Did you know…..
that I own and run a small business? Well I do!! Its very, very small, but its my baby. At the very beginning of 2018, I made a comment to my husband that I wanted to figure out how to sew my own booksleeve so I didn’t have to continue spending money buying new ones each season. Well, my hubby is an idea man. He took my little “I’d kinda like to” and turned it into “Well if you spend money on a sewing machine to make them for yourself, then you might as well make & sell them for other people!” And thus, the seed was planted, and here I am running an Etsy shop called The Read Singer.
I got my official business license (yep, I’m registered with the county and everything!) in March/April and since then of course, there have been many ups and downs. Sales and then no sales. But I’m up to 50 sales which means that I’ve made probably at least 100 sleeves (whoa) and I’m not tired of it yet. I’d like to expand my shop and start making another type of product. Maybe rice bags or pin hoops? Bookmark holders or mug rugs? But I’m not quite there yet. Hopefully soon!
Its another goal of mine to take a “business trip” to a book expo/con of some sort during some summer. Or anytime, really. Since I started my business, I have tried to choose patterns for sleeves that correlate to book and/or movie releases. Example: I found an Avengers pattern when the new movie came out. I had a Viking/rune-looking pattern when Sky in the Deep released. One of my best memories with the business was meeting Becky Albertalli and Julie Murphy and they loved my sleeves. I brought sleeves with that matched their books at their signing and they went gaga over them…as did several other people in the store. It was great marketing.
So just in case you’re wondering what my shop looks like, what patterns I have in stock (think snuggly flannels and winter holidays, as well as year-round fabrics), here is the link to check it out: The Read Singer @ Etsy!
When you think of cozy reading, what essentials do you need? For me, my go-to’s are candles (yes, plural), a warm drink (usually tea), a heating pad and/or blanket), and cozy lighting. So today I bring you a recent picture from a cozy reading day. My “Baby its cold outside” mug was filled to the brim with hot tea that I got out of a recent OwlCrate box. The heating pad was a custom that I designed with 
So here is my cutesy bookmail for now. A new bookmark from a great seller I found on Etsy by the name of Otter Nonsense. She has tons of other bookmarks and printables from Star Wars and several other fandoms…something for everyone. Check her out if you’re so inclined. 😀
Singer of Stories 