Character Inspiration: Bookshop Owner
Independently owned by Erin Whaling, Spisherbocker Books has been operating in the Historic Downtown district of Black Diamond for a little over 2 years. As a lifelong reader, and one who loves to share her favourite books with friends and family, Erin is in her natural habitat with Spisherbocker Books.
WBS: What got you started on the path of opening up your own bookstore? Was it something you dreamed about for a long time, or was it more spontaneous?
Erin: Way back at the turn of the century, I was studying photography in Vancouver. As part of our course, it was mandatory to build a business plan. While I fell out of photography fairly quickly after graduating, I held on to the business plan. What differentiated my plan from those of my classmates was that my skills as a photographer were not the main service. The dream was to open up a studio that would be available to artists of all kinds to come together and use for photo shoots, exhibits, networking events, and anything else that the arts community may need. Over the years I would pull out the plan every now and then, make changes, and evolve the dream. I can't pinpoint exactly when it turned from an arts studio to a bookshop, but the central idea of building a community hub remained steadfast. Through all of the planning, I'd been working steadily in other industries, and post-COVID, I received notice that I'd been laid off. Rather than going out and looking for another job, I decided the time was right to put the plan into action, and Spisherbocker Books was born.
WBS: Your shop is so beautiful. It totally gave me The Shop Around the Corner vibes from You've Got Mail. Can you speak a bit about what it was like setting up the physical layout of the store? Did you do all of that yourself?
Erin: I'm so glad that you love the shop! It has definitely been a labour of love putting it all together myself. I knew that I wanted the classic cozy vibe of a study or private library, but I didn't want the heaviness of dark wood, dim lights, and dust. I was very intentional in choosing white shelving and bare concrete floors as they provide a very light and bright backdrop for everything else. The titles stand out beautifully on the shelves, and the addition of thrifted antique pieces around the shop bring in that comfy, cozy feeling that I wanted for my customers.
It was so much fun designing the layout. I'm a total nerd and had the graph paper ready to go! I love sketching out the floor plan and cutting out little pieces of paper to represent all of my furniture so that I can move it around and figure out the best placement beforehand. It's just so neat to plan it out in 2D and then watch it come to life around you.
“The titles stand out beautifully on the shelves, and the addition of thrifted antique pieces around the shop bring in that comfy, cozy feeling that I wanted for my customers.”
WBS: Where did the name Spisherbocker Books come from?
Erin: Oh, the name. Well, when my kids got to an age where name-calling became commonplace, we had a day that it got out of control. I'm talking FOUL language! I couldn't listen to them cuss so I sat them down and explained that while I likely couldn't stop them from calling each other names, I absolutely would not accept the words they were choosing. So, I told them that if they wanted to keep calling names, they would have to make them up. The confusion on their faces was priceless and our afternoon went from bickering to a lesson in language, and how to put sounds together to make new words. They came up with a few fun words, but Spisherbocker was the one that really stuck! There you have it; I've named my shop after our family's personal profanity.
WBS: What does a typical day at work look like for you? Do any of your tasks change based on the day of the week?
Erin: I often arrive at the store an hour or so before opening. I like having true quiet time to work through some of the administrative tasks like bookkeeping, inventory management, and responding to emails and phone messages. I do have a calendar set up for weekly and monthly tasks like making payments to suppliers, placing orders, and preparing book club meetings, but most days look pretty similar. I'm always surrounded by piles of books that require attention. New books need to be entered into inventory and phone calls placed to customers with special orders that have arrived, second hand books need to be assessed for value and cleaned before going into inventory, and of course the dusting. The dust never ends!
WBS: Have you ever had any particularly memorable customers? Also, do you have "regulars" like you would at a coffee shop?
Erin: Oh, man. The customers here are truly amazing folks. I have one young lady that comes in once a week to spend the afternoon in one of my comfy chairs; she reads for a while, browses the shelves for a while, and crochets for a while. I have a lovely little collection of crocheted stuffies that she's made for me, including a turtle and a houseplant!
I definitely have more than a few regulars. In fact, two of them refer to me as their “dealer.” It's so nice to get to know these people and when they come in, I always have a new title up my sleeve that I just know they'll love.
WBS: What are some of the thrills about running your own bookstore? Your favourite parts!
Erin: By and large, the best part is the antique books. Everything about them amazes me: the design of old covers, the craftsmanship in the bindings, and the coolest stories behind some of them. I've been recording some of the more obscure tidbits about my antique books so that I can make fun posts about the background of the books.
My most recent find was a 1920s copy of Peter Pan and Wendy by J.M. Barrie. It's missing the original dust jacket and the publisher didn't print any defining information about the year it was printed, but there's a beautiful paragraph printed just before the title page that gives us a clue that it was printed in 1929; the paragraph explains that the rights to Peter Pan had been gifted to a children's hospital in London in order to ensure that the patients could continue to receive care through royalty payments. This gift was offered to the hospital just after the book was adapted into the first film version of the story. It's these little pieces of information that sort of get lost to history that just thrill and fascinate me. I could spend all day just in my little antique section learning about those beauties!
It's also a big deal to be your own boss. I think this is probably obvious, but after a lifetime of working for others, it's so refreshing to take the reins and make the right decisions for me, my family, and my business.
WBS: What are some of the challenges?
Erin: Being my own boss! It's awesome, but it's hard work. I am a one-woman show and while I love the autonomy, it is so hard balancing every moving part of a retail business. I'm really beginning to feel that the time is coming to bring in some help, but even deciding which tasks I'm willing to pass on to someone else is daunting.
WBS: If you were to read a book that featured a character who owns their own bookstore, is there anything you would love to see included about that character's life or experience that would make it feel more realistic to you (things they do, emotions they feel, etc.)?
Erin: The funniest thing about running a bookshop is that your customers truly believe that you've read not only every single book you carry, but every single book ever written! I often find myself explaining that there are 5000 books published EVERY WEEK in North America. Not to mention the millions of books that have been published since the dawn of the written word. It's just not possible to have read everything.
“So many customers feel like they read too slow, or they don’t read enough books in a year, or they absolutely must finish a book no matter how much they don’t like it. My goal is to keep reading fun. It’s not fun when you spend all of your time judging yourself for how you read.”
I also find that I have to reassure readers that their reading habits are valid. So many customers feel like they read too slow, or they don't read enough books in a year, or they absolutely must finish a book no matter how much they don't like it. My goal is to keep reading fun. It's not fun when you spend all of your time judging yourself for how you read. I love to let people know that if you're a slow reader, it's because you are working to really take that story in and not miss a beat. If you only read one book a year, you're making sure that you choose something truly worth your time. If you aren't enjoying your book, don't waste your time; there are millions of books out there and you are bound to find something that you love and will make you feel happy and satisfied. There is no wrong way to read!
And last, I can't even express the importance of audiobooks for business owners. It is the only way that I can feel successful in ensuring that the daily tasks get done, while enjoying a good read. Every bookshop owner should have a good pair of earphones and a massive TBR pile in their audiobook app!
WBS: I'm assuming you're a reader. Do you have any book recommendations for us at the moment?
Erin: I always have recommendations! Here are my top 3 right now:
Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
Back cover synopsis: Edinburgh, 1817. Hazel Sinnett is a lady who wants to be a surgeon more than she wants to marry. Jack Currer is a resurrection man who’s just trying to survive in a city where it’s too easy to die.
When the two of them have a chance encounter outside the Edinburgh Anatomist’s Society, Hazel thinks nothing of it at first. But after she gets kicked out of renowned surgeon Dr. Beecham’s lectures for being the wrong gender, she realizes that her new acquaintance might be more helpful than she first thought. Because Hazel has made a deal with Dr. Beecham: if she can pass the medical examination on her own, the university will allow her to enroll. Without official lessons, though, Hazel will need more than just her books – she’ll need bodies to study, corpses to dissect.
Lucky that she’s made the acquaintance of someone who digs them up for a living, then.
Dana Schwartz is a historian and her research for this book is impeccable. It has the most fascinating view of Victorian life from a darker point of view, while carrying an absolutely adorable love story between Hazel and Jack. Marketed as young adult, it crosses over really well as a cozy adult fiction.
Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson
Back cover synopsis: Nothing is quite as it seems in this collection of eleven dazzling stories. We meet a queen who makes a bargain she cannot keep; a secretary who watches over the life she has just left; a man who bets on a horse that may—or may not—have spoken to him. A startling and funny feast for the imagination, these stories conjure a multiverse of subtly connected worlds while illuminating the webs of chance and connection among us all.
Kate Atkinson is well-known for her detective stories featuring Jackson Brodie as the series was picked up by the BBC for television. As the title would suggest, this book is a big departure from her typical genre. Billed as a set of short stories, you'll find by the third or fourth story that you can start to connect them in a larger tale of existentialism. It is weird, funny, unnerving, and completely engrossing.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Back cover synopsis: Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.
Susanna Clarke won the Women's Prize for Fiction with Piranesi. Part fantasy, part mystery, this story is intriguing, heartwarming, and thrilling.
Of course, there are so many more, but these three were book club picks in the shop that really hit the spot for all of our readers. Check them out!
Visit Erin’s website at https://www.spisherbockerbooks.com/