“it was never a plan we had it was just a need’: Paper Tales Bookshop
Paper Tales is a lovely independent bookshop sprung from a love of books and a collective need in the community—a place for creativity and literature to thrive. Stocking over 100 authors all located in or born within 25 miles of Bristol, Paper Tales aims to provide new aspiring authors a catalyst for their dreams. We sat down with owner and founder, Charlie Keenan to learn more about the origin behind the shop and how it serves the community of Bristol today.
It all started with what Keenan refers to as ‘bookish clocks’, taking vintage books and transforming them into working clocks and selling them at a shop she found in Bristol. From there, they launched an event called the Festival of Stories: a celebration of the power of storytelling by bringing together local story tellers, performers, and writers to establish names for emerging talents. Requests rose from authors inquiring if Paper Tales could stock their book, as they were unable to find someone to do it. Seeing this need in the community, Paper Tales was born.
‘The whole point was really getting books on the shelves and to be seen rather than being bought. A lot of our authors are just grateful that they have a book on a shelf.’
Now stocking over 100 authors within 25 miles of Bristol, Paper Tales supports the big dreams of authors within a small space (15 meters to be exact), by doing things differently. Many writers never get the chance to become authors. Their books don't get placed on the shelves and the dream dies. Paper Tales supports any author, no matter their experience level or book sales. Keenan says, “I love the idea of these books being out there just because people feel passionate about the story, not because they make money from it”. In the clouded mess of being a writer and all its complications, it can be easy to forget the whole point: feeling passionate about a story.
Paper Tales provides a financial safety net for authors by giving them space to spread their work into the world. By working directly with authors and the small publishers they are supported by, on a permission basis, they can provide authors with 70 percent of every book as opposed to the typical 35 to 50 percent. The creative freedom and financial support Paper Tales provides is a rare perk only small, local businesses can offer, making them very important to the Bristol community.
‘It’s a great idea, and it’s lovely that that’s something that everyone wants to do, but it is hard work.’
Running the shop on her own, with the assistance of her partner, Charlie Keenan is able to jumpstart the dreams of Bristol authors while facilitating her own. Keenan finds immense joy in running Paper Tales as a passion project. From creating a project called Stories Behind Bars to stocking Nikesh Shulka’s small press zines, Keenan creates a bookshop filled with projects she is proud of. Unfortunately, there isn't much money in running a small bookshop due to the current pressing financial crisis. Keenan works a part-time job all while running Paper Tales just to make her dream a possibility. It is in times like these that it is most important to support local businesses and artists to keep treasures like Bristol’s Paper Tales alive.
You can support Paper Tales by visiting them in the Bristol Shopping Quarter, SPARKS, Broadmead, Bristol BS1 3DS. If unable to make a visit in person, follow their Instagram or shop online from their website.
