{"id":42714,"date":"2025-09-25T13:35:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T13:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/42714\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T13:35:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T13:35:08","slug":"meet-the-bffs-behind-the-mobile-bookstore-for-maine-romance-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/42714\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the BFFs behind the mobile bookstore for Maine romance fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"\"<\/a>Cailyn Wheeler, social media manager for mobile bookstore Novella, talks with a customer during a visit to Beacon Community Fitness in September. (Derek Davis\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

Everyone at Barnes & Noble kept telling Cailyn Wheeler she was going to love their new coworker, but she wasn\u2019t convinced.<\/p>\n

Lotti Ziervogel had started working at the South Portland bookstore in the fall, but their schedules didn\u2019t overlap right away. Then, around the holidays, they were both in the break room, and Ziervogel offered Wheeler a peppermint-flavored Joe\u2019s-Joe\u2019s cookie.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe literally have been inseparable since then,\u201d said Wheeler, 22, who lives in Windham.<\/p>\n

An appreciation for the Trader Joe\u2019s Oreo knockoffs was just the first common interest they discovered, along with a love of \u201cLove Island,\u201d true crime, Mario Kart and, most of all, reading.<\/p>\n

They got so close, so quickly that when Ziervogel asked Wheeler a few months later if she would help her open a mobile bookstore, she didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was like, \u2018Yeah, let\u2019s do it.\u2019 Instantaneously, that was her answer,\u201d said Ziervogel, 24, of North Yarmouth.<\/p>\n

Novella has been up and running for less than four months and has already recouped the cost of building out their trailer (named Ella), which holds around 2,000 books, almost all romance novels, arranged in subgenres from contemporary to cowboy. Their Instagram<\/a> following has grown from just their parents and partners to over 4,000 people.<\/p>\n

But it took a lot of Googling to get there. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ali Lamoureaux, right, of Portland talks to Novella owner Lotti Ziervogel as the mobile bookstore visits Beacon Community Fitness. (Derek Davis\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

FIGURING IT OUT<\/p>\n

Although the two friends knew about books and publishers from working at Barnes & Noble, neither had any idea how to start a business. Ziervogel has an online degree in tourism from Arizona State University, and Wheeler went to University of New England for nursing, a career she\u2019s still pursuing while working as Novella\u2019s social media manager. Ziervogel is the owner, but, she said, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t ever want to do it without Cailyn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together, they figured out how to outfit the 6-by-10-foot trailer with flooring and shelves and get the licenses they needed, even when state officials weren\u2019t sure. While the regulations for food trucks are clear, there\u2019s not much on the books about other mobile businesses, which are gaining in popularity as a way to avoid expensive leases for retail space and offer customers the convenience of coming to them. <\/p>\n

Another mobile bookstore, called The Kinetic Bookshop<\/a>, started operating out of a Ford Econoline pickup truck in the Midcoast this summer, too. And last month, South Portland changed its zoning rules<\/a> to accommodate more vendors on wheels, after a mobile sauna and others showed interest in setting up shop in the city. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Samantha Johnson of South Portland looks at books at the mobile bookstore Novella. (Derek Davis\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

Novella mostly attends events that are already happening, usually after getting an invite from an organizer through Instagram. That\u2019s where Nicki Stanford noticed them. The owner of Winthrop store Freckle Salvage Company runs a monthly vintage market called The Vault in a former mill building next door and thought having Novella there would be an added draw, much like the food trucks she books. They held their grand opening there in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey killed it,\u201d Stanford said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a bookstore in town, and I knew it would be a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve done about 30 events since then, including return trips to the Winthrop market, and are already booking into November. For each one, they have to figure out what permits they need to operate, depending on the town\u2019s laws and whether they\u2019re parking on public property. <\/p>\n

Coming up on the calendar is a mini romance convention<\/a>, featuring 10 authors, on Oct. 18 at Ricker Hill Orchard in Turner, followed by a witchy-themed event Oct. 21 at Nonesuch River Brewing in Scarborough. At a girls\u2019 night there in July, people were lined up outside the trailer for hours, and the brewery had to make runs to Hannaford to restock ingredients for the featured cocktails.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cailyn Wheeler, co-owner of the mobile bookstore Novella, helps find a book for Cassandra Summarsell of South Portland. (Derek Davis\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

READING ROMANCE<\/p>\n

The interest they\u2019ve drawn contrasts with data showing a decline in leisure reading. A report by the University of Florida and University College London released in August<\/a> said the number of people reading for pleasure daily in the U.S. dropped 40% in 20 years. In southern Maine, new bookstores continue to open<\/a>, but the number of adult fiction and nonfiction books checked out from the Portland Public Library this past fiscal year was down 10% from a decade ago.<\/p>\n

The national study, however, also showed that people who do read are reading more, and according to book sales data from Publishers Weekly, romance has been on the rise<\/a> since the pandemic, offering a lighthearted escape that people are still seeking today. Novella isn\u2019t the first store in Maine to take advantage of that trend. Grump & Sunshine<\/a>, an all-romance bookstore in Belfast, opened in 2023 \u2014 and will move to Portland<\/a> later this year, its owners announced Sunday.<\/p>\n

Ziervogel and Wheeler decided to focus on the genre because it\u2019s what they read most and know best, and because you can only fit so much in a trailer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a small space, you have to find your niche,\u201d said Ziervogel, who in any given week will be reading a hard copy of a contemporary romance and a fantasy on her Kindle, while listening to an audiobook of a thriller.<\/p>\n

Also setting Novella apart is its support of indie authors who struggle to get their books on the shelves of bigger stores, something they\u2019ve seen first-hand. They only keep a single copy of most books on display in the trailer, so they can fit as many titles as possible, also a benefit to their repeat customers who always have a fresh selection to browse.<\/p>\n

Then there are the personal recommendations. Just as the two friends complement each other as business partners (Ziervogel is higher energy; Wheeler is more grounded), their individual reading tastes cover the spectrum of what they sell. While no romance is too dark for Ziervogel, Wheeler leans more toward young adult authors and lighter themes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see by our outfits,\u201d Ziervogel said, gesturing to her black jeans and T-shirt and Wheeler\u2019s red blouse with puff sleeves, as they set up by Beacon Community Fitness on Marginal Way in Portland, where the bookstore was an added draw for people who signed up a free class on a Sunday morning in September.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Wheeler talks with a customers during mobile bookstore Novella\u2019s visit to Beacon Community Fitness. (Derek Davis\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

At 10 a.m. sharp, a Sabrina Carpenter song started playing inside the trailer from a speaker hidden behind a canister of bookmarks. Displayed on the same side table were book-themed candles, a red coupe glass filled with Kindle charms and a basket of stickers. Fake leaves and pumpkins lined the tops of the bookshelves along the walls.<\/p>\n

Soon, women in leggings and sneakers, with glistening ponytails and water bottles clutched under their arms, were reaching for books and squatting while reading the back covers.<\/p>\n

Kate Campbell, 31, of Westbrook mostly reads mysteries but was drawn to \u201cPumpkin Spice and Poltergeist\u201d because fall is her favorite season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people are talking about this,\u201d Wheeler told Campbell as she paid at the table set up outside the trailer. \u201cIt\u2019s a great pick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Candace Luther, left, of South Portland and Sarah Lawrence of Portland browse books at Novella on Sunday. (Derek Davis\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

Jess Walker, 50, of South Portland, similarly prefers other genres, like historical fiction, but was thrilled to go to an event that combined her love of reading, fitness and spending time with friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is so great,\u201d she told Wheeler, while paying for \u201cThe Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County,\u201d which she called her \u201cgateway book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holding copies of \u201cDeja Brew\u201d and \u201cThis Spells Love,\u201d Emily Harriman, 34, of Gray stood on the edge of the trailer and turned to face out the open back door.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is, like, the best day ever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Although the customer interactions are what Ziervogel and Wheeler say they value most, their eventual hope is to save up enough money to open a brick-and-mortar store too, once they feel they have the customer base to support it.<\/p>\n

When they found out someone had driven from China to go to one of their pop-ups in Falmouth, it gave them reason to believe they\u2019re getting there.<\/p>\n

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