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- [00:02]
Annie Jones
Your message amplified.
- [00:03]
Erin Fielding
Ready to share your message with the world? Start your podcast journey with podbean.
- [00:08]
Annie Jones
Podbean Podbean Podbean Podbean the AI powered all in one podcast platform.
- [00:14]
Erin Fielding
Thousands of businesses and enterprises trust Podbean to launch their podcasts.
- [00:18]
Annie Jones
Launch your podcast on podbean today.
- [00:20]
Erin Fielding
My school uses Podbean. My church too.
- [00:23]
Annie Jones
I love it. I really do. Welcome to from the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. It's a mother's job to love her child, not the other way around. It is your job to carry her love forward and project it out into the world. Taylor Hahn A Home for the Holidays I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week I'm talking with online sales manager Erin Fielding about our shelf subscription program and why a shelf subscription makes the perfect holiday gift. Before we get started, a thank you to everyone who's been leaving reviews for from the Front Porch this year. Itunes, reviews and ratings are how new listeners can best find out about from the Front Porch and as a result, find out about our indie bookstore too. Here's a recent review from Ann A favorite it's hard not to love Annie's thoughtful book Recs, which brings books so vividly to life. What's even better, a porch full of the accompanying voices of Bookshelf staffers, friends, friends and family. I savor my virtual time in Thomasville each week. Thank you so much, Ann. And if you have not left a review, all you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for from the Front Porch, scroll down until you see, write a review, and then tell us what you think. Your reviews help us spread the word about not only our podcast, but about our small brick and mortar business too. I'm sure you guys are sick of reviews at the top of certain episodes, but I have to tell you, they really are important. Like just this is me. This is me going off script to tell you it's really important and it has become even more important for the success of our actual store. And so truly, truly, I mean it. I know I say it all the time on these episodes, but if you have left a review, I know that takes time and effort and I just want to thank you for it. So thank you to Ann and to everyone else who's left a review this year. Now back to the show this year. Speaking of our small business, one of our goals for from the Front Porch was to make sure we were adequately talking about and mentioning our in store operations. We're a book podcast, yes, but more accurately, we're a bookstore podcast. And the overall purpose of from the Front Porch has always been to point back to the Bookshelf's brick and mortar operations in Thomasville. Our show doesn't have a ton of ads. Instead, what we hope is that listeners will find ways to support the Bookshelf, either through podcast reviews, social media interactions, or with online purchases. One Bookshelf program we wanted to especially highlight on the podcast this year was our shelf subscription program, since many of our show listeners are or have have been in the past shelf subscribers. If you're not familiar with the program, like many indie bookstores around the country, the Bookshelf has a monthly subscription service devoted to our favorite new books of each month. So what makes our program a little bit different and how are we changing and tweaking our service to keep up with increased demand and competition? Well, today, online sales manager Aaron is here to help us chat through our shelf subscription service, some changes we're making for 2025 and how to purchase a shelf subscription for holiday gifting. Hi, Erin.
- [04:00]
Erin Fielding
Hello. Good morning.
- [04:01]
Annie Jones
Good morning. Welcome back to the show. I told Olivia and Aaron they would not have to record podcast episodes in December, and I lied. Here we are.
- [04:12]
Erin Fielding
Wait, wait a minute. So sneaky. No, I love doing this.
- [04:17]
Annie Jones
I was in my car, I made a Starbucks run this morning. And I sometimes, you know, think, what am I gonna say on the podcast? I don't know. I don't know what that. But anyway, I was in the car, I was like, what am I going to talk to Aaron about other than shelf subscriptions? What are we going to riff about? And for some reason, I was like, what if I just ask Erin, Erin, are you simply having a wonderful Christmas time?
- [04:36]
Erin Fielding
And then I would start singing or something. Is that what she wanted?
- [04:40]
Annie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. And then it was just.
- [04:42]
Erin Fielding
I do have a mic in front of me. It could happen.
- [04:44]
Annie Jones
Devolve from there. We are, you know, we record frequently so early, but we are really not. We're kind of recording this more or less in real time because we wanted to give up to date information about shelf subscriptions, about the holiday season, because we know probably, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the biggest spike we see in shelf subscriptions is typically now, like, at the holidays.
- [05:09]
Erin Fielding
Correct.
- [05:10]
Annie Jones
So it makes a great holiday gift. We're going to talk about that before we get into it. If you have never heard of shelf subscriptions, we're obviously going to talk about them today, but you can listen to some back episodes of from the Front Porch Aaron has been on. And actually other shelf subscription curators have been on to talk about their shelf subscription selections. So you can go back. This is all in the show notes, but episodes 442, 472 and 491 are all good resources. If after you listen today, you still maybe have some questions and you want some more information, we'll put in the show notes as well. And I'm sure Aaron will mention it, but we also have a whole section of our website devoted to shelf subscriptions. It's extremely thorough. Aaron has done a great job of putting information out there where I think if you've got any sort of question, it probably can be answered through our website. So we'll put a link in the show notes to our shelf subscription page. Okay, Erin, we're coming to the end of 2024. And I can't believe.
- [06:05]
Erin Fielding
Honestly, can you? I can't.
- [06:08]
Annie Jones
I really can't either. And then I start to get a little sweaty about 2025. Yeah, I had a friend casually. I think it's because I have a lot of friends who've been going through difficult things this year. And she casually was like, you know, 2025 has been really hard. And I was like, ooh, you know, wait a minute. You've misquoted. And we're manifesting a really easy 2025.
- [06:30]
Erin Fielding
Yeah. AB no, I'm not nervous about 2025. It just feels like, you know, we have all these spreadsheets, of course, for shelf subscriptions. And, you know, I was looking, trying to find out what our books were going to be that we're sending out in December. We're starting to package those up, you know, in real time. Today I had to scroll all the way to the bottom of the spreadsheet. And it just, like, visually, it just gives you that feeling of wow, like we've been doing it a whole nother year. And it's a. It's a good feeling, but a weird feeling.
- [06:57]
Annie Jones
It is weird. And I went back because I added the 2025 page to the spreadsheet, which totally stressed Olivia out. She was like.
- [07:04]
Erin Fielding
She was like, I'm not ready.
- [07:05]
Annie Jones
What do you mean? And I said, I'm so sorry, but now is the time. And so all the spreadsheets, I feel like, have been updated with 2025, but I was scrolling back to maybe I just saw January, February picks from 2024. And that feels does that feel like a million years ago?
- [07:21]
Erin Fielding
A million years ago, Keela. I were just saying, you know, one of the books I love this year was the Bullet Swallower, which your dad picked as a shelf subscription. And we were like, can you believe that was this year? Like, that we read that book and it came out this year? It feels like two years ago. Yes.
- [07:36]
Annie Jones
It feels so long ago. I always say the bookshelf is kind of a time warp. Like time does not function at the bookshelf like it does. I don't know in my house or in my normal life, when I saw some of my previous selections, which I stand by, but I honestly thought, I cannot believe I read that this year. Yeah.
- [07:56]
Erin Fielding
Was that this year? Yeah, it was.
- [07:58]
Annie Jones
Right. I think we at the Bookshelf have gotten much better about reflecting and honoring wins, investigating losses, like trying to figure out what works, what doesn't work. So I am curious as we come to the end of this year, what wins you feel like, you know, you and Keela. Shelf Subscription is Yalls baby. And it has become. I'm. I'm happy to say it's become more of Keela's baby. Like she is slowly kind of taking it. But, but I'm curious from a, from a motherly perspective, how do you feel like subscription subscriptions have grown and changed, Specifically wins this year? Like, what do you think? We did really well in 2024. What changes were successful with the program for our team?
- [08:38]
Erin Fielding
Well, as always, at the top of the list is recurring shelf subscriptions where you can go online. And we partner with Zoho Billing in order to be able to safely and privately. Because we don't want your credit card information here at the bookshelf. We don't want to keep it. We don't want to have it.
- [08:55]
Annie Jones
The number of people who want to entrust us with their credit card information is truly shocking.
- [08:59]
Erin Fielding
Legally want to have it?
- [09:01]
Annie Jones
Yes, legally, I don't want your credit card info.
- [09:03]
Erin Fielding
So to be able to find a billing partner that was so seamless, integrate with our website that people can just go. And now we have so many recurring shelf subscribers, and I think they're loving it. It's easy for us, it's easy for them, and I think it's just a win for everyone so that the customers are not constantly being barded by me with emails reminding them to, you know, renew their shelf subscription. And it's easy for us because it's a great service that we provide that a lot of other services maybe were providing. We just didn't have the capacity yet the logistics to do it. And so the fact that I can stand here today, whereas, you know, maybe two years ago we thought, we can never make this happen because we couldn't really find a way to do it with our website and our billing provider. But it's here and we're so excited. And I hope if you're listening and you're a recurring shelf subscriber, that you are enjoying it as well. So that's a huge win for us. Again, time warp. Was it really just at the end of last year that we decided we were not doing Treat Yourself anymore?
- [10:04]
Annie Jones
Believe it or not, yeah. What is the saying? What is the biblical saying? A thousand years is like a day and a day is like a thousand years. Like the bookshelf, a year is a thousand years.
- [10:13]
Erin Fielding
In the presence of the Lord, the bookshelf works differently. So, yeah. Yes. At the end of last year, again, as we will discuss later in this episode, we are always very thoughtfully considering the shelf subscription program, which is what's working for customers, what's working for us, what is the thing that is a pain point? What are things that are a win? And the Treat Yourself program just became a slight pain point. Not because we didn't enjoy doing it, but like we've talked about before, as they can listen to on previous episodes, it just became a thing where we had to say, I don't think this is working for us anymore. In order for us to keep it sustainable, we had to say sayonara to the Treat Yourself program, which I'm so sad about. Sometimes it was fun getting the gift items and sending them out, but we had to say sayonara to that. So that was a change that I think was a win.
- [11:02]
Annie Jones
I'm so glad you mentioned that and you mentioned how sad we are because I think when a business and we're gonna talk about some changes we're making to 2025, that's one of the reasons you're on today. But when a business makes changes, and especially I can speak obviously for the bookshelf, but when the bookshelf makes changes, it is often because of a ton of time, thought, energy, research. Like, we've really put a lot of effort into that change. Treat your shelf with something I wanted to keep. I loved it. Like, I thought it was so fun. I think you really thought it was fun, like, to do the gift picking. But it really became such a. Well, I think I've used this phrase before, but my dad always says, like, is the juice worth the Squeeze. And it became where the juice was not worth the squeeze. And we are a dachshund functioning as a Rottweiler at the bookshelf. You know what I mean? We're actually quite a tiny operation. And so when it comes to any of our programming, we really do have to look at is it worth this staffer's time, energy and effort. And so I'm glad you mentioned sometimes when a customer is sad about a change, I think they think they're the only ones that are sad. And it's like, no, we're sad, too.
- [12:18]
Erin Fielding
That's something we really wanted for so long. Like you said, it was really, truly. One of your brainchilds is to have the same experience that customers can get in store, where they can get beautiful gift product with their books, just like they can do in store. And we loved it. We loved picking the gifts. We love sending it out. We loved seeing the joy that people got when they got their boxes with their items. But for a variety of reasons, inflation, time constraint, it felt like it was the right time.
- [12:45]
Annie Jones
Well, and now, I mean, I look at the website changes we've made over the last three years, and now people can shop with us for product way more than they could five years ago. Like, way more. Our website is way more shoppable. I mean, thanks to you, thanks to even integrations with FAIR and things like that. Like, shopping online is just so much different than it was when we instituted Treat yout Shelf. And so, yes, we miss it. Yes, we're sad. But it's. It's a change that I think you and I are both relieved we made. And now customers, customers can shop online. Or I think it gave us the capacity to do something like an Advent box, where that's where we could put all of our energy into, like, all these cool, gifty products in our Advent box. So when you say no to one idea, it enables you to say, yeah, yes to maybe a better idea.
- [13:34]
Erin Fielding
And a better idea as a segue. A better idea that we had a few years ago was, what if we took some of the favorite authors that we know? Our Shelf subscribers and our Bookshelf customers love authors like Kerry Winfrey and Annabelle Monahan. And we asked them, hey, can you tell us if you were going to send out a book that you enjoyed, what would you pick? You know, not their book, but a book that they themselves would enjoy reading. And we have had such a huge success with that. And customers love it. We love doing it. We love partnering with these authors. So we're already getting excited about 2025 and the authors that we can ask to be to do that. And we try to time it in such a way that maybe they do have a book coming out because we do want to support them and we do want them to know and put the whole force of the bookshelf customer base behind them, supporting them, purchasing their book as well. But it's been such a fun thing to see what books these authors chose as the books they would send out. So that's been a huge win. That's something we'll continue doing as long as it still makes sense for us and for the authors. It's been fun.
- [14:38]
Annie Jones
That was really fun and a great way. You know, just like any program, like our shelf subscription programs has peaks and valleys throughout the year. Small businesses statistically do, I mean, drastically most of their business in Q4. And so one of the goals of the bookshelf is to try to remain even though, yes, we see a peak at Q4, it's to try to schedule enough things so that we have peaks in Q1 and peaks in Q2. It's why we plan reader retreats pretty specifically with, like, where they go. And so I think you've done the same thing with the shelf subscription program is you've taken a look throughout the year and said, okay, where are our peaks? And that's a great place to plug in a guest author, giving the subscription program, you know, breathing new life into it, giving it, giving a little boost. So, yeah, you've done a great job of being super strategic this year. And one of our, I think one of our sayings at the bookshelf that we say all the time is proactive rather than reactive. And that's hard in small business. Like, so much a small business is like pivoting and reacting to like an in the moment problem. But anytime you can be strategic and proactive, I think is great. And I really think I've. I've observed that in you and in the program this year. It's been really fun to watch. Which brings us to some changes that we have been talking about since at least, I want to say, since at least June of this year.
- [16:00]
Erin Fielding
At least. Yes.
- [16:01]
Annie Jones
Yeah. So we've been toying around, thinking, brainstorming together. One thing I really love about our managerial team is it's like a fantastic mind meld. Like, I feel like everybody brings their own expertise and creativity to the table, even, I mean, inside baseball. But like, Aaron, you sent an email yesterday, like, asking for everybody's input on some language. You were utilizing. And every person had such great insight that, like, I wouldn't have thought of. Like, Olivia's comment, I wouldn't have thought of. And so I just thought, oh, my gosh, like, I love this team. And one of the ways I see our managerial team shine is when we get together and brainstorm and we help each other with a problem. And so we knew that shelf subscription had some pain points, had some things that we wanted to rectify. So what is changing in 2025?
- [16:50]
Erin Fielding
Okay, so it's really. It is exciting. I mean, just as we talked about earlier, some people may be sad about these changes. We're sad. We're honestly sad to see things change. Change is hard, right? Change is hard. But change is also exciting, especially when it means a fresh, new perspective on shelf subscriptions. So what we have decided to do, and now a little backstory is, you know, currently we have an Annie subscription, We have an Olivia subscription, We have a shop mom and Nancy, they split a subscription. They each pick a book every other month, and then we have a Shop dad subscription. That's been working for a while. I believe your dad joined the program maybe two years ago. Years ago, it feels like.
- [17:29]
Annie Jones
I think that's right again.
- [17:30]
Erin Fielding
Time is realized is weird.
- [17:32]
Annie Jones
But I think he's picked books for two years.
- [17:35]
Erin Fielding
And so. But it became evident people's lives change. And it became evident that we wanted it to be sustainable for your dad, for your mom, who are volunteer people who just. I can't stress that enough.
- [17:49]
Annie Jones
Like, they're literally my mom and dad.
- [17:50]
Erin Fielding
Literal mom and dad who have their own literal, real lives. It's just your dad loves to read, your mom loves to read, Nancy loves to read. These changes are not because no one wants to read as much, but the changes are to make it sustainable. So we started to think, how can we still give people a third option besides Annie, besides just Olivia? Because you have your lane and people love what you read. Olivia has her lane and people love what she reads. And then there are people, perhaps like me, who read a variety of books. Maybe we love a little nonfiction. Maybe we do love a rom com sometimes. Maybe we do love, you know, a family drama or whatever it is. And so I read pretty widely. I've always wanted to be part of the shelf subscription program, but again, it's the time commitment, as you know, to read a book every single month.
- [18:36]
Annie Jones
Well, and I'll point out something that I don't know, that customers or consumers know this, but, like, Olivia and I, I mean, obviously, I mean, I'M the owner of the store. Olivia's a 40 hour a week operations manager. So to me, shelf subscriptions, shelf subscriptions fall under a full time staffer commitment. Do you know what I mean? Because it takes time and effort to read a book. We're not, as we all know, we're not reading on the job.
- [19:03]
Erin Fielding
We're not reading.
- [19:05]
Annie Jones
There's like, unless you're 40 hours a.
- [19:07]
Erin Fielding
Week at work to read.
- [19:09]
Annie Jones
Correct. And so, you know, she's reading in addition to. And so it's part of her, like, managerial responsibility is to be a shelf subscription contributor. But Nancy is a part time bookseller. You are part time manager. Like, you work what, maybe 24 hours? Yeah, yeah, 30 hours a week. And so it always felt weird to ask, like, customers and listeners are probably saying, yes, I always wanted an Erin subscription. We know, we know, we hear you. But we're always trying to be mindful of the ask that we're asking. It's the same as the podcast. I mean, I think listeners might sometimes say, hey, well, how come Caroline's not on the podcast? Or how come Kendyl's not on the podcast? Well, because of the time commitment the podcast requires and the interest level of the staffer. And nobody at the bookshelf is forced to be on the podcast. Like, we try to, you know, we try to be mindful and, you know, it makes sense for you and Olivia as managers, but even that we try to be mindful of the time commitment that requires. We had noticed, too. As much as we prided ourselves on offering so many options, we did look around. You ever look around at your competition and you're like, nobody else is sending out five adult books every month and four children's books every month. Like Parnassus just picks one, you know?
- [20:32]
Erin Fielding
Yeah, our goal is, we looked around and we thought, how can we streamline this and. But also still provide a variety of books to customers who maybe don't fit in one lane or the other. And so what I think we've come up with is pretty genius, I'll say it, because we came up with it as a group, which is we are now. We now have an Annie. We will now have an Annie subscription and Olivia subscription, and we will have a third adult subscription, which is, we are calling it the revolving shelf, revolving bookshelf subscription. And that gives me, your dad, Chris, your mom, Susie and Nancy a chance to all rotate, like once every, I guess once every four months to rotate and choose a book that we would send out. And I think it's actually brilliant because although we read different books, we all kind of read the same, which is we all.
- [21:23]
Annie Jones
There is weird over there.
- [21:24]
Erin Fielding
Like, I love book to your dad. I love. I've. Some of my favorite books have been your dad's books. I've read. I've loved Book D that Nancy has loved. So I think that it's going to be. I think people will notice a theme, which is, even if it's a hard book, there's hope. Even if there is drama or, you know, whatever. We try to. I try to read. I try to be mindful to pick books where there's not a ton of violence, there's not a ton of profanity. We try to do that.
- [21:51]
Annie Jones
Right.
- [21:51]
Erin Fielding
And that's what Nancy and your mom were trying to do, too. It's getting harder and harder. But at the missing part, I think.
- [21:57]
Annie Jones
That was part of the stress for my mom. Y'all. If you knew how many times my mom has come to me, Annie, I really like this book. But there and then, she literally has counted how many F words are in, you know, and she's an adult person, like. But she. But she's so mindful. You know, we were so kind of. I'm using air quotes. We were so strict about the criteria that. And my mom's a rule follower, and she was like, I've promised people a sensitive book, and I will be sensitive, like, so.
- [22:23]
Erin Fielding
Well, we can't promise that. This revolving shelf, we are not marketing it. We are not telling people it is a PG13 or a PG shelf subscription. You know, I do listen to the podcast and they say, like, free Jamie. You know, like, we're about. We're about to free Nancy. Free Susie. Yes, free Susie from these restraints and just pick great books. So, again, we're not promoting it as that. So we don't want people to think that that is what they're getting. But I will say that, for the most part, we are all adults who try to be mindful of what we choose and what we send out. So I don't think anyone's going to get incredibly graphic violence. We just don't tend to read like that anyway. So. So that being said, so we are really, really excited about it. Again, it gives all of us the ability to be involved in a way that is sustainable for the four of us for the indefinite time period. And we're really excited about that because we feel like it fills a void that we wanted our bookshelf shelf subscriptions to have, which is. Here's. Here's a variety of books you might love. It sort of fulfills that surprise me shelf subscription that we. That now has gone away, which is if you read widely and you're open to any variety of books, this is a great choice for you.
- [23:33]
Annie Jones
Now, I like this so much better because again, the program, I think the word we kind of used had become unwieldy because. And here again, some inside baseball. When we started our shelf subscription program eight, eight or nine years ago, we had 35 subscribers at our peak. Okay, that's the most we had. Now our peak is 3.
- [23:58]
Erin Fielding
400. Yeah, yeah.
- [24:00]
Annie Jones
350 to 400. And so when we had 35 subscribers and a third of those were surprise me, which meant you me. I forget who all has covered it, but, like, at some point, I feel like every person on staff has been a surprise me picker. You know what I mean? And so Aaron would go through a spreadsheet and pick what book each person was getting that month. Each surprise me person was getting that month. Okay, well, when you're doing that for 12 people versus doing that for 50 people, yes. That is a hugely different thing we're asking of you. And so I love. I've always liked the surprise me option because to be honest, if I was subscribed, if I, Annie B. Jones was subscribing, I probably would actually pick the. I like to read a wide range. Like, I probably would pick the surprise Me. But now instead of a staffer having to individually assign 50ish people a book, the surprise me subscription is essentially the revolving bookshelf. And it's gonna rotate among Erin, Shop, dad, Shop, mom, and Nancy. And I think it's fun and a super eclectic curation of books. And so, yeah, if you like my subscription, stick with me, babe. We're gonna do this for the long haul. Like, we're gonna have a great time. If you love thrillers, cozy mysteries, Olivia's girl, she's gonna keep being your girl. But if you are an eclectic, adventurous reader, I think the revolving bookshelf, it narrows it down. It takes us from five subscription options down to three. Right. Or six down to three. Anyway, it's. Which is just hugely helpful from a workload perspective, while at the same time, I actually think offering an even better model. I think, obviously I'm biased. We sat. We sat in a room and brainstormed this. But I'm really excited when we talk about sad changes. Yeah, there's always an element of sadness. Change is hard, like you said. But every time I talk about this and this is how I know a change is good for the store. Every time I talk about this, I feel relieved.
- [25:58]
Erin Fielding
Me, too. And I'm excited.
- [26:01]
Annie Jones
Yes. And I feel excited. And it's been a long time. The changes you made at the beginning of this year, like the special guest authors, I was excited about that. But it's been a long time since we've made a change. Treat your shelf mostly felt like sad, but necessary. This feels like, oh, no, this is fun. Like we can play with this. Like, we can have a good time with this. That's how this feels.
- [26:23]
Erin Fielding
I think so, too. And I'm just excited to be among, you know, to be among the ranks of shelf subscription curators now.
- [26:29]
Annie Jones
The curators.
- [26:31]
Erin Fielding
But really, truly. And again. And one thing I will say that if you're listening to this or if you really, truly loved your Susie Nancy subscription and you feel like, I don't know if this is going to be a good fit, then we still have. We made a page on our website, which you can find easily from our shelf subscription page, which will be in the show notes that you can browse Susie's favorite reads. You can also go back and listen to any of the podcast episodes she's on. We try to keep a lot of the books she loves stocked. So one thing we thought was, well, let's just say this is not for you. You really still want to get a Susie Nancy subscription? Well, you know, if you ask someone, hey, just buy me 12 of Susie's books and, like, and we'll just, we'll ship them and give them to you one a month or whatever, someone could give them to you once a month. So it's not Susie's. Susie's not going away. She's still gonna be on the podcast occasionally. She still will be choosing books, just less frequently. But we're really excited about it.
- [27:25]
Annie Jones
And she. Look of all the. I think Nancy and Dad were relieved. I think it's okay to say that here. Like, dad wanted to free himself up to read more books. I mean, truly, like, he wanted to read, not first subscriptions, which I, yeah, I understood. So he's thrilled and relieved. I think Nancy is thrilled because it really is a case of free Nancy. Like, I think Nancy. Nancy did not necessarily always read maybe books for the sensitive reader, whereas my mom typically did. So that pairing was made to eliminate a ton of work for both of them. But they naturally don't actually read the same all the time. And so anyway, I think Nancy's thrilled Mom at first was slightly disappointed Cause she was like, wait. Like, you know, she takes her job very seriously.
- [28:06]
Erin Fielding
Oh, I know she does. And she loves it.
- [28:09]
Annie Jones
She loves it. But this is what I reminded her. She loves coming on the podcast. That is not the case for every curator.
- [28:17]
Erin Fielding
And people love it when she's on the podcast. I love it. We just love it when she's on the podcast.
- [28:23]
Annie Jones
So she loves coming on the show. And I was like, you're gonna still be on the podcast. And when I told her, I was like, aaron's created a page for you. And she was like, well, I'll email Aaron once a month with my books that I've read that month and then she can update it. And so I actually think Susie's page on the site will be updated pretty regularly with her picks.
- [28:43]
Erin Fielding
I love that.
- [28:44]
Annie Jones
Yeah. If you're a die hard Suzy fan and Suzy reader, we understand. Like, we know. We, we, we have. It's why we started that subscription option in the first place. We got enough customers asking for, you know, not as much sex, not as much violence. But now there's gonna be a whole page for you on the store website, which I think then if you're giving a gift, you know, this is the time of year where we're thinking about gift giving. We have a lot of customers who are like, what can I safely gift my mother in law? Well, may I introduce you to the Suzy page on the website? And every one of those books you could give, you could gift your mother in law without blushing. And wouldn't that be nice? And so I do think you've put a lot of thought into. Okay, who might be sad? Who might be sad about this decision? Well, we've got a solution for you.
- [29:30]
Erin Fielding
Absolutely. We won't leave you hanging.
- [29:32]
Annie Jones
And shopdad has a page. Nancy has a page. We'll link it all in the show notes. So, okay, we've made this change. Starting in January, you pick Annie, Olivia, or revolving shelf subscription. But talk to me a little bit before we, before we say goodbye, talk to me a little bit about holiday gift giving because certainly this is the time of year when people purchase subscriptions the most, I think, and certainly people. I just am talking from floor experience. You see it, see it online, I'm sure a lot. But in store, you know, man comes in, I need a gift for my wife. We tell him about shelf subscriptions. We help him narrow down what subscription should work for him. So can you kind of give an overall view if this is somebody's first introduction to shelf subscription? My picks, Olivia picks And then we've described the revolving bookshelf option. And then which ones you think would make great gifts this holiday season and how to do that.
- [30:32]
Erin Fielding
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Well, they all make great gifts. I definitely think that we've been doing this long enough now and there's enough information either on our website or on the podcast about what kind of books you might pick, what kind of books Olivia might pick, what kind. Now, I think we talked a lot about what kind of books that this revolving bookshelf will choose that it would probably be like if, you know, someone loves the types of books, if they're an Annie fan, if they listen to the podcast, they love your recommendations, your shelf subscription, that's hard to say, will make a great gift. And again, Olivia is well known for picking sometimes gritty thrillers, cozy mysteries, whatever is come comes across her desk that just makes her want to keep turning the pages. If you love those types of books, that's a great shelf subscription. She never disappoints. We have a lot of very loyal Olivia shelf subscribers as well. And again, this revolving one is fun. If you maybe don't know the reading taste of your, of your recipient and you think they might enjoy a variety of different books, then I think this revolving bookshelf will be quite a fun surprise. I mean, talk about surprise. Like they really won't know what they're getting. I mean, they'll kind of know, but they won't really know what they're getting until they get it. And so to me, that's part of the fun of our shelf subscription program is the surprise. And it will be a lot of fun for a recipient to receive that. We, we have, I believe downstairs and I know digitally we have shelf subscription printable and cards like shelf subscription gifts. So basically if you say, yeah, I want to buy this now, but I don't want it to start until January, we have a, I can email you or we can give you in store a card that you can fill out and present to the recipient so that they know, oh my gosh, I'm getting a shelf subscription for three months or 12 months or whatever it might be. And then it has our contact information on there. So no worries. If they decide they need to change their address or they need to they want to switch to a different staffer, they can just reach out to me and our, you know, all that information will on the certificate so that you don't have to. It's a great way to give someone the gift of books without having to buy them yourself for 12 months.
- [32:41]
Annie Jones
Exactly. I mean, I think a lot of people, that's one of the questions we get in store, we tell them about shelf subscriptions and then they're like, but I need something wrapped under the tree. These gift cards are great because either Aaron can send it to you if you're an online customer. If you're an in store customer, we fill it out for you, letting the recipient know, hey, you've got a three month subscription headed your way starting starting in January. And if you're a local, we still of course offer our in store pickup option. So you can just come by the shop once a month. It's, we've, we've had customers make an event of it where they like bring their granddaughter and they come. It's like a monthly ritual where they come and pick up their book every month, which I think is super. Oh, it's just super sweet to watch.
- [33:20]
Erin Fielding
You get a free truffle.
- [33:21]
Annie Jones
Yeah, you get a free truffle Tuesday when you come pick out, pick out, pick up your shelf subscription. I guess a couple other things just to note because you mentioned the surprise element. You know, we do have customers and I love this, I love this for you readers. But we have customers who are subscribed to many a subscription. Like they're subscribed to Parnassus, they're subscribed to Book of the Month and us. And for a long time we tried desperately to keep up with like Book of the Month selections so that we could pick differently. And that went out the door a couple years ago. We just couldn't. Book of the Month didn't release their picks early enough. Like, it was just too hard. But what we've decided to do in the new year is that Caroline will post on Instagram letting folks know what our selections are, but it'll be hidden. And so just like she's, if you follow us on Instagram, she's done this in stories before. But that way if you at the last minute kind of want to decide, like maybe you see, oh my gosh, Aaron's pick. I'm so excited about it. You can buy it after it's been revealed to you or, you know, let's say your bookshelf. We get a lot of folks. Well, I know you do and I, I do in my DMs where people are like, I'm at a bookstore, I want this book. But did you pick it for your shop subscription?
- [34:33]
Erin Fielding
Right. That's really what I get the most questions about is people that are, they want to Buy. They want to place a big order with us. They want to know, like, okay, is this book an Annie subscription coming up or is this book. Can you tell me if this is one of Olivia's choices? And so we are trying to sort of help those people out. Because you did a poll, right? You did a poll, like, because we actually toyed with the idea of not keeping our shelf subscriptions a secret, like actually publishing it for all to see beforehand, like Book of the Month, so people could know ahead of time what they were choosing or what they were getting. And we. You asked a very awesome focus group, your Patreon.
- [35:09]
Annie Jones
Loyal Patreon. Yeah.
- [35:11]
Erin Fielding
And you said it was 50. 50. And so that was not helpful.
- [35:13]
Annie Jones
It literally was 50, 50. And. Well, and honestly, you're right, it was not helpful. But it actually. But at the same time, it was because it felt like, okay, well, there's the data. Like, that's why we're confused as to what to do. Because our customers are confused.
- [35:26]
Erin Fielding
Yeah. Some of them really want to know. Some of them don't. So we're hoping that by doing this, by Caroline posting about the books before they even go out, like she's been posting about them after they've gone out, that if people wanted to know what they were, they can see that now we're going to start posting about them beforehand. So stay tuned on our Instagram. Again, they'll be covered, they'll be hidden. And usually you just send it. You send it an emoji or a message and it'll reveal it to you so that if you want to know. Okay, I see Olivia's pick. What's Olivia's pick for this month? Okay, I won't buy that because I know it's going to come to me. So we hope this will help the 50% of you that don't want it to be a surprise and need that information ahead of time.
- [36:04]
Annie Jones
That's right. And then the rest of you can stay blissfully unaware. And that's fine, too. Exactly.
- [36:10]
Erin Fielding
We also, and I want to say this might not affect people, but we did make another change, which is we are. We used to ship our shelf subscriptions on the first Tuesday of every month. That. That's been that way since I've been working here. Probably since. Since you started the program.
- [36:28]
Annie Jones
Don't know why I picked that, but, yes, it's been that way for nine years.
- [36:31]
Erin Fielding
Again, we don't make changes without lots of thought. And this. This first Tuesday of the month shipping date has been a pain point for what Feels like a year and a half.
- [36:41]
Annie Jones
Consistently. Yes, consistently a problem.
- [36:43]
Erin Fielding
Because what customers may not know is that we ship them out on the first Tuesday of the month, but we have to package them basically the last week of the month. And that last week of the month for some reason is always like a reader retreat week or a, you know, a huge holiday sales week or whatever. Or we're closed for something for some reason. And it has been a pain point that we. That actually has resulted in us for several months now having to ship books out on the second Tuesday of the month just because we're closed or whatever. So we thought, you know what, let's just go ahead and make this an actual thing. Which is now you have until the first Tuesday of the month to purchase a shelf subscription that you will get that month. And then the second Tuesday of the month is when they will ship out. So you may notice that they come a little bit later in the month, but that hopefully is. Will just kind of be the constant now. And it also helps with. This is a weird thing, but it helps us when we pick books.
- [37:41]
Annie Jones
It helps picking. It's gonna help picking so much. Like it's just already. I'm like, oh, the world is my oyster now with what I get to pick. Cause it was hard to pick a book that definitely released by the first Tuesday of the month so that we.
- [37:56]
Erin Fielding
Could get it in time to package it and send it out. Yeah.
- [38:00]
Annie Jones
Yes. So this is going to be immensely helpful from a curation perspective. And then I also think the other thing is the first Tuesday of the month is often the biggest release day. And so for our, again, two person online team, two part time, working full.
- [38:18]
Erin Fielding
Time right now, but usually two part time people.
- [38:20]
Annie Jones
Two part time people shipping out all of the new release books and then up to 400 shelf subscriptions, y'all, it'll just, it's too much for one Tuesday.
- [38:32]
Erin Fielding
Yeah. It will help us to have that full first week of. With nothing. No, you know, it will help us tremendously. And I know that's nitty gritty, but from a, from our perspective, switching it to shipping to the second Tuesday of the month is. Wow. It's just. Why haven't we done this before?
- [38:49]
Annie Jones
Yes. From a workflow perspective, I think we're gonna, I think, think we're gonna watch Aaron's shoulders. She's gonna feel so free.
- [38:58]
Erin Fielding
And Keela too, bless her heart.
- [39:00]
Annie Jones
Yes, Keela too. So these are some of the things we're doing for January 2025. If you go to our website you can see that now you can buy an Annie subscription, an Olivia subscription, or a revolving bookseller subscription. You know, like, I also think long term this, this could mean Kindle might occasionally pick a book.
- [39:21]
Erin Fielding
Absolutely. We can plug people in whenever we want to.
- [39:24]
Annie Jones
That's right. Like, I'm thrilled because it also means freedom for years from now being able to plug in staffers who might not be able to have the time commitment to pick a book every month, but they might be able to pick two a year or something like that. So I'm thrilled. So you can go online, you can shop one of those three options. Our kids subscriptions have not changed. You know, we've not mentioned those today, but if you. I still think it's a great baby gift idea. I think it's my brother love. I think I, maybe, maybe that's what I'll do for Christmas. Anyway, so it's a great time to renew or purchase for a new baby in your life, a new young reader in your life because it's a gift that keeps on giving. I, I think it's a, I think it's a lovely gift because who doesn't like happy mail? That's not bills and so great time of the year to purchase. These are the options that we're super excited about. But the fact that it's a great gift giving program has not changed.
- [40:16]
Erin Fielding
Yes, it's a perfect gift any time of the year, honestly. Birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, you know, like you said, baby shower gift. It's a perfect way to say, here, I got you some books and they're going to come right to your house. Even if your friend lives 3,000 miles away. Like, you know, is America 3,000 miles? I was just like, wait a minute.
- [40:36]
Annie Jones
Absolutely.
- [40:37]
Erin Fielding
We don't ship to Europe, so hold on. Absolutely.
- [40:41]
Annie Jones
So you can find, we know we've, we've done a lot of information dump on you today, but you can find all of this on our store website if you're a current subscriber. None of this is a surprise to you. We've emailed you. Aaron has communicated this to you. I wrote, I wrote a letter to you. And so this, all of this hopefully just kind of further explains the thought behind some of these changes that are upcoming. And I hope you can hear in our voices, I can see it in our faces. Y'all can't, but I can see it in our faces how happy and relieved these changes are making us. And I think it's going to make for, to some extent, perhaps a less stressful 2025, at least when it comes to shelf subscriptions and the Shelf subscription program. So, Erin, thank you for taking time out of your busy shipping schedule.
- [41:24]
Erin Fielding
We're back to the grind.
- [41:27]
Annie Jones
To come on the show today. Readers, if you are a shelf subscriber, a current shelf subscriber, we also want to just say thank you. This is one of our favorite things we do. We've talked before. I mean, we're always investigating the different programs that we offer, the different things that we offer. And we've talked like, is shelf subscription worth keeping around? And we do think it's worth keeping around. It's such a fun offering that we get to do. And then you all make it fun too. And so if you are a current shelf subscriber or if you've been a subscriber in the past, thank you for trusting us with your monthly reading habits. And I hope that these changes excite you as much as they excite us. Yeah, we look forward to sending out your January picks very soon. This week I'm reading Play World by Adam Ross. Erin, what are you reading this week?
- [42:19]
Erin Fielding
I'm listening to Pictures of youf by Emma Gray.
- [42:27]
Annie Jones
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow the Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram ookshelftville and all the books from today's Episode can be purchased online through our store website, bookshelf thomasville.com a full transcript of today's podcast episode can be found at. From the frontporchpodcast.com Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of from the Front Porch and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. Our executive producers of Today's Episode are Kami Tidwell, Chantal Carle, Kate O'Connell, Kristin May, Linda Lee Drost Jean Queens Amanda Wickham Martha Stacy Lau Chance Combs Stephanie Dean Ashley Farrell Nicole Marcy Wendy Jenkins Lori Johnson Susan Mullings thank you all for your support of from the Front Porch. If you'd like to support from the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and helps us reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for from the Front Porch, scroll down until you see right a review and tell us what you think. Or if you're so inclined, support us over on Patreon, where we have three levels of support. Each level has an amazing number of benefits like bonus content, access to live events, discounts and giveaways. Just go to patreon.com the Front Porch we're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week. SA.