You always dreamed of running a bookshop without the risks and pressure of making a sell? Dream no further: Scotland has you covered. To be more precise – the national book town Wigtown where you can run a bookshop for 1-2 weeks via Airbnb.
It all started with a visit to a bookshop in Amsterdam last October where I discovered the book Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell. In his book, he tells what it is like to run a second-hand bookshop in Wigtown. While he mentions many positive moments, he also gives a rather realistic picture of his profession. He tells us about the challenges about selling books to and buying books from sometimes rather ignorant people. After reading his book, I decided to never buy books from Amazon ever again.
The Open Book – a unique idea
In this book, you also learn how Mr Bythell’s then-girlfriend had the idea for the Open Book. She enjoyed spending time in his bookshop and was sure that more people would like to know what it is like to run a bookshop. An idea was born and years later, the Airbnb is fully booked for years. You can book your very own bookish holiday for a maximum of two weeks. I had heard about this years ago but forgotten about it soon as it was fully booked. After finishing the Diary of a Bookseller, I had another look and couldn’t believe my luck: The first week of January was free. Our adventure of running a bookshop started on the 31st of December 2018.
Settling in at the bookshop
We arrived in Wigtown on December, 31st around noon and were greeted by a wonderful man, George. He showed us the shop and the flat and warned us that it will probably be quiet an. George made sure we would also take some time off. We were in Scotland and on vacation after all! After settling in, we were able to welcome quiet some visitors and customers. We got homemade shortbread, got to know the neighbours and made plans for our stay: we wanted to explore the area, add new books to the inventory, sort some bookshelves and I wanted to create a new chalkboard sign every day.
Part of the experience is also to write a blog about your stay. You can find ours here. We published three blog posts there and they are very detailed. Reading about past experiences made us realise how lucky we really were. We had booked the holiday in October 2018 and stayed with The Open Book at the end of December 2018. The average waiting time is more than 2 years. The owner of the building told us that there is a waiting list of over 700 people.
How to book your bookshop-holiday
I can only recommend this unique experience to everyone: You get to run a bookshop!! And you really feel like the owner. Of course, without the stress, uncertainties and difficulties, but it gives you a small insight into what the life of a bookseller can be. You can book the holiday via Airbnb. One night costs around 50EUR/58USD and the flat is amazing. It has everything you could wish for and is situated right above the shop.
Keep in mind that it is currently fully booked for three years. I can only advise you to randomly check because there are rare openings when someone cancels. You can also put yourself on the waiting list.
Once you get a spot, start getting excited. Gather ideas for your windows displays. Think about events you want to host. The town of Wigtown and its people are wonderful. Everyone really is as friendly and open as written in the reviews and you will feel at home from the moment you walk into the bookshop.
My personal highlight
The highlight of the whole experience was, apart from being surrounded by books all day long, working together with my boyfriend. He is more rational, realistic and down-to-earth while I started looking for property to bring the idea to the Netherlands on the second day. I also realised that working for myself is something I would like to experience at one point in my life. I left Scotland with a great sense of calm and excitement because I realised that 2019 will be my year. The feeling that anything is possible crept up on me while driving through the beautiful landscape. Knowing that something I’ve created made others laugh and even take photos of is something I will hold forever dear.
Would you like to try The Open Book and run a bookshop for a week?