I’ve always wanted to open a bookshop.

Originally, I must have been about seven or eight, when owning a bookshop seemed to equate itself with reading all day.  And who wouldn’t want to spend their days like that?

When I got older, I started thinking about it more as a business.  Who would I market it towards?  Caveats, such as opening early in the morning so that commuters could buy tea, coffee and hot chocolate on their way to work.

But it wasn’t until I hit uni, that I came up with my ideal bookshop. A converted pub.

Imagine those behind the bar being able to offer you the perfect advice on the newest releases, served up with a glass of wine or a pint.  A piano in one corner, ready to be played by all and sundry.  Shelves and shelves of books lining the walls, comfy seats in front of them.

I want my bookshop to have facilities for tea and coffee.  I want it to be the hub of a community, where people come in and out and spend their evenings.  I want it to be multifaceted.  To be able to host book groups for mums with toddlers in the morning and then have a discussion group with wine in the evening of that very same day.

I want to see students burrowing through piles of lit crit to find that one book that’d help them with their essay; I want to see commuters to pop in and pick up something on the sale table for them to read on their way to work.  For it to be a place where people can come together creatively and for that lone writer to sit as a table and write as if their soul possessed their pen.

The perfect bookshop should be at the heart of its own little community. And I still haven’t quite given up on that dream yet.

Win a £100 of National Book tokens with hive, My Independent Bookshop and Carina!

What would your dream bookshop be like?

Why not show us using My Independent Bookshop for the opportunity to win £100 of National Book Tokens and a gorgeous KleverCase?

See our poster below for details and check out this virtual street of competition entries for inspiration. Good luck!

By The Mills & Boon team