Former Borders bookseller and associate production editor at Little, Brown, Kate Layte was convinced that the Jamaica Plain section of Boston needed a new general interest bookstore. And last November, she opened Papercuts J.P. As she gets ready to celebrate the store's one-year anniversary, Layte is putting her book publishing background to use by creating a book.
Layte is collecting an anthology of writings by authors who have appeared at the store--including Edan Lepucki, Josh Cook, and Abigail Thomas--as well as pieces from store staff in What Happened Here: Year One at Papercuts J.P. (Feb. 2016). The 336-page collection, which will be roughly half original works, will be published through Inkshares, which relies on crowdsourcing preorders to fund projects.
“Kate and I have had many discussions about how to create something tangible that reflects the magic that people have told us they feel when they’re in the store. Because the authors are what makes all of this possible, and because they’ve all been so supportive, we thought it would be perfect to celebrate with new and original works from the ones we’ve met,” said media and events coordinator Katie Eelman, who plans to contribute to the book.
“We crowdsourced to open the store and deeply believe in the power of regular people to make good things happen,” noted Layte. “After reading a great book, having an author event, or having a conversation with an incredible author, despite all the good feelings there’s always a sense of loss, wishing there was something more. Creating something new from pieces by authors that have visited the store over the past year seems to be a perfect way to encapsulate that.”
