EPISODE 5 SHOW NOTES

Lisa Davis is a children’s book expert with over a decade’s experience in children’s publishing. After working at some of the biggest publishing houses in the UK, she moved into non-profit at the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, where she bought books that went to every child in England.

She now sells a fun and inclusive selection of children’s books for English speaking expats in the EU through her online bookshop, Story Post.

Alongside running Story Post, she’s a children’s book editor and publishing consultant. She works with authors, publishers, and charities to help them make their books more inclusive. Originally from the US, Lisa became a UK citizen in 2017 and has lived in Germany since 2018.

Lisa explains why she decided to move from London to Munich, her decision to become a freelancer and the challenges of marketing herself and curating her online shop.

She’s currently in the process of moving to Ireland.

Setting up an online business in the EU is no small feat, and Lisa shares the hurdles she faced – from navigating different tax rules across countries to setting up her business entity and insurance.

She also reveals the invaluable insights her husband, an expert in pricing and strategy analysis, contributed to help the platform grow.

Plus, we take a closer look at the Story Post branding process and why she chose to seriously invest in branding.

In this episode Lisa and I also talked about:

Some of the post-Brexit challenges of launching an online shop in the EU when her merchandise was originally sourced in the UK
How she approached market research in a linguistically fragmented European Union market
Her journey from working in publishing to finding a way to promote great books and bring more diversity to children’s book market.
Her experience with using Facebook ads to market her e-commerce business
Lisa’s tips on making reading a fun and enriching experience for children.

Links mentioned in the episode:

Lisa’s Shop: Storypost.eu
Bianca Bruce, branding: Bianca Bruce Owl House Design
Email tool Lisa mentioned: Email tool tester
E-commerce platform reviews: Style Factory