on Book Riot:
My second job was at a bookstore (my first job was as a dog treat baker, but that’s neither here nor there), and I continued to work in bookstores for more than a decade. I began in a small chain bookstore, and then spent many years in the largest used and new bookstore in Canada. I met my partner there! When I started, I was overwhelmed. There were…so many books. So many systems and things to remember! There were two floors, and you had to go outside to access the other. A street over was another location that felt more like a cave dug into the stone, with books squeezed into every available space, whether that was under shelves, on top of piping, or on the floor.
I would go on to cycle through many roles at that store: downstairs shelver, upstairs cashier, kids’ section shelver. Then I was the head shipper, dealing with online orders in that cave location, listening to audiobooks while packing orders. Eventually, I ascended into the role I loved the most: children’s book expert. Manager of the kids’ section. I priced, shelved, and recommended books. I valued antique picture books. I invented strategies to squirrel away thousands of books we had no space for. I culled the shelves mercilessly and found new ways to convince and trick the owner into letting us get rid of books that weren’t selling. I trained shelvers and lobbied successfully for the teen books to be separated out from middle grade (don’t even get me started). I fielded questions from coworkers on any kids’ book related topic, usually faster than Google could.
I loved that job, if it’s not clear.
This post confirms my conviction to publish print editions of my books. Those clumps of ink and paper may well outlive me. And I know the bookstore of which she speaks. It’s only a few kilometres from where I live. I’ve bought books there.
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I have to read the full posting, because the last line shows some tension. 😉 Thank you for sharing, Chris! I apologize for the delay, and hope you had a nice weekend! As been told by Sally it seems you all had sunny weather. Only here we had got rain, the last three days. ;-( My slogan: Give the Britains their weather back. Lol xx Michael
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LOL – Have a great week, Michael 😃
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Thank you, Chris! You as well! 🙂 xx Michael
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Reblogged this on OPENED HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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