Bookshop by the Sea wins coveted Indie Bookshop of the Year prize

Stephen Price

A much-loved seaside book store which has become an important community hub has picked up not one but two coveted prizes this year – including the all-important Indie Bookshop of the Year title.

The winners at the TikTok Book Awards 2024 were voted for by thousands of members of the #BookTok community on the video-sharing app.

The awards allows book lovers to use the platform to make recommendations, and share their thoughts and opinions on trending books.

“Living the dream”

Freya Blyth, owner of the much-loved Bookshop by the Sea, came to Aberystwyth for her undergraduate degree and fell in love with the town.

Following her wanderlust, Freya eventually moved abroad, and began working in a library in Jerusalem.

The pull to return to Wales was strong, however, and fate brought her back to her much-loved adopted home during the pandemic.

She told us: “Aberystwyth has such a strong community which is a big thing for me – there always feels like there is a high level of support around me when I’m here and I believe that’s all a person needs to thrive.

“When I started the bookshop in 2021, I really wanted to bring that sense of community back after it had been so worn down during Covid.

“I held as many events as I could, invited everyone to come and just enjoy the space, and tried to make it both child and adult-friendly so that everyone would feel welcome. We hosted book-clubs, live folk music, board games, poetry nights and more.

“We also had amazing authors such as Miriam Margolyes who was our first author visit! 

“Today, the space has become a sort of community centre where people come to connect, just to sit and read or to enjoy lovely herbal tea and it truly warms my heart to see how many different people have been brought together through a love for reading.”

Connections

As well as the TikTok Book Awards win for the Bookshop By the Sea, Freya also recently nabbed the Bookseller Rising Star Award 2024.

With these two significant award wins under the shop’s belt during this year alone, Freya’s brave decision to follow her dream during very uncertain times for small businesses has paid off in more ways than one.

Freya shared: “I think the true beauty of the bookshop is the fact that when we share stories we connect to each other.

“Bookshops are a core place within a community, bringing people together and fostering connection and community; our aim is to do that with a conscience.”

“Stories communicate to one another who we are and what we believe in, they can inspire us, challenge us, and they’ve taken me from the tiny town I grew up in in the north of England, around the world, and now back to Wales.

“I feel like I’m living the dream most days living in a tiny town by the sea and running a bookshop – isn’t that everyone’s dream?! 

Rising Star & Indie Bookshop of the Year

Freya’s hard work, and decision to do things in a way that works with and for the community, has resulted in both local and international recognition.

She said: “I honestly just feel so grateful to even be considered for the Bookseller Rising Star Award and the TikTok ‘Indie Bookshop of the Year’ Award.

“It was such an amazing thing to be put forward, then to actually win was more than I could have ever dreamed about. Just knowing that there is a bigger focus on independent bookstores warms my heart and fills me with so much joy.

“Independent businesses are really what keep towns and high streets alive and to be recognised for being a part of that community is an amazing feeling. Both awards have brought such a big influx of people to the bookshop and it really feels like I’m living in a fairytale! 

Not one to rest on her laurels, the team have big plans for the future. Freya told Nation.Cymru: “We have so many plans moving forward, many top secret ideas, and many not so secret!

“The main things are to keep growing our collection of books and merchandise and to further expand the Aberystwyth Poetry Festival which I started in 2023 – we’re hoping to make it bigger and bigger every year!

“This year we held the festival over 4 venues including the National Library of Wales and worked with Literature Across Frontiers!

“We also already have an amazing book club with over 40 people in the bookshop which we’ve recently expanded to also being online through TikTok to make it accessible for everyone!

“I was running a library in Jerusalem at the start of the pandemic when all international visas were stopped and I had to return to the UK.

“I wanted to return to the amazing Welsh coastal town of Aberystwyth by the sea, for the sense of community and incredible nature at its doorstep.”

Cymuned/Community

Freya’s love of all things bookish is infectious. She said: “I found that the community over the pandemic suffered greatly and so I wanted to get back in the way that I know how – as a librarian!

“Libraries were still shut so I started a pop-up bookshop, doing art workshops, live music and children’s story-times, focused on bringing people back together. I believe passionately in telling each other stories that inspire and the power and connection that creates,

“Stories communicate to one another who we are and what we believe in, they can inspire us, challenge us, and they’ve taken me from the tiny town I grew up in in the north of England, around the world, and now back to Wales.

“I feel like I’m living the dream most days living in a tiny town by the sea and running a bookshop – isn’t that everyone’s dream?! With a large mug of herbal tea…”

BookTok

The shortlist at the TikTok Book Awards was chosen by a panel of figures from the literary and media world including the author Samantha Shannon, broadcaster Sara Cox and the CEO of the Publishers Association, Dan Conway.

But the winners came from TikTok’s #BookTok community, with 82,000 people casting their votes online.

TikTok says more than 35 million videos have been made using the hashtag “BookTok”, making the sub-community one of the biggest on the platform.

The awards were launched last year to celebrate some of the best-loved books, independent book shops, authors and creators that circulate on the social media platform.

Indie Bookshop of the Year – The Bookshop by the Sea

Book of the Year – None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

Book of the Year (International) – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

BookTok Breakthrough Author – Talia Hibbert (@TaliaHibbert)

BookTok Creator of the Year – Maisie Matilda (@Maisie_Matilda)

BookTok Rising Star Creator – John-Paul Kunrunmi (@JPreads6)

TikTok Shop Book of the Year – The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore

Find out more about The Bookshop by the Sea here or through their Facebook, Instagram and TikTok channels.