Books are talking to me!

I was standing here stressing over slow traffic, worry about the fundraiser, etc., etc. and decided to grab “Islam’s Treatment for Anxiety and Worry” by Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid.  I picked it up and it fell open to this page.  Crazy!

 

 

Follow your dreams

On Saturday, November 21, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., Light of Islam will host Patricia Selmo, lifestyle coach, founder of The Blissful Soul and co-founder of the International Association of Women Spiritual Leaders. She will discuss ways to explore your life dreams and design a lifestyle to achieve them.  Refreshments will be served.

 

Turn-key fundraising dinner plan?

Well, virtually turn-key – if I plan far enough ahead I could do these things in my sleep

I’ve sent out the Constant Contact newsletter invites, posted it on Facebook (an experiment which is coming to an end, but more about that in another post), and will have the paper invites in the mail by the end of the week.  I have the location and speaker down.  I decided yesterday that I’m going to have a silent auction, and will contact local business owners about donating goods or services.  I’m not going to have a book sale (as I did at the June 2008 fundraiser) because it’s just too complicated.

Here are a couple videos of the speaker, Imam Wazir Ali, from YouTube:

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Light of Islam is a nonprofit bookstore whose mission is to provide the Houston-area community with accurate and accessible information about Islam and Muslims. Find out more at http://www.light-of-islam.org/.

 

Lighting the Way

Light of Islam Bookstore
Houston’s nonprofit bookstore and educational center
Cordially invites you to
Lighting the Way: A fundraising dinner
Saturday, December 12, 2009 ~ 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Keynote Speaker: Imam Wazir Ali
Director, Mercy Community Center/Imam, Masjid Al-Qur’an
Shalamar Restaurant Banquet Hall
15142 Highway 3, Webster, TX 77598
$25 admission per person
RSVP by December 7, 2009 to 832-205-1457 or dinner@light-of-islam.org
For more information, contact Ruth Nasrullah at 832-205-1457

 

I finally know where I’ll be on November 1

Initially I was going to have a booth at the Arab American Festival on October 31 and November 1, but changed my mind after hearing less than favorable things about it, and thinking harder about the logistics involved. ( I’m thinking there was something else I was considering for that weekend, but can’t think of what…)

I got an e-mail yesterday about Celebrate Houston! and I’m going to have a booth there.  More later.

 

Surrounded by books

Yesterday I finally finished shelving everything.  I then labeled the sections (something that I had not done before) and tidied everything up.  There are now bookcases along every wall in the browsing room.  It’s strange that a few people came in and didn’t notice anything different, including the counter in the front room.  The last step now is to get proper display units for the CDs and DVDs.  That’s a challenge because I haven’t found any yet that can hold the number of CDs I carry, and I don’t really want to have more than one display, unless I keep kids’ items in the kids’ section in the browsing room – but space is already super tight in there.

 

Pickin’ up

Slowly but surely over the last few weeks I’ve seen a steady increase in visitors to the bookstore.  I’ve started keeping a log in an Excel spreadsheet, so I’m actually counting, and making notes on the visits, too. Even though sales aren’t high, it’s a good feeling to have regular deposits rather than sit here day after day and have no sales income.

I still feel like there’s so much to do I need more than 24 hours in a day.  It takes time just to put systems in place that will help keep me organized so things will take less time!

I’ve been feeling a little bad about taking orders for customers which are then delayed because I’m opening new accounts, or finding out how crappy some publishers/distributors are.  Everything is a learning process.  I hope I’m meeting people’s expectations.

I’m still working on finishing shelving the books in the new bookcases.  In addition to the five new five-shelf bookcases I had to bring back three of the three-shelf bookcases just to fit all my stock.  I can’t get my hands on the camera, but I do have my Flip camera, so I can take some shots and post them soon.  It’s amazing how different the browsing room looks.

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Light of Islam is a nonprofit bookstore whose mission is to provide the Houston-area community with accurate and accessible information about Islam and Muslims. Find out more at http://www.light-of-islam.org/.

 

Constructing a new bookstore

The counter is in, new bookcases are being assembled by my tremendously helpful friend, books are being moved around, shelves labeled – it all adds up to a new and improved Light of Islam, more attractive and easier to find books by category.  Thanks also to my retired bookseller friend who has been helpful beyond words in her advice.  The next step in the improvement process is to get traditional revolving stands for the CDs and DVDs – something along these lines.  I know I should have opened with all this, but…well, I wanted to open with what I had.  It’s also taken me a while to focus more on the retail aspect than the other activities.  I’m doing okay.

 

Going through changes

2:15 a.m. – blecch, I was sick all day yesterday again, just a few weeks after I last had the flu.  I went in and did some work but fortunately the store is closed so I came back home and stayed in bed all day.  I was feeling better, then by 10 p.m. felt much worse.  I curled up in a blanket and fell asleep for a couple hours and woke up feeling a lot better – but I started thinking about LOI and couldn’t sleep.

It seems LOI is shifting in terms of how much it will rely on donations versus sales revenue.  I’m glad I’m recognizing that and working to make myself a good retailer.  It was something of a wake-up call not to get that funding I applied for.  I need to focus on getting people in the door and then encouraging them to buy once they’re in there.  I am also going to start charging for some activities as I develop them in the future.  God willing my learning curve won’t be too steep and I’ll get to the place LOI needs to be.

It is, of course, more pressure, too – I feel like I could work 24 hours a day and still have more to do.  Going forward I am going to have to be much more focused.

For right now I’m just hoping I can go back to sleep and wake up refreshed tomorrow.  I can’t afford to miss work.

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Light of Islam is a nonprofit bookstore whose mission is to provide the Houston-area community with accurate and accessible information about Islam and Muslims. Find out more at http://www.light-of-islam.org/.

 

Catching up – Gullion signing

The David Gullion signing was a good first run for another, better-attended event.  A couple months down the road, I think.  It was also a good chance for me to practice using my Flip camera!