Dead Ink launches £14k crowdfunder for indie-focused Liverpool bookshop

Publisher Dead Ink Books has launched a crowdfunder to open a Liverpool bookshop specialising in selling titles released by fellow indies.

Aiming to raise £14,000, the fund will enable the publisher to secure a premise on Smithdown Road, with enough space at the back for its publishing operation. The aim is to create a "visible space for publishing" within the bookshop, showcasing and selling books released by other independent presses.

The shop will also serve coffee and tea, and plans to host monthly coffee mornings with editors and publishers, as well as programming book clubs and launches. 

However, Dead Ink Books has been forced to set up the crowdfund as the tenancy requires two guarantors, or an upfront payment of £14,400 – one year’s rent.

"Despite us being able to afford it all and us being ready to go in an instant, the tenancy requires a guarantor other than myself, the director of the company," director Nathan Connolly posted on the GoFundMe page. "And frankly, we just don’t know anyone who earns above the threshold required to act as a guarantor." 

Speaking to The Bookseller, he said: "Publishing has a reputation for happening behind closed doors. We want to create a space where our publishing office interacts with the public, where the two spheres can move between each other and energise one another. Our aim with the Dead Ink Bookshop is to create a visible space for publishing where people can see how it all works and see why it is such an important part of our national culture. 

"Our industry relies on readers, but all too often it seems like we’re scared of them. Our bookshop will champion the work of independents up and down the country and provide a spotlight on the work that they do."