Monday, June 29, 2020

Makes life interesting....as if.

In my second week of ordering from PRH. (Penguin/Random House).

It's a pain in the ass, seems to take inordinate time, the search engine sucks, I don't know if what I'm ordering is in stock, I don't know when and how it will ship or how long it takes. I don't know if the split shipments are going to cost.

Meanwhile, I haven't seen or heard anything from Scholastic Press. I tried setting up an account online, but got no response. I'll try again in a few days, but I'm starting to suspect that this will be more of a 2 or 3 time a year order, and that I'll do it with the rep.

As you all know, I've always maintained that time and effort = money. So I have to figure out if all this extra time and effort is worth the extra discount. Right now, I'd say no. But I'm hoping this will settle down, that I'll figure it out, and it will become routine.

One thing's for sure--books are selling. We are a full-on bookstore at this point, even carrying non-fiction. The non-fiction section is in the beginning stages, but I can see it expanding. Once that happens, well--that makes me a full bookstore.

After all, every bookstore has to make selections. The fact that my selections are quirky, well that just makes the store interesting to people. (I get a ton of compliments...)

I was in one of the local ABA model stores, and I was told that the ABA newsletter is going to stop coming out in physical form. Opening the pamphlet, and it's clear to me why all ABA model bookstores look the same. They're all ordering the same recommended material.

In a sense, my bookstore is a backstock store. That is, I concentrate on books that have already come out and have a history. Seems much safer to me.

Then again, a local bookseller told me how many of the new John Bolton books he ordered and it sort of floored me. (Not that he actually got the books...that seems to be a big problem with new bestsellers. They aren't always readily available, which is weird. Obviously, the big boys are getting them first.)

Though I've been carrying new books for a decade now, in some ways I'm only beginning. I mean, I was pretty lackadaisical for a long time, just getting the low-hanging easy stuff. Now I'm challenging myself to fill out the store with material that people see as bookstore-ish. ("fill-out" is a bit of a joke--I'm already packed.)

Still, it makes life interesting. Because, you know, not enough stuff is going on....

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