In 2006, Leonard Fernandes and Queenie Rodrigues began a website selling pre-loved books. Twenty years later, the founders of The Dogears Bookshop, Cinnamon Teal Design and Publishing, Publishing Next, and The Goa Book Fair reflect on their literary journey
CHRISTINE MACHADO
Nestled on the quiet stretch of Bernardo da Costa Road in Margao, The Dogears Bookshop is today a little piece of heaven for bibliophiles. But not many know that its genesis was quite serendipitous.
“We hadn’t actually planned for a bookshop,” recounts co-founder Leonard Fernandes. Together with his wife Queenie Rodrigues, the duo had begun Dogears Etc in 2006 to facilitate the sale of preloved books online, and then ventured into publishing a year later with Cinnamon Teal Design and Publishing. “When the space below our Cinnamon Teal office became vacant, the landlord requested our help to find a tenant. It was then that we decided that we would take it and try our hand at a bookshop,” says Fernandes.
There was skepticism initially, admits Fernandes. “There was already this whole idea going around that bookshops were dying. Plus, Margao already has a bookshop that is almost an institution,” he says.
But the duo decided to concentrate their attention on children’s books and threw open their doors in 2016. “In the case of children’s books, it’s not the same as buying online. Parents want to see the book before they buy it. We began with that in mind,” says Fernandes.
Alongside this the bookshop also decided to focus its attention on Goan books as there weren’t many that were available online at that time. Possibly one of India’s smallest bookshops, The Dogears Bookshop has now branched out to include all kinds of genres. They continue to have a section for second hand books.
An interesting concept that sets their bookshop apart and also endears visitors to the space is the pinning up of little snippets of information about some of their books. “These are called shelf talkers and is a concept that is done abroad. The idea behind it is that when people browse the collection at their own pace, they also read these little highlights about certain books which intrigues them to know more about it. This way they discover new books,” explains Fernandes.
What is also noteworthy about this space is that it does not give too much importance to the bestsellers list. “The bestsellers list is basically a marketing gimmick. When a publisher promotes a particular book as a bestseller, it makes the reader want to buy it. But we try not to follow that because those are usually highly discounted on online platforms. So it doesn’t make sense for us to keep them,” explains Fernandes. However, he reiterates that this does not mean that you won’t find any of these at the store. “We curate every book here. The philosophy behind it is that the book should challenge the reader and not reinforce a stereotype. So if the book makes the curation, it will be stacked at the bookshop,” he says.
This curation also applies to self-published books. “We usually ask authors for a review copy. If it is not edited, designed or presented properly, we will not keep it. We have limited shelf space hence we only keep books that give value to the buyer,” says Fernandes.
Over the years, the bookshop has also hosted a number of literary events with names like Rana Ayyub and Jerry Pinto gracing the space. “We think that in South Goa at least we are starved of spaces where people can come together and interact. In fact post COVID-19 there has been a lot of this happening,” says Fernandes, adding that over the years what they have observed is that quite to the contrary of the commonly held misconception, bookshops are not dying, and people are in fact reading.
To further increase the accessibility of books to the Goan readers, the duo also co-founded the Goa Book Fair in 2023. The following year they expanded it to also include the Children’s Literature Festival. “We haven’t had one this year as yet because the dates kept clashing with school examinations. But we are still looking into the possibility of having one,” says Fernandes, adding that they are also looking at expanding their event offerings especially with a focus on getting more children to read. “We are also looking for a bigger space in and around Margao to shift to in the future,” he says.
(Queenie Rodrigues and Leonard Fernandes will be in conversation with translator and author Jose Lourenco on March 27, 6.30 p.m. The session titled ‘The Dogears Diary’ will be held at The Soapbox, Studio 15, 73, Olaulim.)
