Will Schofield spent over a decade writing about obscure literature on his popular literary blog, 50 Watts, writes Kiersten Tate for Billy Penn at WHYY.

In the spring of 2021, he launched an online bookstore he named 50 Watts Books. He took another step earlier this year when he opened a brick-and-mortar location for 50 Watts Books in Chestnut Hill.

He decided to open a physical shop after seeing people interacting with the flipbooks he was selling at Brooklyn Book Festival last year.

“I have kind of a nervous energy,” Schofield said, “so I channel it into something a little ambitious.”

The 700-square-foot space offers many genres of books including comics, children’s books, graphic novels, and fiction. The bookstore also showcases smaller publishers and international books–all creating a visually interesting shop that attracts passersby.

Schofield jokingly notes that due to his journey, it took him 21 years to plan the opening of his bookstore. However, the years of unpaid labor he invested in his blog are now paying off.

“All these years later, people who followed me on social media in 2007 when they were in college, now they have kids,” he said. “And they’re buying illustrated books from me, you know?”

Read more about Will Schofield’s journey to opening 50 Watts Books in Billy Penn at WHYY.

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