The Book Dragon in the UK is anything but your ordinary bookstore! An interview with owner and founder Kirsty McKay

The Book Dragon was created following my own experiences as a self published author. When my book was published in 2019, I was over the moon, and I couldn't wait to spread the news. But little did I know at the time how hard it would be to market my book. COVID-19 happened the following year and what little marketing I had managed to achieve in asking book shops to accept my book, and host a signing, was cancelled due to the Pandemic. It has been a struggle since, and as I used an Indie Publisher I had no money left to spend on marketing and advertising campaigns. I felt extremely alone, unsupported, and had no where to turn. When the restrictions eased, and I returned to a book shop to check what, if any, progress had been made on the sale of my book, I was extremely disappointed to find it placed amongst local authors at the back of the shop, on a book case that didn't face the general public, and it was on the bottom shelf (resting on the floor). I asked the manager for support, and to move the local authors books on a small display table at the front of the shop where customers could see them. The response was, I didn't earn the book shop much profit, and she was not going to rearrange her entire book shop for me. That was pretty much the final straw for me. If no one was prepared to help self-published authors than I would, and I would prove to all that self-published authors and indie authors are worth investing in. And so I sought feedback from other self-published authors to understand what they would want and need from the service, and based on my own experiences I developed, The Book Dragon, to fill that gap. My business advisor loved the plan I created and helped me to secure funding that enabled me to open the doors on 4 July 2022. As I developed the Business Plan, I had a firm vision in my head of what I wanted, The Book Dragon, to look like. As a Reiki Practitioner and Crystal Therapist I used my knowledge and skills to bring in the right energies, using colours, and images that would make the shop premises a welcoming environment, full of creativity and imagination to spark the minds and hearts of customers who came into the shop, and writers seeking support.

The Book Dragon has brought to life seven Dragon figure heads who look after each element of the business, supported by their humans. Roarie Dragon is the keeper of our shop and online store, he works closely with our Front of House Team. Blaze is the keeper of our Training & Development Department. I work closely with this mighty Dragon to give the support and aid to others who want to write and become published. Jayvee Dragon is cared for by myself and Editorial Team. Jayvee loves to work in partnership, and so we have brought into the family other self-published authors, artists and businesses to ensure that we have the skills in house to fill any gaps in the process of publishing. The authors can cherry pick from what we offer to cover the skills or gaps they have. Phoenix is our Marketing & Promotions Dragon and is cared for by my Senior Business Partner. Together they manage our Membership Programmes and work with authors directly to market and promote the author and their work. Hydra is our Events and Networking Dragon, and whilst Hydra looks a little scary with multiple heads, this Dragon values friendship and connections. Together with my Senior Business Partner, Hydra aims to bring the self-published and indie published community together, for there is strength in numbers. Hydra also cannot resist a good party ;) The last two Dragons are cared for by myself, Smurgle is our wise old Dragon and the keeper of our Book Review Department, he adores books and reading. Spectral our newest Dragon, is made of pure and vibrant energy enabling this Dragon to slip easily into the hearts and minds of others and draw out their creativity. Spectral is the keeper of our own Publications Department, manages our Ghost Writers, Dragon Riders (humans who have ideas but cannot write, and so they work with our Ghost Writer team to create) and Roark Pendragon, our Dragon pen name for all work written and published under The Book Dragon Brand. These Seven Dragons work in complete harmony together, and are Dragons with foresight and incredible vision. They are constantly evolving, and we are so excited to see the changes each will bring to The Book Dragon in the future.

All of the books that the Book Dragon sells are written and published by self-published or independently published authors. We do not stock any traditional published works with the exception of our Founders Dacre Stoker (Great Grand Nephew of Bram Stoker) and Dr Chris McAuley, acclaimed Marvel & DC comic writer. Both Dacre and Chris are huge fans of the Book Dragon and they do all they can to promote the Book Dragon to all as the firmly believe in The Book Dragons Mission and Vision of the future. As a thank you we stock a small selection of their works.

Our Blaze Dragon has created a wonderful Children's Story Telling Course for young writers, encouraging self-published and indie authors of the future. It is a fun and interactive series of workshops that gives children an insight in writing and producing book, delivered in a language that they understand, and will enjoy. Blaze is also developing an Adults Back to Basics Writing Course, a course that refreshes authors on all of the common writing mistakes that we tend to forget about, how to spot and avoid them. The team are also working with Blaze to reformat his Writing Cave, a writing circle community of new Dragons who want to write and self-published a novel. The Writing Cave Dragons will support each other, providing valuable feedback and critique, where new writers can be encouraged and supported to take their ideas to its final written draft, at which point Blaze will happily pass the writer onto Jayvee for further support. Blaze has lots of ideas for training, including online workshops, as well as face to face, but he is focussing on the above first, and has advised he will share his thoughts and creations next year.

The Veils of Valoria is my first novel, the one I cut my teeth on as a writer, and learned so much from. I am so proud of it, and I love the fact that many readers have enjoyed it and given it a good star rating overall of between 4 and 5 stars. It is an Urban Fantasy Adventure set in my home town of Teesside, with two main protagonists, Rowan who is from Earth and is a Clairvoyant, and Finn who is Tracker from a world of Magic, and the Realm of Valoria. Valoria is one of 4 realms that exists in the world of Morvantia. Finn is tasked by a Council of Magical Elders to find a human girl cited in a prophecy that can spare his world from an Evil that has infiltrated it with darkness and death. He travels through a portal to find Rowan. But he isn't alone as he is pursued by a warlock called Kane and an army of blood thirsty nightmarish creatures. The world of magic and spirit then collides and Rowan's world is under threat. The Veils of Valoria is a mix of fantasy, spirit, witchcraft, romance with wonderful characters. I particularly love the scenes with Kane as he is so bad, you cannot help but love him. When I wrote The Veils of Valoria, I was advised to split the book into two parts by my Editor, and so I had to decide where in the story to do this, and create a new ending with a lead to Part 2. As a consequence readers have commented that there are questions unanswered, but I hope that, The Guardians of Valoria, my second book which I am currently editing, will give some of the answers they seek. However there are more books to come in this series so readers be warned :)

Awe yes, I am an absolute softie where animals are concerned, I have taken rescued animals in having given homes and loved 2 Bearded Dragons who have passed away now of old age. I have a gorgeous golden Labrador named Benjamin whose best friend is one of my cats called Binx. They are literally the talk of the neighbourhood as Ben and Binx go on a walk together. One day, Ben had asked to go outside into the garden, but I hadn't realised that a courier had left the gate unlatched and it blew open. I responded to a knock on the door from a neighbour to say that Ben was playing on the field with my cat Binx, and had attracted the attention of a passerby who could not get over the sight and was taking pictures. I thanked the neighbour and hurried to put my shoes and coat on, and grab Ben's lead, when I opened the door to go find him, Ben was trotting down the drive with Binx who had brought him home. I collapsed in hysterics and thanked Binx for taking Ben out for a walk and bringing him home safely. They have such a beautiful friendship, Binx will sleep curled up to Ben. My other cats also rub up alongside Ben and lay with him but they don't interfere when Binx is there. I have one cat however who is too much of a Diva and so she walks past Ben with her tail in the air and won't entertain him at all. I do plan to write about my furry friends because they are such a huge part of the family, and have brought a lot of comfort and joy. Ben is an elderly gentleman now and so we are enjoying the time we have left with him, and I am making lots of notes and ideas for continuing his story when he finally chooses to cross the Rainbow Bridge.