Today we’d like to introduce you to Zac Mooney.
Zac, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My background is in teaching and writing. I taught college and high school literature and writing for many years, and I write fiction myself – when I get around to it. I’ve always been around books, but I’ve never been a “book collector.” One day late in 2009 I was in a local bookstore, and I saw a book on the shelf: With His Pistol in His Hand by Americo Paredes. The book was signed by the author, and the store had it priced at $15. This seemed way too low to me, but I really didn’t know anything about literary collectibles. Bolstered by nothing more than self-confidence and impulse I bought the book and figured I could probably flip it on eBay.
I did flip it on eBay. Turned that $15 into $90 on my first try. Really it was luck more than anything else. I didn’t know how to evaluate books properly, how to determine condition, edition, nor really anything. But I was successful, and it was fun. So I started buying used books at thrift stores and garage sales and selling them online. I realized quickly how lucky I’d been on that first book. Selling books isn’t easy. And it’s usually not profitable. But I stuck with it, and that one book turned into a hundred, then five hundred, and more. I sold them all online. And I began dabbling with more expensive books, rarer collectibles. And I learned about the rare book trade as I went.
I rented a booth in an antique center, and when I outgrew that one I rented a bigger one. I made the career switch and focused on rare books and writing. I signed the lease for my brick and mortar store in 2019. Not long after opening Forgotten Lore in Downtown Friendswood my debut novel [The Heresy of Rain] was accepted for publication.
I moved from the larger antique mall booth to Downtown Friendswood in 2020. I officially opened the shop just as Covid got started. I learned how to be a businessperson during this time, and it prepared me for the craziness of small business ownership.
Now I have about five thousand books. Rare, antiquarian, first editions, out of print, signed books, and decorative bindings. Books printed in the 1500’s, books signed by some of the most famous people in the world, and books so rare I’ve got the only copy. I’ve learned in abut fifteen years the nuts and bolts of the rare book trade, but there’s so much more. I’ll likely never know everything, but I’m proud of what I’ve built from that initial copy of With His Pistol in His Hands.
“Forgotten Lore” comes from the first stanza of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.” My shop is sort of designed around the poem’s vibe and imagery.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road. Business ownership is time-consuming and expensive. I don’t have an business partners or investors or anything like that – so I’ve just made it up as I go. All solo.
Funding is a huge obstacle, of course. I’ve poured my retirement and the money I made selling my house into Forgotten Lore. I’ve accepted help from family, particularly my mom (she’ll still give me a few twenties if she knows I’m going out into the wild to hunt for inventory). It’s really difficult to put into words how plucky you’ve got to be to start a business. You’ve got to be prepared to work seventy hours per week for as long as it takes…and it may be months or years until you’re profitable. Everything’s expensive, landlords are often unreasonable, and there are a million different ways a small business owner can misstep.
As I mentioned previously I opened the shop right into Covid. My grand opening was set for the very day in March of 2020 that commerce came to a close. We were locked down until May, and I was finally able to open. But it was spotty, and my ability to make a splash was undermined. But because I didn’t really have any other experience as a shop owner, I just did my best to stay afloat and didn’t really have anything to which to compare the experience. I emerged from the Covid era rather battletested.
As you know, we’re big fans of Forgotten Lore. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Forgotten Lore’s ethos is “fancy books for regular people.” I’m a rare book dealer but without all the fuss. My shop is small and accessible, and I don’t hide books behind glass doors. One of my triumphs thus far is I’m helping families – and young folks – build legacy libraries. Old books – or just expensive books – don’t need to be pretentious. They are cool enough without the ridiculous white gloves and fancy glass cases. It’s not rare to see junior high age kids in the shop browsing shelves of hundred-dollar books about history or science or whatever.
My passion in all this is the truth. Getting at the truth of everything. I feel like getting at the truth of everything requires the preservation of books. Of lots of things, really, but my area is books. I see my shop not as a gallery but as an orphanage. I’m trying to find all these books loving forever homes so they can survive – so they can be preserved and help others try to get at the truth of things. There’s so much knowledge bound up in these volumes, and if we’re not actively making an effort to preserve the knowledge it’ll all waste away and fade into the dustbin of our garages and the dustbin of history. So my customers share with me this singular goal of preservation, of making sure the books have forever homes.
Also, I’m proud of my inventory’s condition. That is, the condition of the books on my shelves. Books have been (and still can be) very beautiful. Rich colors, gold and silver edges, leather and silk and cloth. Over our history books have been designed and crafted with the same dedication and precision as other beautiful things. And I demand that my stock be in the best possible condition. When I was going through the store’s build-out with my contractor I told him I wanted my shelves to be black, rather than a more traditional brown wood tone. He asked if I was sure, and I told him “the books will be the color.” People often walk in for the first time and remark that the books are beautiful. Yes they are, I say. And you can take them off the shelf – nothing’s off limits.
I think I most want the readers to know I’m casual. I wear jeans and sneakers to work, and I don’t cloak the shop in fussiness and pomp. Rare books can be very intimidating for folks, and when the shop owner takes him or herself too seriously the whole experience may be off=putting for customers. It’s true these are rare and valuable and often very expensive books – but I want folks to feel comfortable around them.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I tend to think luck – good or bad – plays a small role in my business. I think most business owners would say there are times when it seems like they happen to be in the right place at the right time. But I also think those same business owners would say hard work and intuition played a huge role in getting them to that place at that time. And I’d agree. Or to put it this way: There are no doubt times when I’ve been the recipient of good fortune, but I likely don’t realize it at the time.
My life has been challenging for many reasons. Mostly health-related. Since birth. I just think I’m conditioned to see “luck” as a distant or unimpactful kind of thing.
Or, rather – I see things like this. A few years ago I was taking a walk in my neighborhood when a pack of dogs attacked me. One of the dogs really did a number on my leg. It was scary and painful. But I received a settlement as a result, and all that money went straight into the bookstore. I guess I’ve lived a life of extremes, and it almost seems normal to me. I don’t know.
Pricing:
- Books priced $5 to $5,000.
- Median price per book is about $35.
- Gift cards available.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://forgottenlorebooks.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/forgottenlorebooks/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/friendswoodrarebooks/
Image Credits
The two headshots (of me) were taken by local photographer Payton Hartsell.
