Between Friends, the Joy of a Bookselling Mentor

Here is a terrific post from a new contributor to The Bookshop Blog – Roberta Nevares

If you have some time take a look at her blog The Poet In You

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From The Book of Hours

I am a relative newbie in the world of book selling, my dear friend Nora who encouraged me to travel down this path is not. In fact, book selling is nearly all she has ever known save for a very short stint as a barista with a well-known coffee chain. This brief foray of hers was put to an end with an intervention by loved ones. Nora finally relented to their fervent entreaties to, “be done with this torturous career path”, an occupation that had resulted in a traumatic and recurring nightmare in which she found herself seated opposite the half-rabid coffee swilling author Balzac wagering on the ever popular card game, Piquet. In this dream Balzac could not be restrained from leaping up and shouting, “Carte Blanche!”. Nora would then be obliged to prepare yet another demitasse full of brew by manipulating a very complicated piece of 19th century machinery, glass tubes and metal parts would sputter forth a few pungent and very black drops of a full bodied dark roast for the never sated author. Ah, the stuff nightmares are made of. Intervention behind her, she shrugged off her apron and stepped back into the world of book selling.

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Shane needs help with used bookstore book..

Shane Gottwals Gottwals Books www.gottwalsbooks.com Bookseller needs help with bookselling book! I am in the process of writing a book all about the struggles of the independent used bookseller. I am a semi-accomplished writer but, more importantly, I AM a struggling independent used bookseller. My goal is to garner an appreciation for our trade, but … Read more