Black Pearl Books: Right Place, Right Time?

Black Pearl Books started out small, selling in the community at fairs, to friends, and to family.

When Covid hit, they pivoted to selling books online.

In 2020, they went from about 5 orders a week to 10,000 orders in the month of June. Overnight, a family operated side hustle became a viral sensation.

They scrambled to build the infrastructure to keep up, and opened a storefront. They've been at 7112 Burnet Rd. ever since.

The mission has remained the same: support diversity, inclusion, and representation through literature.

Small businesses like Black Pearl Books are at the heart of what makes Austin's founder ecosystem so special: mission-driven, scrappy, and deeply rooted in the community.