How I would do it.

Keep in mind, this advice is based on carrying new books at Pegasus Books as a sideline.  That is, I don't make most of my money from either new or used books.

I've said before, I think I've been able to grab some low-hanging fruit by just ordering my own favorites, classics and cult-favorite books, mixed with good new books and some quirky interesting books.

I'm going to be putting my new books theories to the test in the near future, but I'm not quite ready to announced those plans.

However, I've noticed some major trends over the last couple years.

First of all, up until recently, I have quite purposely ignored the "best-seller" lists.  Which is counter-intuitive, to say the least.

I noticed that when I visited other bookstores they mostly had the exact same books on display.  Either they were best-sellers already, or they were on some list of worthy books.  Book Sense, for instance, from the American Booksellers Ass.

These same books were mirrored at Costco, Walmart and Barnes and Noble.  And of course Amazon.

For example, everyone is going to want the new J.K. Rowling book next week-- so it will be half-priced, I guarantee you at Walmart and Costco and Amazon, and probably 20 or 30% off at B & N.

So I can spend some big bucks getting multiple copies and trying either to sell for full price -- explaining to the customer that it's cheaper elsewhere out of self-protection so that they don't angrily return the book later -- or selling for a discount.

This is true of all best-sellers, to a greater or lesser extent.

So I get those best-sellers I think I can sell, because either I'm familiar with them, DANCE WITH DRAGONS,  by George R.R. Martin, for instance, or which I think there will be overwhelming demand, such as Rowlings new book (I'm am getting a few copies in) and so on.

But for the average best-seller, it's a hard sell.  Especially for new hardcovers.

Over the last half-year, I have ventured onto the best-seller lists, and my fears have been pretty much confirmed.  Almost no one wants to pay full price for 50 SHADES OF GREY, for instance.

But here's the thing I think most bookstores are missing: the huge backlog of great books that have been written over the last few centuries.

As a bookstore, I believe your job is to look for the best possible examples in each category you sell.

Sure, this takes some work, which is why you should be concentrating on it.

Let's take a typical bookstore.  They have to split their attention between books -- ordering, organizing, filing, talking about, selling, ringing up, etc. etc. ...you know, being a bookstore....

... and all these promotional activities; breaking off to make some coffee or sell some crumb-cake, talking to the coffee and crumb-cake suppliers, getting the coffee machine fixed, sweeping up the crumbs the last customer left.  Meanwhile, they have to talk to the author about setting up a book-signing, and they need to figure where to fit it into the schedule and on and on and on, the bullshit grinding promotional machine.

I quail at the thought of it.

So either you are incredibly bifurcated in your efforts, or you're hiring someone to do some of the jobs.

There isn't enough money in books to be hiring someone to do all the other jobs. Quite simply.

So you work harder and harder to make a little less money every year, and then you're confronted by the awesome specter of e-books, and you quit.  Because you bought into the -- 'let's work yourself into a promotional grave' --  ethos.

So here's the thing.  I'm not saying you shouldn't carry best-sellers, only that you should be aware of the dangers.

 I'm not saying you can't have author signings, or a couch and table, or sell coffee, only that you should be aware of the space, time, and energy costs.

Do only what you can reasonably do, and in a reasonably cost-effective manner.

I'm at one extreme -- the books only -- extreme.  The more books the better.  The better books the better.

Nowadays, I'm still concentrating on just finding what I think are good books, but I'm allowing an overlay of the new best-sellers as well.  I still probably sell the mid-list, the Vonneguts,  Cormac McCarthys, the Phillip K. Dicks, better than I do the latest New York Times best-seller.  I still sell the classics, the Hemingways, the Dickens, the Austens, better than I do the latest N.Y.T.B.S.  I still sell the quirky books, the World War Zs, the Magical Horses, the Darth Vader and Son, than I do the latest N.Y.T.B.S.

I also think every new bookstore should have a used bookstore component, these days.  Very easy to find used books, the world is awash with them.

Above all, though is the bottom line of concentrating on books.

I'm almost certain that running a full line bookstore would take an involved owner, who both orders and stocks and sells the books.  That he focuses on what books to carry, and how many, and when to get them.

If books are a valid product, then selling the product ought to be enough.  If it takes lots of bells and whistles, and frosting on the cake, and smoke and mirrors -- then the product itself isn't valid.

My final bit of advice is the most controversial.

Ignore the digital.

And by all means, avoid being a digital enabler.

More on that later.