One of my new favorite traditions, both personally and at the store, is Jólabókaflóð - the Icelandic tradition of giving books to your family on Christmas Eve and curling up with warm socks and hot chocolate and spending the evening reading together. Below are my suggestions for your own personal Jólabókaflóð, and are also on… Continue reading Jólabókaflóð
Every year at the bookstore I work at, I have everyone choose a few books from the year to highlight as their top gift choices, as well as a selection of backpack backlist titles for our annual Jolabokaflod display (Jolabokaflod post will be next week). Below are my eight choices for the holidays with their… Continue reading Holiday Gift Picks
Each year at the store we have an official competition to see who can sell the most of their seasonal picks and I won this year for the first time ever! I talked a bit about mine in Summer Reading Recommendations and while some of my coworkers may think that I had an unfair advantage,… Continue reading The Art of Recommending a Book
Right now, we are in the middle of one of my favorite times of the year at the bookstore - the fall buying season. The reps from the major publishers are stopping by the store to tell me all about the big books for the fall and I love it. Diary of a Bookseller, Day 4… Continue reading The Role of the Book Buyer
Diary of a Bookseller, Day 3 I support the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. I work in a local bookstore, one of the last bastions of free speech. I'm also lucky enough, that in my role as the assistant manager at a local independent bookstore, I've been featured in local publications three… Continue reading Meet the Press
Diary of a Bookseller, Day 2 One of my favorite parts of my job at a local independent bookstore is hosting author events. Sometimes, this is also the most stressful part of my job. We've hosted events for everyone from our local self-published picture book authors to national, and international, bestsellers. And each and every… Continue reading The Art of the Author Event
Diary of a Bookseller, Day 1 When people find out I work at a bookstore, invariably one of their first reactions is "I wish I could read at work!" They are often shocked to find that I do not have any spare time at work for reading. I'm working. My friend Amanda who works at… Continue reading What a Bookseller *Really* Does
At least once a week, someone will walk through the doors of the bookstore, or send us an email, asking us to have an event with them or carry their books because they're now published! And they're so excited. And then we ask who their publisher is. And they say Createspace. And we say, sorry,… Continue reading How to Publish… Advice from Your Local Indie Bookstore
In my role as assistant manager/adult book buyer at an independent bookstore, I get to meet with sales reps from all the big publishing houses, as well as a number of smaller ones. Below are the books that they, and I, are most excited for this fall! 1. The Kennedy Debutante by Kerri Maher Publisher:… Continue reading A Book Buyer’s Top Picks for Fall
Every spring my boss sends the children's buyer, Jennifer, and I on an adventure to New York City for Book Expo. Here are some highlights from the 2018 iteration! Reasons for Attending Book Expo The reasons for wanting to attend Book Expo are wide ranged and varied, for booksellers, like myself and the two colleagues… Continue reading Book Expo 2018
