Interview with a Bookseller: Amelia Reising
Victoria
Grossack
Victoria: What is the name of your store and where
is it?
Amelia: The name of our store is Books Without Borders, a name suggested
by a friend as a play on words. It at once declares that we’re an
alternative to one of the large chain bookstores, and emphasizes that we
offer books from around the world; we don’t limit the selection to what you
find on the New York Times bestseller list or in the standard chain store.
Our brick-and-mortar store is located in downtown Eugene, Oregon, in a
building called The Strand. We're also on the internet at
bwobatthestrand.com (e-mail addresses and other contact info is
available on the website).
Victoria: Who are you and how long have you been
selling books?
Amelia: I'm Amelia. I've been a bookseller for close to seven years now,
and have been co-owner of Books Without Borders for almost two years. James,
the other owner, has been a bookseller for more than ten years. We each
worked at a bookstore which unfortunately closed its doors in spring of
2005.
Victoria: What made you decide to open a bookstore
when so many are closing?
Amelia: When the store we previously worked in went out of business after
40 years, we felt it was too big a loss for the community. The owners of
that bookstore had so much knowledge and passion that they had passed on to
us that when we were presented with the opportunity to open our own store,
we decided to give it a go.
Victoria: Does your store have a particular focus?
If so, what is it?
Amelia: We specialize in new books in a variety of subjects from
children's picture books to fiction to current events. We also have a shelf
dedicated to books published by McSweeney's (their title list is
fascinatingly quirky and their graphic design is among our favorite). And we
carry nearly 400 hard-to-find magazines, to round out our stock. You could
say we focus on the unusual. We also do fundraisers and events within the
community, for the PEO (Philanthropic Educational Organization); for Doctors
Without Borders; and for the American Cancer Society. We’re a very
community-oriented store.
Victoria: What's the biggest change you've seen in
bookselling in the last year?
Amelia: In the last year? Not sure. It's become harder to grab people's
attention, I suppose, but that's been a long time coming.
Victoria: What's the biggest change you expect in
selling books in the next year?
Amelia: I hope to see a gigantic increase in our sales, and a renewed
interest in reading. I expect that the changes will be more subtle.
Victoria: How should a would-be writer approach a
bookseller, say, for example, for a reading or signing, or simply for
advice?
Amelia: First off, if you're a "would-be" writer, write something and
take the "would-be" out of the equation. Then get published before
approaching a bookseller about a reading or signing. Otherwise, we'll think
you're a little loony.
If you've accomplished both of those things and you're interested in a
reading or signing, I prefer to be contacted first by e-mail. I'm usually
the only one in the store when I work, and taking long phone calls can be
disruptive. So, send an e-mail, mentioning in the subject line "reading /
signing" and then the month you might want to make an appearance.
In the body of the e-mail, include information about yourself, your book,
and your publisher, and provide some suggested dates for your event. When we
have some spare time, one of us will look at the information and decide
whether you're a good fit and whether we have space in our calendar. We're
hesitant, lately, to do readings or signings for which we can't expect an
audience. It's a waste of time and money for both us and the author, and can
be really disappointing. I hate seeing crestfallen authors.
If you're writing for advice, please make it book-related. Our advice in
other matters can be ... unreliable.
Victoria: What is your opinion of the POD books
that are available now?
Amelia: We don't usually stock them because they're non-returnable, so
sales depend on special-orders. This means, if you're an author, you'll have
to do a bunch of publicity to attract attention to your book so that people
will go out of their way to order it.
The quality can differ from book to book as well.
Some print-on-demand books are nearly impossible to tell apart from other
printed trade paperbacks, while others have more cheaply designed and
printed covers, and the content occasionally suffers from poor typeface
selection, excess errors, and low-quality printing. Check samples of a POD
company's work before signing up, and make sure the quality is something you
approve of.
Victoria: What is the greatest frustration that you
have with mainstream publishers?
Amelia: I'm tired of the regular publication of junk. We're a small,
independent bookstore, so we're pretty selective of our stock. And we have
to be, with all the celebrity bios, shock fiction and Hooter's Cookbooks on
the market.
Victoria: What advice would you give to aspiring
writers?
Amelia: Be a reader. There are some lucky people who just write well from
birth, without having to learn to do so. The rest of us benefit greatly by
reading widely and analyzing what makes a book "good", or likeable, or, at
the very least, readable.
Think of your favorite book, something you'd wish you'd written, and then
identify what makes it stand out in your mind. Does the author have
incredible characters? Then practice creating characters. Do the author's
metaphors make you tremble? Then practice writing metaphorical descriptions.
The trick is not to copy good writing, but to learn what kind of a piece you
want to write and then figure out how to do it. The best writers, artists,
etc., have always learned by studying the masters.
Also, if you go the self-publishing route or go through a smaller
publishing house, really think about the cover and interior design of your
book. Research trends you like in book cover art, and hire a graphic
designer or an artist to make your cover look professional if you're
self-publishing. I swear to you, it will be worth a couple hundred bucks to
have someone design a professional-looking cover. You'll see much better
sales.
If you're going through a smaller publisher, ask for approval rights for
the cover art. The best book in the world won't sell a single copy if it's
(a) unattractive (b) unapproachable (c) unreadable (fancy fonts used as
typeface, etc.) or (d) unprofessional.
Lastly, listen to your editors and friends. If more than one person
thinks a passage in your work is long-winded, dull, or ambiguous, then
possibly your other readers (the people you hope will pay you for your work)
will too. Take constructive criticism and use it to construct. Your writing
may benefit.
Victoria: Thank you, Amelia, for sharing your time
and your expertise!
****
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