How Boston booksellers go from pop-ups to stores

Why it matters: The pop-up model helps novices build their brand as they learn the business of bookselling and prepare for the prospect of a bookstore.

State of play: Pascucci-Ciampa runs All She Wrote, an intersectional queer and feminist bookstore in Somerville.

• The bookstore survived its early days during the pandemic by offering online book ordering and deliveries.
• Today, the bookstore sells books and merchandise, holds events, offers a loyalty program and gets paid through partnerships, like a book club it runs for Dani's Queer Bar in Boston.

Between the lines: Part of what helped Pascucci-Ciampa keep the store going is her experience in finance, a subject foreign to some fledgling booksellers.

• In the corporate world, she managed a team with a shrinking budget and learned to be scrappy.
• She consulted former booksellers and trade organizations to learn best practices.
• Pascucci-Ciampa's discipline has also enabled her to contribute to her community, donating a free library collection to the Connexion building and mentoring people interested in opening bookstores.

What they're saying: "The fact that we've been able to cultivate a community as strong as we have just demonstrates how important we are in the world," she says.

Side Quest, another former pop-up, has capitalized on the fandom surrounding science fiction and fantasy.

• Caroline Sheridan, the owner, opened a small store in Bow Market last year after raising more than $13,000 through crowdfunding.
• Even on a slow month like February, the bookstore is hosting up to seven game nights.

Caveat: Sheridan has a day job and doesn't pay herself, but she says Side Quest is making enough to keep the lights on and pay her employees.

Go deeper:

• The co-op option
• What's behind Boston's bookstore "boomlet"