Nice profile from Electric Literature on the refreshingly alternative book sellers Fifth Dimension Books, who specialize in science fiction sales.
Four years ago, the owners of Fifth Dimension Books, Sukyi and Patrick McMahon, purchased a collection of 100,000 science fiction books from the estate of family friend, Dr. John N. Marx. They bought a 1987 library-system bookmobile from Craigslist, spent months putting the books in storage, and bringing it up to snuff. In 2013, they opened their mobile bookstore in Austin’s hipster Hyde Park neighborhood.
“We knew that we couldn’t compete with something like Amazon,” Ms. McMahon said. “And we knew we didn’t want to. But we also knew that we had to translate being ‘science fiction aficionados’ into ‘successful business owners’ if we wanted Fifth Dimension Books to work. So we have to be creative and we’re always looking for new ideas to try out.”
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