Interview with a Bookseller: Chris Hardy 
     Victoria Grossack

Conversation with Chris Hardy, a bookseller in Pryor, Oklahoma.

Victoria: Who are you and how long have you been selling books?

Chris: My name is Chris Hardy. The bookstore has been in business for 27 years and I’ve been here about 15 years.

Victoria: What is the name of your store and where is it?

Chris: The Book Exchange & The Bible Bookstore, located at 3 North Adair in Pryor, Oklahoma. WWW.PRYORBOOKEXCHANGE.COM

Victoria: Does your store have a particular focus? If so, what is it?

Chris: New and used books; Bibles; Music; Church supplies – you name it, we’ll get it.

Victoria: What's the biggest change you've seen in bookselling in the last year?

Chris: Competition from another bookstore has made the last year and a half fun. People are really looking for a bargain and used books are quite popular.

Victoria: What's the biggest change you expect in selling books in the next year?

Chris: More online selling – for us, anyway.

Victoria: How should a would-be writer approach a bookseller, say, for example, for a reading or signing, or simply for advice?

Chris: Just present the product and go from there. The bookseller knows what will sell and the writer also has plenty of contacts. So writers, if you want to impress the bookseller, have people come to your booksigning and buy books!!!

Victoria: What is your opinion of the POD books?

Chris: They do really well for local authors, at least here.

Victoria: What is the greatest frustration that you have with mainstream publishers?

Chris: Lack of personal contact with booksellers.

Victoria: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Chris: Keep it up; you keep bookstores in business!

Victoria: Thanks, Chris, for your sharing your time, your expertise and your enthusiasm!

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About the Writer:

Victoria Grossack is, with Alice Underwood, the internationally published author of Iokaste: The Novel of the Mother-Wife of Oedipus, and other books coming out in the series called the Tapestry of Bronze (Tapestry of Bronze.com).  You can also read more of her articles on writing by ordering the e-book, Levels of Structure in Fiction from  www.booklocker.com.

Victoria was a moderator of a critique group for Coffeehouse for Writers and teaches the From Leaves to Forests and Writing Historical Fiction workshops for Coffeehouse for Writers.