Saturn Booksellers in Gaylord: Shop at this out-of-this-world book store on-line!

Saturn Booksellers in Gaylord, Michigan. Although, shopper's can't go into the store, purchases can be made on-line!

Special weekend edition - Tea and Tomes and Shop Local!

In these times of uncertainty and self-isolation, many of us are not only looking for positive ways to spend our time in confinement, but how we can support others and our community without leaving the driveway.  Ordering on-line from Saturn Booksellers is one way to accomplish both with just a click! 

This week, Barb's Tea Service met up with the Gaylord, Michigan bookstore owner, Jill Miner, to get the story behind one who sells the stories.  In an  interview via email, Jill gave us some history on  Saturn Booksellers, the reason for the locale and some of her recommended reads!

Jill Miner owner of Saturn Booksellers

BTS: How long have you owned Saturn Booksellers (I know you moved locations in recent years) and what brought you to owning a local bookstore? 

JM:  I bought Saturn Booksellers in 1998 with a partner, Jackie Allsopp.  After five years, life took Jackie and her family in other directions, and I've owned it solo ever since.  When we purchased the store, it had been in business almost six years and was in a strip mall in town.  I bought a building and we moved it downtown in 1999, then I sold that building in 2017 and we moved the shop to its present location, 33 steps to the East of our old shop (We painted 33 green footprints on the sidewalk out front and out back to help people 'find' us!) 

BTS:  Also, why the location in Gaylord? 

JM:  My husband was a doctor in the US Navy, and when we decided it was time for our family to settle in one place, we began looking around Michigan as he grew up in the state and most of his family had cottages in northern Michigan.   Gaylord was looking for an OB GYN at the time, and back then Otsego County was the fastest-growing county in Michigan.  It seemed like a friendly town and a good fit.  Personally, I'd owned an ad agency in New Orleans and then did freelance writing work while my kids were little and we moved with the Navy.   (We came to Gaylord from southern Spain!!)  I'm a dilettante  - I'd always said I wanted to work in advertising (did that), stay home with my kids when they were little (did), own a bookstore (do) and go to law school.  (Probably never will).

BTS:  What's the best part of owning a bookstore? 

JM:  There are a lot of great perks of owning a bookstore!  We have fantastic customers, I have a fantastic and very loyal staff, and I've met some of the most intelligent people on the planet in other store owners, authors and publishing folks.  Being able to mentor  the kids who begin with us in high school and stay with us throughout their college breaks has been very rewarding, as well.

BTS:  I'm keeping up with your recommended reading. If you had to choose two or three recent "must reads" recommendations, what would they be?   

JM:   Ooooh. Now you're putting me on the spot. Probably Therese Anne Fowler's A Good Neighborhood, The Pilgrim by  Terry Hayes and  The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel.   But there are always books I'm loving in all genres.

BTS:  I see Saturn also offers other shopping services, such as Easter gifts and other specialty items. Customers can select gifts and have them shipped directly to who the gift-giver wants to receive it, correct? 

JM:  The games and toys and gifts are not on our website (www.SaturnBooksellers.com), but we are happy to ship out of the store any time - books, games, what-have-you!   During our mandated closure now, we have a staffer in the store several days a week to receive shipments of new books and take care of questions, etc.   I'm mostly at home and  placing all of the web orders. 

BTS:  Anything more  you'd like shoppers to know? 

JM:  Our shipping is $1.99  no matter how many books are in your box (this is media mail shipping, so only applies to books, not games, etc.)  You can choose this option on our website, too.

We have five book-of-the-month selection clubs, one for newborns (board books), one for babies and toddlers (picture books), one for intermediate readers, one for young adults and one for adults.

We're so very thankful to everyone far and wide who have been ordering on our website during this COVID-19 shutdown time.  Without them there would be no Saturn Booksellers!

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We thank Jill for taking time out to talk with us this week. We look forward to when we can get back inside the brick-and-mortar bookstore, but in the meantime, we'll be shopping on line. Also, look for an upcoming Tea and Tomes on my latest purchase from Saturn Booksellers!

At a special book signing event at Saturn Booksellers in 2017

Latest purchase from Saturn, future T & T