Interview with Naomi MacKinnon, an Independent Bookstore Owner

Owner of the Consumed by Ink Blog and The Happy Duck Bookshop & Readery

Saturday, April 25th, 2026 is Independent Bookstore Day in Canada, so we thought the best way to celebrate —other than buying books from one— is to interview a bookshop owner. One of the newest stores in the Maritime provinces is The Happy Duck Bookshop & Readery in Truro, Nova Scotia. It is owned and operated by Naomi MacKinnon, who is no stranger to the Atlantic Canada literary scene. Let’s get acquainted!

James: Naomi, it’s so great to finally connect, even if it’s just through this interview! I’ve been following your blog, Consumed by Ink, for quite some time now. It’s difficult to believe we’ve never met in person!

I remember back in 2013/2014 when I was contemplating starting a book review blog. I happened upon your site during my search for book review platforms, and I was immediately drawn to it because of its focus on Atlantic Canadian books and authors. Since I was planning to highlight authors from New Brunswick, your blog felt like the perfect inspiration for me. That’s how The Miramichi Reader was born, which I had the pleasure of running as the owner and editor-in-chief until 2024. I just wanted to share how much your site meant to me and how it sparked my journey!

Naomi: Thank you for sharing that with me! I too cannot believe we still haven’t met – it feels like we have. I have so admired how you’ve taken your blog and made it into a review site (twice!) featuring so many authors and reviewers. Well done! And I’m so pleased to be even just a small part of it. 😊

Tell us how and when you came to set up Consumed by Ink.

I started Consumed by Ink when I was still at home with my kids. I loved being a stay-at-home mom, but I was seriously starting to crave more intellectual stimulation. I had been reading more Canadian books and was starting to get excited about Atlantic Canadian books, but had few people to talk to about it. I created CBI to share my thoughts about the books I was reading. I didn’t know if anyone would read my thoughts, but it felt good to get them down anyway, even if it was just for myself. I didn’t know anything about blogging when I started—I bought myself a copy of “Blogging for Dummies”--how wonderful when I discovered the welcoming world of book blogs! It was so great to connect with other readers and book lovers from here and around the world. Including you!

James: Now, fast-forward to 2025, and you still have the site going strong, but now there’s an actual brick & mortar bookshop, THE HAPPY DUCK Bookshop & Readery, in your hometown of Truro, Nova Scotia. Every ardent book reader has thought of opening their own bookshop, so I’m sure you’ve thought of doing the same for some time. Please tell us how that thought went from a dream to reality.

I still can’t quite believe I did it. I’ve been talking about it for years. I really did just take a leap of faith, but there was also a lot of lead-up that made this time in my life the right time to go for it. I have three kids who are mostly grown now, and I didn’t want them to have spent half their lives hearing me talk about a bookstore just to watch me not try it. How disappointing that would be.

I also have to give a lot of credit to my job at the Truro Library and the fantastic people who work there. Having that experience really helped me feel confident in my ability to do this thing. Lastly, a space opened up that felt right and I knew it was “now or never.” I tried not to scare myself away by thinking about it too much, and once I signed the lease, there was no going back. I had the key on October 1^st and we opened Oct. 29^th. I knew I had to open as soon as possible, so I spent all my waking hours working at the shop to get it ready. I couldn’t have done it so quickly without my kids – they helped me so much with painting, putting together shelves, inventorying the books, and just generally having a lot of energy. My kids are THE BEST. I am so lucky to have them. I also had help from family and friends. It would have been much more challenging to have done this alone.

What was the most difficult aspect of starting a business? Does the province of Nova Scotia assist small business owners in any way? Did you seek any monetary assistance?

I have been very fortunate not to have to seek outside financial assistance; we managed to borrow from ourselves. It helped that The Happy Duck is primarily a used bookstore, so inventory was much less expensive than needing all new books. I do have a small ‘new book’ section, though, that has grown since opening.

The most difficult thing was overcoming the fear. I had to just do stuff and not think about it too much. For me, it wasn’t so much the fear of failure (if I fail, I have no regrets!), it was more a fear of getting myself in too deep and not being able to keep up, and—as a huge introvert--fear of putting myself out there. Some days are still scary. Lol

(Something I didn’t anticipate was finding it difficult to take people’s money. I wish I could just hand the books over for free!)

Another very difficult thing was telling the library that I was leaving. I still miss my library people every day. But I see them once a week when I pick up my holds – I don’t know who I’d be without a stack of library books in my house.

How have publishers and authors responded to your bookstore?

Everyone in the literary community have been so supportive. All the authors I’ve met through reviewing and volunteering on boards have made a huge effort to congratulate me and many have even made the trek to Truro to say hello, see the shop, and sign books. And I have to give a shout-out to Nimbus Publishing, who have made ordering books a friendly and painless experience. (Nimbus distributes the books for other publishers, as well, like Pottersfield Press, Acorn Press, Bouton d’or Acadie, Breton Books, and Nevermore Press.)

There have also been many self-published authors living in the area who have found a spot on my shelves for their books.

I would like to take the opportunity here to give an extra-special thanks to Sheree Fitch and Sarah Emsley (author of The Austens) who came to my store for the grand opening weekend, even though they knew I was still too new to attract many visitors. They came to support me and I am so grateful to them for that. Another special thank you goes to Lisa Doucet at Woozles, a children’s bookstore in Halifax; she has taken the time to coach me through some aspects of book selling.

Since then, I have had the privilege of meeting virtually with other booksellers and bookstore owners across the Atlantic provinces, and they have all been so friendly and supportive.

I thought I was in it for the books, but the people might be an even greater reward!

How have the residents of Truro responded? Is it a reading community?

Every community is a reading community – you just have to figure out what they’re looking for! I knew Truro was a reading community from working at the library, but what I didn’t fully realize was how supportive Truro is of local authors and local businesses. Many people have made a point to get books through me whenever possible rather than order online, and that makes my heart happy. Thank you, Truro! 😊

I also have to say how generous people have been to share the news of my shop on social media and by word of mouth.

And, of course, I have to take the chance here to thank all my friends, new and old, for cheering me on, as well as people I’ve met since setting up my shop and all the customers who’ve come into the store since I opened. I have some regular customers who I’ve been getting to know, and that’s been the absolute best. Again, I got into it for the love of books, but it’s the people who make it really special.

Have you any interesting experiences? Does a particular one stand out?

Almost every person who walks through the door offers an interesting experience. I get to hear about the books they have loved, the books they are reading now, and the books they are looking for. I also get to learn about books and genres I haven’t read myself and get recommendations from my customers. What could be more interesting than that?

I’ve been getting to know some of the other independent bookstores around, like NovelTea Bookstore & Gifts (also in Truro!), Pages & Pieces in Elmsdale, The Fluffy Cat Bookstore in Lower Sackville, and a brand new one in Tatamagouche called Once Upon a Bookshoppe. We’ve got to stick together and make Nova Scotia a destination for book lovers!

If you had to do anything different, what would that be?

This is a hard question. It might still be too soon for me to know the answer to this one. One thing I will say is that there is a lot more to learn about the book selling world than I thought, and my advice to anyone just getting started would be to take it slow. Don’t try to jump in and do everything all at once, even if you want to, because it’s a lot. I’m still in the process of figuring things out (often the hard way!): What types of books should I be carrying? How many new books versus used books? What else should I be offering at the store? What types of events is it feasible for me to hold? How do I want to use social media? How do I want to handle book donations? Do I just close shop when I get sick or take time off? At what point will it be feasible for me to hire someone? And, probably the biggest one, how can I strike the ideal work/life balance as the sole operator of a small business?

What does the future look like for The Happy Duck?

I want people to know they can just pop in and say hello, chat about books, or sit for a while in the Readery. I would like it to be a place where authors can come to interact with readers, and where readers can interact with authors and other readers.

But, right now, the main goal is to have the privilege of staying open to provide books for people and homes for books. Most of the shop is dedicated to used books, because I believe in re-using as much as possible and making good books more affordable. I would like to help contribute to a world with more reading and less scrolling.

Thanks for the great questions, Jim! Happy Reading! 😊

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Contact:

The Happy Duck Bookstore & Readery
586 PRINCE ST. TRURO, NOVA SCOTIA
(902) 814-7726
the.happy.duck@outlook.com