Are Handsellers in Bookstores as Rare as the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in Arkansas?
Something memorable happened to me years ago in a bookstore in the ocean resort of East Hampton, NY. No, it wasn’t meeting Peter Mathiessen (a founder of ”The Paris Review” and recipient of the National Book Award for The Snow Leopard) rearranging the display of his amazing trilogy Killing Mr. Watson, Lost Man’s River and Bone by Bone. Nor was it bumping into Billy Joel in the addictions section. I encountered what I think is that rare bird, a “handseller.” Why so memorable? Because if that’s what it was, I haven’t seen one since.
It was summer and I decided to read as many books as I could about the Vietnam War while rotating in the sun at Georgica Beach. I’d pushed through Winston Groom’s Forrest Gump and Better Times Than These, John Del Vecchio’s The 13th Valley, Philip Caputo’s A Rumor of War, Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato, Michael Herr’s Dispatches, and was searching the local bookstore for Francis Fitzgerald’s Fire in the Lake. At some point a young woman, who had been sorting and shelving books when I walked in, turned to me and offered to help. When I mentioned Fire in the Lake, she knew immediately that the bookstore didn’t have a copy. After we chatted briefly about the books in which I was interested, she offered to order Fire in the Lake or any other book I thought I might like to read on the subject of Vietnam, and she made some recommendations about additional titles. I told her not to bother to order Fire in the Lake. I thought I’d just pick up a copy at the B&N on Fifth Avenue and 17th Street in New York City.
About three weeks later, I walked back into BookHampton. This same woman was sitting at the cash register. When she saw me, she lit up, reached under the counter, pulled out a book and waved it at me. You guessed it: Fire in the Lake! She hadn’t known my name. She hadn’t known if I’d ever be back in the store, but she had special ordered this book and reserved it for me: “Save for tall woman with great tan.” I bought the book. Handseller?
Before I switched over to the business side of publishing, I’d just finished my third nonfiction book and completed a 16-city tour organized by St. Martin’s Press. No matter how tired and disoriented I was on this tour—running from TV show to radio station to local newspaper to airport—I managed to locate the local bookstores and do what every other author does: sneak around, look for my titles, and turn them cover face out. (Guilty, as charged!) Not once during that entire process did anyone ever walk up to me and offer to help me find a book.
Lo, these many years later, I can honestly say my experience in quaint BookHampton remains unique, unless you want to count the time I stumbled across a shelf filled with employee recommended books in Barnes & Noble on Sixth Avenue in New York City. Each book had a brief, handwritten synopsis and a few personal comments about why this book was so liked by the employee. I bought Mikal Gilmore’s Shot in the Heart through the recommendation of what I’ll describe as a variation of handseller. Shot in the Heart was a gripping book and a real page turner. It was written by Gary Gilmore’s younger brother. You remember Gary Gilmore? He requested a firing squad for his execution…and he got just what he asked for. Last time I looked, that shelf was gone.
Wandering a bookstore, clearly looking like I am browsing for something appealing, should bring a handseller trotting over. (I’d even welcome a recommendation for another book at point-of-sale.) I’m just not sure what one looks like because sightings are as rare as those of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in Arkansas. I’ve heard they exist, but the sightings are suspect. I don’t come across them in the independent bookstores and I certainly never see them in the bookstores like Barnes & Noble or Borders. In fact, I have to track those guys down and wrestle them to the floor if I want help, then it’s: ”Let me check the computer to see if we have it…. Next customer.”
Actually, come to think of it, I was a handseller once! I was nosing through the display of new fiction titles at B&N alongside two women about my age who were trying to figure out what to buy for one of their mothers. I reached for Isabel Allende’s Daughter of Fortune and said, “My mother just loved this book.” Sold!
Frazer Dobson of Park Road Books in Charlotte, North Carolina, may disagree with me, as might Robert Gray, formerly of Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Vermont. I don’t doubt that these extraordinary book buyers epitomize the definition of handseller, but my personal experience leads me to believe that handsellers are on the endangered species list, and very close to extinction.
Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing: Leave your email address if I don’t already have it! I try to send a quick email out when I put up a new posting. Also, the Wicked Witch of Publishing is up to no good! Again! If you are a first-time author with a manuscript languishing in the slush pile, definitely leave your email address so the Wicked Witch can get in touch with you to help you with a new service she is offering in a week or two. (Click on “Email” under “Pages” on the sidebar).
May 8th, 2006 at 9:24 am
I won’t actually disagree with you, Lynne. The more conspiracy-minded among us, in fact, might notice a correlation between the decline of handselling and the decline of the independent bookstore itself.
You will not find handselling on the decline in our store, however. We require it. If you are not a good handseller, you won’t last long as an employee here. (This is why we don’t hire high school kids or seasonal workers–we take our training regimen very seriously, and it takes time to get an employee up to speed.) Handselling is vital to us. We would be out of business without it. Without our service, without making the customers feel they’re part of our family, without hooking our customers up with the right books, we’re doomed, dead, out of commission. Without service, we’re just a miniature Barnes and Noble.
As the backoffice guy, it’s not hard for me to avoid handselling, but I go out on the floor and do it anyway. And luckily I have a master handseller to learn from: my wife Sally Brewster, still the best handseller I’ve ever known (and I’ve known some good ones). When Sally gets excited about a book (the current one we’re waiting on is Sara Gruen’s “Water for Elephants”), she can sell ice water to polar bears. We have sold nearly 700 copies of her earlier favorite, “Shadow of the Wind.”
The chains don’t have to worry about handselling; they have a steady stream of warm bodies to draw from. They don’t have to worry about things like employees ignoring customers while reading magazines at the counter. We go for a higher standard.
If you’re ever down below the Mason-Dixon line, Lynne, step in, and we will show you some handselling.
Frazer
May 8th, 2006 at 9:43 am
Now that’s an interesting post for a non-member of the literary/publishing world like me.
In the UK there was a natural history bookshop with a “handseller.” He would be very helpful, order hard to find books for you, bill your VISA, and the books would never arrive either at your hotel in the UK or your home in the US.
May 8th, 2006 at 11:41 am
A while back, over on Backspace, I read an article on “Drive-By Signings” which are apparently the author J A Konrath’s answer to the dearth of hand sellers. You’d have to possess a certain level of chutzpah to follow his example, not to mention stamina, but I’m guessing you’d get some decent results.
In case you’re interested in reading the article, I’ve pasted in the link.
http://bksp.org/secondarypages/articles/authors/JAKonrath2.htm
May 8th, 2006 at 11:52 am
Interesting post, Lynne! I have found the smaller independants train their staff to be much more involved in the discussion and selling of books. They feel free to recommend and will bring in copies on the off-chance you will stop back. McNally Robinson is also quite good at this.
May 8th, 2006 at 11:59 am
Very interesting stuff.
Re: Handselling — Coliseum Books in NY is a good example of good bookselling. My daughter was going to study in Nigeria some years ago and we went into the old location (Bway and 57th) She mentioned one book and said she was going to Nigeria. The clerk kept making suggstions and bringing her other books. They moved to 42nd St. across from the NYPublic library and are still doing that.
Carole
Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing (TM): Carole is a publisher at Barricade Books in Fort Lee, New Jersey. They publish books “other publishers shy away from. Their books test the boundaries of the First Amendment.”
May 8th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Lynne, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had such bad luck tracking the elusive handseller. Maybe it’s time for me to write, and Audubon to publish, a Field Guide to Handsellers (Eastern Region & Western Region). There are still a lot of them out there, and they are definitely worth meeting and knowing.
On the other hand, they are perhaps a rarer species than they used to be, and perhaps even an endangered species. But they are not extinct yet. I think Frazer’s response is an eloquent reminder of what great handsellers are and why they do what they do. I won’t tread the same ground.
Instead, let me offer another take on this. Handsellers are, in fact, not a species at all. They are booksellers of infinite variety. Even within the same bookstore, you may find handsellers who are outgoing (sometimes too outgoing), and handsellers who are quieter but approachable; you will find handsellers who are open to long conversations and even (and I number a couple of these among my personal favorites) handsellers who are downright curmudgeonly in the best Dickensian sense, yet well worth the time it takes to connect with them.
As a handseller on a bookstore sales floor for 13 years, I was probably all of these things at times, depending upon the day. I would have to admit that all handsellers aren’t always what the retail world now likes to call “sales associates,” a cringe-making euphemism.
Not every bookstore employee is a handseller; not every handseller is a bookshop employee (reading group members handsell a lot of books these days, for example). In recent years, for reasons economic and sociological, the possibility even exists that not every bookstore employee is even a dedicated reader. It pains me to admit this, but I see it every day.
Still, against all odds, handsellers struggle to survive in an environment that offers low wages and minimal opportunities for advancement. Most great handsellers I’ve met worked in other professions for more money and chose to make the change. They are booksellers by vocation.
I hope you get to meet some of them someday, Lynne. I’m sure they’ve got a few new books in mind that they think you might like to read.
Bob
May 8th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
I was struck by your reading list. I’ve owned Dispatches for decades, and the The Thirteenth Valley and Rumor of War are superb. As to handselling, there are bookstores that feel like gift shops and then there are book stores such as Mr. Dobson describes. I always check the display window before entering an unknown bookstore. Four dozen photos of Dr. Phil will send me packing.
May 8th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Our local indie bookstore is chockablock full of wonderful handsellers. AND they have one of those ‘our staff recommends’ shelves, complete with mini-reviews on store bookmarks.
They also have the best readings around.
http://www.newtonvillebooks.com/
In a world where the chains are driving out everything else, this place is a haven. Plus, they have the most wonderful selection of poetry I’ve ever seen in a bookstore.
(Promise–I don’t work for them–just a fan)
Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing: Lisa Janice Cohen is a writer and poet in Massachusetts. Her Web site is Blue Muse Poetry. She has finished her first novel and is working on her second.
May 9th, 2006 at 5:33 am
As a hardworking bookseller, I am excited about any book that brings customers in to the store, where they will hopefully buy other books and merchandise.
I have been so burned by the publishing industry, I can only sit back and watch the sparks fly. As far as I’m concerned, the more money B&N makes, and the more people they hire, makes less work for our skeleton staff.
Have you ever spent time in a Barnes and Noble in recent years? Everyone of them is a glorified rest area, restaurant, child/day care center, library…I could go on and on.
My co-workers and I spend more time cleaning up people’s garbage and telling them not to sit on the books, and finding yuppie parents who forget they walked in with an 18 month old child.
Sorry to rant. You can see where my priorities lie/lay.
May 9th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
Over the past 25 years, I’ve done almost every job related to bookmaking and selling–except typesetting. For the first time ever, I took a holiday job in a chain–Borders. The few weeks there, I learned a lot about corporate bookselling, and the experience sheds some light on your topic of handselling (a term I’ve never heard before, by the way.)
Borders employed me as a “bookseller,” meaning I was supposed to roam the aisles helping customers select books, provide recommendations, etc. Yes, the almighty computer ruled, specifically when a customer wanted a specific title that we needed to locate in the store, other stores, or not. As a new bookseller, it helped me make recommendations for similar titles in areas that I had little knowledge of. But, anyone working in a bookstore for at least a year should be familiar with popular titles…and the pay is so low that I suspect anyone working there must be a reader, or else what’s the point?
But bookstores understaff, and once the holidays end, they are back to their skeletal crew who spend most of the time on the cash register. Few booksellers devote their entire time to helping customers given register priorities and personnel shrinkage.
I think the one thing that amazed me about Borders was their unimaginative promotion–it’s pretty much laid out at the corporate headquarters and is too dependent on shelving strategies only. Instead of taking advantage of unique locales and community interests, they defer exclusively to the plan as compiled by the NY honchos. Take, for example, Oprah’s books. Now many of us pooh-pooh them, but tons of people rely on Oprah for a good read, and during the holidays people ask for those books. Is there a special table with those books on it? Is there even a list of titles showing where those books can be found in the store?
Borders looks and feels like a warehouse, and I’ll only go there if they have a title I can’t get elsewhere. They hire kids for $7.00 an hour. What do you expect?
Barnes & Noble provides more of a booklover’s environment–and, I, too, read the recommendations and take a stack of books over to some comfy chair to sample. The library atmosphere is more appealing to book buyers. I most love the independents, though, who strive through store personality to reach their customers and to keep them. They usually select their staff more carefully and train them to perform duties appealing to their clientele.
My advice to booksellers–hire staff selectively, train them to in the art of selling to booklovers, encourage them to master a section, then let them train each other in their sections. Inspire them to sell by bonus–if sales in their section increase, reward them. Give them some leeway for promoting books in their area, let them use their imagination. Meet with them weekly in a comfortable area–in Borders, you sit on the stairs every morning while memos from NY are read aloud–and review their insights and ideas. That would be quite a store…and quite a place to work.
Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing (TM): Tana is f rom Nashville, TN. Her blog is called Seeing Eyes. Thanks for coming by, Tana!
May 9th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
I used to work for Borders, and now I work for a small indy bookstore, Shaman Drum in the same town. While I handsell everywhere, it has been much easier for me to do so in the little store, and also far more encouraged by the wonderful man who owns the store and works with us. At the big box store, there’s an ideal of handselling but a reality of running on a slim, stressed-out staff in order to contribute more to the bottom line, and handselling tends to slip through the cracks. At the indy store, We get better galleys and advanced reader copies, and we pass them around the staff if we like them. Handselling starts from within the staff and spreads out- not only do I recommend my favorite titles but those of my coworkers as well, if I feel after a short conversation that the customer’s taste doesn’t line up completely with my own.
Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing (TM): Laura is a bookseller and musican. Shamon Drum Bookshop is in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Thanks, Laura, for coming by.
May 9th, 2006 at 10:42 pm
I have to say I very much enjoyed reading Tana and Laura’s comments on the big-box experience. A couple of observations on this. First, the skeleton staff principle is pretty predictable; slow sales and the need to reduce staff happens for indies too. It’s really a question of finding a good balance of employees with proper skills. (Oh, and it would help if such employees didn’t need much, you know, pay.) Our store is quite blessed in this regard, with a staff who (like the owners) work hard for not a lot of money, and still bring their handselling A game to the floor.
Tana, as regards unimaginative promotion: various publishers (only the big 6, and they all have different programs, if they even have a program) offer placement co-op, i.e. you get some amount of money as credit if you buy a certain number of a particular title, which, of course, encourages you to display it prominently to get rid of the 12 copies of a book you bought. Publishers also have to offer these allowances to independents, which means sometimes I will order more of a book than I can sell to get the co-op (usually $50-200 per title). Yes, it’s a form of prostitution, but honestly, as the one who writes the checks, I have to claim whatever advantages I’m offered.
Thanks, Lynne, for a topic close to my heart, and to all the good folks who replied on it.
May 10th, 2006 at 7:12 am
Phil of Brandywinebooks, “a news blog about books,” writes of his encounter with a handseller:
“I think I’ve experienced this in my favorite Chattanooga used bookstore, A Novel Idea on Frazier Avenue.
I may have been a handseller myself once when I recommended some Mark Twain to a woman in Waldenbooks who was looking for something interesting for her son.”
May 10th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
I’ll have to visit A Novel Idea, as I’m not far from Chattanooga. Good bookstores and libraries are sacred places for me; I’ll spend hours in them. And I’ll buy books from an independent if the vibes are good…regardless of whether a discount is offered. As soon as I enter, I get a whiff of the personality, a combination of layout, decor, mood. To be fair to the chains, there are good people working there, but I sense a more cultivated crew in the independents. I’ve discovered my best reads while browsing in these stores–I purchased Midwives in Elliott Bay Book Co. [in Seattle] long before Oprah found it. Same goes for Down on Your Knees by Anne Macdonald–I think I found that one in Tattered Cover Book Store. [three stores in Colorado]. The selections differ between chains and independents, making the latter always a treasure trove to hunt in.
Finding a theme or identity ensures the durability of an independent, I think. I’m from Evanston, IL, originally, and one of my favorite stores in Chicago is Transitions Bookplace & Cafe, devoted to personal growth. It was started by an ex-stockbroker who gave up the stress of the floor after he became addicted to cocaine. Upon recovery, he began his store with a few books in a nondescript storefront on the northside–but people looking for help sought him out. Now his store is a big deal–when you enter you hear global music, hear water from their huge display of fountains, see books on every aspect of the self. All the best personal growth/new age/spiritual authors give readings and workshops there in the cafe area.
It has an aura, and I guess that’s what I seek in an independent. Sure, I know you have to tend to standard business practices, too–it’s all in how it’s blended with your vision in the end. If you choose book people for staff, they will handsell because they can’t help it.
Am I sounding overly romantic?
May 10th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
I do handselling (never knew that is what it is called) sometimes when in a bookshop, especially in children’s sections where you often meet people who want to buy some child a gift and are not sure about what.
I just wonder, I am sure you have the same thing in the US that we have in the UK, which is the “staff recommends” cards in Books, Etc (which is the UK Borders). This is gradually dying out, though, as Borders is rebranding all its Books, etc, outlets “Borders” (how imaginative). These cards are quite good, eg when Malcolm had read all the Patrick O’Brien books and I was looking for a birthday present for him in Books etc, I found a staff card that recommended the Sharpe books (Bernard Cornwell) for people who liked Patrick O’b, and it worked (he’s read all those now — I’ve recently got him onto Donna Leon).
But I did read that these picks are a bit of a sham in that publishers can pay to have their books featured, which somewhat ruins the idea.
Also in the UK, Waterstones does an excellent readers’ quarterly magazine. It truly is good, whoever edits it really does know about books. It is sort of Bookseller format but so much better. It makes me buy more books as you get it free if you spend £20 in Waterstone’s, so I am sure to do that every quarter. (at least!)
Also I have actually found quite good books via those auto-Amazon recommendations, eg the G. E.(E?) Ephron books “Amnesia” etc. Some of those are rubbish, though.
Nothing can beat your BookHampton experience which is so great and epitomises everythign wonderful about bookselling. (I used to work in Blackwells bookshop in student vacations, I think it was the best job I ever had in my life!)
But tell me Lynne, what is the best book you read about the Vietnam war? I would love to read a really good book on the subject: both good in terms of readable and that explains the complexities. I see many such books but many of them look very weighty and verbose. Your recommendation much appreciated — short would be good as I don’t have much time in my screamingly hectic, pressured life. (who does?)
I just wanted to say one other thing, Lynne, how much I admire you for all the expert and supportive comments you write on people’s blogs. I think you are a rare woman and you are right up there with JKR in my estimation! I think you are very generous with your expertise to so many bloggers I visit (not least me!).
May 10th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
Hi, Maxine!
Let me try and answer your questions:
Staff Cards — The only “Staff Recommends” cards I have ever seen were at B&N. Last time I looked, the shelf with the recommended books was gone.
By the way, I have read EVERY SINGLE Patrick O’Brien seafaring tale! I just loved them. What a great series! I was over at PW this morning responding to “Talk Back Tuesday’s” request for a book recommendation and I cast a vote for the Jalna series of sixteen novels that “tell the story of the Canadian Whiteoak family from 1854 to 1954…. People live and die, find success and fall to ruin. The author, Mazo de la Roche, gave the members of her fictitious family names from gravestones in Ontario’s New Market cemetery.” That series, recommended to me by my mother when I was a child because she loved the series as a child, turned me into a crazed reader. (I came across my first vegetarian in the series!)
Publishers Paying for Position — Yes, they do cut deals for window space and prominent shelf space.
Books on the Vietnam War — Dispatches by Michael Herr. Our family was lucky. My older brother got drafted and got sent to Germany, rather than the frontlines of Vietnam.
Thank you, Maxine, for your kind words.
May 13th, 2006 at 10:37 am
I would just like to echo Maxine’s words, I don’t know how you get around to everyone but it is appreciated and thanks for the email flagging your new posts. I do pop in a lot but it is nice to know that you are thinking about us poor mortals!!
As for Handsellers, I suppose this translates as ‘good service’ in Britain, a talent that is sadly dying out. I too find that the independent and used book stores still retain their helpful and often psychic powers that the big chains have long since dispensed with!
May 13th, 2006 at 10:46 am
Lynne, I just found you through Brenda Coulter’s blog… or maybe it was Faith*in*Fiction. I love the advice and your sassy-ness. Is that a word? This is a great place so I am linking to it on my blog. Thanks!
May 15th, 2006 at 8:11 am
Funnily enough, twenty years ago I used to handsell books to Michael Herr.
May 16th, 2006 at 5:52 am
This would be good advice for my friends over at the blog Mostly Books; they are opening a new independent in the UK soon. Thanks for your insight Lynne!
May 19th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
I just had to tell you about my wonderful experience at Borders this afternoon. A nice young man named Kevin escorted me to the “Parenting” section to buy a book for a friend. Rather than point and walk away, he stayed with me, recommending book after book after asking me, specificaly, what I was looking for.
When I asked him if it was his custom to recommended books to customers, he said he did it all the time, adding that he had strong preferences for certain books.
When I complemented him on his knowledge and helpfulness, telling him that I had heard that handselling was a dying art but that he was living proof there were still knowledgable book lovers working in the big book stores, he grinned hugely and told me that was the nicest thing a customer had said to him all week.
Next time I’m in that Borders, I will seek out Kevin because he is an asset to me both as a customer and as a writer.
May 23rd, 2006 at 12:47 pm
Happily, we San Diegans have at least two independent booksellers who still know the meaning of the word “handselling”. One is the cozy (translates to wonderfully crowded with books) DG Wills Books in La Jolla and the other is the venerable Wahrenbrocks Book House on Broadway in downtown.
Both stores have intelligent, and warm, though somewhat “curmudgeonly in the true Dickensian manner”, owner-managers, who know the author of nearly book on their shelves, both new, used, and rare.
June 19th, 2006 at 1:59 am
Hi Tall Woman with dark tan,
Sorry, just happened to see this and loved both your piece and all the comments. No, never been to Arkansas, and don’t know whether there are any ivory woodpeckers.
But seriously, Lynn, sighting handsellers in bookshops is as rare as sighting the famous Tragopan in Nagaland. Forget help in a bookstore, and if you wrestle with them, you will get a broken arm, sellers just coudn’t be bothered. A handseller would know when help is required, he would also leave you alone when you ust want to browse. At a course, I recently asked participants about their recent experiences in a bookshop. almost all of them unanmously spoke about the uniform lack of knowledge of stock by staff in the shop. No wonder that in retail selling, we have the highest turnover of staff in retail bookshops.
The point is, if you don’t have it in you, can you be trained? If the answer is in the positive, believe me, there is huge, wide world out there, just waiting! Way to go, Lynn!
PS On Isabel Allende, in addition to your Mom, I just picked up the book fro my sister’s home in Toronto!
Sridhar Balan
July 28th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
I have worked for Borders for 12 years and I love the chance to handsell. I have many customers who seek me out for advice on selections for book groups or for the newest books. I am the “go-to” person for many of my staff because I read avidly and also read lots of reviews.
I came to Borders after several years of being a “Reader Advisor” at a library. The longer someone works around books, the more comfortable they are going to be at recommending stuff. Unfortunately, economics comes into play. I could afford the horrible wages because my husband had a good job. Many of our employees are part-timers who have another job or are going to college. We are often thinly staffed, but in my store we do our best to give a high level of customer service.
And lets not forget that the large chains are full-service bookstores. We have many customers who want to find something about house design, car engines, collectible china, etc. Should I slight the customer who wants to find a book about VW engines to help the person who wants to find something to read after reading all the Patrick O’Brians? Over the years I have noticed a distinct whiff of snobbery concerning independent bookstores. They are romanticized as the last, best hope for civilization, while the evil chains just want to make money.
Borders and Barnes & Noble hire lots of people who will work there just because they love books and music and want to be around them all day long. The wages are terrible, the stress from understaffing is incredible and often the customers are rude, but I wouldn’t work anywhere else. I yearn to put a good book in a customer’s hands.
August 19th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Hello Lynne,
Sitting here with Kara in New Hampshire at her brother’s wedding, and thought I would drop you a line. Kara, when she sees you, will have what we think is a very interesting project/proposal (biker related) for you. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing (TM): Kara is in New Hampshire? I feel like i just saw her at the Springs General Store. A “biker” related project. Hum…. You’ve got my attention. (I still have some regrets about not hopping on the back of that biker’s motorcycle in LA and going to Cinco de Mayo many years ago.) Thanks, Edward, for dropping by!
December 27th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
I served as a marine rifleman in Viet Nam, 1968-69. I’ve read much Viet Nam war literature and published a collection
of war poetry, On The Way to Khe Sanh, (three of which appeared in The Iowa Review, Spring 2005), and a memoir, Nam Au Go Go - Falling for the Vietnamese Goddess of War.
Nam Au Go Go is different. It talks about something no one I can find has written about - what violence does to war fighters. How, if combat soldiers and marines see too much, do too much, they can cross a threshold into an adaptation to violence and become addicted to it. When your emotional self is killed off by the insanity of war, survivors of this addiction have a hard time re-connecting with society. Combat is a one-way door. Once you go through, you cannot go back. You are changed.
For a glimpse, go to http://www.johnakins.net
Find Nam Au Go Go on booksellers’ websites.
e: jacolesdad@comcast.net
February 2nd, 2007 at 9:55 pm
I hope you come by Renaissance Books in Milwaukee’s Mitchell Field (yep, world’s first used book store in an airport) some time. Give us a chance and we will handsell you until you’re out of breath! (Especially if you come on Saturday and Cicatrice or I can help you.) Lack of handselling, I strongly concur, can lead to mortality among bookstores. It’s the essence of what independents can do better than the chains.
May 10th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I agree with the Handseller article. I was in Berkely recently for the first time and was excited to visit a bookstore there. I was looking for eager handsellers, but witnessed staff more interested in weekend activities than any of us who were in the store. After a half hour of wandering I left saddened by my experiment at wanting that handselling experience.
I came back more intent on working and encouraging this with my company. [Handselling] can be the key to success, or the way to closie doors. We need people who love books and love to share that passion.
It is not for the money or we would all be doing something else. So let’s share that passion.
Cathy Jesson
Black Bond Books
Surrey, B. C., Canada
September 24th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I also agree with the article on handselling, however, re Cathy Jesson/s comments, but I think the main concern shop owners should be dealing with is retention of long term employees. Handselling is a skill and an art, and improves with time practice and knowledge of store stock. If more attention were made to retaining staff that were knowledgable and skilled in this art, then there would not be any need to worry about staff ” more interested in discussing their weekend activities.” However, that is not the case, turnover is allowed to be high, and in this booming economy it is going to be increasingly difficult to replace these staff with knowledgeable well trained people, hence the decrease in handselling- this will be to the detriment of the customer , the store’s reputation and the bottom ledger line.