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Tea Leaves & Reads founders build on lockdown subscription offer with big plans
William and Kathryn Baldwin had their wedding plans kiboshed by Covid lockdowns, but put their newfound free time to good use by creating a book subscription service out of a popular blog.
When their wedding was delayed due to the pandemic in April 2020, William and Kathryn Baldwin found themselves with ample time on their hands. With party planning pushed to the back burner, the couple sought a new creative project—which eventually morphed into their romance-focused independent online bookseller and subscription service, Tea Leaves & Reads.
The pair met over Facebook in 2012. William quickly learned about Kathryn’s book obsession—she read around 100 books a year—so he wasn’t too surprised to find himself, eight years into their relationship, building a library in their spare room for their new home’s overflowing book collection. “William would happily hold a pile of books in a bookshop while I went around adding to it,” Kathryn says of their early romance. When the pandemic started, her passion became their business. A social worker by day, Kathryn spent her spare time reading and reviewing novels on her blog Tea Leaves & Reads. Publishers frequently sent her books ahead of their release dates, hoping she would review them online. For her, it was a treat.
When the Covid crisis hit, the couple realised people couldn’t easily access books due to stay-at-home orders. They built a miniature waterproof library in their front garden in their Andover, Hampshire home, where people could safely visit and exchange books. The library grew in popularity among their neighbours. William says: “Then we thought, ‘Why not send books in the post to lift morale?’”
While Kathryn chose the books, William—who works in IT for his day job—controlled the logistics. He used his tech skills to turn Kathryn’s reviewing blog into an e-commerce website where people could order books just like from any other shop. Because of her relationships with publishers, Kathryn continued to get books before their release dates, and even had authors sign them. The couple created book boxes—called “Blind Date with a Book”—putting a surprise book in a gift-wrapped package (though the customer picks a genre) along with tea, coffee, biscuits, a postcard and a candle from local business Hampshire Candles. Their launch book, incidentally, was signed copies of Amanda Prowse’s cancer-themed love story Will You Remember Me?, a somewhat bold choice during Covid.
In the worrying early days of the pandemic, they say receiving book boxes became a “beacon of light” among their community. Now, the shop also specialises in boxes for holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day, plus the monthly boxes can be ordered for up to a year (a 12-month subscription currently retails for £200). Alternatively, customers can opt for just a book-only subscription. William says: “Everything took off really well and people respected it. We thought, ‘Yeah, let’s continue with this.’”
Join the club
Next came the rollout of a monthly subscription book club, with Kathryn curating the selections. The club now operates both in real life and online, with subscribers able to receive titles in the post to discuss over dinner at a pub local to the Baldwins, or join the shop’s virtual discussion (or both). The virtual club more often than not has the authors leading the discussion, with Emma Cooper, Sue Watson and Louise Beech the last three featured. “Our goal was to bring people together and encourage them to talk about books,” Kathryn says. “If we have read and reviewed a book and can offer a signed copy or a connection to the author, people love that.”
It is working: over the past two years, Tea Leaves & Reads has grown enormously—it now holds 700 titles in stock, the bulk signed and/or exclusive independent bookshop editions. Last November, Tea Leaves & Reads’ growing footprint was recognised by the Romantic Novelists’ Association, which shortlisted the business for Romantic Bookseller of the Year in its annual industry awards.
Romantic fiction is among a sea of other genres. But romance, or love stories, spans a huge range of topics so it is hard to pin it down. That’s why we love it—no romantic book is the same and they all bring something different to the table—Kathryn Baldwin
While Tea Leaves & Reads focuses on romance, it also sells contemporary fiction, psychological crime and political thrillers. Kathryn says: “Romantic fiction is among a sea of other genres. But romance, or love stories, spans a huge range of topics so it is hard to pin it down. That’s why we love it—no romantic book is the same and they all bring something different to the table.”
The duo has welcomed the TikTok-led romance boom of the past couple of years. Kathryn says: “Romance is reaching more people and becoming more popular. I think people are starting to embrace certain types of women’s stories that have been neglected in the past: romance is bringing that back. Plus, there are so many new voices—you have people represented in romance now that would never have been represented even a few years ago.”
Kathryn continues her thread, arguing that romance is at the core of what makes reading fiction so valuable in the first place. “Books don’t have to be intimidating, sad or challenging to be worthwhile,” she says. “Our book club really loves a happily-ever-after and I think a story that ends that way is just as important [as challenging fiction]. Romantic fiction can educate us by giving better insight into love and relationships—plus, it is entertaining.”
Tying the knot
After three reschedules due to on-and-off Covid restrictions, the Baldwins were finally able to get married in July 2021—and certainly went all-in on the literature theme. Their wedding featured an archway made of books, a wedding cake designed to mimic a bookshelf and a bouquet created from book pages. The ring box was a Harry Potter novel with a heart shape cut out for the ring. They gave each of their guests a book, personally selected to chime with their interests. Kathryn explains: “We had a lot of time to plan.”
The Baldwins are currently more time-pressured than when they launched the Tea Leaves & Reads e-commerce site in lockdown, as both still have full-time jobs. Kathryn also co-runs Fiction Book Café, a book-discussion Facebook group of 15,000 members around the world. She says: “We don’t sleep much nowadays; we have to prep a lot in advance.” But their dream is continued expansion of Tea Leaves & Reads. Plans are afoot to bring it more out of the virtual world with a physical events storefront—a community space for author visits, book club meetings and some in-person sales. “We want to connect more authors with their readers.”
The more immediate goals are to up stock levels and broaden the scope of genres available. The couple are also planning a literary festival that showcases not just books and authors, but other small and independent non-book businesses which can work in a bookshop setting, like the Hampshire Candles company Tea Leaves & Reads partners with for the book boxes. Kathryn says: “People love having something different—they love the personal touch.”
