some other UK book bloggers will get involved too. The competitions and giveaways are a nice incentive though 🙂 For a lot of people (myself included) price is really important, so I’m hoping the prices through the store are competitive. I’ve checked 3 books on my shelves and they were about 20p dearer than Amazon, which is pretty good! R x

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      3. thebookgleeks216

        I’m actually in the UK right now, but I only visit over summer. I live, well I kinda live all over place. Not in college yet so I have to move around every time my dad gets a promotion. Ugg so tiring! But really fun too. I really wish I could get involved but sadly no.. Do you know of any bloggers who have taken this up?

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      5. thebookgleeks216

        Yes definitely! Getting to see so many countries and even continents is just such an enriching experience for me. In the end I don’t think I would know what to do if I just stayed in one place for so long! You must’ve had lots of fun moving as well, right? And I hope that starts working for them and definitely I’ll try and spread the word to some of my non book blogger friends!

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      6. Rachel

        Ehhhh, my moving around wasn’t as exciting, unfortunately! I stayed within the same country and moved far too many times to different cities/towns. I think to-date I’ve moved maybe 9 or 10 times, my mum and dad divorced when I was 8 so any time one of them moved I had to take part in the moving process too, luckily I only had to move school once though. I think it is useful – life can throw you curveballs and I think people who have moved around know it’s not the end of the world. My friend had lived in the same house from the day he was born until he was 23 and when his family moved he practically had a meltdown over it! I’m the opposite now though, I’m a bit of a homebody and prefer to stay in the one place for a good while when I can! Moving is just too much hassle! R x

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      7. thebookgleeks216

        That’s still exciting though! And yes I know! Some people I’ve met said they hadn’t even been out of their state let alone their country, even for holidays. They don’t what they’re missing. Luckily enough for me, I still have my parents so the only thing I have to do is hop on the plane haha!! I have no idea what I’m going to turn out like and if my moving experience will change my views on how I want to settle when I get out of college. We’ll see I guess!

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