Today I start my Industry Partnership with Typeface Books

Today is the first day of the rest of my life as I start my internship with Typeface Books in Perth. Thank God because it has been a dreadful and very difficult week for me where life has imitated the art I am reading: Brene Brown's books on vulnerability.

Many times this week I have reflected on the infamous book by Anonymous (only she's now NOT anonymous), The Bride Stripped Bare.

Man, I have been the PhD candidate stripped bear. We had a family situation that stopped me in my tracks and FORCED me to NOT be hypercritical by doing the anthesis of what I am studying at PhD level: Shame Resilience Theory.

Although I delved heavily into Professor Brown's writings, TED talks, podcasts and visual media, I did it for personal reasons rather than academic.

Which made me think of my feminist standpoint and positionality: there is no separation between the personal and the political - My PhD is my personal and my personal is my PhD. Bad things happen to good people. Educated people are no different to anyone else. We have the same emotions and vulnerabilities....and that is why Brene Brown is so popular as an organic intellectual - she talks their language and uses language illustrations that have come from her grounded research.

I found myself in deep discussion with my husband, explaining how this personal event fits to my three theoretical frameworks. I had him running up and down the stairs from our lounge room to my office where definitions and notes adorn my walls and whiteboard as we matched events, words, actions, pain, shame, vulnerability and leadership.

I am better read than my husband and even though he holds a senior executive position and is extremely knowledgeable in his area, my general knowledge is much broader. We reflected on why this is and it came down to curiosity and reading.

I read cross genre and because I am naturally curious about the world and her people. I read to stop the noise of that which I don't like. I read for relaxation. I read when I'm bored, hurt, reflective or hungry for new knowledge. I read to learn, be it fiction or non fiction.

And that is where Independent book sellers like Typeface Books come in. Independent book sellers buy book stores because they understand the transformative power of books and they believe in the people who buy them: people with their own stories, strengths and contributions. The Indie's buy because they are passionate about words, books, people, time to read, and they love to help others find the right book or author for particular need.

How could I not do an internship with an Indie seller!

Book store chains on the other hand may buy books for the business model rather than the love of books. Of course their books are often cheaper.....because they buy volume with the sole aim of selling rather than interacting with you and helping you choose the best book for your need. They buy based on market research about you with the sole aim of getting MORE money via add-on sales from you. Indies buy books based on what they think will help and interest their customers. Indies also often specialise in a particular type of book (example, pop-up books or History) because they offer a service rather than a sales based bottom line. 

There is a theory called Disruptive Economic Behaviour that explains how disruptive forces change economics. It is focused on things like pandemics, floods, fires, GFCs, etc, but the theory also suggests that you, me, WE have enormous power to support Independent book sellers over the mega chains. A mega business has a single bottom line: good for profit. Many Indie booksellers have a triple bottom line business model: good for people, planet and profit in balance.

Vote with your book power: resistance is useful. Resist the vanilla experience of entering a chain and just buying a book. Go for the Neapolitan experience of engaging with a seller who loves books, loves people, understands the psychoeducative nature of healing, learning and recovery through reading, and the value of reading dangerously as you self educate against economic control.

Just as reading is an act of resistance so too is book buying.

Indie book sellers rock....and I'm off to rock with Typeface Books.

👵🏼 Megan Bayliss

👩🏼‍🎓 PhD Candidate: social and cultural resistance to the status quo.