Here is a new category i would be doing on here at least twice in a month, where i get to interview some popular bookshops in Nigeria.
Amab Books opened in 2014. Nu-r-din Busari opened the bookshop because he loved books and he wanted to read more of them. For a year now, Busari has stocked new books, used books, comics, African Literature, classics, and magazines, becoming one of the best bookshops in Nigeria.
Now ten times its original size, with new and used books, LPs, and 750-plus magazines and journals in stock, the store is almost a year older. Pulse spoke with owner Busari about what makes Amab Books the kind of store where you not only want to work, but also where you want to buy.
A Quick Bio about AMAB Books?
AMAB Books was established just around a year ago. That was towards the end of August 2015. Physically we are located in Minna, the metropolitan capital of Niger State, Nigeria. But we have an online presence and social media platforms that grant us access to very many booklovers across Nigeria and beyond.
If you had infinite space what books would you add?
Infinite space means unlimited opportunities. There are billion of titles of books all over the world. There are also thousand of creative ideas around bookselling endeavour. So, the space will be for more titles of books and more creative ideas.
What do you do better than any other bookstore?
Quite a number of things. One, we ensure that we engage in other literary activities beyond bookselling. Activities like book chat, readings, literary discourse and even community development. Also, we make business transaction very easy for our customers. We are probably the first bookstore that will be engaging in Payment after Delivery pattern. People say its risky, but we say those who buy and read books have integrity. Through NIPOST, we ship our books nationwide and beyond. It is ship and affordable for our customers. No other bookstore does that.
What is your best-selling book?
It is a very difficult question to answer because it is hard to measure the voracious and ever-changing desires of Nigerians when it comes to books. But if I am forced to pin it down to a book, I will say its Alchemist by Paulo Cohelho.
What’s the craziest situation you’ve ever had to deal with in the store?
I think it was before we partnered with NIPOST for our deliveries. Then we used motor parks and designated transport services. It was crazy dealing with the inefficiency of transport companies in Nigeria. Imagine taking a book package meant for Benin City to Lagos or the one meant for Ojuelegba in Lagos to Ajah. They were so difficult to deal with and it was obvious that we were toying with the patience of our customers. Of course it was not cost effective too.
How do you manage orders from outside the country?
We have received and executed a handful of orders from Nairobi, Ghana, UK, United States, Doha, Netherland and few other distant places. They make their orders through our website and online platforms, we inform them about the exact shipping cost via NIPOST and that is all.
If you weren’t running a bookstore, what would you be doing?
I have a degree in English and another in African Literature. So probably I will still be inclined towards building literary and creative interfaces for nation building. That will be research-inclined and one might not have the opportunity to relate directly with as many people as we do in the bookselling industry
What’s been the biggest surprise about running a bookstore?
I think it is confirming the integrity of booklovers. Then probably having the opportunity to know as many book titles as possible when customers make requests.
Which is the most underrated book and which every of your Customer should buy
That is an impossible question to answer. From my experience like I said earlier, I have come to understand that people’s tastes in books vary as much as there are diverse human beings. Some people are prose lovers while some are strictly into poetry. Some will not purchase anything, which is not academic. So to sit down and talk about an underrated book might very difficult.
Why should customers patronize and buy books from you?
Like I said earlier, we deal with our customers one-on-one with their requests. And we are ready to go to any length to search for the books they want. Recently, we made Macmillan to open their old warehouses across the country because our customers needed the Pacesetters Series. We solve the complications surrounding getting to buy the book you really want and not just the ones you see.
And how well do you use Social Media?
Very well. We have a functioning website that is being updated on a daily basis; www.amabbooks.com. We also have two social media platforms on Facebook and on Instagram.