Once upon a time I was scrolling through Instagram and I came across this interesting company called How Novel. What I was drawn to was the fact that they offer Mystery books which are wrapped, complete with illustrations to hint at the book that lies within.

I had many options to choose from and I ended up selecting two books: one was illustrated with hints such as ‘Espionage & Conflict’ and the second was illustrated with ‘ Witchcraft & Family’. I can not reveal what books I received, only that I am extremely happy with them.

I wanted to find out more about How Novel and they kindly agreed to answer some questions.

How the company came to be and why

I have always been entrepreneurial and wanted to run my own business. I started my first company when I was 16, where we provided sports coaching for children. When that came to an end I was on the lookout for a new idea. I was working in a school at the time, as a teaching assistant, and noticed that the children in one particular class loved reading more than any other. I worked out that the teacher was using her own money to buy books that linked to each individual child’s interests. That got my brain thinking and our sister brand, Reading Box (readingbox.co.uk), was born. We ran events for that brand over Christmas 2019 and wanted to offer something for adults too. I had seen ‘blind-date-with-a-book’ type things before, but thought we could do better; I knew a fantastic artist, put the two together and that is how the product in its current state came to be!

 

What is the ambition of How Novel?  

We want to make How Novel the go to brand for literary gifts. We have so many ideas, the sky is really the limit!

 

What does 2020 have in store for you all?  

Judging by the amount of orders that are coming in, more artists! As every single one of our Mystery Books is hand drawn, our capacity is limited to the speed at which our artists can draw and we will not compromise on quality. Most immediately, we will be launching our subscriptions, which will be more in line with memberships- you will really be part of a community. Every member will get a Mystery Book each month in one of our gorgeous boxes, along with an exclusive bookmark. Each member will also be given a personal pen pal to whom they can write each month and receive a bespoke response!

Did you have to go through a trial and error before you became established?   

Developing both brands to the point of launch took almost a year. For How Novel, the website, graphic design and product itself has all been done in house. However, once we launched it took off. We sent around five boxes out to people on Instagram with a decent following and within a day of them posting, we had doubled that in orders. The numbers have soared since then. So, even though it was a long slog to get going, once we opened our metaphorical doors people have welcomed us with open arms which has been really lovely. The support we have received has been immense.

 

How do you decide what books to use?  

Our Mystery Books are chosen either based on the recommendation of one of the team who has read it and enjoyed it, or we have heard great things about. We try and keep them current and in line with what our demographic tend to read, however we have plans to broaden our selection as we grow. Boring things like stock at our supplier are also taken into consideration. Once the books are delivered to us, one of our team chooses the four words that best represent that specific book before they are finally handed over to our Lead Artist, Jess. She usually sighs and gives us the odd annoyed look at us, once she has seen the difficulty of some of the words she has to draw but she always pulls it off! She’s incredible.

More information: https://www.hownovel.co.uk/