It is obvious that Leonard Fernandes loves books. The Goa-based owner of self-publishing and on-demand publishing company, CinnamonTeal, and online bookstore Dog Ears Etc has come up with a unique, never-tried-before concept in book retail called Five x 5 books that aims to provide an alternative to the homogeneity and monotony of sanitised chain bookstores by empowering book-lovers with their own ‘bookpads’.
The idea, Fernandes reveals, has been borrowed from direct selling as practised by companies such as Avon and Amway. Essentially, Five x 5 wants to set you up as a bookseller and all you need to be a part of this is a passion for books, five shelves in your house to store five books each (Five x 5, get it?) and some time to devote to your ‘business’.
The main ingredients: five shelves with five books in each shelf (you don’t have to restrict yourself to 25 books though; if you have more space, that’s great), a chair or two for people to sit and read, e-mail connectivity and access to the Internet to enable you to order books and maintain sales records, and time to spare (say, a couple of hours each day).
“We came up with this concept because we realised that a large percentage of books published are not (or cannot be) accommodated within bookstores. Added to that is the fact that bookselling has become a commercial business and therefore a personal touch, as seen in old bookstores run by individuals, would be more than welcome,” explains Fernandes.
The company has already signed up with a host of publishers such as Blaft Publications, Tulika Books, Kali for Women, Karadi Tales, Katha and Rupa & Co. They are in the process of talking to bigger publishers as well and are confident they’ll soon have many more in their kitty. The response from individuals wishing to own bookpads has also been encouraging, and the company is confident that once the bookpads are set up in about a month’s time, owners will spread the word, giving the idea the necessary momentum.
“We are looking for people who have a passion for books and are enthusiastic about spreading that passion. We believe such people will spread the word and also have, in their circle of friends and acquaintances, many good readers,” says Fernandes. He is also targeting people who are starved for books and see this as an opportunity to feed their own hunger and that of like-minded souls. “In many Tier-II and III cities, getting good books still remains a challenge. There are many pockets in Tier-I cities such as Bangalore as well where you don’t have easy access to a bookstore. We are targeting people in these areas,” Fernandes elaborates.
The company’s role in all this is to help owners set up shop and manage their inventory. As with any conventional bookshop, publishers offer books on discount and Five x 5 plans to earn off that discount. Profits will, of course, be shared between the company and individual bookpads. Owners are being encouraged to e-mail requests for books and the company is also developing a software system that will allow owners to view the online catalogue, order books and register sales.
Five x 5 has been marketing the concept through social media alone, so the Internet plays a huge role in all this (hence the insistence on owners being connected to the Net). Owners can choose the books they want to start off with, restricting themselves to a certain genre if they wish, and then keep adding more books.
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