Hive Mind Books, a general-interest bookstore with an emphasis on queer and trans literature, has debuted as an online and pop-up shop in New York City.
Owner and founder Julie Wernersbach, a veteran bookseller who most recently was the general manager and buyer at P&T Knitwear in Manhattan, began selling used books online in 2021. Now she has expanded the inventory to new books and will soon begin taking her store on the road around New York City, northern New Jersey, and Long Island.
"While Hive Mind is a general-interest bookstore, I am especially interested in curating queer and trans book fairs and supporting all marginalized authors with our selection," Wernersbach explained. "I'm also excited to continue supporting authors by providing book sales at off-site events."
Some of Hive Mind Books' first events include book sales at a storytime event with two Palestinian-American authors, an adult spelling bee, and an Independent Bookstore Day celebration.
Wernersbach plans to open a bricks-and-mortar space eventually and is looking around the NYC area for a suitable location. While she is keeping her options open with regard to neighborhood, she is "certainly looking at potential in the Bushwick/Ridgewood area," which is where she lives. She noted that although there are plenty of great bookstores in that area already, they all do "something a little different from each other," and she sees an opportunity for a general-interest store with a "focus on queer and trans literature and community."
"I would love to create a space for queer and trans events, creative writing, and meet ups that isn't another bar," Wernersbach added.
Asked for how long she's been thinking of opening a bookstore of her own, Wernersbach said it's been "swimming in my mind" since the early days of her 18-year bookselling career. At the time, she felt she needed a little more experience and "more, or anything, in savings," and continued to work at bookstores in New York and then in Texas. After returning to New York, she had the opportunity to "help someone else launch their bookstore from scratch," and "learn how it's done."
Wernersbach noted that a few things have spurred her to open a store now, but by far the biggest "is a long frustration with not being able to sell books in a way that aligns with my values." She hopes and intends to "never, ever be on anyone's payroll but my own ever again. I want to have a store with a point of view that does not feel compromised or hedged because of someone else's vision or politics. And now I do." --Alex Mutter