Happy New Vat Rate! Keep the New Year Cheer!

Happy New Vat Rate!
However as we don't like to bring the New Year down in feel already we have decided to carry the VAT Increase on all current stock ourselves and not change any prices to you, our lovely customers.
So ok it's not much - but it is a little thing we can do to help customers & churches at the start of this New Year!

So that's no increase on Candles, Cards, Gifts, Music, DVD's, Jigsaws, Art & Craft Supplies & Stationary - and of course there never was an increase on books as they are zero rated anyway.

Being honest though when we get new stock in on new increased prices from our suppliers we might have to change some prices - especially as January typically is when the prices from suppliers tend to go up anyway.

So there we go keep on having a Happy New Year and keep your smile going into the year! Oh and don't forget we have our New year Sale on in shop too - so not only haven't prices gone up but they have also gone down on a whole lot of things too!

So see you in the shop soon, I'm going to be the one with the large latte, caramel flavoured of course, to see me smiling through the sale and the new year!

Online Shopping - we know you do it but now do it with us!

Sad news all around for the booktrade, Borders gone as from this week, Wesley Owen Christian Bookshops pretty much gone, 26 into administration this week, then Waterstones admitting a major profit downturn, the furor earlier in the year with Oxfam killing off Secondhand bookshops - yes indeed one might think it really was the end of real bookshops!
But you know what, it's not - it's just a changing time and these all have to be gone through.
Now the big blame being placed out there is on Supermarkets and Internet Shops
(and yes it does make it harder when publishers etc do give them such massive discounts as to allow them to half price the books, this then makes the supermarket/internet price a better price than normal bookshops can actaully buy them from the publishers and wholesalers for in the first instance! madness but is this the supermarkets/internet shops fault or the publishers, there's something to think about!).
So anyway I can't actually do anything about this conundrum except raise the issue that when you buy from a non-local national or multi-national that less of your spend actaully goes back into your local community, so there we go issue raised.
Now though what I can do is try to make it easier for you to support a local bookshop business whilst going where you want to go anyway - ie onto the internet for what is admittedly a style of selling that is going nowhere fast!
So Here we go, please use these sites:
www.lincolnbookshop.co.uk for all books and more needs! This is an Amazon Ashop so you will be getting all you want from one of the big players that I often can't compete with, however by going to them this way you will be helping support me via their affiliate scheme.
Now lets be perfectly honest here - I would much prefer you actaully came in and purchased from me directly, but as your probably not going to in this instance, at least this way you are still helping support a local business for the times when you do come in to see what the book look like! :0)
Now if it's jigsaws and games you want then please use: www.jigsawsandmore.co.uk
and if it's Christian & Religious Books then please use: www.lincolnchristianbookshop.co.uk
Now on the Christian Books side, if you want church supplies and stationary then that's not online but you can just email us your order at unicorntreebooks@aol.com and we will get it for you and phone you for the payment details we need!

It really is just that easy, of course you can also twitter the order to us at anytime, we are @unicorntreebks or you can facebook us: Unicorn Tree Books Group or friend me

Now please do me a favour and post all these website details all over the place for me! link to them and try to help out your Local(ish) Bookshop business, cause you know we live to serve you!
So Go Local to Go Global, local communities supporting local businesses build a better world and support a healthy global economy and network – really!

Oh and if you are popping in in person then I wouldn't mind if you felt like sharing a caramel latte with me, you bring it i'll drink it - those cyber ones just don't seem to taste as good or quench the thirst nearly so well!


http://www.bookdepository.co.uk?a_aid=unicorntreebooks

Church & Community Group Partnership Scheme

We have now officially launched our Church & Community Group Partnership Scheme!
So if you have a church or group we would like to help you earn revenue by becoming an affiliate partner of Unicorn Tree Books & Crafts!
(That's right an affiliate scheme thats not cyber based but is in a real shop with real people!! though of course you can still twitter or facebook your orders and enquiries to us!)
This is a real opportunity for working together to build community by supporting each other! More proof if needed that we are Working with you and for You!

The basic idea is that Churches and Community Groups (this also includes schools, clubs or any community, church or group based initiative) sign up with us as a Partner, Once signed up you promote us to all your church/group members and then everytime they come into the shop and make a purchase, providing they let us know they are part of your partnership, you get a percentage of that sale held in credit for your church/community group!

That's right - they buy, you spend!
It cost's your collective members nothing extra,
it costs you nothing but a bit of time, word of mouth and/or print promoting the service and our shop to your collective members (and anyone else you know who may benefit from the Scheme please!),
in fact the only one it's costing is us as we give away a percentage of our income to you!
We think this is worth it as we are helping you and we hope building community at the same time - and yes we do not deny we hope it helps us too by increasing the outreach of our shop too!

We will be hoping to run special partnership events and offers as time progresses as well.

So whats the catch?
Your collective partnership have to buy up to £250 worth of goods in the course of the year, now even if your group only has 10 people in it (and remember you can get them to recruit their friends and family for your aims as well - it's a viral charity thing!!) then that's only a total spend for each of them of £25.00 in a year!
Given everything we sell - books, jigsaws, arts & craft supplies, gifts, music, cards, dvd's, stationary & lots more - thats not really going to be that hard is it!

So please do contact us to sign up & please do spread the word around about the Scheme - it's open to any Church and Community Group and also to pretty much any other group, club or network too!

The New Look Unicorn Tree Books & Al's Arts

These pictures are in no particular order - sorry I will probably try to re-arrange them at a later date to give you a walk through but for now they are like the tidying of the shop... a work in progress!

You are lucky to have them as what with snow and antibiotics and extracted teeth and exposed jawbone it was all I could do to show up let alone anything else this week! See what a devoted bookshopboss I really am!

The Main Entrance to Unicorn Tree Books, including Unicorn Tree Christian Books & Church Supplies & Al's Arts & Crafts.

The Main Entrance inside looking straight on and through!

A close up of what you see when you look up after entering the main entrance - some very nice and unusual jigsaws! and all at such good prices as well!

The Main Aisle as you come in through the Sincil Street Doors - ie what you see when you first walk in!! A spinner of Small Art activities, A stand of DVD & CD's and then 5 bays of books - an entrance- and then another 4 bays of books ( but you cant see them in this picture!)



The Main doorway in from Sincil Street looking from our main entrance into Unicorn Tree Books - We really are not hard to find once one comes into the Market itself.

The Children's Activity Books form an integral part of the entrance and advertise both the Christian and General Nature of the Shop to everyone in a friendly way!

Just as you get through the door we are utilising all the available space and have used the back of the card/book display unit to make a Prayer Card/Bookmark/Postcard/Card display area. (watching blue peter really has paid off in the long run!). The Cash desk is just opposite it and this unit can be seen from the other Shop entrance as well.

And just inside the stall we advertise the nature of one of the sections we have worked so hard on and battled so hard for! Look how good we are we still use the required wording but we have centred the main use - yes we are indeed proud of being a Christian bookshop as well as a general bookshop, and yes we are happy to sell religious books across a breadth of studies and theologies, that's because we are ecumenically and community minded!

Just inside the door and turning Left - reached by going past the till point and Childrens Section... Our nice display of Seasonal Cards, Bookmarks, postcards and a few prayer cards...

and then of course is the new Christian Books & Church Supplies Department. (this pic was taken from further back standing just at the start of the General Department in the ladies fiction and Saga section.

The new till point/Cash Desk area- yes we actaully now have a desk to stand and serve behind and it makes a good display point for seasonal items, stationery and Audio Books!

Looking out from behind the till point, actaully more by the computer side than the till side, you look down past the sticker stand, into Non-fiction, MBS, Biography and 'white books', War & Historical fact and fiction, Westerns, Sci-fi, Horror, LGBT and at the far end Crime & Thrillers.

Oh and the round mirror is so we can see into Als Arts from the behind the till point!


The side entrance to Unicorn Tree books is past Paranormal Romance Fiction & puzzle books, you then look in and see Als Arts Beads, glues etc as they lead into the new cut through section to Als Arts. You are also looking at the reserve bookcase section of the till point the entrance to which is guarded by a doorway made of Bin Number stickers amongst other things - as these deplete they will be replaced by the christian posters we are hoping to order soon, with their doorway flick flack stand!.

The General Section of the bookshop - just as you come in the main entrance. Basically Ladies & Saga, looking down to Crime and Thrillers, with a smattering of Jigsaws above! And if you look Left coming in through the Main Entrance you will now see the start of our new and improved and expanded Christian Books & Church Supplies section - with its new lead through into Al's Arts & Crafts via the Childrens section!

and this is what you see around the corner and looking into Als Arts from the Christian Books and Childrens section walk through! ( and somedays you will see bookshopboss's motherminion sitting there making cards as that's where her table and chair are - she is Mrs Al by the way - it was her stall before it was my department!)

Al's Arts from outside looking through the new entrance point made to give Als Arts more space! See the nice Slat Board that they gained from as well! Its the reverse side to the Display Slats in the Christian Gifts Section! Nothing wasted and all space utilised!

The new wall for Als Arts was made from left over unit sides from the Religious section - again nothing wasted just judiciously reused and re-homed. It looks very good and much neater than it used to - a colourful display of craft and scrapbooker stickers and embellishements!


Looking at the Side entrance view of the shop and Als Arts from the far aisle.

Back to the Crafts Looking down from the main bookshop to the far corner of the Als Arts. Lots of fun Glitters, papers, punches and pencils!

Then standing in the corner we just looked at and looking up and out we have lots of papers, cards, scissors, glues, paint brushes, tools and other such things!

Looking at Crafts from over by what used to be the religious bookstall - remember when it was it's own seperate unit we were not allowed to call it a Christian Bookshop - Council and Diversity rules! of course now its not seperate but joined into the main there isn't really a reason to stop it being known as the Christian Books and Church Supplies department! Just as Als Arts is now often referred to as the Crafts Department!

Looks nice though - lots of decoupage, cards, inks, embellishements and books on all sorts of Arts and Crafts - in fact the range of Art and Watercolour technique books is pretty good and worth a look, let alone the actaul crafts and beading books!

Als Arts as seen standing in the walk through from the main bookshop! Lots of lovely stamps, art sets, paints and other things.


Looking from the Side entrance down the aisle of Unicorn Tree Books - the keen eyed will notice there were very few changes to this section at all!


The walk through from Als Arts into the Main Bookshop and Till Point area, and the side entrance through into Childrens and Christian Books.


Looking through from Als Arts into the Childrens section and the Beginnings of the Christian Books section.

Down the end of the Christian section is the Church Supplies Corner! - Communion Wafers, Incense, Lectionaries etc.

Candles - Altar, Sanctuary, Baptismal, Votive and Decorative Clerical Shirts, Bibles, some Childrens toys, jigsaws and lots more! We are not wasting space here!

A better view of the Church Supplies and Candles section - we are calling it utilitarian working chic for now! We are also calling it slightly empty as we didn't want to do a top up order till the shifting was done!


On one of the Central Gondola's in Christian Books you will find Christian Greeting Cards for all occassions!


And on the wall seperating Christian from Crafts you will find a combination bookcase and slatboard display being used to show a selection of Christian themed Gifts, bible cases, jewellery and more!


The Gift section is right next to the Bibles - so we can put the Bible cases right next to the Bibles! along with the Communion & confirmation gifts, religious Jigsaws, frames and Baptism Gifts.

So There we go theres a whistle stop look at the physical changes we have wrought on the shop/stall in the last 3 weeks - though it still ahs some tidying to be done and a little tweaking we think and hope it works really well. It seems more spacious that it did and we have certainly expanded the religious section significantly and will continue to do so - what you didnt see in any pictures is the three bays outside just past the childrens activity section and spinner - this at the minute is sale stock of oks stuff and overstocks we found lurking when we rejigged the stall - however once these are gone then at least 2 of those bays are likely to be given over to Christian Books and goods! So more to come - and the beauty of this is that that is the main aisle - one of the most traversed thoroughfares in the market - what a witness hey!

Well ok it is really really late - the only reason you got all this is because my tooth (or lack thereof! therefore wound!) is aching and I can't sleep anyway! but as its Saturday tomorrow and I have to get the bus to work in the icy cold I am now saying come by and see it in person! and don't forget the caramel latte when you do!

See you in the Bookshop tomorrow guys - or of course you can always buy from our affiliate site - and we will count that as a visit!

We are rejigging!

Yep yep - the pictures you see below this post are not now how we look in some part and by the end of the month will not be how we look at all!
yes indeed it's true we are having a major overhaul and face lift - and yes no more would be comics out there with the 'well boss you need' it comments!
So anyway as you can well imagine the place is a bit of a mess as we move all the old stuff out and the new stuff in, rearrange units and change till points and displays, but by the end of the month it will be fantastic!
So far we have relocated all the New Fiction onto nice new units, and a tidy amount of the Secondhand fiction has also been rehomed as well.
We have the sale to end all sales going on at the minute as we have seriously culled both the secondhand fiction and the New Fiction and pulled out anything over 18 months old - these are now for sale at 10 secondhand for £5.00 or 5 New for £5.00.
Whicever way you look at it that's some fantastic bargains going on there. The authors include Dan Brown, Arthur C Clarke, Audrey Howard and other top authors. Honest this is not dross just overstock we needed to shift to make room for the new units and stock!
So anyway Religious books are moving from their 'stand alone and cannot be grown' section in unit 3 over to the main bookstall - this way there is room for expansion - in fact there will be an extra 5 bays worth of space to expand into and some nice gift units and slat wall space as well - This will also put the Christian Books in a much more prominent thoroughfare than they are currently on - and the reason for this??
Because we are not ashamed!
In fact we are not ashamed of anything we do, including our LGBT section which has also been relocated in the move and this is now in a more prominent section as well - situated in the middle gondola of the main Fiction section rather than hidden in the corner!
we are not ashamed and we will not act as if we are - we will not apologise for our beliefs, for our friends or for our outreach!
That said we would like to announce that we are now also stocking Jewish Prayer Books and the Forms of Prayer, and we welcome all our friends from the Lincoln Branch of the Council of Christians and Jews to come by, it was good to meet you and be involved in a very small way with the 'meditation of Advent and Chanukah'. Thank you.
Ok now also whilst I have your attention, Palm Crosses, Paschal Candles and the rest of the Lent/Easter paraphanalia are on order and in some cases even in stock! so NOW IS THE TIME to let me know exactly how many of what you want putting by!!
Pass the word around please - Lent Books are in and orders are being taken for Palms and Candles.
Thank you!
Ohh we counted how many jigsaw designs we had when we had to move them all for the new units! (These went fantastically well at Christmas and are still going well now, probably as we are one of the few places in Lincoln that does them, and we do them all year round and at very good prices as well!)
Anyway that would be just over the 100 mark! These span the gamault from 1500 piece puzzles down to the 8 piece childrens puzzles, with the most number being in the 500 piece range and then followed by the economy priced 1000 piece puzzles, though my favourites are the ones with the Gold and Silver highlighting - particularly the Indian Maid and Fawn one - just lovely! and then also the Shaped Fish & Dolphin Puzzle. Lots of different brands as well, Gibson Games, Jumbo, King, Paul Lamond Puzzles, Falcon, Heye, Classic Deluxe, Ravensburger and a few more as well!
Then there were the Paint By Numbers, both large, standard and small, and 2 different manufacturers styles in those as well. It certainly makes for colourful on top of the new units.
So anyway when the refit and rejig is done and about ten minutes after I stop doing my own victory jig all over the worklorn minions (who actaully have been working! and I have to admit may have some hidden architectural or interior design skills that have a lot to do with making best use of the tardis like propensity of the strange space in a Unicorn Tree domain! Thanks M1 & M2) then I will get out my camera and take new snappy snappies for you all who cannot come in and see it for yourselves.
See you in the shop soon - I am the one with 2 coffee's on the go at the minute as one just doesn't do it in a refit situation.

This is what we Look Like!

This is our dedicated Religious, Christian Books & Church Supplies Section!

Christmas is here! Gifts, jewellery, Cards, Bibles and Kids Bible Books!

Nativity Sets now in stock! Bibles, Theology, Spirituality, Ministry, General Christian Life Etc

Church Supplies! Candles, Wafers, Church Stationary, Incense, Christian Music, Cards, Gifts etc.

Here are a few pictures of us for those who follow along on the blog but can't get in for whatever reason - as you will see we are a real bookshop for all we are open sided and open minded enough to be in a market hall.
Also you will note the picture of the Christian bit prove we have now moved into the pre-christmas season with lots of nativities and such now in stock - I challenge anyone out there who has recently been at meetings and have never been to see us to say we are not a real bookshop! Assuming makes... well we all know the adage! Come by and visit us and don't make assumptions based on the word Market - Marks & Spencers Started in a market! Starbucks started in a market and so did lots more! The market is fully enclosed and filled with specialist stalls as well as the mundane! A Science-fiction and Movie Memorabilia collectible specialist is the market! The Stamp Man for rare & collectible Stamps, Coins, Postcards and other such rare, treasured & exclusive finds is in the market! Artist Supplies & bespoke framing is in the market - Wendy the artist on artist supplies is a professional artist who is regularly commissioned for cover art and private work! She paints in the market and does art tuition in the market! Then of course there is us - not just a bookstall but a niche market book specialist - we import US fiction on a weekly basis covering Crime, Thrillers, Romance, Science-Fiction, LGBT and other markets - we are one of the few in the greater county and further afield that does so! We deal in specialist markets such as transport and military history - DVD's, Books & more! and of course there is my personal joy - our religious, christian & Church Supplies unit! Committed to serving Lincoln & Lincolnshire churches and faith communities, because no city should be without a Christian bookshop and resource centre.
Of course lets not forget Al's Arts & Crafty Bits also in the market and part of us - one of lincolnshires best papercraft suppliers for the last 5 years now!
Market is just a word, no one scoffs at going to the Supermarket but yet going to a Market Hall denotes something less worthy, something to be scorned and lessened - well put aside your preconceived notions and come visit Lincoln Central Market - you will be surprised at just how many upmarket (see there's that word again!) types pass through it and how many select customers it reaches out too - we have in the years I have now been here happily and repeatedly served on a weekly and monthly basis Judges, Bishops, MP's, Councillors, Doctors, Actors and just everything else on down. There's no shame in being in a market or visiting a market - the only shame is that some think there is and that's no shame on us, its just ashame that some can't work past a bias.
Ok rant over pictures following - enjoy and see you in the bookshop in the market tomorrow!

The Main Bookshop Pictures!

Science-Fiction, Horror, Military & Historical Fiction!

Large Print Books & Secondhand Crime & Thrillers Section

Our newest Niche Market -The LGBT Section - Small but growing!

The kids love to play in Pegasus Books! - Our Childrens section - almost impossible to keep tidy!

Autobiography, True Crime, and the beginning of Ladies & Saga Secondhand

Puzzles! Classic Literature, Secondhand Science-fiction & Horror

Always look up and not at your feet! Jigsaws, Paint-by-Numbers and lots more are up high!

Al's Arts & Crafty Bits, opposite the religious bit! Decoupage, Stamps etc - a papercraft heaven!

Hello & Welcome in!

Outside for Ladies & General Fiction, Westerns & Romance, The Entrance for Paranormal & Historical Fiction, inside for Pegasus Kids Books, Crime, Thrillers, Science Fiction, LGBT, DVD's, Audio Books, CD's, Jigsaws, Games and Arts, Secondhand Books Sections and lots more - oh and inside and passing through and across the aisle for Al's Arts & Crafty Bits and the Religious & Christian Books and Church Supplies!
Wow - not so little and yes very very real.

Shuffle, Sweat & Swines!

So Ok, for anyone not visiting the shop today - and that was quite a few of you! It was unbearably hot in the giant green house that is Central Market today. ( That is why I don't blame you for not visiting today - i bet you were all in the garden or at skeggy with the deckchair and knotted hankies on!)
Honestly I keep telling everyone about my market garden idea of growing my own Tomatoes, peas and lettuces on top of the shop but everyone keeps telling me I can't! I think it is just wrong of them - the swines!

Anyway today was swelteringly hot and so as per my usual want I was doing a bookshop shuffle again - this time in unit 3 - Unicorn Tree Christian Books!
Yes that's right - I was taking out bookcases and putting in slat wall and new units and it looks much bigger, brighter and better!

I have cleared out a lot of floorspace with judicious use of new units and slat wall that allows nice shiny things and gift cabinets to be suspended in the air, and there is also a new card unit that rests on top of nice new half shelving units that tidily display the multitued of candles we now have to keep in stock. It really does look good and not only did it tidy it up, make floor space and more gift and card space but believe it or not we fit in more books too!
Honestly with time and ingenuity I can build a tardis and disguise it as a bookshop!
So anyway we now have lots of gifts in to fill in the space we created - some very nice statues of the good shepherd and some nice standing Crosses as well. And Kids badges and notebooks came in from Hughes and Coleman as well.
Then add to that another delivery arrived and it was Atkinsons Parsons Pocket Books!
timed nicely to arrive with the Marston delivery of SPCK Church Pocket Book & Diaries! So there we go 2009 is here and it isn't even August.
So anyway then my rep arrives and begins showing me Christmas and Advent books - and believe it or not she even had some Lent 2009 material in her folder! Scary scary thought.
having said that I need to remind people that I will soon be placing my Advent Candle order and so if they could let me know in advance what size, type and colour sets they require then that would be good to ensure their orders are fulfilled!

So anyway I finish the shuffle, empty the boxes, enter them onto the machine and see the rep (by the way did i mention that minion no.1 was off yesterday and today with a summer flu! hence me being so hot, sticky and industrious?? and i had to give up my day off! minions and their germs! and they still expect to take time off to go on holiday working as a guide leader at Poachers later this month and they reckon thats not resting, what kind of minions are being germinated these days - no stamina!) so anyway as I was staying I have finished all this hard work and am just about to sit down and melt quietly in a corner when a delivery of 7 big boxes arrives! and this at gone 1pm!
That would be the Calender and Diary order for the general shop! yes we now have over 14 different styles of 2009 Diary in stock and and 19 different calenders for 2009! and even better yet I already sold some before I had priced them! and still people keep asking me for this years diary - sorry no we don't have any left in stock - its JULY already - you were supposed to get them in January at the latest, we even had them in February but we don't have them now as it would appear to be time for next years crop already!!!.
So thats the Calenders and diary's done - well at least the ones from that supplier, that just left the 3 boxes of stationery, stickers and over 24 jigsaws to do!
Yes we have fresh jigsaw designs in again - at the minute we are averaging selling a small jigsaw a day and a large jigsaw every 3 days! we are puzzled at how fast our lovely customers can do these things! - more trains and vintage cars in this batch than the last one.
Then there was an Ingram delivery as well - full of paranormal goodies, some manga and the new Batman Graphic novel! Lush.
- Talking of Lush and their glitter bath bombs, the new stickers that came in were all glitery too! wonderful Disney Princesses, WTP (that's Winnie the Pooh - it took me a good 2 minutes to figure that out when trying to match up what I had to the silly invoice -a lot of oh piglets was happening due to silly acronyms!) and Diego & Dora, along with stars and smiley faces - all with a glitter thing going on! Sparkly! -
anyway back to deliveries in today.

We also have a copies of 'The Shack' in - we have sold quite a few of these already and this was a top up order just in, along with it came one of Todd Bentleys books - just in time for God channel to take it off screen I note. Hmm I feel sorry for the fill-in pastors as I suppose it could feel a bit like a slap not being worthy of air time if it ain't Mr Bentley doing the impartation! Still God moves in myserious ways, His wonders to perform! Back to the Shack though, as thats also a book that shows God doing wonders in a different way than we would necessarily expect.
The Shack is a good book and well worth the read - feeling lazy here so instead of reviewing it myself I am including a couple of links for you all to follow to find out more about the book - except to say i heartily endorse the book, it is a great read!
http://www.thegoodbookstall.org.uk/review/9780964729230/william-p-young/the-shack/
This gives the publishers blurb (by the way this site is an excellent site for all types of Christian Book reviews! and is well worth looking at regularly - not least because the bookshop boss that is I does regular reviews for it - nothing like self aggrandisement there!)
http://www.christianbookshops.org.uk/reviews/shack.htm - Phil Groom's great website offers this review which is independent of the publisher!
By the way just ignore all the buy from someone else buttons on the sites please folks and remember to come back to me, after all we miss you and amuse you much more than they do!

So anyway as you can tell today was a busy day and it really is well worth popping in and visiting the shop, take in the new look at unit 3 and maybe check out a jigsaw or 24!

Anway its late and I am still hot and feeling tired so am going to say tattybye and see you in the shop tomorrow!

electrical mayhem

HI all,

Well if you have been in this week, which I know of course you will have been! then you will know that the week was totally disrupted by the comedy duo and all round great guys - Dennis & Brian - the electricians who had the delightful job of trying to sort out something like 10 years of messed up wiring! we are talking attack of the killer cables, light switch from hell and find the hidden live socket! Its been fun and noisy, dusty and generally crowded in the space usually dedicated to browsers and books! still at least I can sleep well now knowing that my bookshop will not be an electrical short short of a blazing inferno!

I took this time to sort out some older stock that was cluttering up the place and got moved to make space for ladders and electricians and am now having a buster of a sale - hardbacks are marked at 20p each or 10 for £1.00 and once those are gone there will be no more hardback fiction taken in as it just is a dying medium to a larger extent ( though personal complaint here - I wish the darn publishers would stop with this stupid US type large paperback format - again its functionally useless as it don't fit a bag so wrecks the concept of portability, everyone complains at the extra price, and it ruins the look & flow of a bookcase - so come on guys can we just have standard paperbacks please, and if you ahve to keep a larger format then go with a special edition hardback for collectors!).
So anyway hardbacks done, overstocks of paperbacks - well there's the secondhand ones at 50p each or 5 for £1.00, and then on the unread and never owned before stock we have a yellow sticker offer going - any 4 yellow stickered books for only £5.00 - again top authors and titles.

I also rejigged the Jigsaws! as we had a new batch of over 6 large box loads in - new fantasy and gothic jigsaws in, a great collection called 'Wanted" where hidden in the wonderfully manic pictures are wanted characters you have to find - these are great!
For the kids we have glow in the dark scooby doo! (did I ever tell you all that the worst nightmare I ever had involved Scooby Doo! he was behind me as we ran up a never ending staircase trying to get away from what I now know to be the demon hoards of minions incapable of alphabeticising and the customers whose favourite puzzle mags got misdirected to aberdeen! I mean how do you mistake aberdeen for lincoln??), so anyway along with Scooby and gang there are some fantastic Famous Five jigsaws, which include the story that you read, a jigsaw to do and in the jigsaw the clues and answers that allow you to solve the mystery - again great concept fun. Jigsaws just seem to get cleverer!

On the Christian Side, well ok the 2009 Church Diairies are in -out - and in again!!, The 2009 Lectionaries are in - and there's a shed load of new books in this week from SCM-Canterbury, Church House, SPCK and Alban, along with Jeff Lucas's new book - well worth a read though at the minute I am reading his 'Prodigal Friendly Church' (Zondervan - 97803102678249 - £8.99) which is an excellent read and really speaks volume I can agree with!
Lots more cards now in and all in all the shelves are pretty full - but luckily people are beginnning to come in more now, oh yeah and Book Agents are now being canvassed for, there is a cool new leaflet all about the schemes we are offering on this one, but we are offering the service not just to churches but to Schools and other community groups and ventures too!

News - SSG declared Bankruptcy in the US Courts under Chapter 11 protection, but then founded a new managment company called ENC Management and told all remaining staff there jobs were gone and they would have to apply to the US courts if they wanted redundancy or their currently owed wages, however they could apply for their jobs to ENC and this would not be covered by TUPE - there are questions as to the rights of this situation, and at last report they had recanted on the last part whilst they sort a legal opinion! http://www.thebookseller.com/news/61032-st-stephen-the-great-files-for-bankruptcy.html & http://www.thebookseller.com/news/61032-st-stephen-the-great-files-for-bankruptcy.html & http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/chester-news/local-chester-news/2008/06/13/jobs-worry-at-bookshop-59067-21065437/

cool or what - this raises a wonderful ethical question - how many ways can be found to hurt people and continue to try it on??
So anyway its an interesting proposition going on here - I tell you if this was fiction non of us would buy the book as it would be just way too unbelievable!
More details on all this can be found here:
http://christianbookshopsblog.org.uk/2008/06/04/new-name-for-ssg/#comments
and here:
http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/category/save-the-spck/

OHH and we want to say congrats to the minion no.2 also known as Snowflake (and Eunice to her mum!) as she just got a new full time job (though she assures me she will still be available for saturday cover - after all she is the only minion that doesn't sing the alphabet whilst tidying the shelves!!). As I am sure you will all remember she was one of the staff sacked by email without notice by the SSG bookshops directors based in Texas! well done Eunice and enjoy - we know without doubt that you will be an excellent edition to your new employers team and will excel at the job as thats just who and how you are!

So that leaves one of the four that were so wrongly treated by them still looking for a job - again I put out a plea to you all that if you know of a job for a hardworking dedicated member of staff that has excellent office based, and shop based, skills, that was in charge of SPCK Lincolns Goods Inwards operations, then please get in touch and I will pass the details on! I can personally vouch for this member of staff and can assure you she is well worth hiring and a committed team player but more than able to organise herself and others (yes even bookshop bosses! so that just shows you what amazing skills she has!).

Oh yeah and we now have our LGBT Fiction section up and running now - we are intending our shop to be one that really serves the needs of Lincoln's Communities and outreaches, networks and welcomes everyone - after all its through our actions that we build community and show the light! - especially now the electricians have put new fittings and tubes in.

Ok other news and worthy mentions -
i want to wish my cohort Pinky ( who is also of course the teams Childrens Section Advisor) a big hug and get well soon as she fell off her Scooter last week (probably practicing dangerous curby stunts as pinky knows no fear!) and has broke her leg in two places and is in plaster to her knee! As you can imagine this puts a bit of a damper on our regular schemes to take over the world during the next 6 weeks while she heals up - but we are sure we can find other things to do to amuse ourselves! ( the colouring books are incredibly good fun and amazingly therapeutic, but we are not sure what people mean when they keep telling us that there are other colours to use then red, black, purple & Pink and we are meant to colour inside the lines!)

Minion no. 1 might provide some enjoyment for us yet! though of course she is taking up her Counselling Placement in the next few weeks (don't panic this has been arranged as a day off thing, so she will still be in store three days a week for you all to torture!) - for which we wish her all the best - we are sure that she will find all the help she needs!
oops of course we mean we are sure that she will recieve lots of assistance as she continues to grow her own skills as a training counsellor! No really we are sure minion no.1 will rock at this and many people will benefit from her assistance and we wish her all the best and are proud of her.

Anyway so ok then thats about all the news from the bookshop for now and the bookshop boss seriously needs a rest after all the activity of the week - yay sunday!, so I shall see you all in the shop next week!

(This post has been edited as a safeguard - for the reasons as to why this may have been necessary visit http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/category/save-the-spck, Oops now wait you cant - I guess you better go here instead: http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/series/cease-and-desist-notice-on-dave-walker/ Should I be notified personally and directly by the concerned parties of anything then I will of course let you know and then take any further necessary actions as may be required)