Fair’s Fair “For Book Lovers”

Becoming successful in the book business shares similarities with becoming good as a poker player. Patience and perserverance are key factors. Some studies have shown that over the course of a long poker session each player will receive approximately the same number of winning hands - the player with the most chips at the end of the session will be the one who best played his non-winning hands. Timely folding, bluffing, game face demeanor, conservation of cash and studious attention to details are important in determining the outcome.

As a young man I had no idea learning poker skills would have much relevance in my life - at that time it was more a matter of “beating the other guy” because the stakes were generally low and none of us was going to gain or suffer much financially. It took only a little study to learn that a pair of Jacks was a good hand in head to head action and generally a bad hand when 5-6 other players were involved. The big difference always seemed to be - no one else in these “friendly games” took the time or made the effort to learn even that much about the game.

The book business is the same!  Most of us get into the business because we are “book lovers” and few of us ever get beyond that point.

It takes years of persistent effort to build a viable book business. Building up an inventory diverse enough to satisfy a customer base large enough to sustain a business is the key.

If you find yourself posting a sign in your window that says “NOT BUYING BOOKS TODAY” you are a book lover announcing to the world you realize the business has become too much for you. Remaining in the game with no chance of improving your hand (inventory) is suicide. The customer who came in yesterday knows they won’t have to bother coming back any time soon if your inventory is not changing every day. If they don’t sense there is some energy and movement they will perceive little is happening in your shop. The ante (rent and all other overhead) will eventually drain all your resources.

If you find yourself sitting behind your desk reading a book you are a book lover hiding from all the work that can and has to be done to make your store better for prospective customers. And there is a ton of it! There are at least sixteen other hours available to invest in reading a book. Working hours are not reading hours

… they are also not hours for chatting on the telephone! I have visited a local bookstore twice during the past 2-3 years - both times the lady was on the phone the entire time I was in the store - only briefly stopping to ask what I was looking for. It is not surprising that each time I was the only person in the store.

To be good at anything takes work, research, attention to detail, practice, patience and perserverance. It seems like a love of learning should be second nature to a book lover - so studying all the facets of what it takes to operate a bookstore should be interesting to them.  Then why is it such a rarity in book store operators?

Is that why our numbers are shrinking and a non-book business like Amazon can increase its dominance until it wipes out all the so-called book store operators who are feeding it?

The new books sellers are squealing like stuck pigs as AMAZON advances while the “brilliant” (in their own estimation) internet sellers are scrambling to outsmart each other and glean the last little bit of gravy available to send to Amazon and contributing to their own demise.

Serving your local community is your best way of assuring your success – but it isn’t easy!