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09/30/2004: "On Being A Bookman"

One of the most misunderstood jobs in the world is being a bookman--a dealer in Used & Rare Books. When chatting with acquaintances, or making new friends at a party, the most common response to my statement about "what I do" is, "Oh, you're lucky! You get to read all day." Braaap! Want to try for Double Jeopardy? There is more work in this job than you might imagine: dusting, cleaning books, researching new stock, answering the telephone, answering inquiries, taking orders, stocking shelves, organizing shelves, driving to estate sales, checking prices, making offers, data entry, processing online orders, the list goes on and on. And somewhere in the midst of all of this, I do have to make time to read! Yes, reading is important, but I can’t just read what I like. In order to recommend titles to customers, I have to "phase" my reading; a little from each section of the store. I have to know which Romance authors are steamy, and which ones deal in family crises; I have to know the difference between Holtzmann & Heraclitus for my religious customers; to know why the Big Bang Theory is favored over the Steady State by cosmologists and physicists. To be a bookseller you must be a renaissance man (or woman, as the case might be). And not everyone is cut out for this, either.

I recall an incident about eight years ago when a couple of young women came in (separately, not together) looking for part-time work. At that time I was working my way through a ten-box book buy, and frankly needed the help. I gave them both applications and then interviewed them separately. To the first one I asked my leading question, "Name the titles of the last three books you read.” She ticked off two romance novels and Stephen King's Salem's Lot (unbeknownst to her, my favorite King book). I then asked her which incident in the Day in the Life of Salem's Lot chronology [a single day is illustrated through a variety of characters & events] was her favorite. She stared at me, and then dropped her eyes, "You got me," she said. Scratch off Candidate Number One! The second girl was able to prove that she was actually a reader, but midway through an explanation of her potential duties, a customer came in. I excused myself and went to help the customer. When I looked back, the girl was gone! More work than she had in mind, apparently!

Nor can a potential bookseller “leave that stuff for others”. I can’t count the number of shops which fail because the bookseller either doesn’t read, relegates that task to their employees; or doesn’t know enough about a random subject. Worst of all is when the bookseller tries to bluff their way through the subject. It almost never works! Inevitably, the seller is caught in the lie, and looks bad for having tried—more to the point, the customer feels the seller has been doubly duplicitous; once for having lied about knowing the subject and twice for trying to appear interested in it.

Being a bookseller is hard work, even if it doesn’t appear that way!

I think the reason people equate bookselling to "easy living" is because books reflect relaxation; you have to devote your full attention to them in order to enjoy them. By virtue of that, anyone who makes books their living MUST be someone who just sits around. Regardless, folks, it's not true. And speaking of which, I've got work to attend to! See you on the next page!