Solid Groundwork and Technology Set Wordsmiths Off to a Good Start

After months of laying the groundwork, seasoned bookseller Zachary Steele has opened Wordsmiths Books at the historic post office in downtown Decatur, Georgia. Steele, whose resume includes managerial experience at Georgia's Chapter 11 bookstores and at Barnes & Noble, is the 3,000-square-foot store's owner; Chapter 11 veteran Russ Marshalek is its marketing and PR director; and bestselling author David L. Robbins is a financial backer.

The bookstore opened its doors on Friday, June 15, with special events continuing throughout the weekend. Robbins delivered a keynote speech on Friday evening, and patrons were able to purchase the soon-to-be-released paperback edition of The Assassins Gallery (Random House), an August 2006 Book Sense Pick, by special arrangement with the publisher. Music performances, poetry readings, and a free Sunday brunch were part of the opening festivities.

"We had terrific events going on all three days, and prepared ourselves by selling books offsite and hosting events with other organizations for months," said Steele. "Business was steady."

A number of the groups that Steele has worked with since incorporating in January participated in the grand opening including the Georgia Center for the Book, Poetry Atlanta, and eLife Magazine. Wordsmiths has partnered with the Carter Center to sell books at recent events for Jimmy Carter and Madeleine Albright, and it has hosted events for publishers Akashic Books, Tin House, A Public Space, and Soft Skull Press in conjunction with a recent writing convention in Atlanta.

Steele noted that public anticipation for the store's opening was due in large part to the comprehensive online publicity campaign developed by Marshalak. "I have to give Russ the credit for the whole 'viral marketing.' It was a learning experience for me," he told BTW. "We started a blog in January, and we saw [our blog] start appearing in other blogs, like babygotbooks.com/about. From there, word traveled to the Ingram people and then a PW [Publishers Weekly] article." Steele described how this process spread the store's name effectively without any money being spent on advertising or public relations.

"The excitement has built up," he continued, "as other bloggers link to us. A local online magazine, eLife, does articles and in-store podcasts that it plays on its website. We paid them a small amount for four ads and didn't need to take out expensive newspaper ads."

Steele, who is still learning the intricacies of web marketing, acknowledged that many things are new to him: things such as RSS -- "Really Simple Syndication" -- which enables content providers to feed frequently updated content such as blog entries, event listings, or podcasts to Internet users who request notification and updates.

Via blogs, frequent e-mail alerts, newsletters, and a MySpace page, Wordsmiths is "trying to build a community of like-minded people, not create more spam," Steele emphasized.

Collaboration and community are essential themes for Wordsmiths. The store does not carry children's books in deference to the "totally amazing" children's specialty store, Little Shop of Stories, across the street. Ongoing meetings with the Georgia Center for the Book are devoted to discussions about how to work together to bring the maximum number of book-related events to Decatur. When things settle down a bit, Steele plans to work with the Decatur Business Alliance to preserve a vibrant downtown.

With event space for 400, a small stage and sound system on the main floor, room in the basement for book club meetings, a 1,000-square-foot space in the front of the store outfitted for quiet reading and free WiFi, and gallery space for local artists,

Wordsmiths Books will likely maintain as many connections to Decatur residents as did the old post office. --Nomi Schwartz