Some uplifting news. About books. The book market is a 250 billion dollars a year industry. I did not think it was that much. I'm very much a member of the generation that watched nice independents disappear, replaced by the big chains, which I got used to because their initial concept was arm chairs, fake fire places and coffee shops, which then disappeared as well. I adapted by previewing books at the library, then only ordering and buying the ones I wanted to keep.
My guilty pleasure are tech thrillers which I borrow from the library, speed read and once the mystery is solved there is no reason to reread them.
Bookstores are pretty much the only store that I like spending time in and if I walk by one, the inner conversation is usually do I have time to go in? I'll be late...well maybe just a quick peek.
Generally speaking, people that work in bookstores enjoy working there, are avid readers themselves and can recommend something beyond the current bestsellers. I like that some book stores started to offer anything from bookmarks, pens, daily planners, reading lights and fun stuff. If the only way to survive against A. is to include a home decor section, I can just walk through it. I found a daily planner with three colored ribbons that worked so well for me that I couldn't believe someone had not thought of it before. The big chain stores also introduced the bargain tables that had some wonderful coffee table books and books of poetry that I could not pass up, as opposed to smaller book stores that would mark down, well, crap that no one wants: 10 steps to becoming a psychic.
It is a very good sign that a private equity company bought Barnes and Noble is opening 60 stores and bought independents which it is leaving alone to operate as before with the same staff. In addition, store managers will get autonomy to adjust their store to the community that frequents it. How neat is that? It sounds to good to be true, but maybe listening to what people and customers want is a profitable business concept after all.
I hope it materializes and that other businesses follow suit.
Here's a newish book called Temples of Books
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2023/05/temples-of-books/
"Generally speaking, people that work in bookstores enjoy working there, are avid readers themselves and can recommend something beyond the current bestsellers."
ReplyDeleteI laughed out loud when I read this. I worked in bookshops for eight years, during which time I was accredited as a member of the bookseller's ass. of Ireland and UK, four of these years I managed an independent, so-called radical bookshop, the other four years I worked in one of the biggest and oldest bookshop in Dublin. Let me tell you that while I have always been an avid reader, actually reading books is the last thing you have time for when you are selling books. You read publisher blurbs, back covers, reviews, sales predictions, author interviews etc. until the cows come home and when you are not on the floor displaying, arran ging, tidying up, answering customer requests, you entertain publisher sales people, negotiate discounts, returns, fawn over their merch and basically count the money.
I loved my job, I worked six days/week for up to 10 hrs (seven days during peak seasons), incl most Sundays. My family hated it - eventually. I got a stack of signed first editions though. I love bookshops still fighting the urge to tidy up the display tables and shelves, which get messed up by customers about a million times every day
Talk to a sales person in your favourite bookshop one day, maybe times have changed by now.
You're talking about work/life balance. The book stores I frequent take the time and are well read.
DeleteI chat to sales people all the time, they seem happier and more relaxed. This is a positive trend. The cities I lived in or visit frequently started to close them down. Like ghost streets and the book stores went first. Seeing the beginning of a turn around is positive.
I sold clothes as a student. Folding in between customers was just part of the paid work.
Nice on the signed copies. Are they even worth much if modern?
Work/life balance is a great concept, but hard to follow when you are trying to make ends meet, which is what people struggled with in early 1990s Ireland before the years of the Celtic tiger economy. However, books were bought and sold and read regardless. Ireland is a great country for bookshops.
DeleteI have enjoyed meeting many great Irish and international authors, and readings, literature festivals, lectures were and are regular and very popular features. My most prized first edition, signed, is "Seeing Things" by Seamus Heaney, just a few years before he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. I would never sell it.
Google/AI tells me that the average hourly wage for booksellers in the US is 17 dollars? At today's exchange rate this is below minimum wage in Germany. There must be other perks and commissions surely?
Codex: Guessing it's lower as it looks like it's averaged out. Keep in mind that cost of living is lower as well unless it's a major city. I don't know I picked clothing stores as a student at 10 bucks because there was commission on what I sold. No idea what book sale staff get nowadays.
DeleteThe running joke is if you want to meet a grad student or have a physics question ask the barista. They are usually the people that fill these jobs.
Different topic though.
I walked by that pictured bookstore in Porto last Spring. Sadly time was short and you need a timed ticket to get in. I’m sorry I missed it. But, I did see the library at the university in Combria. Besides being very old and beautiful, it’s claim to fame is the bats who inhabit it and keep the book eating insects under control. Cleaning up after the bats vs battling insects? They choose to keep the bats.
ReplyDeleteI do love a good library and use the local one often. The last few years I have extensively used the Libby app on my phone. That way I always have a book at my finger tips. The selection is good enough for my daily “I need something to read” moments, but if I want a specific book I usually have to order it into the library or buy it. An excuse to shop for a book is never unwelcome. :)
Marly
Codex: I knew nothing about it, just saw that it allegedly inspired Hogwarths library. Its incredible. Putting little bridges in as well. Bats doesn't seem like a better option.
DeleteNot familiar with the libby app. Love libs, obviously but some are too noisy due to the fact that some parents use it as a kindergarten.
I can't resist a book store or library. My experiences are similar to yours, no matter the town, city, or country. Likewise, my experiences in adjacent spaces like book/author-themed tea shops (Edinburgh & Montreal) and they seemed quite busy and popular. These are safe third spaces and I'm so grateful and encouraged to read these stats on readership and bibliophilia.
ReplyDeleteCodex: @dbAnd these days everything has to be prefaced with if true...but the book industry is thriving.
DeleteInteresting way to put it. Safe third space. I used to go in to browse and see what's new. Now it's become a last temple of knowledge and civilized behavior. People speak quietly and it's a calm calming space. Yup, you get it*fist bump* which tea shop in Montreal?
One of the jobs I had before I started my art glass studio was working in a bookstore in downtown Houston. I worked there for a year and quit when the owner refused to give me even a small raise that I felt I deserved especially since I had sort of stepped in for the manager, who was a real sweetie, when she was on vacation. The man was a real prick and there every day. One day I took it on myself to neaten up a display rack since I had not been given a specific task. He came over, asked what I was doing and then proceeded to rip me up one side and down the other. I turned around without a word, got my things and walked out in the middle of the day. I came back the next day hoping I wasn't fired because I really needed the job at the time but after that my days there were numbered. One thing though, he never spoke to me like that again.
ReplyDeleteCodex: This was actually a positive post about an industry coming back up after struggling and competing with Walmart and A.
DeleteGood for speaking up. People like that usually get worse if you had not.
Our little part of London has two independent bookstores on the high street, and a big chain store not far away. I'm amazed our local community supports that much reading, but it's great to see!
ReplyDeleteCodex: I've always been surprised that small bookstores survive. How is Waterstones doing?
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