2026 Storyselling

Welcome to  Storyselling!

Learn to tell the story of your store with instructors Lisa Uhrik and Kit Little, specialists in branding, marketing, and understanding that bookstores are providing experiences, not only selling products.

Live Classes are on Wednesdays @ 12:30 pm ET / 11:30 am CT / 10:30 am MT / 9:30 am PT on October 21, October 28, and November 04. Each class is 90 minutes. Assigned readings and tasks are intended to be completed before the live classes, which will be discussions and analysis.

Registration opens Monday, September 28 @ 1 pm ET / 12 pm CT / 11 am MT / 10 am PT

Information about the course is on our website:

How the Course Works

The Storyselling Course explores the intersection of storytelling, display, and marketing to create a bookstore experience customers will return for time and time again. The course is applicable to brick and mortar, pop-up, mobile, and pocket stores; it is not intended for online-only models. Stores must already be open to be eligible for this course.

The course is a read/practice/reflect learning model. It contains 3 workshops, each with a work book of articles to read and field work assignments to complete in your store before coming together to discuss, share, and learn together.  Your experimentation and measurement is key.  Show and tell: what did you do and what did you see when you tried it?  

In the three live classes, the first hour will be elaboration on the education included in that week's workbook, a deep dive into the concepts, and practical applications that support the education. The next 20 minutes will be small group breakouts without instructor to discuss what was learned in fieldwork and how to apply the information from that fieldwork and the class to affect positive change. Everyone will then regroup for final thoughts and next steps.

Live classes meet via Zoom. The course uses Discord as our platform for information, chat, and homework. Discord is free to join, and an invitation will be emailed to students after registrations.  Students also receive a weekly newsletters with information about the classes.

Each class explores a different way of understanding your store:

1. Clarity: Knowing Your Store Explore your store's mission, name, location, and programming to acquire a deeper understanding of the story you are telling, what you are really offering, and what experience you are creating.  
2. Curiosity: Knowing Your Customers Observe your customers, realize how they move within your space, and become more aware of how they interact with your merchandise and events in order to better understand your community and how to be an integral part of their story.
3. Creativity: Unforgettable Together Using all you have gleaned from clarity and curiosity, discover creative ways to display with intention, market with your unique voice, and engage with your community to the positive benefit of all.

Course Objectives

Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Design a book haven space that connects with customers through storytelling
• Move from transactional book-selling in favor of engagement through experience 
• Articulate a clear market position and story
• Align store layout, displays, and media with a compelling Big Idea
• Apply persona-driven strategies to marketing, curation, and customer engagement
• Integrate store atmosphere, sensory elements, and display techniques to drive browsing and purchasing.
• Develop a holistic approach where marketing, events, displays, and book curation work in alignment
• Experiment with radical, out-of-the-box marketing strategies that strengthen engagement and community connections.