12 Rules for my Bookstore.

I was going to call this: 12 'New' Rules for Bookstores, but when I vetted them with my friend who works in another independent bookstore here in town, he pretty much nodded his head to all of them, and told me his store was trying to do the same things.

I'll submit that it is a matter of focus or emphasis.

Nevertheless, I'll just say these are things I'm going to try in my store, but not try to assert that bookstores aren't already trying to do similar things.

I'll also admit, I can try many of these things because I'm not depending on new books to keep my store open. I have the luxury of trying some of these out, to see if they work.

With all the caveats out of the way;

1.) Carry both new and used books. I think this will be necessary in the future, so that stores can try to have the strengths of both models under one roof. You've got people coming in looking for books, already, which is the hard part. Why not give them the option?

Personally, I don't like mixing new and used together, like Powell's does. I think it brings the looks of the new books down, instead of elevating the used books.

But carrying them in separate parts of the store just makes sense to me.

2.) Stock trade paperbacks instead of hardcovers or mass paperbacks whenever possible. These are the over-sized paperbacks. Hardcovers are a bit of a pill, price wise, and become dated the moment the paperback version comes out. And this ties in with rule #3 below, in that most best-sellers are hardcover. Most worthwhile books eventually settle into a trade paperback size. These books take up exactly the same amount of space (by the spine) as the mass paperbacks, but have a better price point.

They look good, people who are serious about a title will buy them in this format. Average mass paperback is 7.99; average hardcover is 26.99; average trade paperback is 12.99. If the customer wants that title, he may balk at 26.99, but go ahead and buy the 12.99 version. He may want the 7.99 version, but he'll go ahead and buy the 12.99 version. Mass paperbacks are in every Wal-mart and Freddies and so on. Hardcovers can be handled better by Barnes and Nobles and Borders. Trade paperbacks are the perfect compromise for the smaller retailer.

With the added bonus that trade paperback exists for books with shelf-life. Mass paperbacks come and go, and so too hardcovers. Worthy books stay in print as tpbks.

3.) Avoid books on current bestseller lists. This is probably the biggest leap, and perhaps the most store-specific. I'm not a destination store, at least not right now, for books. I'm in a busy downtown and pull people in who are browsing. It may be less important for me than most bookstores to have the newest bestseller. But I suspect this might be more true for independent bookstores than anyone realizes.

This is totally counter-intuitive, I know, but I've found that I can't sell the hardcovers at full price, and the mass market paperbacks are blanketing the other stores. Sure, carry some of the best sellers, but order the minimal amount possible. I find that genre books, especially, sell poorly as hardcovers. Except, of course, when they are so big that anyone can sell them; Harry Potter, for instance.

This goes along with some of the other rules -- but after the title is through being a best seller, that is, it isn't appearing on the feeding trough at Costco, then maybe bring in a copy. By this time, you can bring in the trade paperback, which is what you want to carry anyway.

With all these rules, it's implicit that I will carry books that I think have shelf-life, and avoid books that become quickly dated. Trade paperbacks can be carried proudly for a long time.

One of the advantages of being an independent is that you can put a personal stamp on your store: Barnes and Nobles and Borders are going to be pretty much the same, everywhere you go, and inevitably are going to appeal to the lowest common denominator. They are, to be blunt, somewhat bland. So make a virtue of your necessity. Stand out. It's the difference between say, McDonald's and the Pilot Butte Drive-in.

4.) Carry all the classics, cult, personal interest/and/or books you like. This is where I think an independent store can stand out. Carry all the Steinbecks, Hemingways, and Austens. It's amazing that these books still sell, but they do. And they rarely last long as used books. I think it helps to have them all in one spot, undiluted by lesser known authors.

Cult books are authors like Tom Robbins, Kurt Vonnegut, all the beat authors, oddities. Carry the full line. I'm not sure why the chain stores neglect these authors, but once you've found one, you'll just keep selling them. It's as if every new generation has to read Hunter S. Thompson.

And finally, be sure to carry all your own all-time favorites. I have so many favorites that I can fill a bookcase with just those titles, and nothing sells a book like enthusiasm. Chances are if you loved it, so will others.

5.) Be quirky and funky. You're a small store. You aren't Barnes and Nobles. You can let your whims decide. If it strikes you as funny, or weird, or interesting, chances are that it will strike other people the same way. People will remember that you carried a bunch of interesting books. They'll remember that you had all the classics and all the cult books they can't find anywhere else.

It was funny when Pushing Daisies did an episode on a Pop-Up Bookstore. They were being quirky, but it just so happens I have half a bookcase devoted to Pop-up books.

Just because.

Barnes and Nobles is looking for the huge seller. They are going to let the so-called midlist titles go, when given a choice. There are plenty of worthy midlist titles an independent bookstore can pick up, just by paying extra attention.

6.) Let titles perculate into consciousness. I have purposely avoided scanning the best-seller lists too much. I have very purposely avoided the American Booksellers Association's Book Sense lists, and/or Oprah books. When Linda and I visited bookstores on our trips, every one of them had the same books; when I got home, I realized they were on all the same lists.

(This is a bit tricky. Linda's store does extremely well with these books, which are nice looking, and still sell later. But they all have the same kind of politically correct flavor to me, all tasteful and consciously literary. So...this rule is for the beginning of my store. Eventually, I probably will go this direction, especially once I start returning books to the distributor. But for now, I'd like to focus on books which aren't the 'flavor of the month.')

There are so many books in the world, that you can be selective. So I kind of let books elbow their way into my consciousness.

It's not likely I'll miss the DaVinci Code because I'm not studying bestseller lists.

Yesterday, someone mentioned the new The Truth about Chuck Norris book. That just struck me as funny, and I ordered it. From a review: "It includes such humorous "facts" as "Chuck Norris's tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried" and "Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits,", as well as "Chuck Norris can charge a cell phone by rubbing it against his beard."

This may or may not be a bestseller, but I'm ordering because I'm aware of it, and because it fits the definition of rule #5 as well.

This is longer than I thought, so I'll finish up rules #6 - #12 tomorrow.