Huge Achievement For Children's Bookseller

News Release : 22 March 2011

The Children's Bookshop, Kilbirnie, Wellington

Huge Achievement For Children's Bookseller

Creating The Children's Bookshop in 1992 was a huge achievement for John
and Ruth McIntyre. John, had received a kidney transplant only six months earlier.

"It had been my dream to open a bookshop, and I didn't want to die
wondering."

It was children's books "because no one in Wellington seemed to be doing
them." It also helped that in John's first career as a primary school
teacher, "reading to kids was one thing I was good at."

With later careers as a bus driver for European camping tours and as a
stationery rep back in New Zealand, it was time to realise the dream.

John's art teacher dad created the store's first logo and the second was
created using clip art, cutting edge technology back then.

Now the store's success is being celebrated with designer Adele
Jackson's clever illustration.

The brief from John was for a new logo with a new colour scheme that
updated the previous one but retained elements that would identify the
old in the new. The resulting logo is joyful and completely at one with
the spirit of the bookstore.

As a novice bookseller, John had a few lessons to learn in a short time.
He had to ring up an old mate at HarperCollins to find out what the
mark-up on books was!

Plus it was a bold thing to do with Ruth expecting their second child;
and for a number of years after they opened it was her part-time work as
a senior journalist with the NZ Press Association that paid the
McIntyres' mortgage.

John says that within six months of opening, he knew the business was
working and also that there was nothing else he would rather do.

As the business grew, Ruth was able to join the bookshop full time in
1999. By that time, John had moved the bookshop to bigger premises, and
it moved again in 2002.

"Each time we doubled the size of the store," he says with quiet pride.
The current store is a spacious 200 sqm.

John is also a bookseller with a national profile, thanks, in part, to
National Radio's Nine to Noon programme.

In November 2002 it began with a one-off session with Linda Clark about
books for children's Christmas gifts. Now, it is a regular feature on
the programme, running every second Friday. "I choose the books I want
to talk about, and I usually theme the sessions, like books for babies
or senior YA novels."

He isn't paid, and it isn't part of the Booksellers NZ schedule but the
profile this gives John and his store is invaluable.

John says that it makes him immune from cost-cutting - "if you don't
cost you don't get cut".

Never one to miss a beat, John makes a point of being at the studio
early for his sessions. "If the 10am interview falls over, I can get a
bit more time on air while they set up something else!"

He also notes that when he was first doing the reviews, New Zealand
books made up about five sessions during the year. "Nowadays it is at
least 15 programmes, and that's great for New Zealand books."

Usually, The Read asks about a store's current bestsellers during an
interview, but John thinks it politic not to expand on this. "With Ruth
(pictured left) as the convenor of judges for the New Zealand Post
Children's Book Awards
, and me being a previous judge, it is best not to comment."
However, he will venture that "picture books are the mainstay of our
business".

There is a unique factor in children's bookselling: "Customers are never
buying for themselves, so they need advice and guidance with selection
of titles." Consequently this is probably one place where his
enthusiastic young staff are allowed time to read on the job!

"We're certainly blessed by the great staff we've gathered around us.
They're young, feisty, smart, all of them children's literature lovers
first and foremost, and regularly sought out for their advice. They keep
us young - mentally anyway."

Another important aspect of The Children's Bookshop outreach is its
frequent book launches and events - within the last 10 days they have
celebrated Mandy Hager's Resurrection and Juliet MacIver's Tom and the
Dragon, and had a visit from Craig Smith with his Wonky Donkey show.

In recessionary times, children's bookselling is less affected than
ordinary bookselling: for a start, many of The Children's Bookshop's
customers are schools and school libraries, and educational bookselling
and books bought for children's gifts seem to maintain their importance
in a downturn.

Ruth and John do up to 20 speeches a year about children's literature at
conferences and librarians meetings throughout the country. They also
get involved in supporting and mentoring authors at every opportunity.
It is their policy to never accept a speaking fee as they feel the
business gains more in exposure.

Today, John McIntyre says the bookshop has grown beyond his wildest
dreams.

"We've always been chasing our tails to generate the cash flow to keep
up with our growth."

The business has become their lives, six days a week at the shop and
regular outside events in the evening, to the extent that book trade
people have become their "tribe". "You couldn't find a nicer bunch of
people to be around."

But working hard is only a problem if you don't like what you do; says
John.

"And, as many people will attest, I have to work for myself. I can't
think of anyone patient enough to employ me."

ends

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