Name the New Bookshop - The Result

We ran a competition asking people to come up with names for our new bookshop/toyshop in Brookmans Park. The winner getting £50 to spend in the new shop and also having the privilege of cutting the ribbon on the opening day.
We had around 300 entries (292 to be exact), and last night was the night we chose the winner.

This is a blogpost all about what happened.
Are you ready to read it?
Good.

The process of choosing the name involved pens, cider, shouting, excel spreadsheets, telephones, lager and brains.

I put all the names that had been entered onto a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet was sent to 6 trustworthy and honest people who were asked to mark the ones they liked.
From the information I got back, I was able to put together six separate sh... ohh blah blah blah.

I went to the pub with Tim. Also with us was Helen Wright, a reporter from the Welwyn and Hatfield Times.


Helen ponders

I was drinking Grolsch, Tim was drinking Adnams and Helen was drinking Coke with lots and lots of ice.
From the 300 odd suggestions we had got it down to about 70 by the time we'd finished our first pint.
It was important to be brutal in these early rounds.
Names that had fallen by the wayside included;

Argonauts
Book Me Up
Brain Boggling Books
Diney land
Follow the Yellow Book Road
Goblins and Goggly Eyes
Kiddos
Super Tastie Books and Toys
Word

We then moved on to round 2.
Spreadsheets featuring popular and not so popular choices were scrutinised.

Spreadsheets. Mmm

We each went through the less popular lists and chose names we thought were worthy of further contemplation. Toys and Tales got through to the later rounds, despite only getting two votes from the six people who chose. Also, I was very fond of The Cave of Wonders, so that was pushed through to the later stages.
I should mention at this point that there were six names that were always going to make the finals. These had been chosen by pretty much everyone we asked as worthy of consideration.
These names were;

Books on the Green
Bookshop on the Corner
Brookmans Bookshop
Brookmans Books
Little Green Bookshop
Small Green Bookshop

We had worked our way through another pint now and another swathe of names had been discarded.


Grolsch. £4.00 a pint !

Including;

Wobbly Books
Twice Told Tales
Toy Train
Toy Story
Book Bash
Bizzy Bee Books
Bookbrilliant

So we got to the final few.

I'd been tweeting a few things throughout the evening and here was a massive online support for The Little Green Bookshop.

 

Tim and I had to decide whether this was the right thing to do. It was a BIG decision. We discussed what would happen if we opened a third or a fourth shop. Would we call it the Medium Sized Green Bookshop, or the Gargantuan Green Bookshop? We decided that it had to go.

so now we were down to these.

Carp....

Tuffets
Bradmore Green Bookshop
Brookman's Books
Brookmark
Books in the Park
Brookman's Books

We were down to six.

This was tricky now. So I put on my magic hat.

Left handed contemplation.

There were too many Brooks and Books. And we also had still got a big soft spot for "Toys and Tales", even though it didn't make it through to the finals.

Crossings out and more booze left us with the final three names.

Tuffets
Brookmark
Brookman's Books

What a huge decision.
When we named the Big Green Bookshop, Tim inserted 3 pens into his face. Let's relive that magic.



spectacular

OK.
Here we go.
THE RESULT
Remember that we all liked "Toys and Tales"? This made a big difference.






Brookmark? NO





Brookmans Books?  NO





Our new shop will be called;
      

Tuffets

toys and tales

I know! It was a real outsider.It kept sneaking through each of the rounds. But here we are. We loved Toys and Tales, but never thought it had the full boof to be a name on its own.  

But Tuffets gave it the full boof.

 

Let us know what you think.

x



Literary Festival - an announcement

Here is some stuff about the Literary Festival that we've been awarded £10,000 to put on.

1. It will take place from Friday October 11th til Sunday October 13th.

2. The theme of the Literary Festival is "London; a Celebration".

Storylines by dex available here

Once we get some of the money, we can really start work on the Festival, but now that we have a theme, we can start to put together some ideas.

Here's a few ideas we've come up with (and we're just spitballin' here):

• Future London
• London Crime
• Alternate London
• London authors
• Books based in London
• Literary tour of London
• Having the different venues we're going to use represented by tubelines.
• Each of these venues (or tubelines) specialising in a particular topic, ie Poetry, Children's, Art etc.
• Having a short story competition with the theme "London".
• An author from every borough of London
• A-Z of Literary London

Anyway, those are a few ideas.

The main target the Council has given us, having agreed to give us the money to put this on, is to get new people to come to Wood Green. What we want to achieve is to get people to come to a Literary festival in Wood Green, because it's a Literary Festival.
That fact that it's in Wood Green is just a bonus.

Now, we need your ideas.

Off you go.

Black Feathers book launch tonight at the Big Green Bookshop

  Tonight at the Bookshop, we're holding the launch party for Black Feathers, the spellbinding new novel by Joseph D'Lacey.

 

I am very excitied about this book.

Black Feathers

Those of you with good memories will know that I first met Joseph when he became the first author to visit the Big Green Bookshop. He turned up 15 days before we even opened!
His first published novel, Meat, is a truly staggering book, leading horror legend Stephen King to state "Joseph D'Lacey rocks!", and Joseph followed this up with the equally dark Garbage Man and Kill Crew (sadly no longer available).

 Since then, his career has been something of a rollercoaster. He got picked up by a US publisher and also one in Australia to publish a couple of novellas, but then his publisher in the UK went bust. It was a dark time for Joseph and it can't have been easy at all.
It was at this time that I approached him and told him that I wanted to publish his next book myself. And that's what happened. Splinters, a collection of the best of Joseph's short stories from the last 12 years was published last November, by Timeline Books (my publishing company).

 

Splinters



It's something that I am very very proud of and hopefully it's introduced some new readers to Joseph's extraordinary prose.
In the meantime two more of Joseph's books were published (SnakeEyes and Blood Fugue).

And now, here we are. The launch of Black Feathers.

Black Feathers is a beautiful combination of folklore, fairytale and dark apocalyptic fiction. Set over two very different time periods, one modern day, the other generations into the future, it follows the journeys of Gordon and Megan. Although there are hundred of years separating them, both are searching for the elusive Crowman. Some say he will bring destruction to the world, others say he is the planet's saviour, but all Gordon and Megan know is that they must find him.

It is surely the most accomplished of Joseph's novels to date (and I've read them all). If you haven't read his stuff before, this would be a wonderful introduction.

I'd be so pleased if you could come along tonight to help us celebrate with Joseph. He has been one of our biggest supporters and he deserves huge huge success.

There'll be wine and an exclusive short film too. And, of course, there'll be Joseph. One of my favourite authors of all time.

New Bookshop - an update.

You want to see some pictures of the new shop?
Do you?

OK

Here's what it looked like when we got it.

It's quite pretty already.
Shame there wasn't electricity. And who's that guy on the right of the picture. He looks dangerous.
(it's Tim. He isn't dangerous)

Well, it's been a week since we got the keys and this is what it looks like now!

Electricity! and that guy has been replaced by bookcases.

It's been a busy busy week and we're really pleased how things are going at the new shop. We had a few problems with plumbing. No water/ No hot water/ boiler makes the sound of a screaming goat.

So,
If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood, Who ya gonna call? Andy Hollings
If it's somethin' weird an' it don't look good, Who ya gonna call? Andy Hollings



Andy Hollings - totally unstaged.

Andy fixed all these problems, replaced bad stuff and made stuff nice. And what a reasonable price! If you need a plumber, and you're in the North Londonish area, then I suggest you call Andy. His number is on the van.

We've had some great suggesitons for our "name our bookshop" competition.
Here are a few...
The Bookmans
Kids Delight
Tim's Toys and Tales (Tim likes this one)
Brain Boggling Books

We've had about 50 entries so far, and there's still over a week to go until the competition ends.

Here's another picture of the new shop...


Ooooh!!!
 

Aaaahh!!

Next, we should probably think about putting stuff on the shelves. Suggestions most welcome.

Flat to Rent in Noel Park, Wood Green, N22

When my little boy Ollie was born, my family and I soon realised that living in a 1 bedroom flat with 2 children was a huge struggle.
So, we looked for something equally cheap and a bit bigger to move into. Sadly, because I co-own the Big Green Bookshop, the mortgage companies were unwilling to offer us a mortgage. Small businesses/big risk etc.
So we decided to rent our flat out and to find a place to rent ourselves. Which is how we found Brookmans Park, the place where we're going to open our new shop.
Serendipity eh?
Anyway, the lovely tenants who are currently at our flat are moving out on April 20th, and I thought it might be a good idea to put something on our blog, in case there were any readers who were looking for a place to move to.
Below are all the details, and if you do know anyone/couple who may be interested, please get in touch.
The shop's phone number is 020 8881 6767 and if i'm not there, someone will give you my mobile number.
Thanks for this.
Simon

Salisbury Rd, Wood Green, London N22

First floor Victorian garden conversion, on quiet residential street, close to tube

My flat

Situated in the leafy and tranquil Noel Park conservation area. Recently redecorated throughout; newly carpeted. To see a floorplan of this property click here

 

Layout as follows:

 

Internal staircase from front door to landing and hallway.

 Living room (14'7 x 10'5 ft) spacious living room, unfurnished, with laminate floor. Two large double glazed windows to front aspect. Built-in wooden shelving either side of chimney-piece.

Living Room

Bedroom (10'10 x 9'1 ft) double bedroom, laminate flooring, double-glazed window to rear aspect overlooking gardens.

 

Kitchen (12 x 9'5 ft at widest): modern, recently fitted kitchen on two sides, with low level units, and oiled hardwood counter-top. Double aspect to side and rear of building, double-glazed. Ceramic tiled floor and splash-back. Stainless-steel gas hob. Full-height fridge/freezer. Washing machine.

Kitchen

Bathroom (6 x 5'8 ft): recently fitted white bathroom suite, comprising bath with showerscreen, wall-mounted electric pump-assisted shower, pedestal basin, and close-coupled low-dflush w.c. Double-glazed. Ceramic tiled mosaic walls; ceramic tiled floor.

Bathroom

Roof terrace with external steps descending to charming (and low maintenance) decked patio-style back garden.

Garden



0.37 miles to Wood Green Piccadilly line Underground Station; close to Wood Green High Road's many shops, cinemas, and Shopping City.

Available unfurnished £220 per week, subject to contract.

To see a street map showing this property's exact location, click here The Map will open in a new window in your browser, so just close it to get back to this page.

Name the New Bookshop Competition

OK. What are we going to call the new shop?

Well, why don't we let someone else choose for us.

It's competition time!

If you want to get involved (any age welcome), you can email us with your entry at enquiries@biggreenbookshop dot com, or pass it onto a local school or tell your friends. Well you can work it out can't you?

We've spoken to all the local schools and the local newspaper and they're all going to get involved too, so hopefully we'll have some interesting entries.

Thanks.

Our New Bookshop

Since we announced that we intended to open a new bookshop, back in November, we've kept rather quiet about it. This, as you may be aware, is not our style at all. Usually, we like to shout very loudly about everything we do.

However, because of the nature of the transaction, we thought it best to wait until we'd actually got the keys before shouting loudly about it.

WE'VE GOT THE KEYS

 

OK, here's a quick recap.

We're opening a new bookshop/toyshop in a small village in Hertfordshire called Brookmans Park.

It's about 12 miles north of Wood Green

 

Things about Brookmans Park.

•  It has a population of about 4,000
• The bloke who works at the ticket office at Brookmans Park Station is called Keith. He is a lovely man.
• Tulisa has recently moved here.
• Rumour has it that Miss Muffet (the tuffet person) lived in the area in the 16th century. One of the main roads in the village is called Moffat's Lane.
• It is 22 minutes on the train from here to Finsbury Park.
• Tracey Thorn was born in Brookmans park and used to have a Saturday job at the Post Office.
• Michael, the butcher sells the most magnificent lamb chops.
• In the village are 2 Indian Restaurants, 2 Chinese Restaurants/takeaways a fish and chip shop and a kebab shop. The kebabs are excellent.  
• One of the most popular shops in Brookmans Park is a dog grooming parlour called Groomers on the Green.
• There is a woods nearby called Gobion's Wood. Every year there's an incredible carpet of blubells there.

 

•  It's lovely

A commercial property became available, which looked interesting. It was originally a barber's shop, and the guy who looked after it wanted to move abroad.

We looked at the figures and thought there might be a possibility of us taking it over, so negotiations started.

 

That was back in November.

 

Sadly, negotiations fell apart and we were left with no option but to pull out of the deal. Things, however changed once again when the property was vacated and the landlord was still looking for someone to move in.

So we renegotiated.

And after about 10-11 weeks, today we have picked up the keys to this lovely little property.

 

There's a lot of work to do and we have to find tenants to the 2 bedroom flat above the shop (only £725 pcm, easy access to central London), but it is now a reality. We are going to open our second bookshop.

 

It's going to be a children's bookshop and toyshop and our philosophy to how we run this shop hopefully follow the same pattern as our shop in Wood Green. The aim will be to create a community space that Brookmans Park will be proud of. To work with the local schools and the council to get young people excited about books and reading.  

We can't afford to open the shop (we've had to borrow a bit of cash to help us do this), but at the same time, the opportunity was too great to miss.

 

We'll shortly announce a "Name the Bookshop" competition, which you're all more than welcome to enter, and when I have my phone back from the phone hospital, I'll take some shots of the inside of the property to give you a better idea of what it looks like.

 

This is almost more scary than opening the Big Green Bookshop (mark 1), but hey, it'll be fun. 

 

NB. A message to all children's publishers and toy manufacturers. Yes, we'd love you to send us lots of free stuff, that would be lovely.

22 Bradmore Green, Brookmans Park, AL9 7QR

 



Tomorrow - Lauren Oliver

Tuesday March 19th at 12.30pm

LAUREN OLIVER VISITS THE BOOKSHOP

 

We are incredibly excited that the amazing Lauren Oliver is visiting the bookshop as part of her very short visit to the UK.

Lauren’s one of the worlds’s best selling Young Adult authors and her Delirium series is soon to be made into a TV series in the US.

 

The Delirium trilogy tells the story of a society where love has been considered a disease and everyone has to go through a special treatment on their eighteenth birthday to be cured of the illness. However, the book's main protagonist, Lena, meets someone who shows her that not everything is as it seems.

The final part has just been published and it has smashed into the New York Times bestseller charts.

Lauren will be visiting one of our local schools with us and after that coming back to the Big Green Bookshop to sign copies of her books for her fans.

If you can't make it to the shop, Lauren has kindly agreed to sign & dedicate any of her books for you.

We can send them to you POST FREE anywhere in the UK.

BEFORE I FALL
DELIRIUM (Delirium Trilogy 1)
PANDEMONIUM (Delirium trilogy 2)
REQUIEM (Delirium Trilogy 3)

This is very very exciting and we're really grateful that Lauren can spare some time in her incredibly busy schedule to come and visit the shop.

Launch Party of Joseph D'Lacey's amazing Black Feathers

Friday April 5th 6.30pm-9.00pm

We are delighted that Joseph D'Lacey is joining us to celebrate the publication of Black Feathers, his extraordinary new novel.

It is the Black Dawn, a time of environmental apocalypse, the earth wracked and dying.

It is the Bright Day, a time long generations hence, when a peace has descended across the world.

In each era, a child shall be chosen. Their task is to find a dark messiah known only as the Crowman. But is he our saviour – or the final incarnation of evil?

 

I was very lucky to be sent a review copy of this by the publishers, Angry Robot.

It's a beautiful combination of folklore, fairytale and dark apocalyptic fiction. Set over two very different time periods, one modern day, the other generations into the future, it follows the journeys of Gordon and Megan. Although there are hundred of years separating them, both are searching for the elusive Crowman. Some say he will bring destruction to the world, others say he is the planet's saviour, but all Gordon and Megan know is that they must find him.

The book's a real treat, and it's definitely the most accomplished of Joseph's novels to date (and I've read them all). If you haven't read his stuff before, this would be a wonderful introduction. Joseph's a great storyteller and this shines through in Black Feathers. 

 

So come along and join Joseph on April 5th and meet one of my favourite authors of all time.

It's FREE and there will be refreshments aplenty.

If you're unable to make it and would like a signed copy, it's available to pre-order here.

Big Green Bookswap - Matt Haig & Andrew J Lambie

Wednesday May 29th - 7.30-9.30pm

The last Wednesday of the month is the official new date for our Bookswaps, so you can block out your diary for the rest of the year.

Hosted by the Great Northern Railway Tavern on Hornsey Road, this is a more informal type of literary event than you may be used to. They've proved extremely popular, and that's hardly surprising as we proudly prestent to you some of the best contemporary writers out there.

So, this is what you need to do.

1. Bring along with you a book which you like enough to recommend but are prepared to swap for another.

2. Enjoy a delicious buffet provided by the Tavern.

3. Have a drink, sit back and enjoy a great evening of fun.

Our two very special guests this month are;

 

MATT HAIG

 Matt's a brillaint author and journalist who's written a number of bestselling books. His first novel The Last Family in England, tells the story of Henry IV part 1, with dogs. It was a huge bestseller. 

He's gone on to write children's novels Shadow Forest (which won the Nestle Childrens Book Prize) and its sequel The Runaway Troll. The Radleys, which was published in 2010, is a brilliant take on modern day vampire novel and highly recommended.

 

Life with the Radleys: Radio 4, dinner parties with the Bishopthorpe neighbours and self-denial. Loads of self-denial. But all hell is about to break loose.
When teenage daughter Clara gets attacked on the way home from a party, she and her brother Rowan finally discover why they can't sleep, can't eat a Thai salad without fear of asphyxiation and can't go outside unless they're smothered in Factor 50. With a visit from their lethally louche uncle Will and an increasingly suspicious police force, life in Bishopthorpe is about to change. Drastically.

 

His new book, The Humans, wil be published just before the Bookswap.

 

ANDREW J LAMBIE

Andrew is the author of an extraordinary new book, which I have had the fortune to read, called A Carnival of the Flesh. Published by Guerilla Books, a new exciting small press, it tells the story of a travelling freak show in the early 20th century, who are marooned on a desolate island. At first the exhuberance of freedom is intoxicating for this motley cast of misfits, but once the wine runs out things start to go downhill fast.

The story is narrated by Dirty Boy, who's lived in a glass jar since he was six years old, and who has to be carried or rolled everywhere. Oh and the cast list is something else. There is (among others) the vile leader, the Brigadier, Cedric the dwarf, Two Smiles Madison, Ruby the Hermaphrodite and Chutney Daniels, so named after his tangle with factory machinery left him resembling the messy foodstuff. 

Andrew's imagination is something else and it's hard to compare this book with anything I've ever read. It's funny, horrific and magical and I was very keen that Andrew came along to the Bookswap so that you could hear more about it.

It's a truly beautiful looking book too.

 

As ever with the bookswaps, tickets are just £5 and this includes a delicous buffet served up the the Great Northern Railway Tavern.

This promises to be a really fun night. and tickets are available here. We hope you can make it.