INSIDE VOICES

INSIDE VOICES

Robert Gwaltney and Jeffrey Dale Lofton introduce Karen Schwettman, owner of FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock Georgia.

Karen Schwettman is the owner of FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, GA. She began her career as an interior de-signer and has worked with Sherwin Williams, House Parts, and her own design firm, Karen Schwettman Interiors. A series of fortunate events presented her with an opportunity to follow her true passion, books. As a life-long reader, the prospect of owning a bookshop was exciting and remains exciting today.

FoxTale Book Shoppe has been in operation for 16 years. When she isn’t reading, Karen enjoys making art, traveling, and spending time with her family, including her seven granddaughters. She lives locally with her husband of 43 years, Gene, and their two calicos, Flannery and Bronte.

Inside Voices (Jeffrey): FoxTale Book Shoppe is without question a destination bookstore, a community gathering place. Why do independent bookstores so often serve as, in essence, community centers?

Karen: Readers are passionate people. They are passionate about words, diverse ideas, authors, and other readers. Staff in an independent bookstore read the books they sell unlike their corporate counterparts. Our own enthusiasm about books is passed on to the reader. We introduce books and authors that you may not be aware of. All true readers love sharing books they love with others. This creates community and a safe place to discuss ideas and differences of opinion.

Inside Voices (Robert): Tell us about how FoxTale came to be . . . its origins. Is a love of books alone enough to go on? 

Karen: FoxTale was born in 2007. It was the result of a brainstorm between friends who were writers and readers, on a whim. A visit to a friend in Denver took us to an independent bookstore called Tattered Cover. We fell in love with it immediately and began to imagine what we would do if we had our own bookstore. After creating a bookstore dream on a napkin in restaurant, we took a drive to Red Rocks Amphitheater one evening at dusk. The parking lot was deserted except for one lone fox, who sat in front of our car, who didn’t move when we got out. We stared at her, she stared at us, then turned, and walked away. We knew that was a sign. What it was a sign of, at the time, we weren’t sure. But we did know foxes don’t just show up and look at you intently without a reason. The reason was discovered after we returned to Georgia. In a book of Native American totems, we discovered that a fox’s tail is a symbol of feminine creative energy, thus the name, FoxTale came to be. To answer your question, is a love of books alone enough to go on? In this case, a resounding YES.

Inside Voices (Jeffrey): Beyond obtaining business licenses and acquiring retail space, what does putting an indie bookstore on its feet entail?

Karen: Hard work! Designing the space, meeting with wholesalers and publishers to decide on core inventory, inventing a marketing plan, learning about the business side of books, and praying for customers!

Inside Voices (Robert): What do you know now that you wish you had known when you opened FoxTale?

Karen: I wish I’d known that I wouldn’t have time to read every book in the shoppe and that it’s often more about numbers than words.

Inside Voices (Jeffrey): Given the attack on books and the freedom to read whatever one wants, have you had moments of regret, bursts of pride about opening a woman-owned, independent bookshop?

Karen: No regrets. Yes, I am proud that FoxTale is a woman-owned indie. Attacks on books and freedom to read what one wants makes me more determined to be a welcoming place for all readers.

Inside Voices (Robert): The closest I’ll ever get to living a bookseller’s life is watching Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail. Is that an accurate picture of a typical day in the life of an indie bookseller? Disabuse us of any popular misconceptions!

Karen: Sometimes it is an accurate picture of a day in the life of an indie bookseller; camaraderie among the staff, putting the right book in the right person’s hands, having a listening ear, being both a giver and receiver of encouraging words and sharing our stories. And every time a box of books arrives, we are all excited, that never changes.

What you don’t see is that none of us ever read books in the shoppe, there’s bills to pay and blurbs to write, soft-ware to learn and websites to make, prep and planning for author events, social media, marketing and how will we pay the rent, shelves to stock, displays to make, cleaning to do and boxes to open, books to mail, reports to write, email to answer, meetings with staff and authors and members of the community, to name a few. There is not a dull moment in the world of bookselling.

Inside Voices (Jeffrey): You’ve given many writers, including the two of us, a place to promote our work and meet the public. How do you decide which authors to invite into FoxTale?

Karen: Deciding who comes to FoxTale is rarely the same process. Every publisher has different criteria for their authors to come to you. We put in proposals throughout the year with publishers, following a grid that is available with the criteria for their authors. Some authors don’t tour in all areas, publishers decide where they want the authors to go, so we are often hemmed in with that.

Other times, we may reach out to authors on our own if we have loved an upcoming book they’ve written. Word of mouth is also effective. Other authors may recommend authors to us. Often readers reach out to an author and ask them to come to FoxTale and their publicists will reach out to us.

Inside Voices (Robert): What advice do you have for authors who want, but are unsure how, to pitch themselves for a slot on your book event calendar? Are there definite no-nos to keep in mind when approaching a bookstore events coordinator?

Karen: The fastest and most effective way is to have their publicist reach out to us. If you do reach out to us directly, have a plan for how many people we can expect how many books you expect to sell and how we can make that happen.

The absolute fastest way to get a NO, is to say you are published by Amazon, or have great reviews on Amazon or are in the top rating on Amazon. The American Book-sellers Association, including those of us who are a part of ABA, along with the federal trade commission are currently in a lawsuit against Amazon for unfair business practices. Amazon can and has put small businesses of all kinds out of business by these unfair advantages. Amazon remains a threat to all independent booksellers.

Inside Voices (Robert): Finally, who are your favorite authors, present company excluded, of course?

Karen: It’s no secret that Robert Gwaltney (The Cicada Tree) and Jeffrey Lofton (Red Clay Suzie) are two of my favorite authors. It’s difficult to narrow down so I’ll give you 5. Rick Bragg, Chris Bohjalian, Michael Farris Smith, Karen White, and Ann Patchett.

Find the full interview on WELL READ Magazine’s Between The Pages Podcast.