WARREN, Ohio – The Book Nook, a new bookstore that specializes in self-published works by independent authors, will have its grand opening Saturday.

The shop, owned by Katelyn Matusky of Warren, is at 222 E. Market St., downtown.

Business has been strong so far due to the social media following that Matusky had already built for independent authors and their readers.

“Monday was our first day, and we had 60 or so customers stop in, and did 40 sales,” she said.

Approximately 200 titles are on the shelves, and that number continues to grow.

“Almost all the books are signed, and a lot of them have bookmarks and special character art and other stuff from the authors,” Matusky said.

She has never written a book but has always loved reading and helping the author community.

“About a year and a half ago, I started a TikTok account that was about reading and indie authors – supporting them and spotlighting their books,” she said. “It took off.”

A single mother of four with two children with special needs, Matusky was finding it difficult to report to work at her job as a respiratory therapist.

“I started needing to call off more,” she said. “I was [thinking], I can’t take them to work with me in health care, so what can I do to stay home more? I had my social media following, and I knew all these authors and all these book people, so I started an online bookstore. Within a month, it outgrew my home, so I started looking for a storefront, and here I am.”

Her shop is a newly refurbished space with new floors, fresh paint and a large window facing the street. A sandwich board on the sidewalk invites folks to stop in to check out the stacks of books arranged on shelving.

Publishing houses accept only a small fraction of novels, which means many authors have to pay to get their books printed and distributed.

Matusky’s shop caters to those writers, and her shop fills a unique niche in the Mahoning Valley.

“I wanted to give authors the chance to have their books seen and bought, and it’s going really well so far,” she said.

The Book Nook is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays.

Pictured at top: Katelyn Matusky in her new store, The Book Nook.