Interview with a Bookseller: Conversation with
Fern Jaffe of Paperbacks Plus
���� Victoria
Grossack
Fern Jaffe founded Paperbacks Plus in 1970 � she has thirty-seven years
of experience!
Victoria: Can you tell me
about your store?
Fern: Paperbacks Plus is a misnomer � about half our sales come from hard
covers. Thank goodness we put the �Plus� in the name! But you can�t change
the name after thirty-seven years. When we started, our goal was to sell
children�s paperbacks. Since then we�ve changed a lot, shaping ourselves to
fit the community.
We�re located in the Bronx, about five miles from Yankee stadium. So,
every New York Yankee who has ever written a book comes to our store.
To learn more about Paperbacks Plus,
click here.
Victoria: What do you do to
sell books?
Fern: On a professional level, I stay up on book reviews � Publishers
Weekly, Kirkus, and all that. I�m a member of the ABA (American Bookseller
Association) and a while back I helped found the New York-New Jersey
Booksellers Association, which has since merged with another organization to
become New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association.
You have to do a lot of training yourself to sell books. As I�m in New
York, I read the New York Times every day � there�s so much information
about books inside the pages. I read books and I read about books.
Generally, we haven�t found book fairs to be profitable. We hold author
events, especially local author events. We coordinate with the College of
Mount Saint Vincent when we need more room. We�ve had Toni Morrow and Frank
McCourt, and with these authors we filled up the auditorium. We support the
local community and the community supports us.
Victoria: What�s the biggest
trend that you see in the industry?
Fern: The fact is that the independent booksellers are dying. I would
never have thought that so many places would want to sell books � but they
do, and often at less than the cover price. And for a while the publishers
were creating special deals for the superstores � it was illegal, and it
kept the playing field from being level.
If the independents go, it will be an amazing loss for the public � but
people don�t appreciate what they�ve lost until it�s too late. The
independents, unlike the chains, really know their local communities. For
example, our book buying is local. Barnes & Noble does their buying on a
countrywide basis. How can they know what their communities need?
Victoria: Do you know what
their returns are like? (Note to readers: returns are the unsold books that
are sent back to the publisher by the bookstores.)
Fern: They�ve got to be high.
Victoria: What other trends
do you see in the industry?
Fern: People are going to start downloading more books, they�ll carry
them around on their i-Pods; read them on their screens. That�s also sad.
There�s something so tactile about leafing through a book, and that may
disappear.
Victoria: Picking up a book
is romantic, don�t you think?
Fern: Yes. I love selling books. I love finding the right book for the
right person, and I love connecting with the community.
Victoria: What advice would
you give to aspiring writers?
Fern: Write on. Keep on writing. Don�t publish your own book. So many
people are doing that these days, without any idea of how to sell a book �
they have no idea how to get a book into stores, or how to get reviews. You
need to be with an established publisher. But even then, hire a good
publicist.
Victoria: Thank you, Fern,
for sharing your insight and experience with us! Questions or comments,
please write to Grossackva at Yahoo dot com.
****
This article is the sole property
of the author.�It is produced here with the author's permission.� The unauthorized use or reprinting of an article is
illegal, and will be
prosecuted at the discretion of the
author. � |
����