Q: I'm trying to find a specific book. Do you have it?

Please check out on online shop for our up-to-date inventory list, as well as instructions on how to place custom orders. During business hours, we're also available to help you live via WhatsApp and email. 
 

Q: I'm looking for a job. How can I apply?

First of all, thanks for your interest. We're not currently hiring, but we do keep CVs on file to help us when/if space does arise. Please email us your CV and a brief introduction to work@backstorybookshop.com. (And if you've got bookshop experience, please be sure to note that in your email!)

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Q: I'm interested in hosting an event at your shop. How can I do that?

Community is our mission, and events are how we live it out. We’re always on the lookout for fun and fresh ideas, so if you have something in mind, we’d love to hear it. Before you get in touch, please take a moment to familiarize yourself with how things work here. (Our general events policy is below; if you're interested in a book launch or book presentation event, please keep scrolling.)

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The events that work best are those where the interests of our community and the passion of the host overlap — where the shop and our host(s) can offer the community something worth showing up for. To that end, we are open to a wide range of formats: author talks and readings, discussions and panels, workshops, lectures, social gatherings, and plenty more. We’re obviously always excited for events that can be paired with books, but it’s not a requirement. We also find that events work best when both the shop and the host can bring out their people; we’re happy to promote the event, but it always helps when that’s a shared undertaking.

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Here are a few other things to know:

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• We ask that all events end at least 30 minutes before closing time so our staff can wrap up their day.

• Almost without exception, we offer all our events free of charge — both to hosts who use the space and to attendees who come. This keeps things inclusive and open for everyone. If you’d like to charge for your event, we’re probably not the right venue.

• Events take place during shop hours in a separate — but not closed-off — part of the shop. Therefore, they should fit the relaxed, intimate atmosphere of a bookshop (where other customers are likely browsing nearby). We tend to stay away from anything noisy, overly messy, or movement-based. We also generally avoid food and beverage.

• We almost always start with one-time events (i.e., not event series). This helps us determine if the event is a good match for our shop (and vice versa) before scheduling more.

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If you’ve read the above and believe your event would be a good fit for us — and we’d be a good fit for your event — please tell us more about your idea using this form. 

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Q: I'm a self- or independently-published author. Will you stock my book?

We're grateful to serve a city with such a rich and active writing community — in English, Catalan, Spanish, and beyond. Every week, we receive inquiries from self- and independently-published authors asking us to carry their work, and we want to be honest and respectful about what is and isn't possible for us.
 

As a general rule, we do not stock self- or independently-published books, nor do we take books on consignment. This is not a reflection of the quality of any individual author's work; it is simply the reality of running two small shops with limited shelf space and resources. We source our inventory through established publishers and their representatives, whose catalogues we know well and whose titles we can be confident will meet our customers' expectations. This curatorial process — the vetting of manuscripts by agents, editors, and publishers — is not something we have the capacity to replicate in-house for individual titles.

 

(Fun fact: In 2025 alone, *four million* books were published worldwide. No independent bookshop — however much it loves books and the people who write them — can evaluate, stock, and sell more than a tiny fraction of them.)

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We may occasionally consider stocking self-published work in the following circumstances:

• The book has a clear connection to Barcelona and/or our community and is likely to be sought out by our customers.

• The author is an established, regular supporter of our shop — someone who is genuinely part of our community, not someone we're meeting for the first time during a sales pitch.

• The book is available through one of our current distributors at a standard trade discount.

• The book is professionally produced to a standard indistinguishable from traditionally published work — including cover design, interior layout, and copyediting.
   

Even where all of the above apply, we have limited shelf space and a great many books competing for it. We simply cannot offer a place for every title that meets our criteria.​

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Q: Can I host a book launch or book presentation at your shop?

Hosting author events is one of the most rewarding things we do — conversations between writers and readers are at the heart of why independent bookshops exist.

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If you are published by a traditional publisher, we would love to hear from you. Please send an email to events@backstorybookshop.com and we’ll go from there. We program events well in advance and our calendar fills up quickly, so the earlier you get in touch the better.

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If you are self-published, our general events program is not open to individual author talks or launches, for reasons we explain in our stocking policy above — in short, if we cannot stock and sell the book, we cannot do the event or the author justice. We know that's a disappointing thing to read, and we don't say it lightly.

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What we are doing instead is something we're genuinely excited about: Indie Author Hour, a monthly self-published author series, held on the second Sunday of each month, where independent authors can present their work, meet readers, and sell copies of their books directly. This is your event, run on your terms — we provide the space, you bring the books, the conversation, and ideally your audience. Places are limited, so if you'd like to be considered for a future date, please fill in this form to tell us more about yourself and your book.

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