Today we’d like to introduce you to Heartbound Book Shop
Hi Heartbound, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The dream of opening Heartbound Book Shop began in 2018 during a very common existential crisis everyone has at one point in their lives, but it was shelved until 2023. A series of life events, including the pandemic and buying a home, led to a reevaluation of our paths. Throughout this time, romance novels provided comfort and inspiration for us. It gave us an escape whenever life became too much. In 2023 we decided to pursue our dream of opening the first romance bookstore in Orange County.
Since then we have been able to launch our online store and do a variety of pop-up events, including a high school book fair, a business college market and countless more. We’re so excited to participate in our County’s 1st book fair too – this July 13! It’s been such a wonderful journey so far and we wouldn’t trade it for anything!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was definitely not a smooth road! There’s a lot that comes with running a business – operations, marketing, branding, and finances to say the least.
We definitely struggled with launching our website when we first started – we had worked on it for a while and once we had it up it wasn’t easy for our customers to use. We know it cost us a lot of first time buyers and we took a hard hit (financially and emotionally). Of course, we didn’t let that stop us and we immediately dove into transitioning to a platform that was user friendly all around!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Heartbound Book Shop is a family-owned, women-led, and AAPI-owned indie romance bookshop dedicated to sharing our love of books with our community. We are online and pop-up only – but we are working on getting a brick and mortar location!
We like to pride ourselves in curating our wide selection of romance books that include both well-known authors and indie authors. We have known from the beginning that we wanted to feature underrated voices in the romance book community and we work hard to meet that goal. We are far from perfect, but we like to think that if we continue to put the work in, it will reflect positively in the community.
Brand wise, we want to be known as a small business that truly cares – we pour our hearts and souls when it comes to working on packages. From the packing materials, the way we handle the books, to the overall appearance of the box, we want to make sure you know we care. We have always said, our bookish mail should feel like opening a gift on Christmas Day!
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We have gotten a lot of support from our community on our social media pages – especially Instagram. We have built many relationships through the platform and it has resulted in many collaborations we otherwise would not have the opportunity to get. Showing up on our social media pages and engaging with us definitely helps our name get out there!
We’re also always looking to expand our romance collection – so if you’re an indie romance author or just an avid romance reader, please send your titles or recommendations our way!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heartboundbookshop.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartboundbookshop
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@heartboundbookshop
Image Credits
Hannah Edmonson (_lilhannah_photo)
Shant (@shotsbyshant)
