Exeter alumna Rachel Stewart (Spanish & TESOL Degree, 2011 and MA English Criticism & Theory, 2013) is Managing Director of Postscript Books – a local independent bookseller that won the Feefo Gold Trusted Service Award 2023 in recognition of their commitment to providing affordable books with a fantastic, reliable customer service. We recently caught up with her to find out how it felt to win the award.
Postscript Books is an independent mail order catalogue and online bookseller based in Bovey Tracey near Dartmoor, where they handpick their titles and provide honest and accurate product descriptions penned by their own specialist team of writers. The business was established in 1987 by a family of avid readers with the aim of sharing intriguing books with as many fellow enthusiasts as possible, at affordable prices.
Since then, Postscript has specialised in new, unusual and almost-forgotten titles from major publishers and smaller presses. It was named by the late founder’s sister while they were in the process of writing the first catalogue. The ‘Post’ was because it was mail order – not a usual thing for books at that time (1987) – and the writing (‘script’) loomed large because only two people were writing the entire catalogue.
In January this year Postscript Books won the Feefo Gold Trusted Service Award, an independent seal of excellence which recognises businesses that consistently deliver a world-class customer experience. The awards are unique because they analyse feedback from real customers to truly reflect a business’s dedication to providing outstanding customer service.
Rachel was delighted for the company to win this award and says: “We believe in making good quality books affordable for everyone and the fact that this award is based on feedback from real customers gives us confidence we are providing an exceptional level of service. The award also recognises how hard our staff have worked under fresh challenges, with both rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis affecting consumers and businesses alike… [in] 2023, we will continue to provide a rich source of new and unusual books whilst passing on discounts of up to 75% off publishers’ prices, and we thank our wonderful readers for their loyalty and continued support.”
It has been a difficult climate due to consumer confidence and the cost-of-living crisis and booksellers have to navigate tough market conditions to deliver their exceptional service. Rachel mentioned that Postscript Books has been achieving this by “making sure that we continue to do what we do best – which is provide new and unusual reading material at affordable prices for everyone. We believe that reading is empowering and that books should be accessible to all, and so we work hard to keep our prices low despite considerable cost increased across the entire supply chain. By staying true to our beliefs we hope to give our readers a sense of security, no matter how small.”
These beliefs include being ever conscious of the world around them, and Postscript Books make regular book donations to charities and endeavour to protect our environment. Their catalogue is produced in the UK on paper from sustainably managed forests and all their books are sent from Devon in eco-friendly green packaging – including their boxes, bubble wrap and tape.
They have also recently been supporting the Indie Book of the Month campaign which was launched in 2017 to showcase independent bookshops’ power to drive sales as a sector. It aims to demonstrate the impact independent booksellers can make by working together to build readerships for the books they love. The titles for each month are chosen from publisher submissions by a panel of independent booksellers who then aim to support the authors and the publishers by promoting the lesser-known titles through their retail channels. Rachel says: “At Postscript, we are keen to support new authors and we actively encourage new content creators within the industry; being part of Indie Book of the Month helps us to be part of the important drive to keep independent booksellers alive and well.”
In terms of the future for Postscript Books Rachel says: “our ambition is to be known throughout the UK as a retail leader in new and unusual books at less than publishers’ prices. To do this, we are working tirelessly to navigate the ever-changing competitive eCommerce landscape as we transition from a traditional mail order bookseller to a multichannel one, whilst keeping our printed catalogue in the forefront of our minds.”
You can find out more about Postscript Books via their website.