Are you always planning ahead?

I spent a recent lunch break attempting to clean off my desk while replying to email, listening to voicemail, placing a book order, addressing an employee concern, and actually eating my lunch. I kept kicking a box that had been shoved under my desk and I finally hauled it out after cursing at it for the third time. It turned out to be a box of Spring/Summer 2010 catalogs from Macmillan.

I threw my head back and laughed as the holiday croonings of Andrea Boccelli played from the overhead speakers.

It wasn’t until tonight as I was sitting in my office at Joseph-Beth Booksellers after hours filling out spreadsheets and placing another holiday order that I realized the hidden, unintended message of the box of catalogs – Be prepared.

I’ve worked in bookstores and libraries since 1997 and the more I’ve become involved with the actual behind-the-scenes functions of running a bookstore, the more I’ve learned to think months ahead. I first pulled out my holiday table display folder in September; I talked to our Marketing director about a build-a-gift-basket promotion, and I drafted a few emails to small publishers about holiday shipping dates. The GM and I began reviewing dozens of applications for holiday hiring and talked to our trainers about prospective candidates. Three months ago, planning for December didn’t seem as crazy as planning for March through August seems now.

I knew in September that being ready then would save me headaches now. I’ve seen our fall hires receive compliments from even our most ornery of regulars. Putting together our Hanukkah, Stocking Stuffer, and Best of the Year tables was a snap because we had the lists ready and waiting for the Black Friday rollout. Even though our planned Holiday Book Nite went off with many hitches, it ended up being a wonderful alternative to the staff holiday meeting we’d overlooked while trying to get ready for everything else.

As I was leaving my office with not only the Macmillan catalogs, but also packages from three other publishers, I took in the sights of dozens of holiday shoppers with arms laden with books, toys, and gift items. It was rewarding to see them animatedly speaking to each other about who would like which book, pointing out our ever-dwindling signed editions table, picking up the impulse buys at the register, and conspiring with booksellers to hide the one item in their pile that was for the person they were shopping with. The laughter and chatter were there because we were ready for it. We had a plan, carried it out, and continually tweak it on a daily basis to make sure we’re even more prepared for next holiday season.

While the publishers may seem crazy to be shipping catalogs while we’re trying to wrangle gift wrapping schedules on top of special sales on top of delivering excellent customer service, they’re just reminding us that the bookstore business doesn’t stop on December 27 (the day we finally get back a speck of sanity). The publishers (and those amazing, under-recognized book reps) don’t expect us to read them while we restack Born to Run or The Help. They’re simply reminding us that the books we sell on a daily basis need to be at least on the periphery of our thoughts now, and can be the focus of our post-holiday crunch. Those reps will make sure we’ve received our boxes (or checked out Edelweiss) and start planning sales calls, asking for spreadsheets, and sending us galleys labeled with post-its saying “read this – you’ll love it!” in the first month of 2010. Until then, they hope the catalogs they sent us in August have helped us launch a successful fourth quarter.

The catalogs I hauled home today will sit in my home office until at least January 3. They are a daily reminder that being prepared for the spring upswing in sales will make preparing for next holiday season even easier. (They’re also a reminder that I need to send a few blurbs on some April pubs!)

Megan Shea is the Book Product Merchandiser and Local Author Liaison at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cleveland, OH.

Joseph-Beth Booksellers is an independent bookstore with five locations in four states. More information can be found at www.josephbeth.com.