The Curious Cat Bookshop Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Come along with me as I take a journey through the next 2 months of the holiday season as a bookstore owner! We'll look at the goals we're setting, whether we're hitting those goals, and how our marketing has either supported those goals or not. Will we be able to hit my pie-in-the-sky goal to meet our original projections in my original business plan? Find out as I...

Send us Fan Mail After Stacy posted her discussion with Danny Adlerman about what the book production department of a publisher does (S2 E9), she wanted to dive a little deeper into what’s affecting us right now, in fall 2026, and why some books are just super hard to find. Some reporting from Publishers Lunch helped clarify how paper shortages caused by consolidation that we discussed with Danny...

Send us Fan Mail If you love spooky season, The Curious Cat Bookshop was the place to be when horror author Ryan La Sala was be in the store for a live podcast recording. We talked about Ryan's journey to publication, why he evolved from writing whimsical romance and fantasy to horror, book banning, and his recommendations for what you should be reading when you're looking for spine-ting...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered who is in charge of making a book--like, the physical object? Danny Adlerman has helped to create at least 10,000 printed books over the course of his 40+-year career in book production, and he can tell you STORIES. In this episode, Stacy talks with Danny about the basics of book production: how the technology to make a book has changed in his career, how th...

Send us Fan Mail We’ve gathered the whole staff to talk about the books we’re most looking forward to in October and beyond! What are you looking forward to? Have we missed anything? Preorder our recommended titles (and more) here: https://curiouscatbookshop.com/list/preorder-your-next-favorite-read Interview with Sarah Beth Durst Interview with Beth Revis Interview with Courtney Maum Support the...

Send us Fan Mail Recently, Stacy talked with author Courtney Maum about her newest book, Alan Opts Out , a biting satire about suburban life and whether "making it" is really worth it. Can absurdity and satire heal our communities? Signed copies are available from us while supplies last! About the book: “Reading this book reminded me how much fun a novel can be.” ―Caro Claire Burke, auth...

Send us Fan Mail Take a walk with Stacy on a local trail to discuss not just how bookstores make their money, but what the breakdown looks like. This is a big-picture overview--part two will delve a little deeper with some specifics.  If you decide to take a day trip to Winsted, come visit us, and also check out the Sue Grossman Still River Trail: https://www.traillink.com/trail/sue-grossman-still...

Send us Fan Mail NOTE: Some of this episode is visual information. You might want to refer to the YouTube video for more information:  While the percentage numbers may vary from bookstore to bookstore, here's a look at the breakdown of one bookstore's income streams and the challenges we face to make it all work. Thanks to Creatorly Media for the editing assist! I talk a little about get...

Send us Fan Mail Grants can seem overwhelming for small businesses, especially if you’ve just started one and don’t know how to  In this episode of The Curious Cat Bookshop Podcast, we talk with grant and (_) consultant Jennifer Gonzalez about grants for small business, particularly about how we approach our grant applications to frame our proposals in a way that makes us a partner with our grant...

Send us Fan Mail We're back at last! A challenging summer has slowed us down in uploading this episode that was recorded in April. Thanks for your patience! How did Gossip Girl help shape the culture we enjoy today? Stacy's conversation with author Lindsay Denninger digs into how music, pop culture, and teen lives were changed by Gossip Girl and the other TV shows that aired in the mid-a...

Send us Fan Mail A quick "state of the store" discussion, in which Stacy dives into some of her decision-making process and talks about where she is with implementing systems like a new CRM to help manage the store's data, how work in the store gets done (or doesn't, depending on whether she's the only person available to do the work!), and her plan to apply for a business...

Send us Fan Mail Come with Stacy on an existential rollercoaster! We discuss the latest progress on her transition to a new CRM, tough questions small business owners must be willing to ask themselves, our path to profitability, the results of our recent application for a small business loan, and more. NOTE: Episode 5 of this season is a YouTube-only episode, as it's a visual demonstration of...

Send us Fan Mail NOTE: This episode was originally published on YouTube on 1/26/26. I'm posting the second season all at once up to September 2026, as I've gotten behind on uploads. We'll be back to a semi-regular upload schedule after this. Many of you know that I'm also a children's book editor, specifically of middle grade and young adult novels and graphic novels. Toda...

Send us Fan Mail When times are tough, how does a small business get the information they need to adapt, survive, and even thrive? For me, the answer is in refining my systems and getting greater clarity on where I'm spending money, when the bills are coming due, and what system is the single source of truth for my business's information. It also helps that consolidating my systems into...

Send us Fan Mail To celebrate our 2nd anniversary in September, we hosted bestselling fantasy author Sarah Beth Durst in a local brewery, Little Red Barn Brewers, where we talked about her beautiful cozy fantasy books, The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse . Here is that wonderful conversation! Buy Sarah's books --including signed books from the event while supplies last!  Find Sarah onl...

Send us Fan Mail As we wrap up Banned Books Week, we want to encourage you to take the time to really dig into what it means for us to have the freedom to read year-round, and what that means to us in our democracy. The ABA’s Right to Read Handbook (linked below) is a wonderful easy-to-pick-up start to that thought process, and we highly recommend reading it and banned books with your book club, r...

Send us Fan Mail It’s been 20 years since the first book in the bestselling The Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley debuted, and he’s had quite the career since then! This week, the animated TV series based on the books debuted on Apple TV, and last month, Michael’s latest book, The Weirdies, was published in print. With all that success, you’d think that he’d be on top of the world, but our c...

Send us Fan Mail How do you discuss tough subjects like becoming a refugee and starting over again in a new country, bullying, or the possibility of your friend getting deported with your children? How do you help children find their voice and to understand the influence they can be for good? Author A.M. Dassu expertly weaves these subjects into her books for middle grade readers (ages 8-12) by de...

Send us Fan Mail How does a bookstore make decisions about which books to bring in? That’s a question that a lot of people were wondering after we talked about where bookstores get their books (NOT from Amazon!). Stacy Whitman dives into a few of the key ways we decide what books we bring in--and you'll get a little glimpse of the bookstore along the way!  Join us in Winsted, CT for a live po...

Send us Fan Mail What a fantastic conversation we recently had with bestselling fantasy author Wesley Chu! Wesley Chu didn't always consider himself a writer, and in this conversation we delve into why that was, and how he finally found the path that led to the books we love. Along the way, we get into some fascinating discussion of the current state of fantasy and science fiction, so be sure...

Send us Fan Mail Where do bookstores get their inventory? That’s a big question for anyone thinking of starting a bookstore—the first question Stacy sees from anyone even dreaming about starting one. It’s also a question that many readers don’t know the answer to—sometimes we get customers who walk in, see our prices on the books, and assume that we’ve bought our books from Amazon and then jacked...

Send us Fan Mail How is a book made? What is the full LIFE of a book? Many writers don’t know what the editorial process looks like in a publishing house—or what happens in the design, marketing, and sales departments while the editorial process is happening. Join Stacy in our new podcast series discussing the life cycle of a book, in which we’ll discuss how a book gets acquired, what the editoria...

Send us Fan Mail How do you make a living when starting a business like a bookstore? Curious Cat Bookshop owner Stacy Whitman discusses the current state of our business, how she makes a living, how she started her first business (Tu Books, which became an imprint of Lee & Low Books), and the goals and considerations she makes as she makes business decisions for the bookstore. If you'd li...

Send us Fan Mail What would Stacy Whitman, owner of The Curious Cat Bookshop, do differently today if she were starting her bookstore from scratch? She's got a few ideas, mostly about preparation and community. Are you thinking of starting a bookstore or would like some advice on writing, publishing, or the book business? Let us know in the comments. Also, at least 5 cats make appearances in...

Send us Fan Mail We're bringing you a bonus episode of The Curious Cat Bookshop today: the recording of our event from August 2024 interviewing picture book author Anne Broyles about her writing life and how she ended up writing picture books for children after a life of service in the clergy and a career writing a variety of different kinds of work for adults. This audio episode has been edi...