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!

This last year’s search for the shiny penny that will allow everyone in the book business to fool themselves into thinking they can remain asleep turned out to be the e-book.

I love gadgets as much as anyone and after researching as much about the e-book as I can – I like it! Unfortunately those processing the content (corporations  with publishing companies and their ilk among their assets) seem determined to stay on board and continue coasting until the last last straw finally slips through the fingers of their do-as-little-as-necessary hands.

I think the e-book will be a catalyst to revive the book business … eventually

Someone, who is probably not presently directly engaged in publishing, will eventually come along and rejuvenate the book business using the e-book as a valuable tool in their arsenal – but it won’t be the existing publishing business as we know it – they have been fast asleep too long while the world has changed around them.

Air miles made it possible to fly business class to Denver and then economy class to LaGuardia so the trip on United Airlines was pleasant.

Finished a book during the flights,  – “Rebel Bookseller: How to Improvise Your Own Indie Store and Beat Back the Chains” by Andrew Laties, 2005. Lots of good ideas and interesting insight on various aspects of the book business – dealing in childrens books sales, The American Booksellers Association, remainders, etc. It was a quick read

After 21 years in business the book business still fascinates me – especially now with all the negativity attacking it from just about every direction. It’s almost as though there is a grand design to limit accessibility to the printed word. Those few of us that read regularly find it difficult to believe most of the people in North America don’t read – and many can’t read. How could happen in our social circumstances? By law, every child has to attend school until they are 16 years of age – shouldn’t learning to read be THE priority?

Shouldn’t we all be shouting – “I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE?” If a child can’t read fluently by the time they are in grade 6 shouldn’t everyone in the school district be fired? “It’s appalling — it’s really astounding,” said Michael Gorman, president of the American Library Association and a librarian at California State University at Fresno. “Only 31 percent of college graduates can read a complex book and extrapolate from it. That’s not saying much for the remainder.”

The most prevalent theme at the convention was E-Books and how they are becoming so popular. It seems obvious that the publishers are panicking under the heavy load of returns foisted on them by the big box stores and they see the attractiveness of the “print-on-demand” aspect E-books present.

I like electronic gadgets as much as anyone and know I would enjoy having my favorite books handy so the E-book idea appeals to me on that level – the fact I can afford it and still haven’t bought one makes me think about its negative aspects. I am still exposed to new books I would like to read and if I am bogged down by the ones I have already downloaded will that limit and inhibit the scope of my reading? – downloading a book is still not cheap. Do I want to contribute to the ongoing success of Amazon? – often seen as being the beginning of the end for the book business as we once knew it. Is it my imagination or do you too notice that Jeff Bezo’s laugh has a certain ring of deviltry in it? … smile.

I have to admit that I came away from the convention concerned about the future of the book business – what do you think?

From another website – http://www.humorwriters.org/startlingstats.html

The following statistics about book publishing and reading were found on www.parapub.com, the Web site of self-publishing guru Dan Poynter. They’ll give you an idea of what you’re up against if you want to write books for a living. 

1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives. 42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college. 80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year. 70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years. 57 percent of new books are not read to completion. 70 percent of books published do not earn back their advance. 70 percent of the books published do not make a profit.(Source: Jerold Jenkins, www.JenkinsGroupInc.com)

Some of the following  is some of my response to him and those of his ilk

·         My first thought is - how would anyone in the book business ever find the time to write a book … smile.

Yes, a business degree would be helpful to anyone in any business but I think the biggest reason for failure in our business is a failure to become aware of all the actual WORK that needs to be done to generate enough sales and enough repeat customers.

I have known a person with an MBA who bought an existing used books store and developed a great reputation – as a people person. Their inventory was mostly made up of books with cracked spines and there was often a “not Buying Books Today” sign on the door. They are no longer in the business.

Because it is a cash business ours is a relatively simple business. Pay the rent, utilities, and business license and then use all other monies to buy books. Don’t fritter away your money on food and clothing - because once people realize how much work there is to be done they won’t be in the book business long enough to starve to death.

Ideas for a more useful book? Write a book about what is a good book and what is a bad book. This will require years of experience and expertise you will only get by working a bookstore yourself.
Preach the importance of never passing up an opportunity to search through every box of books presented to you (dozens of reasons)… the importance of constantly culling your inventory (ask anyone in any type of retail business) … not letting your inventory grow stale … NEVER reading a book while in your shop (your customers will teach you anything you really need to know).

The “Never reading” aspect got the biggest response and was challenged – not surprising to me because it is a very radical concept in the eyes of a book lover who thinks they can be a bookseller. Any person who sincerely wants to be self employed serving others should expect to put in an honest workday of  8-12 hours at their craft. Reading books for your own pleasure is not work - studying your craft can be done in your leisure hours after all the work around the store has been done.

Come up with a guideline for how the categories of your books should flow throughout the store so customers browsing don’t become lost or confused. Why every effort you make to improve your store has to be hinged on customer convenience and satisfaction.

Why SPEED is an important consideration - if a customer can’t find their book quickly a sale might be lost. If your store is neat, clean and organized half the job is done - now keep every book in its proper place and have signs do the rest of the job. Books on the floor is ALWAYS UNACCEPTABLE and books topsy-turvy on shelves is a no no.

And on and on and on. WORK! WORK! WORK! If you are unwilling or unable to do it yourself you will constantly be replacing staff who will feel the same way.

                A.   Set and keep the regular opening hours established by other respectable retail businesses in your area.

                B.  Pay attention to customers’ buying habits and close attention to what they tell you regarding books and the book business in general.

                                a. They are the ones visiting the other stores with a buyer’s perspective.

                    b. Their compliments about different facets of other operators can be very helpful while their complaints about whatever anyone else is doing should fall on deaf ears. Join in the former conversations and never get involved in the latter chatter.

       c. Customers will tell you when other book stores clerks and operators speak negatively about us so you should be aware that type of talk will come back to bite you. Would you recommend looking for a book at that store to your customer? Dale Carnegie quote: “Criticism of others is futile and if you indulge in it often you should be warned that it can be fatal to your career.”

#2. Buy books with your present customer base in mind but occasionally buy unique “off the wall” books to dress up your store and make it more interesting.

A.     Buy aggressively – you can never have too many copies of a salable book – just stop buying when demand for that book falls off – by then you will have realized that book’s profit potential and often a good book will have residual sales or a resurgence in the future.

a.       Being aggressive will sometimes open you up to criticism from others – here is an excellent blog on the subject http://www.elliacommunications.com/blog/?p=140

B.      You are there as an agent for your customer – to do less than your best is a disservice to them.

#3. Treat your staff well in a manner in keeping with teaching them character and responsibility.

A.      During our twenty years in business we have very little absenteeism and only occasionally have we had someone prone to being late for work. Both situations effect morale in the stores so we quickly talk to any offenders and usually that remedies the behavior.

B.      Everyone is told to take care of their own best interests first - because as a business that is what we have to do in order to serve our customers.C. I have had dozens and dozens of people tell me this is the best job they have ever had – I attribute much of that to their love of books but our consistency probably is a factor.

#4. Realize that as hard as you work to learn as much as you can – you will never know very much about books or the book business – it is too broad and too deep.

A.      This should be a comfort to you, as it is to us, because you can just relax and be yourself and not feel the pressure you should otherwise feel.

B.      Listen and your customers will tell you most of what is important for you to know.

C.      But continuously study everything you can about business, public relations and marketing because a business that stands still will soon drop over dead.

D. Being in this business is a privilege and deserves your dedication and hard work.

I write this not to discourage you - because the book business in North America needs, and can support, thousands of hard working operators. Unfortunately, most people who get into this business never overcome their passion for books to reach the point where serving customers’ needs becomes their primary goal.

#1. Only 10% of the population reads. About 50% of the people in North America are functionally illiterate.

#2. Only 10% of the reading population will ever buy books from a store identified as a used books store. Many of our predecessors have given our business a bad reputation and some of our contemporaries still  sit in their shops reading and smoking and ignoring all the work that is piling up all around them continuing a stereotype that will take many years to overcome.

#3. Our average book sells for under $7.00

#4. Our average customer spends $15 each and every time they make a purchase.

#5. We estimate the average customer returns 4 times a year … but a recent spot check kicks those numbers all out of whack (on the surface). In our recent check we had 8300 customers for the year – 5900 of them came in only once while only 109 of them came in 12 times or more during the year. The customers who either refused to sign up on our database or who were pressed for time constituted about 1/3 of our gross sales.  We counted those customers as one customer so that means only 2400 of our customers came in more than once.

#6. Therefore if the population of your buying area is 50,000 you should estimate you will have 500 customers spending about $60 each per year for a gross sales figure of $30,000. If you are in an area which draws tourists that can make a positive difference. I know of one relatively small store in a tourist area with annual sales in excess of $300,000. The fact that the operator is a workaholic probably plays a big part in his success.

#7. In order to sell $30,000 in books the sales value of your inventory should be $150,000 (about 21,000 books).

#8. The 80/20 rule (Pareto’s Law) applies to almost everything – if you have $100,000 in inventory only about $20,000 will be saleable. If you don’t understand the implication that that means you must continually buy books and upgrade your inventory – then there is little anyone can do or say to help you.

#9.  A small retail location is unlikely to ever generate a livable income for anyone – to sell $100,000 in books you need $500,000 in inventory or about 72,000 books. It is true they do not have to be all on display but they do have to be available to replenish your inventory every day

#10. Most of your present inventory is never going to sell – getting your book cases full of books is the easiest part – culling inventory takes experience, judgment and expertise.

#11. The first time you find any reason not to look through another batch of books is the day you should start considering getting out of the book business.

All these points consider the fact you will probably choose a store with low rent for your first location. To be of any real service to your customers you should continue buying as many books as you can and then move to a better location and start over. A store in a very good location will cost you 2-3 times as much rent but its gross sales should be 3-4 times higher.

I don’t really understand how someone can fail in this business but, obviously, it is a lot more difficult than it appears on the surface. 

“My own reading, my own experience and from studying the book business for the last 20 years from every angle I have been able to stumble upon - I have learned the best booksellers are not competition - they only complement and expand the book business in the long run and provide a real service to their communities.

The ratholes which used to call themselves bookstores are mostly gone now and we all owe a debt of gratitude to the rising costs of rents for their demise - but the stench they left in their wake still haunts some of us.

Our real competition is anything which distracts our customers and our potential customers from taking care of themselves and attending to what is actually happening in their own personal affairs - sports, sensationalistic journalism, news dealing with so-called celebrities, nonsense spouted by politicians and the inane repetition of the “news”.

In other words - anything that “distracts and stupifies” people is our competition.

Everyone who is working hard at building up the book business in and for your community is your ally - but those seeking “quick bucks” by shipping your community’s books hither and yon are doing the community a disservice, whether they realize it or not.

Anytime worthwhile knowledge leaves an area, with little likelihood of it ever returning, a community is diminished.

Start building or supporting the best brick and mortar stores in your community now and encourage them to work even harder at being a keystone to the community and providing all the service they are capable of - you and they owe it to your community.”

It is a bit disheartening to me that intelligent people think Amazon, ABEbooks, Alibris and almost all well known online book purveyors actually have books of their own.  IN ALMOST EVERY CASE THEY HAVE NO BOOKS OF THEIR OWN - their vast inventories consist of books listed by thousands of individuals working in their homes, people who operate strictly online by scavenging for books, small bookstore operators and large bookstore operators and by some vampire-like types who (like the online book purveyors themselves) have no inventory but make a living by marking up all the books they see online 7-10 times and more, listing them as their own, and when some unsuspecting soul places an order from them - they have a legitimate dealer ship it to the customer in question. So they do little or no work and wait for the money to roll in.

The online book purveyors, while they must be aware of this by now, just seem to tolerate it and take their cut of the commissions.

There are many ways to operate a book business - this is just a note on a few of them - and the sense that other booksellers are detrimental to your business is seldom going to be true.

But - if you don’t work your a** off you are going to fall by the wayside.

Over the years the business has gone from me having it (10-12 years), to it having me (6 years), to where it really has finally sunk in - this is the customers’ business they have generously entrusted into my care.

Thankfully, we have great customers who are very understanding and very few of them are as obsessed with this business as our present 22 staff members. The book business has a way of sucking employees into its vortex and no matter how often I remind people “remember this is just a used books business” - they can only be calmed for a few minutes at a time.

The following was sent as an email response to the following email from a fellow in Toronto - 1682 miles away.

“When do you anticipate being able to search your inventory on-line?  It would be a tremendous benefit.

Thanks,

Brian xxx”

Thanks for asking Brian,

We did sell books on the internet through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and ABE for over 5 years and found it an unpleasant experience. We often felt sullied and bullied by their processes and sometimes even by their customers - we don’t get that in our local stores - perhaps keyboarding and/or distance disables a book lovers normal affability or maybe listing a book psychologically morphs it into just another piece of merchandise.

We know our approach to the book business may seem unusual in that we are more interested in building an efficient stable organization and providing a real service to the local community for many years to come. This rather than chasing after the quick bucks sometimes offered by the internet which may in the long run break down the fabric of the community.

The simple fact is – the book business is in peril across North America and also in Great Britain and something has to be done. The prices for books throughout Europe and Australia are skyrocketing. The most important first step I can offer is to suggest you start shopping regularly at the best used books store or stores in your area and get your friends to do the same. Encourage the booksellers you contact to vigorously pursue buying and trading opportunities in your community and to stop being so anxious to send great books out of your area – the books shipped out of your area may well be a loss to your community.

We have invested six years beta-testing a program to teach the computer all the variables and permutations (and there are many) necessary to efficiently operate a book store. Our present program is already outstanding but because we operating four busy stores with 22 staff in the Calgary area we are presented with daily feedback about refinements we still need to implement.

The only reason I mention the work we are presently doing is – we think the book business can be revived by hardworking conscientious operators and their customers. Conscientious operators should be supported and encouraged to thrive because an efficient group of such stores provides far-reaching benefits to a community.

We were both gratified and humbled when a magazine article named us as “One of the 100 Best Things about Calgary” – especially since we know how much farther we have to go on the path we have chosen.

What’s different? Someone made a comment to one of my blogs yesterday and an email a couple of days ago was a query from someone thinking about going into the book business.

I’ll include his query and my comments to him below:

— On Sat, 6/14/08, M***** <********@shaw.ca> wrote:

From: ********@shaw.ca>
Subject: Hello
To: info@FairsFair.com
Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008, 4:56 PM

Hi

I was just wondering if you have any book stores for sale. Is this a franchise?? Do you have any information on any business opportunities with your company?

Thanks  M*****

Hi ******,
Thanks for your email - I often wonder if people who visit the stores have any real inkling about how unusual our efforts are in our field.

Staff and customers have been told many, many times our business model is based upon work and not brains. That is the first thing I would say to you as well - we are not outsmarting anyone - we (everyone associated with our stores) are all working our a***s off and expect to continue to do so until the day we quit the book business and return to the real world.

Even in the tightest labor markets we receive applications for work but … most of the staff we hire do not complete their three month training period - others learn so much during the first three months they shut down and become ineffective because they delude themselves into believing they actually know something so we have to let them go as well. The staff who survive have a ravenous hunger for knowledge and a work ethic that is constantly reinvigorated by the pleasure they gain by learning everyday.

In other words, we are all nuts … about what we do and we can’t get enough.

To be absolutely honest - I don’t think any amount of money invested in the book business can ever be considered a good monetary investment - but it is an outstanding investment in a lifestyle if you are looking for personal growth and a sense that you have put yourself in a position to provide a service to a dying breed - readers (as great a group of human beings that exists in the world).

Your query serves as concrete evidence there is at least one person out there who senses we have something special going on.

We know how lucky we are and would be pleased to figure out a way to share our good fortune with others - if we just knew how.

We did help one fellow set up in Edmonton 4-5 years ago but quickly saw he was not someone we should have helped for several reasons.

The fellow who operates the (I edited out the name of the small town in Alberta) used book store came to us for help 10 years ago and because he is a good person as well as a workaholic we still see him often and have a friendly working relationship.

Thanks again for your query - if I haven’t completely discouraged you I work our Mount Royal store Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings between 6PM and 9PM and am always interested in talking about books and the book business.

George

Other comments - we have helped two other people who wanted to get some knowledge about the book business and I think one of them is still in business in Manitoba. At least three other people who worked for us over the years ventured off on their own but as far as I know they are no longer active in the book business except perhaps on the fringes - once a book addict always a book addict.

None of what I have written here is intended to discourage anyone anywhere from starting a used books business - no matter how long you make it last you will likely remember them as the happiest days, weeks, months or years or your life.

Imagine living a life where  almost everyone you meet is pleasant. Working in comfortable surroundings while awaiting the arrivals of interesting individuals who are willing to hear about what you think you know and to teach you something they have read about or experienced. To be in daily contact with people who are constantly activating their brains, their emotions and their beings by exploring the world outside themselves which most people have come to neglect and ignore at their own peril.

Such is the dreamlike world of a bookseller and an enthusiastic clerk at a book store.

Welcome to my world - enter and enjoy.

THANK-YOU.

Yvonne