Henrico Business Spotlight: Insomnia Book Company

Riqia Taylor is determined to amplify Black narratives. So determined, in fact, the 28 year old created Insomnia Book Company – a business that goes beyond book sales to champion her cause.

Undergraduate school at VCU was a transformational time for Taylor. She majored in African-American studies and graduated in 2018 with quite a collection of Black literature and a love for bookstores. Once her higher education chapter closed with a master’s in educational policy and leadership from American University, Taylor had to decide what to do next. So, her mother asked a simple question: 

“What happened to you wanting to open a bookstore?”

The push from mom led Taylor to make her dreams a reality in the form of Insomnia Book Company. The name originates from Taylor’s past struggles with insomnia.

“Over the years, there was something about being able to go to my library or my book collection,” the bibliophile said of navigating her battle with insomnia. “I always say that my books kept me company. And so that's the name. It's kind of like a double entendre.”

The website for Insomnia Book Company first went live in March 2024. Taylor began selling her books at local pop-up markets a few months later, and she’s been pursuing her mission – “to keep Black stories alive through books, community and storytelling” – ever since. 

Taylor likes to think of each aspect of her mission as an “arm” of her company. The “books” arm is simple: “Selling books that tell Black narratives.”

While that often means selling new and used books by Black authors, it also can mean selling books by anyone who’s telling Black stories “with integrity and credibility.”

“If it's fiction, if there is a main character or if the story centralizes around a Black experience and the author does it well, I will sell that book,” Taylor said. “If there is a non-fiction book that is backed by credible research… I will sell that book.”

Right now, you can buy Taylor’s books on her website and have them sent right to your door. She ships nationwide with flat-fee shipping costs based upon the weight of the books. But if you’re local (within 50 miles), Taylor usually can get your books to you quicker with prices based on how close you live to her home. She offers same-day delivery from Tuesday to Saturday, and shipping can even be free if you live within about two miles of Taylor.

And if you thought your books would arrive like any other package – think again. 

“First of all, it's gonna smell incredible when they open it,” Taylor said of her shipments. “And it is wrapped in black craft paper – again, intentionality there – and it includes a thank you card that is a bookmark. 

“They also get a custom ‘Share Black Stories’ sticker from Insomnia Book Co., and then they get a few other stickers that encourage them to keep reading.”

You also can find Insomnia Book Company at local markets. The company’s website and social media pages will clue you in on upcoming pop-up events where you can expect all the stops – including a red carpet.

“I'm not just a table with the books on it,” she explained. “I try to be intentional about every single detail… because, again, I don't have a physical space right now, so with shipping and with packaging and with display at pop up markets, how can I still capture that same essence that I will want customers to feel if they were to walk into a building.”

Eventually, Taylor does hope to have a physical space. The goal is to get a brick and mortar in the Richmond area by the end of 2025.

Having a building, along with book club sponsorships and philanthropy efforts are all a part of the “community” arm of Insomnia. Right now, the company sponsors three different book clubs – wwo of which, Chapters and Cocktails and Inks and Essence, are open to the public. Members of sponsored book clubs always get a special discount on Insomnia books. 

The philanthropy aspect of the community arm is still developing, but Taylor’s efforts have already made quite an impact. She is always accepting book donations and has pledged to give them to locally incarcerated people.  

“People are often asking if they can donate books,” Taylor said. “And I have made a commitment to not sell books that are donated but make sure that they are put into the hands of incarcerated persons.”

Last year, Insomnia partnered with another local business called Circles of Creators to set up donation bookshelves in various Black-owned businesses throughout the Richmond-metro area. Together, they collected about 580 books.

“It really was a community effort,” Taylor said.

So far, Taylor has given about 50 of the 580 books to the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center. She plans to donate the rest to other incarcerated people in time, with some books going to adult detention centers since they aren’t age-appropriate for younger readers.

“I'm still building out what that program looks like,” Taylor said, adding that she’d also like to start book clubs for incarcerated people. “This was our first time working with the juvenile detention center… so we're still building a relationship of how to keep things going consistently.”

The third and final arm of Insomnia is Taylor’s pursuit of “storytelling,” which includes both audio and visual projects. She currently has an animated series in the works, but her first storytelling release was “Bookworm” – a short film she assistant directed and co-produced with Eternity Media.

“I know that with entrepreneurship, if you don't create a lane for you to have fun, it can become very daunting and taxing,” Taylor said. “And so I had to create a lane where I could have fun. And, again, I love to create.” 

Insomnia Book Company is a dream come true for Taylor. But that dream is a lot bigger than herself.

“This is for the community,” she said. “I’m not doing this to create a bookstore for me to just sit in and read books… This is a dream of mine to really serve people.”

Knowing she can’t do it alone, Taylor has a humble request: “Join me in the mission of keeping Black stories alive.”

“It's not a one-woman show,” she said. “I have my friends and family that are helping me get things kicked off the ground and running, but it's really going to be the support of the community that keeps things growing and going. And so I just ask for continued support.”

There are many ways to support Insomnia, Taylor said – buy books, spread the word, follow and interact with Insomnia’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok pages. Or vote for Taylor as she continues her bid to become the next “Entrepreneur of Impact” – a competition through which “one savvy entrepreneur will appear in an advertorial in Forbes, receive a one-on-one mentoring session from Daymond John, and take home $25,000.”

Follow this link if you’d like to vote for Taylor and help her with startup costs for her upcoming brick and mortar location.

Nominate a Henrico small business to be featured in the Henrico Small Business Spotlight by e-mailing us here.