If you were a bookseller, what would it be about selling books that would interest you?

Answer 1

Making money

Answer 2

Books, the actual physical shape, weight, and feel of books are very satisfying to me. I'd like to be a second hand seller, who would not have to follow a marketing plan of which books will sell and which won't.

The bookstore I like to go to is a small, two storey affair in a backstreet of the downtown of a middle sized town. On the ground floor, there is some organisation to the books, and that is another thing that would interest me. On the next floor up, the organisation is still evident, but there are parts of it which are only available by a stepladder, and the organisation becomes looser. The smell is wonderful, but I am afraid I would never be able to be a bookseller because I come out sneezing every time.

But it is the closeness of the books, their age, the jumble, the sheer number of them that have been around for so long, and most of them have been read for at least part of that time, that they almost seem alive, loaded with reader's reactions.

Another thing that would attract me to selling second hand books is the kind of people who visit these shops. They are somewhat like me, but each person has a different slant, a different enthusiasm. And I've never run into anyone in a second hand book store who was pushy, or considered themselves very important, or as not having time.

And there is always that feeling, of not quite being in the same universe as all that stuff outside.

Answer 3

A friend of mine used his redundancy money to open a bookshop - he said it's the intellectual's equivalent of running a pub - earning a living surrounded by what you love in your free time. That's the theory.
In practice it's very hard work, the income has peaks & troughs, there is competition from chains, supermarkets and the internet; it's a business not a love affair....
So if I were to be a bookseller what would interest me was having identified a good niche either in the type of book I sell or in the location. Perfect location is probably either a decent-sized market town which does not already have a bookshop; or a middle-class enclave in a city.
Specialist booksellers probably need to have a strong webpresence and do mail order too.

Answer 4

You know, I miss the little bookshops we used to have as children - or at least I did - where you had to order most books but where the bookseller knew you, remembered your favourites and suggested books that you would like.

This relationship has completely disappeared from today's market - not to mention that our preferences are now determined by Amazon's algorithm. Not a bad thing - I'm certainly no technophobe - but it kind of minimises the thrill of loving a book and sharing that love with another person.

And THAT - sharing love of books - would be my absolutely best ever thing if i was a bookseller.

Answer 5

If I were a bookseller I think I would get very excited when people asked me for recommendations, or when I could suggest other topics that they might be interested in and then they would buy what I suggested, i like the idea of sharing something that illuminated me with other people.

On the flip side, I would get very sad whenever a book left my shop (as it would be a second hand book shop if i had my way), I am a bit precious about my aul books, i would only want to give them to a responsible new owner who would look after them and not treat them with disrespect.

Answer 6

First, you have to distinguish between new books and used books, two different sorts of markets altogether. If you're into used books, you must have an excellent overall knowledge - not only of literature - but of everything. If you're into new books, then it's the latest author, the hottest whatever which will sell the most after the big advertising campaign etc. It is certainly more aggressive in its approach, but both aspects are a business first - as well as a passion.

Answer 7

I love books and would love to own a new and used small bookshop, where people could come in and trade in their old books and buy others, for me it would be about the books and the ones coming in, I hate the saying a closed mind is like a closed book as a closed book is still full of facts and interesting!

This would be my retirement goal or a small lottery win career change.

Answer 8

I was the assistant manager in a charity shop for a couple of years and books were my area. I couldn't get enough of them. I loved choosing what titles to put in the window, finding new authors to get into, hearing what other people liked, helping folk find just the book they were after, recommending books to people...there's a whole lot of magic in the world of book selling.

Answer 9

Knowing that I'd actually sell something worth while. I was originally trained as a book seller, and I still have this thing about books (I react to books the way other women react to Rolling Stones).

Answer 10

The condition of the book. Whether it was a first edition, first printing and not a forgery. The smell of a finely written book. And the knowledge that you know something about this book and others that very few other people know.

Answer 11

The chance to influence the minds of others, to promote education amd fuel the passion of revolutionaries alike. To enhance the passion of literature, the oldest means of creating controversy and pushing people beyond their limit of understanding. In all to make people to think outside the box. Literature, whether good or bad gives the gretest of insights into the human mind and life in general.