I visited neighbourhood favourite Good Press and found more than just an independent bookshop

A printer churns melodically behind the counter – a steady rhythm for a bookshop that is firmly “part of the furniture” in Glasgow, thirteen years after opening. At the front, windows are adorned with posters that cast light on the vibrant, ever-updating selection of publications at Good Press bookshop on St. Andrews Street.

“We mainly stock art books and design and comics which are all over there,” co-owner Nicky Lynch says, pointing to the right side of the shop. On the left: “It’s all sort of art writing and poetry and fiction, and theory and non-fiction and some music.”

“It’s kind of a bit of everything, but it’s all either self-published or independently published,” she adds. “That’s the equalizer of everything.”

Sustaining an independent bookshop in the 21st century is no mean feat, but “it’s good to have something driving it”, Lynch says. An open-submission policy is the engine behind Good Press, affording the bookshop an appeal unlikely to be found elsewhere in the city.

Little of its stock can be found on Amazon or other major online retailers, instead committing to the creativity of local authors and artists. “Not only does it make it more interesting for you as the person running it, but I also think it’s just nicer to connect with something like that,” Lynch says.

The distinctive approach means that any independent author can ask Good Press to sell their work. “It’s encouraging and exciting for people to see so many different kinds of publications,” she says.

The shop’s founding principle to sell independent books has since taken a step further, with Good Press encouraging customers and local creatives to join its Sunday ‘Print Service’. The weekly workshop, led by co-owner Musho Fernandez, transforms anyone’s idea into a printed publication, which may then be stocked by the bookshop.

“Part of the idea was you could come in with an idea or a PDF and you could go from that PDF to seeing it on the shelf, all under one roof,” Lynch says between the printer’s heavy thuds.

Such projects stem from a “DIY” impulse – “if you wanna start a bookshop, start a bookshop” – which first saw Good Press established in 2011 as part of nearby vegetarian and vegan restaurant Mono. It then moved to 5 St. Margaret’s Place in 2015, before finding a permanent home four years later around the corner near St Andrew’s in the Square.

The owners of the bookshop – a group of friends from all over the world – took their own roundabout ways to running the bookshop, but settled in Glasgow. “It’s been really exciting for us to see in the time that we’ve been around there’s been a few more bookshops popping up,” Lynch says.

“I think having the universities and the art school around helps and it keeps new people coming into the city every year,” she adds.

Often discovered by intrigued passersby, the bookshop – an “alive organism that fluctuates and grows and shrinks and changes” – also hosts events, from an upcoming book launch with Glasgow writer Lisa Jones to regular book readings.

Between those evenings, its printing facilities and proximity to both Glasgow Green and the Barras Market, “everything feeds into the other thing” – with bookselling at its heart.

As Lynch finishes speaking, a customer approaches the till. “I’ve got this idea for a publication…”

Good Press at 32 St. Andrews Street, G1 5PD is open 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday.