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What It’s Like to Be a Bookseller
Hi. Yes, hello — it’s me, Jesse. Bookselling has been my life for about 6-ish years and I’m currently the store manager of a bookstore on Long Island. My adventuring into the book-business started when I came across an ad that essentially said, “SEEKING BOOKSELLERS. GREAT ENVIRONMENT. DISCOUNTS ON BOOKS. PLENTY OF HOURS.” At the time I was working in a furniture store and making decent money but wasn’t loving the environment. I had just started my first semester of grad school at Sarah Lawrence and felt it was time to change my professional life toward a related field of my school work. The bookstore felt like it would be a good fit even if it would hit me a bit, financially.
My interview for the job consisted of meeting the owner who asked me to start recommending books in the store to her.
“Why do you like that one?” “What’s the takeaway from the story” Why do you like Stephen King so much?” What’s your top 5 favorite books of all time?”
Question after question, the owner pushed me to explain and try to sell every book I brought up.
We sat on the bench outside the store and she told me I would start in the basement receiving shipments and managing inventory. I wasn’t exactly sure if I wanted to do that or if it was right for me — the sales floor looked far more attractive. Years later I would thank her for…
