what do you need to be a bookseller?
Short answer: to want to help people!
Long answer:
Contrary to popular belief, the job of a bookseller isn’t sitting around reading all day. We live in a capitalist society, and the key word of the job title is ‘seller’. Your job is to sell books.
This means processing and merchandising products so they’re available and shoppable, and ensuring you have a great knowledge of stock to be able to recommend it to people. It’s not just about being a reader - although you do need to be one to be good at your job.
A lot of people come into the store I manage asking if we’re hiring, and also asking if I read books. Unlike some other retail or food service jobs where you can have zero knowledge of the products and learn on the job, people at bookstores are looking for specific recommendations. If you don’t read books, you’ll have nothing to recommend. If you don’t pay attention to what’s popular, you’ll flounder when someone asks you for a bestseller.
The thing I think is most important to be a bookseller, besides being a reader, is the desire to help people. To actually want to help people. The reason people walk into a bookstore instead of just shopping online is because they want to physically see the books, or they need help finding what they want. If you have no desire to help that person, they will leave and they won’t come back. If you are unhelpful and uncaring, they’ll tell other people about their bad experience. You lose customers, and the bookstore closes and you lose your job.
A lot of people think being a bookseller is the best job in the world because you spend all day surrounded by books. But you have to remember it is a job, and a specialised one at that. When I’m talking to my coworkers or training staff, the thing I always tell them is if you genuinely try your best to help a customer - even if it means telling them to try finding the book we don’t have in stock at another bookstore - they will remember how helpful you were. That means the next time they need help finding a book, they will come back, because they know you will try to help them.
This is why you also need to be able to find fulfilment in helping people, because you will spend a good portion of your shift doing just that. If you like helping people, you’ll be happy to engage customers, answer their questions, and spend time finding them the right book. And they’ll appreciate that!
