Ebooks, Website Updates and a Fantastic Product of the Future!

Wow - Been busy recently - not only re-arranging the shop to make yet more space (honestly this place is like a tardis, always more space to be found, you never know what you might find in it and time in it seems to move in funny ways!) but also refreshing the shops websites too!

Yes the digital age is here, no use pretending it's not and ignoring it, which wouldn't work anyway as some of us have been reading ebooks for much longer than Kindles and the like have existed, pda's & now phones are a much better multi tool anyway, however that doesn't stop me buying the real things too! So it's a much better idea just to get on and go with it - so that's what we've done!

Now on our online shop sites of www.lincolnbookshop.co.uk & www.lincolnchristianbookshop.co.uk you will find a new page entitled 'Ebooks, Audio Books & Mp3 Offers' for your delight and delectation, this means even if you have gone 100% Digital you can still support us here locally!

It really is better to Go Local to Go Global - and yes this includes even in the cybersphere!
Local Community and Businesses puts more into the Local Economy, so by going Local you keep your Local area healthier and lots of healthy local areas and economies make a healthy world!

So please do use the sites and maybe put a favourites on them so you go to them everytime you want to make a purchase (Books, Ebooks, Cds, DVDs, Mp3s & lots more too!) each sale through the sites help keep us here and you don't lose out at all as our shop sites always match Amazon price, or other big name online shops!

Don't forget we are not just active online but in the real world too!

Remember that one of our favourite things is to actually see you in person, so please do come visit the shop too!

If you are members of the Community Partnership Scheme then tell your groups about these fantastic prices because if they come in to the shop itself and buy themselves copies of physical product then this will count towards your Schemes total! If you aren't signed up to Scheme then it would be well worth it - it's open to any community group or initiative regardless of size!

Just to let you know these are not the only bargains, come in store and see whats on offer at the minute - we'll look forward to seeing you, recieving an email from you, chatting on the phone (01522 525557) with you or even facebooking or twittering with you!

Anyway see you in the shop soon - if it's the real one remember i'm likely the one behind the counter sipping on the Caramal latte - and yes the counter has moved, we moved it to the centre of the shop at the end of September ;-) I'll provide pictures of the new look shop for all the blog watchers once I've finished this new crop of re-arranging!

Ohh and I nearly forgot about the Fantastic product of the Future! Here you go, it really is a fantastic product and I'm wholeheartedly endorsing it:

Materialise It Mark is a Gem!

Being the sort of Bookshop Boss I am, I am a very hands on creative type (well that's what I tell myself!) and as did many people I once had delusions of Blue Peter and Magpie style Grandeur - that is to say I believe I can build anything out of cardboard rolls, double sided sticky tape, and cable ties - and to demonstrate this fact on Monday I duly did do some cardboard technology work using a cut off end of a spare cannibalised card unit to make some units for the counter.
Now I admit that by the end of the day though they had things in them they were still a work in progress and were waiting to be covered with coloured paper, spud prints or sticky back plastic to make them look somewhat better - but hey that was the next days adventure and I was justifiably pleased with them as they had doubled the stock I could put on the tops and the darn Bingo Dabbers and Bingo Markers were no longer falling over anytime someone even looked at the counter! Oh and the packs of playing cards and the Biro's and Pencils were also once again visible to the human eye of someone taller than the average 3 year old.

Good stuff I thought and pleased I was (probably because no minions were on site to scoff at the impressive feat of design genius!), and then along came my friend Mark H from off the Materialise It stall further up the aisle - now for any that haven't been to visit in person Materialise It is an absolutely must see stall, especially for all those Sci-Fi fiends like me! Marks stall sells Sci-Fi collectibles, models and toys. Yep Millennium Falcons abound, Yoda and wookies astound, Daleks and Doctors aplenty, Battlestar Gallactica surrounds and Marvel Characters stand out! yep you name it and it's probably there, and along with these are cool posters, signed Photo's and lots extra as well - oh and its also the place to get a Chess set as well.
So anyway Mark comes in to say good night sort of thing and looks at the fantastic cardboard creations and gets this look on his face like he just smelled curdled milk! and with that points out all the lovely backing left over from the new bookcases and says you can do something with that to make units, to which I start thinking veneer, the curdled milk look at this point is more a sneer!
See Mark is pretty good at turning out incredibly complex dovetailed drawers and pine shelving units from scratch - me? not so much!.

So anyway the next day Mark comes in and gets some of my nice shelf backings and about 40 minutes later brings down this work of art!

Now isn't it just fantastic - safe to say that though i had been proud of mine upon seeing this little gem I became shamed and immediately consigned it to the rubbish bin, but even better was that today he made me the opposite sides unit as well - purpose built for the items I needed displaying!


The man is a genius and an artisan and not just a cool sci-fi dood - my shop may replicate the TARDIS in being able to stretch the dimensions and fit in more than it should, but Mark is definitely a strong contender for talented Dr's Companion, definitely an Adric in the making (though hopefully without heroic but sad ending at the hands of a cyberman).

So Mark, thank you! and all of you out there go visit him next time you're in - honestly he has some of the coolest things in the Market - after our own stuff of course!, including two daleks on top of his stall and looking straight down the aisle to the main doors by us.

OK gushing over for now - minions are on half term so I am having to do all the work again!

So anyway just to remind everyone Lent and Easter are nearly here so please get the orders in for Palm Crosses and Paschal Candles - they are all in, but we have already gone through 30 bunches of Palm Crosses, one box of Paschal Candles - and I don't want it to be like Advent when two days before the start, and one day after the sets are gone, lots of people start showing up looking and getting upset.

As a small Independent business I can only get in what I am pretty sure will sell, so if you let me know you want it I can ensure it will be here, but if not then you do risk it not being in stock at the last knockings.

Oh Easter Cards and Mothering Sunday Cards are also in stock - as are the Church Group bundles and Packs of Crosses and bookmarks etc.

Today I sent off a CBC order for gifts, rosaries and other Communion and Confirmation items, these should be in early next week.

On other fronts Sherrilyn Kenyon's 'Dream Hunter' has been in and sold out, and is expected back in later this week, as is 'At Grave's End' by Frost.
Westerns seem to be doing well at the minute, Louis L'Amour, William Johnstone and lots of other Key Western Authors are in stock and selling well.

Oh and the sale is ongoing with orange cross 50p books still available and new books at £1.25 or 5 for £5 still available - come by and see, and remember if you cant come in person then please use our Amazon affiliate sites to buy your stuff!
http://astore.amazon.co.uk/unicorntreechristianbooks-21 Our Christian Book Ashop
or
http://astore.amazon.co.uk/lincolncentralmarket-21
Our everything Ashop.
Please support us however you can and we would love it if you would link to our Ashops or help promote them, or any of our sites or activites if you can, and remember come by and visit and don't forget the bookshopboss likes coffee with caramel shots!
see you in shop in the morning!

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!

Nearly there!

Nearly there with the big move!
All the fixtures are shifted, religious is now fully housed in the main bookshop now.
Mostly everything is put back together and where it should be, and today the new till arrived and was set up - the new printer/fax/phone unit should hopefully arrive sometime this week too and then we are pretty much fully up and running in our new style shop.
At the moment other than continuing to tidy up and remerch sections as we go we are currently working on redoing Als Arts & Crafts section. It has benefitted from new Slat board and a new outer wall!
Honestly we really do think the stall is some sort of relation to the tardis! as we have moved everything into the main bookstall and increased the space to expand religious/christian books and no we don't know how that happened - well we do but what we cant work out is the physics of it!
So give me to the end of the week and hopefully there will be new pictures up of the new look bookshop!
Honestly it is great - tiring but so good to see it happening and being done with it.
It's all coming together and I give thanks to God for the ability to see it and do it along with the minions.
Minion no. 1 really does deserve the starbucks she has been getting, come to that so do I - lol.
So anyway just to let peeps know - the Easter cards are in (with more to follow!) and there is a great new range of fantastic looking and incredibly cheaply priced bookmarks in from Kevin Mayhew - our favourite: Those who say it cannot be done should get out of the way of those doing it!
Large Ingrams delivery also came in today - so all you sci-fi & paranormal readers have a bumper crop of new releases from the stateside to enjoy!
Anyway sure there is a lot more to say, but as it's another early day start to enable more tidying up and finishing to be done I am signing off with a see you tommorow in the shop.

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!

The time to be giving!

Ha! Tis the season to be giving! 

That did not mean for the minions to be giving me the snuffley nose and sore throats they have been suffering with this last week!

Anyway winter aches and frosty fevers aside - though minion one remains out on sickly leave with no voice (ahh bliss I hear the voices echo inside my head! peace at last after tumultous days of orders to be more minion like and less boss like!) - all is still well with the shop and tomorrow we have smiley minion in to share the day with - perhaps I can share the snuffle and scratch along, pass it on as it were, after all a trouble shared and all that lark!

Today we pretty much sold out of Advent Candles, though we still have Advent Calenders in. We also had a delivery of Christmas Colouring books and indeed general Colouring books, large print wordsearch came in at last as well and lots of secondhand books were returned - but then they would be as I was alone and trying to rearrange the shelves again! 

Military history, Historical fiction (of the not boddice romance ripping kind) and Spy books got shifted out the flipside of the wall by science fiction and True Crime got a centre court place where the spy fiction used to be.

Lots more calenders got put out and I just generally tried to fill in and tidy up displays.

I put an order in for lots more books which should arrive early next week, as were getting a tad low on James Patterson, Colin Forbes, Maureen Lee and Meg Hutchinson. So by mid week we should be chocker block full again.

I am hoping to send in an order for some more Revell and Airfix model kits this week, along with Doctor Who stuff, as we have had a made run on both of those this last few weeks, but then they do make good presents! As do the Jigsaws and Jigrolls to store the Jigsaws on!

So anyway life is sniffley but all good fun, just lots of work to be done and do. 

Come by and visit and don't forget to bring the sympathy and I will then think about providing the Tea! Though if you really care about a poor beleagured bookshopboss, make mine a starbucks latte with a shot of almond syrup, or if you are going into Nero's then it's a caramelatte!

See you in the shop tomorrow.

The Bookcase Boogie

OHHH! my arms really ache and I have bruises on my biceps!

Today was long, hassled and hectic as me and minion numero uno did the bookshelf boogie today, that is to say that at 8:30 this morning 7 full sized and dismantled bookcases were delivered, and had to be pieced together whilst at the same time the old pine -My Goodness how many screws did the chippie have to use!!!- units, which were designed by satan himself to confound even the best krypton factor contestant, had to be cleared of books and taken apart.
Was it fun - not after the first 20 minutes! but did it get done?? Yes it did and we even served customers in between - now if you were one of those poor bewildered customers, well my apologies but hey it looks neater now!
So anyway at 4:30 we packed away the tools, removed screwdriver bits from yielding flesh and left a mess of disorganzied sci-fi sitting on new shelves.

So anyway just so you know if you come in tomorrow we will be doing the abc song a lot as we try to reorganize the sci-fi shelves, the historic fiction section and the white - true life (cry Cry) - books, both new and secondhand.
Oh and by the way thats the second rejig and shelf shuttle in just over 2 weeks, as we redid crime and thriller, - it really was miss scarlett in the library with the hammer! - childrens corner and made a whole new section for religious/christian books and lots of space for the communion wafers which came in last week.
It is beginning to look like a bookshop!.

Anyway just to let you all know it is safe to come back in and get some books without too much disruption around you for about the next 2 weeks now, as we won't be able to do anymore now until we have thoroughly worked out the dimensions of the secondhand department and exactly how to reshuffle it to fit in at least another 3 bays of books!
We just still need more shelf space - lots more books to get in and display nicely so that you, my beloved and adored legions of customers (yes thats you, you twits!) can come along and buy them!

Oh by the way just so you all knows, the first STL order came in today - yay at last, christian books fully on tap and in in a jif!
and we also had a bumper delivery in of criss-cross and codebreaker puzzle books, so hopefully that should please a few of you ( I am going to keep some hidden so i dont get moaned at when they are all gone!).
We are also expecting a giant delivery of paint by numbers and engraving art/scraperfoils in, there are at least 7 new designs ordered and the bumper packs and the acrylic canvasses are absolutely fantastic and will make the best christmas gifts!!

Right that's it, I am done and need to go relax and uncramp in a bath of radox muscle ease! perhaps with a nice glass of ovaltine or something like that so I am fit and ready for minions, customers and the fray of a friday morning!

Be good all my little frosticles of joy and remember to put the gloves on the radiator as it keeps the fingers warmer! see you in the shop tomorrow.