Some tips from the Pros on how to operate a successful bookshop.
There are some books which are always on school book lists and most customers will have on ‘to-be-read’ lists. Those books which, even the biggest reader, will sometimes get “You haven’t read “Insert Incredible Classic Here”!!?” Now, with the onslaught of re-jacketed and (very) reasonably priced classics, what better way to beef up sales than … Read more
In Brisbane, Australia, there is a 52-year-old independent, family-owned store named the American Bookstore. Despite that this store has seen over half-a-century of excellent trading and strong customer base, the American Bookstore (ABS) has found themselves needing to relocate due to exorbitant rent in the CBD and the presently ‘border-nary’ book trade. ABS will be … Read more
I’ve been pondering and concentrating upon what I used to do all day as a bookseller. That aside, there was the slight difficulty of deciding which place of employment to remember–there were a few over the years, and each individual shop had its quirks and perks. Foul Play, a small well established mystery bookstore in … Read more
Mystery Scene Magazine, a great source for all things crime fiction, and more, recently interviewed Augie Aleksy owner of Centuries and Sleuths. A combination of history, crime fiction, and biographies are the focus of his store, and he’s been successful at it since 1989. How he does it, his innovative ideas, and the bottom line, … Read more
If you handle used books, you often end up with people coming with piles of books from an estate. A relative has died and they’re left to try and clear out the house. Often, this is someone not from the area, so they’re clueless as to where to take things. Usually by the time they got to the books they’ve dealt with the common objects like housewares and clothing. Now its the things that they know (or think) have some value and aren’t sure what to do with. They don’t want to throw them out. They want them to go to a “good home” or to “someone who will appreciate them”. They’ll often use the same words when describing the books they just brought you. So since you handled the books they are inclined to ask YOU what to do with those OTHER items.
You won’t deal with these questions everyday, but its good to have the answers handy for just such situations. Remember, this is someone dealing with an estate. “Just throw it out” is not what they want to hear. This may well be what they do at the end, but they want other options.
First stop in many cases, especially if they just want items GONE should probably be either Craig’s List (if they want money for the item) or Freecycle (if they just want them GONE). If its things that are in poor condition and should be recycled, they can find the nearest recycling center through Earth 911.
I’ve never heard of someone demanding a bookseller remove an “offensive” book from their store before. I don’t think as a bookseller, I’ve ever encountered it. But some others have, and it begs the question, where does it end? The bookseller in the article questions his ordering practices–wondering if what he decides to purchase and … Read more
When we last left our hero bookseller, she was learning the book biz from her pal, Lou Stein, while trying to avoid the owner’s troll parents, gun totting miscreants, and the tedious cash register. One of the ways of doing this was to learn how to return books. Paperbacks to be exact. How green was … Read more
