Short Summary

Hello, Reader Darlings ❤️ 

We are A Novel Romance, Kentucky’s first romance-only bookstore. We opened in July of 2023 and have been absolutely blown away by how incredible our community is and continues to grow into. As many of you know, we began our journey in historic Middletown in a little 288-square-foot building that was once a barber shop. This building was absolutely perfect for us starting out. It offered the coziness we wanted for the feel of our bookstore, and it allowed us to be surrounded by the best neighbors we could have asked for. 

But as our community grows, so does our need for more space to foster that community! This is why we have signed the lease for an almost 2400-square-foot space in Jeffersontown (aka J-Town), right smack dab in the middle of the Gaslight District. This move is important to us for so many reasons. First, it’s going to allow more room for us fellow book lovers to hang out, chat about books and life, without feeling like one person needs to leave to allow another person in. It’s going to allow us to not only expand our book selection, but also deepen it. What does that mean? It means additional and more nuanced categories! We’ll be able to separate sports romance by the sport, dark romance by the primary theme, historical by the era, etc. We’re also going to be able to offer a place for our large community of writers to come sit and work on their projects and have access to resources they need to accomplish this. More details below about all of the reasons this move is going to be so positive for our whole community!

While we are ready to make this move as we are now, we are doing so with an attempt to avoid having to finance the costs of many of the projects we outline below. Avoiding financing means that the revenues we generate can go right back into building our team and enriching the store and the products and services it offers. It’s always been important to us to create a place that’s exactly what our community needs it to be and being able to put all of our resources back into continuing to make this bookstore better would make a huge difference. Crowdfunding some of this growth means that we can complete these projects more quickly, and possibly even before we open the new store! 

No matter what, all of these projects will get done. What you all get to decide is the timeline in which they get done. We appreciate you all so much more than words can express. You all are the reason this dream has become a reality, and the reason it’s grown so much in so little time. Y’all are genuinely AMAZING. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
 

What we will use any funds for:

$8,000 – A bookstore-specific point-of-sale system with integrated website – We are upgrading from Square (POS)  and Shopify (website) to Bookmanager in July 2024. This will come with the ability to offer more efficient title lookup, special ordering, and preordering.It will mean less time spent on administrative tasks we currently have to do manually and more time spent developing fun things for the store and the community. And most exciting of all, it will mean a FULLY-INTEGRATED WEBSITE that will enable online ordering for in-store pickup, online pre-ordering, and access to literally any title available through our publishers and distributors. No more relying on manual data entry, this will all be fully-automated. Want to see what this could look like? Check out some of the other stores using Bookmanager currently!

$10,000 – Materials for building out the new space, including paint, flooring upgrades, additional bookshelves, tables, displays, focal pieces, and seating for extended browsing

$20,000 – Additional book and nonbook inventory – This number would get us about 1500 new books in addition to what we have now, plus about $4-5000 in nonbook merchandise.

$1,700 – Materials for events like tables and folding chairs – This amount would allow us to order 100 folding chairs to have on hand for event setup.

$2,500 – Adding a writers’ area with a resource library – This would include a long table, several comfortable chairs for long hours at the keyboard, and a resource library consisting of romance-specific writing resources, and fiction resources, in general. (Think copies of Romancing the Beat, or Save the Cat Writes a Novel, etc.) 

$3,000 – Adding a children’s’ area with books that focus on self-love, empowerment, encouragement, and creativity – This will allow us to add in toys and activities for your little ones to engage in while you are shopping, as well as a small stock of children’s books, toys, and games for sale. While we are and always will be a romance bookstore, we are first and foremost a space where people can come and feel loved and included and welcomed and those are values for any age. So the books we would stock in this section would focus primarily on things like self-love, empowerment, encouragement, and creativity.

$1,500 – On-Site Childcare for Book Clubs for One Year – We would love to be able to offer a childcare option while you’re meeting up with your monthly book club! This would allow us to bring in extra staff during each book club each month for a year to watch the kiddos while we’re discussing our romance reads!

$6,170 – Fees and Reserves – Indiegogo will keep 5% of the funds we raise, plus the credit card processor will charge 3% + $0.20 on all credit card transactions. Indiegogo also holds 5% of funds for at least six months after campaign ends. If we were to raise the full amount of everything listed above, that would equal $2,335 for Indiegogo, $2,335 for the reserve funds, and about $1,500 in credit card processing.

All of this together comes to $52,870. We are rounding this up to an even $55,000 with the extra funds being allocated to any underestimation on the above proposed budget, some of the costs of fulfilling the perks, outdoor signage, and any other operating costs. We want to be very, very transparent – even if we do not completely fund this campaign, all of this will still happen. What this campaign determines is how quickly it will happen! We’ve tried to list everything in order of how we will allocate funds, so that you can track what we’ll be able to make happen sooner rather than later. If you amazing people believe in this vision of what we could be and decide to fully fund us, we anticipate that all of this can be done by the end of summer. Most would be completed prior to opening on June 1, but the POS is going to be installed in July. Giving ourselves until the end of summer gives a little wiggle room for any obstacles that may arise.

We will provide updates throughout the campaign and after as to what projects have been funded, what the final budget looks like, and where your contributions have gone!

What perks we will offer:

**Important Note! Indiegogo does not currently offer a way to claim multiple perks in one transaction. You can still claim multiple, but they will just have to be in separate transactions!**

Virtual High Five – Don’t see anything you want but want to support this expansion project anyway? This perk will get you a virtual high five and our utmost appreciation.

Stickers – You will receive two stickers that show off you being a founding member of the Novel Romantics, our new loyalty program coming soon. They will not be sold in the future once the initial order for the campaign sells out.

Acrylic Keychain and Stickers – You will receive an acrylic keychain and the two stickers that show off you being a founding member of the Novel Romantics. They will not be sold in the future once the initial order for the campaign sells out.

Acrylic Pin, Keychain, and Stickers – You will receive an acrylic pin, the keychain, and two stickers that show off you being a founding member of the Novel Romantics, our new loyalty program coming soon. They will not be sold in the future once the initial order for the campaign sells out.

Novel Romantics Hat – You will receive an embroidered hat that shows off you being a founding member of the Novel Romantics, our new loyalty program coming soon. They will not be sold in the future once the initial order for the campaign sells out.

Novel Romantics Tote Bag – You will receive a tote bag that shows off you being a founding member of the Novel Romantics, our new loyalty program coming soon. They will not be sold in the future once the initial order for the campaign sells out.

Ticket to All Events at the Grand (Re)Opening Party – Join us on June 15 for a day celebrating the Grand Reopening with bookish activities, good food, and special appearances. We will have a popup mini bookshelf painting class, a bookish cookie decorating class, a friendship bracelet making station (back by popular demand!!), and an evening author event with Lauren Kung Jessen, author of Lunar Love and Red String Theory! This ticket gets you access to ALL of these events. If you just want to come for one event or another, stay tuned for the general ticket sales.

Novel Romantics VIP Package – Want all of the Novel Romantics Swag in one transaction? This perk includes the stickers, the keychain, the pin, the hat, and the tote bag. No one will ever question your commitment to the Novel Romantics!!

Date Night at the Bookstore – This perk grants you access to the bookstore for an hour after hours for a date night with your significant other(s) or your best friend! While this will be offered in the future, date nights booked through this campaign also come with flowers and chocolates to share!

One Book Club Pick Per Month – Are you an avid attendee of A Novel Book Club? This perk will get you your choice of one of the book club picks each month for a year.

Choose a Book for the Backers’ Picks Display – From June 1 through the end of the year, the Staff Picks display will be dedicated to Backer Picks! Pick one book to promote all six months, or pick a new one each month! Up to you–it’s your recommendation, after all!

Be a Bookseller for a Day – Want to spend a few hours recommending books to your fellow book lovers, making merchandising choices, and making content for your socials? This is the perk for you! One afternoon in the next six months, you’ll be able to come in, get all the behind-the-scenes, and see what it’s like to be a romance bookseller!

Bookstore Photoshoot – Want to get a professional photoshoot inside the new bookstore? This perk will get you a 30-minute session, including one outfit change, with Becklynn Bleu Photography.

2023 Readers on the River Signed Tote and Books – This perk includes one of the attendee-exclusive tote bags signed by all of the attending authors, filled with books (some signed) from many of the attending authors. Donated by someone who’s supported us from the very beginning. ❤️

Novel Romantics Extra VIP Package – You receive the Novel Romantics VIP package, plus 15% off all purchases for a year (June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025). **Note – this will not exclude you from the Novel Romantics Loyalty Program that we will be launching in July 2024. You will receive those perks just from shopping at the bookstore, plus your extra 15% off for a year–double the discount!**

Four Book Club Picks Per Month –  Are you an avid attendee of A Novel Book Club? This perk will get you all of the book club picks each month for a year.

Novel Romantics Ultimate VIP Package – You. Are. Amazing. You get the four book club picks per month for a year, the bookseller for a day, the backers’ pick display, the Novel Romantics VIP package, plus 15% off all purchases for a year (June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025). **Note – this will not exclude you from the Novel Romantics Loyalty Program that we will be launching in July 2024. You will receive those perks just from shopping at the bookstore, plus your extra 15% off for a year–double the discount!**

The Impact

We’ve touched on this a lot throughout all of the information above and, if you’re still reading, thank you! We just want to reiterate the impact your contributions will make to A Novel Romance and its community.

Access to romance books – While we carry a lot of fun bookish items, one of the things we offer that differentiates us in our community is the breadth of romance novels that we can make available for our readers. All of our shelf space is dedicated to happily ever afters and having more shelf space gives us more shelf real estate to offer to indie and local authors, many of which are not currently available in-store at big box stores.

Room to make new friends and spend time with old ones – Having actual seating areas means you can actually come and spend time at the store. You can meet up with you book club, or connect with someone who loves the same romance books as you. We can actually build community outside of our events and book club meetups and, believe me, this community is such an incredible one to be a part of.

A place to bring your kids – Obviously we’re not curating romance for kids! But we do think that the romance community exudes certain vibes like empowerment, encouragement, self-love, self-care, etc. Not only do we want to have a space that fosters that energy, but we also want the parents in our community to be able to stop in for their own self-care, and feel confident knowing that there’s space to bring their kids with them.

Space to write – One of the biggest surprises to us was just how many incredible writers we have in Louisville! We’ve been wanting to find a storefront that had enough room to be able to set up space for writers to come write while surrounded by romance, and also offer a resource library full of books on writing.

Your contributions allow us to more quickly realize all of these plans. Your support is invaluable and so incredibly appreciated. Thank you so much for being a part of this community.

Risks & Challenges

Risk: Because we are doing the buildout ourselves, we could run into tasks we don’t know how to complete.

Solution: We have a handful of friends and family with experience in DIY home improvement, and construction. Whenever we run into an issue with painting, installing shelves, or generally adding our own touches to the space, we have support to help us overcome these issues without greatly affecting the budget.

Risk: Because we will be sourcing many of the perks from third parties, we could run into delays in delivering perks if these vendors have delays.

Solution: Most of the perks are things that we have the supplies and resources to create ourselves. While we will outsource so that we can focus our time and energy on getting the space ready for you all, we can fulfill the perks ourselves if we need to!

Risk: This is a much larger financial responsibility than the building we are currently in.

Solution: We have used our sales history since opening and project financial spreadsheets created by industry professionals using data straight from American Booksellers’ Association to anticipate what our store could do based on this data. We believe just based on our performance just since opening plugged into these spreadsheets that we’re going to be just fine. We are also committed to the space for at least two years, so we won’t be going anywhere anytime soon!

Other Ways You Can Help

We absolutely understand that not everyone can contribute monetarily. We here at A Novel Romance firmly believe that all support is valuable, and we sincerely appreciate you sharing our campaign with your audiences, and helping us spread the word! Everything we’ve done up until now has been accomplished through social media, and word of mouth, so we know firsthand just how much those likes and shares count.

Thank you all so much in advance for your support. From the bottom of my heart, I adore and appreciate each of you. ❤️