Meet Tony And Leslie Garcia

We recently connected with Tony And Leslie Garcia and have shared our conversation below.

Tony and Leslie , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

We keep our creativity alive by surrounding ourselves with other creative people and out of the box thinkers. We love the community of authors and readers that we have the privilege of interacting with on a daily basis. It helps fuel both of us in our own author journeys Tony as an established independent author and Leslie currently working on her first novel. Creativity is contagious.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

We are Tony and Leslie Garcia we are the proud owners of The Cozy Book Nook an independent bookstore in Moraine, OH a suburb of Dayton, OH. We opened our store in 2024 and have been enjoying growing our business and the community we are building of authors and readers. While we carry used books and other bookish items our main focus is giving local independently published authors a venue to promote their work and connect with local readers. This passion began when Tony wrote his first Novel Sins of the Fathers under the name Antonio Garcia in 2015. Tony was surprised to find how difficult it was for independently published authors to promote and sell their books. Our mission is to provide a solution to this problem.
We enjoy having local authors in for book signings and other events such as speed dating with romance authors where they were able to pitch their books to customers for 2 minutes before switching to the next author. We also have hosted a murder mystery event featuring authors as different characters. We also host a few book clubs one of which we read indie author picks and discuss with the group. We are still accepting more independent authors on consignment. We love being able to pay out at the start of each month for the previous month’s sales. Independent authors get excited about every single sale and it’s such a good feeling supporting their work!

Our second and also important goal is to create a safe and warm space where all are welcome, and people feel at peace. We often are told the store lives up to its name has good vibes and feels very welcoming. This is by design. While we obviously appreciate making sales, we also want to have a space where people can just be with no expectations. People need a place other than just home and work where they feel they belong, and we aim to be that place.

Going forward we are very excited about a few things we are working on. We have started “The Literary Reservation” in other words the ability to book our entire store for your private reading group or small get together. We have several pop-up bookstore events this year where we take our indies on the road to events such as Literary Adventures in Waynesville and Merchant Market and Fall Fest put on by The Heart of Centerville and Washington Township. We also have big plans to hopefully get a much larger and nicer space as our store continues to expand. Keep your eyes peeled for more information as we move forward on that endeavor.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Flexibility-the ability to pivot has always been one of our strong suits. As a small business you have to constantly reevaluate what you’re doing and if it’s best serving your customers.

Thirst for Knowledge- We are constantly learning new things about being booksellers, authors, readers, and small business owners. We enjoy learning and we make it a point to never stop.

Passion- We are very passionate about books and about independent authors. If you love what you do you never work a day in your life.

Our best advice is to pursue something that sets your heart on fire and remain flexible as you explore what works and what doesn’t.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

We are always looking to work with more independent authors. We would like to start working with small independent presses. We also enjoy carrying merch from local artists and artisans. Additionally, we are hoping to start partnering with schools and organizations to bring books and the love of reading to them.

Contact Info:

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