BOOKS THAT MATTER

THE PROJECT

Books That Matter needed to press pause. I spoke with Molly, the founder, and she shared that they needed to tidy up their back end and get some new processes in order before they could start showing up like the brand they wanted to be. Pressing pause meant taking a month-long break from sending out their subscription boxes, and they weren’t sure how to tell this news to their loyal and loving fanbase of customers.

I wrote a webpage, a social media post, and an email newsletter to communicate this change to their audience, written in the tone of voice, and developed in a way that works alongside their style and offering.

THE WORK

The Update 

Synopsis - TLDR

We’re pressing pause during March and making some changes. 

Payment dates will shift to the 1st of the month for the box to be delivered to you the following month, ahead of all our gorgeous, new community events. We’re changing couriers after lots of feedback, so we need a moment to get this sorted. You’ll still get the number of boxes and books you paid for, so don’t panic! 

There are so many exciting things coming this year, and we’re so grateful to have you on the journey. For more info, keep on reading! But otherwise, thank you for being here. 

Team Books That Matter

Prologue - Pressing pause 

Hey Book Lovers, 

We’re pressing pause during March. 

We’ve been listening, and we hear you! So, we’re taking a moment in March to shuffle things around. 

With postal struggles and late deliveries to deal with, there have been some bumps in the road, and although we didn’t see these hiccups coming, it’s given us a good opportunity to look at our processes (some of them haven’t changed in five years!) and give them a shake up to make BTM even better.

With that said, we’re making some changes.

Two, actually. 

Chapter 1 - The lowdown

Everyone with a subscription will be put on pause for the month of March while we sort things out and give our systems a shake-up. This will give us the time to get our back end in order and get the wheels in motion. We’ll be setting up with a new courier, and streamlining how we get your boxes out to you! 

You won’t miss out on a box, don’t worry! If you had a three-month subscription that started in January, you won’t get a March box, but you will get an April box. 

If you had a 12-month subscription that began in January, you won’t be getting a March box, but you’ll be getting a January 2024 box - exciting!

We’re putting everything on hold for a month to give ourselves a moment to breathe and to get those processes in order. So fear not; you’ll receive the exact amount of books and boxes that you signed up for. 

We’ve got you. 

Chapter 2 - Carrier pigeons

The first change!

We mentioned changing our courier, which means we’re moving away from Evri (Hermes, IYKYK) as our primary courier because of the amount of lost, late, and damaged parcels we have had reported! It never used to be like this, and as you’ll know, many other retailers work with them, but they have been the root cause of so many of these issues that we are waving goodbye and moving to work with new, more reliable couriers going forward. 

Chapter 3 - Dates, dates, dates

The second change is that payment dates for subscription boxes are changing, too, with everyone moving to the 1st of the month instead of the 20th. 

Not only is this date closer to payday, but it means we have more time to get the boxes shipped out for the month ahead. Getting the boxes and books out earlier means that they will arrive in plenty of time for you to get involved with our community events around the theme. 

This change means that you can expect to get your book in the first week of the following month, so you can get stuck right in!

So, the money will leave your account on or around the 1st of March, and this will be for April’s box. We’ll be taking orders all through March for April’s box, open to one-off orders and new subscriptions, too. 

Chapter 4 - Changes

These changes are all based on your feedback!

We are always listening, and making these changes means that the whole process will be smoother, and you’ll hopefully receive your books and boxes in good time each month instead of waiting and waiting for our box to pop through your door. 

We hope it goes without saying, but if you’re unhappy with any of these changes at all, you have until the 1st of March to cancel your subscription and we will take care of it, no questions asked. Email us at support@booksthatmatter.co.uk 

Just a note that we’re expecting to get quite a few messages to this inbox, so please bear with us and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We’ll be replying to every email, so there might be a wee wait while we get through them all!

Chapter 5 - Where do we go now?

Our February box, “A Love Letter to Women”, will be available all of February, business and books as usual. Then, on the 1st March, doors open for our April box “The Female Gaze”. From April, we’ll be picking up right where we left off, with some big changes behind us and a whole TBR pile in front of us. 

Just a note that your February box may indeed arrive through your letterbox in March (Hey Evri, we’re looking at you!), but we won’t be sending out a curation specifically for March. 

You don’t need to do anything; we’ll take care of it all. There are some FAQs below if you want to settle in and have a read, but if there is anything we haven’t answered, please reach out on support@booksthatmatter.co.uk and we will get back to you as soon as we can, but there may be a little delay!

Acknowledgements 

A huge, huge thank you to our community and subscribers; you make Books That Matter what it is, and we’re so proud of this community that has blossomed. 

We’re making these changes for you, and we’re always open to feedback and thoughts, so please do send them our way. 

We will be using March as an opportunity to bring our community together so we can connect with you, hear more of your suggestions, and meet IRL! It’ll be the start of lots of big and exciting changes to in-person and online community events to bring us closer together! We’ll keep you posted!

Here’s to more empowering stories,

Team Books That Matter

FAQs

Why do you need to pause?

Books That Matter has grown so much since Molly started it, and we’re so proud of what this community has become. That does mean that to make big (but good!) changes like this, we need to take a breath and a moment to put the wheels in motion. Lots of happy readers is our number one goal, so we know that putting the business on hold for a month while we sort it all out is the right thing to do. 

When will the money come out of my account?

You will have paid for your first box on signing up, and then every month after it would have come out around the 20th. This will change from March, so the money will come out on or around the 1st of the month. This will help smooth things out our end and to get those books and boxes out in time for the events throughout the following month. 

So, instead of paying on the 20th February for your March box, your next payment will be taken on the 1st of March for an April box. 

Will I still get the same amount of boxes I paid for?

You will indeed. We will be pausing for March and adding on a month at the end of your subscription for those with multi month subscriptions. Any questions, just reach out. 

Can I cancel my subscription?
You can, we understand.

Email us support@booksthatmatter.co.uk and we’ll take care of it.