What It's Like Working in a Bookstore

Thoughts and reflections on my time being a bookseller & what it's like working at a bookstore. Let me know your experiences, fellow current & ex booksellers!
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[@annaliden90]

I know this isn’t the point of the video, but I work retail and I’m just glad someone else also thinks that “everyone” should at one point work retails just to understand how stressful it might be and how to deal with difficult customers. Also, it’s fun to hear about bookstores in America. I see people’s vlogs where they go to these massive buildings and they’re filled with books. I live in Sweden. We do not have massive bookshops. I’ll be lucky if I find four shelves with English titles in any given physical shop.

[@southernbiscuits1275]

I am retired after 40 years in retail. The hours, the pay, the abuse. Incredible. But, the stories we can tell about stupid customers are so entertaining!

[@bookslikewhoa]

We have a lot fewer of the gigantic bookstores than we used to, but not nearly enough small bookshops for my tastes :)

[@netogrof]

Hi Mara, I know this video is old so you probably won’t see this comment. I worked for Waldenbooks (owned by Borders) for two years. I worked there up until our final closing day through the chapter 11 bankruptcy. Working at Waldenbooks was a fun experience for me. I enjoyed talking about books with customers everyday. Our store was located inside a mall so we had a lot of foot traffic by people that were honestly just killing time. Cleaning the children’s section was always a nightmare. I would say generally everyone that worked in our location loved books. Our store manager was super knowledgeable and you could literally say “a book about three women with different religions talking to each other” and she would know it. Our stores staff picks were actually made by us. Our assistant store manager Ed (RIP) ALWAYS selected a children’s book about cats. There was regularly people doing scavenger hunts in the mall and our stores question was always “what does Ed love?”. I do greatly miss working for Waldenbooks and yes, Waldenbooks was superior to B&N, BAM, etc. There was of course annoying customers but honestly I worked 10 years of retail and the book store customers were not as bad as clothing retail customers. Oh, one funny side note we did have one couple on our return ban list. They would regularly buy new hardback best sellers, read them, and return the next week. We had to ban them from returns and advised them to use the library.

[@mariat6171]

I miss Borders. It amazes me how successful stores end up closing because the people at the top mess it all up.

[@bookslikewhoa]

True life- so sad 😢

[@theresa78201]

I miss Borders too--the young ladies at the cafe knew my name and were always sweet to me.

[@LaurenLaass]

I loved Borders! It had THE BEST hot chocolate that I've ever had. I remember it had white and milk chocolate curls on top. Little me loved that place.

[@willlexie]

The thing that I learn when I worked at a national publishing company that also have bookstores is: Most of my ex colleagues don’t read books, at all. In the point where some of them HATE reading. It baffled me. I thought I would meet my fellow nerd and geek friends. Turned out, I was still a wizard around the majority of muggles. Even they asked me “How can you read book so much?” I was like... “Excuse me, how you guys are not bookworms in this treasure cave?”

[@matildetome]

I have the same experience. I was really shocked also when I did my interview and they didn't care if I liked reading or not 😅 I had a whole speech prepared that wasn't even necessary

[@leanneburnham3515]

I worked at a chapters/indigo bookstore in Toronto 2002-2007. My favourite perk was being able to borrow the books to read for free, as long as we returned them in pristine condition. They wanted us to be knowledgeable about the stuff we were selling, so we could sign the books out. The craziest day was when Bill Clinton came to do a book signing for his biography, it was madness. He shook the hand of every staff member at the end though, which was nice of him.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Oh nice- yeah, I think those perks were only available for some employees, like maybe the full time ones? Or else I totally missed the boat on it 😂

[@elianorkhoury508]

Leanne Burnham, Would you recommend working at a bookstore for someone who s considering a career change with a Research Masters in English language and literature?

[@elbamariasosa-velasco4665]

I am still in mourning since Borders closed. I really enjoyed when an employee knew what he/she was doing. I started reading my favorite genre and author thanks to a Borders employee. Historical fiction and Philippa Gregory.😊

[@bookslikewhoa]

I know! RIP Borders :(

[@MySunshine234]

I currently work full time in a library and it love I have been watching bookstore/library videos.

[@laurahinrichsen3917]

This is really interesting, I used to work at the local library in my hometown and a lot of the things you mentioned were very similar in terms of hearing what people were looking for, making connections, giving recommendations, being more aware of what was coming out, et al. A big difference was in terms of my bottom line, I had always borrowed a lot from the library, but working there I found out about ILL's, set up the library on OverDrive which get me far more into ebooks than I had been, and being able to decide a lot of our acquisition list. My experience from the library perspective was I ended up buying far less books, and over the ensuing years I've been making steady progress looking through my shelves twice a year and deciding on more books that I can now bear to get rid of and donate them to the local library in the town I now live in. Space is very much a consideration since I work from home, which a 1 bedroom apartment. The only books I buy now are if there's a new Ilona Andrews or Jim Butcher book I'll preorder in hardcover, otherwise I have such a long list of books I want to read always that I can handle waiting for anything else to be available to borrow. Oh! I also discovered there that I absolutely LOVED (in the nerdiest possible way) cataloguing books with every piece of info I could find in Apollo Biblionix and looking at all the overall database information, shortly after working there was when I got accounts on GoodReads and LibraryThing and got interested in keeping track of data about the books I read. Total direct influence from working at a library.

[@WalkawayyyRenee]

I still miss Borders. I loved it there, loved Paperchase products they carried, too. My daughters worked there in Tacoma, WA.

[@Wolfhailstorm]

What an excellent discussion on the reality of working in a bookstore. I've wanted to for the longest time, however knowing that I may have romantiscied I still went to uni to study for the other career I was swaying to more so but now having that under my belt, I am still finding myself wanting to work in a book related place (shot myself in the foot when I was unable to volunteer in the local library as I started a new job at the time). I think I just need to know and this video was great at explaining some things ^^ especially when it comes to the hype etc

[@bookslikewhoa]

Glad this was helpful!!

[@tara2dope1]

Borders was so much better than Barnes & noble, I was so sad when they went out of business

[@bookslikewhoa]

Me too 😢

[@tara5742]

Oh! My heart can't take it. You wanted to read the books that no one would read D: Reminds me of Pheobe from Friends who wanted the worst looking Christmas tree so it could fullfill it's tree destiny

[@danecobain]

"All humans are inherently rude, dirty and stupid."

[@bookslikewhoa]

Haha facts are facts 😅

[@danecobain]

@@bookslikewhoa When can I get that on a tshirt? :D

[@shortymom5]

Word!

[@kimandersoncan]

Found your video because I was looking for other bookstore content. Lol'd so hard and can definitely relate to quite a lot of your experience although I manage a second hand book store in New Zealand. The public are unpredictable :P Thanks for sharing your experience in this vid!

[@shortymom5]

Great job on this video! I too miss Borders 😞. They were an amazing resource and I loved their vibe. Very much appreciate you sharing your experience, observations and insight. Be well!

[@Tzutopia94]

Hey hey! As a public librarian, I wanted to share my own experience with books and suggesting them to people, because obviously, I don't have the sales-aspect to it- like. not. at. all! There is no pressure whatsoever, not from the readers and not from the publishers, because we pick out our own books, those that us and our readers like. I'm a mega book nerd myself, and an avid writer, so there is no place I'd rather want to be. Aside from working in this peaceful, laid-back environment all day, (where I can also tell people to shut up xD) I'm also responsible for the adult genres Fantasy and SciFi and then any kid genre + their non fiction! I keep record of what books come out each month per genre and then track their scores to see what other people might think (I'd mainly use Goodreads for this). If you are a book nerd like me, aside from working in sales, a job in the library might be something you'd like. There is only ONE myth that I will debunk straight away, WE DON'T READ ALL DAY. I can only read books (mind you, these are just parts, pieces, and back-covers) when we are given sales on approval to check out or donations that we consider.

[@Tzutopia94]

Also thanks a lot for this awesome vid @bookslikewhoa ! ♥

[@bookslikewhoa]

What? Don’t get to just sit around and read all day??? The devil you say! 😱 But seriously, yeah, I think being a librarian would be a lot closer to the idea of what a lot of people think being a bookseller is like

[@x1ittlefoot]

I loved Borders!!! Ours was huge and the upstairs was all music. I spent so much time in that store as a kid.

[@rupachenthil]

Interesting topic and I enjoyed watching this video

[@amymyers5999]

Totally agree! I think everyone should work in retail for at least a few months. They would treat the product, store, and workers a lot better than they do. I go out of my way to put things back and be nice to customer service people, because I know they've probably had a rough day.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Exactly - I think it helps people understand how much things are or aren't in individual employee's control and react accordingly

[@rebeccag.4263]

You provide really good insight. I had a similar experience in getting a job in a field I had idolized. Seeing “how the sausage gets made” is a valuable experience, both on the positive and negative. It helped me move forward with a more realistic view of things.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Yeah, sometimes it's better not knowing tbh :)

[@taliw7736]

Haha Hamilton quote

[@czgibson3086]

Actual customer question: "I'm looking for a book. I can't remember who wrote it or what it's called. Do you think you have it?"

[@Bob-tw4eb]

Half the time I figured it out lol when I worked at BN

[@MaryAmongStories]

this was so interesting!

[@lindahagler6278]

I loved Borders! Miss it!

[@michellestratford9753]

Your thoughts about how different books have crossover with different people, reminded me that I've often thought there should be a dating app where matches are determined by book taste; If he loved Outlander, I'll probably love him. If he reads horror exclusively he's probably not my type 😁😁

[@jenniferpaschall7278]

I love East Tennessee...I went to school in Knoxville waaaaay back in the early 90s. GBO!

[@bookslikewhoa]

🍊🍊🍊

[@nsiz93]

I used to work at Borders too! I worked at two different ones - one in Nashville. I was a merchandising supervisor and a training supervisor. Good times!

[@bookslikewhoa]

Nice!!!! RIP Borders

[@taliw7736]

Thanks for sharing! I'm hoping to look for some job opportunities before I start college in January. Hopefully the book stores in the mall near me will like my resume and that I can try a this type of job. I have volunteered and done book shelving so I feel it would be great for me.

[@codecadette3433]

whaaaat, you worked at the Borders where I grew up! That was me reading in the Seattle's Best on Saturdays 😄 I live in England now and absolutely no one here knows that little part of Farragut, so finding this video has made my day! Hope you get to visit Mr.B's Emporium in Bath, it's the dreamiest

[@bookslikewhoa]

LOL what a small world!!

[@FaithfullyMoonstruck]

I worked at Walden Books...I think it was a chain? I also think Borders bought them out. lol This was like, 2000....4? Summer of 2004 something like that...and only worked for like 3 months. So I don't remember much, or had too much experience with it. I remember shelving books...I remember being told to sell cards (the memberships), and we should have sold so many a week or shift or something. I hated that. And I vaguely remember, when I was hired, that they mentioned ARCs on the back shelves that we were able to look through and take home, only I had NO IDEA at the time what they were talking about, and was WAY to scared to walk out of that store with books I hadn't paid for. lol

[@bookslikewhoa]

Oh yeah, Walden Books... I forgot that was a thing! 😅

[@StrangeSpark]

I used to work in a second hand book store of sorts in the UK. Unfortunately it no longer exists. It was a charity that would do environmental projects and it raised it's money to complete such projects by running 2nd hand bookstores. Each customer could have 3 free books on each visit and could take more for a donation of money, volunteer time or books. It was a really nice atmosphere because I wasn't worried about commission or profit margins and people donated loads of books because they could use our shop like a library with no late fines. 50 shades of grey needed burning. We had an entire shelf dedicated to that series, we had so many. Most books came and went quickly. The over advertised ones like 50 shades, any of Dan Brown's books, stayed way too long in massive numbers because they were read all at once by people who don't like to collect books. Plus these leftover books often had really ugly or bland or just unappealing covers. Nicer editions left quicker.

[@yellowRose806]

I've only been to Borders a few times. I wasn't much of a reader back then. I'm trying to remember what the atmosphere was like. Wasn't it more quiet and cozy compared to Barnes & Noble? I do miss Borders and seeing other bookshops. I live in Texas, so Half Price Books has always been my to-go store.

[@LilMorphineAnnie]

Fellow former Borders employee here! I worked at various bookstores for like 7 years total.

[@cherylclough4309]

I loved Borders and would frequent it whenever I could. Now, I use B & N cuz it’s the only one around. Do I use Amazon and other onlines? Yes, but I try to use the physical store b/c there is NOTHING so sweet as walking into a real, live bookstore with money in your jeans! (And if I carry a book around and then change my mind, I always put it back-same thing in clothing store or grocery store...never have worked in retail, but my mother didn’t raise any rude, thoughtless children!) Loved this video, TFS

[@bookslikewhoa]

I do love the experience of being in a bookstore- so soothing to be among so many books ☺️

[@chelseaannebauer6248]

I am currently a bookseller and buyer at Union Ave Books in Knoxville (thanks for the rad shout out in your January haul!!). I started at Union Ave as weekend help and my entire paycheck went right back to the store. Now that I am full-time it is a DAILY struggle. Since I work at an Indie, I was not familiar with publishers paying for shelf space. While not surprising, it still strikes me as being pretty gross. One thing that constantly surprises me is the amount of money they put into advanced readers. I don't know if you guys received ARCs at Borders, but we are inundated with them and I'm always so shocked by the number of titles they print advanced copies of. I really love your channel and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to pop in and tell you.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Oh yay!! Yes, I really enjoyed visiting you guys- hopefully I will return the next time I’m home. It does hearten me to hear that indies aren’t having their shelf space bought up in the same way. I understand why it happens but... yeah. I think it’s hard to balance the business part of things with the genuine enthusiasm for the books being promoted.

[@taliw7736]

Oooh Wow, I've never heard of Boarders. Cool

[@sephestra.]

My husband and I were just talking about how much we loved and missed Borders the other day because the one that closed in our city became a Whole Foods, where we were stopping to pick up some packages from Amazon Locker...and possibly cheese. Also, you mentioned it very briefly, but I would be very interested in a video of the books you've read that you consider unique.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Hmmm good idea- noted!!!!

[@rebeccagibson9095]

I start my job as a bookseller tomorrow 😬. I'm a Christmas temp so it's going to be crazy. I've done a lot of retail but in small towns and using old fashioned tills so...I'm going to have a lot of things to get to grips with tomorrow 😂.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Good luck!!

[@gaildoughty6799]

You’ve reinforced my idea that I really should never work in a bookstore. I’d be close to having to pay the store instead of the other way round. I did volunteer for a few years at a library bookstore. Oh my. I have no control when it comes to books. None at all.

[@bookslikewhoa]

True life -- it is a fiscally dangerous move for book lovers!

[@dailycarolina.]

I also worked at a bookstore and sometimes i missed that some costumers when they came back to buy something, they asked for me plus I like them too, they recommended me books i haven't read But other costumers are really jerks 🙄.

[@KatesFree]

I worked at SuperCrown just before it went under, also at Book Market after that. A friend went to work at Borders and they seemed to be happy there. A few of us went to B&N after and they didn't actually seem to know how to handle people who had bookstore experience--I think they were afraid we would try to take their jobs and such, so most of us didn't stay for long. The thing that bothered me the most was how much list price of many books was--I remember a period fiction book hardback, just a regular size book, having the asking price of 35 dollars! They would then mark it down to $25, but still. This was 20 years ago. I don't think anyone remembers that book now, and I found out you can get it on Amazon for a penny plus postage--which seems like justice to me. This kind of thing, as well as other stuff I have since read about, led me to the conclusion that big book publishers/distributors are amongst the most money-grubbing corporations out there, and if they had their way no one would even be allowed to freely use the library.

[@erinvaianisi9729]

i worked at sephora for a year and a half so i totally get putting your pay cheque right back into the store lol that's the main reason why i wouldn't be able to work at a bookstore!

[@bookslikewhoa]

Omg, I could never work at Sephora for that reason alone 😂

[@susiq4857]

Try working in the medical field. The general population is a huge disappointment.

[@janenightreadsandwrites223]

Ugh, soooo true. I do clerical work but my office is in the ER and sometimes we have nights where I really lose my faith in humanity.

[@bookslikewhoa]

OMG I can't even imagine. Any kind of customer service job is tough, but add in life/death situations & YIKES

[@pete5668]

The medical field would nauseate me.

[@sanaa.2195]

Yass 🙈

[@andieallison6792]

This aged so badly that it aged amazingly.

[@cholulalv]

Turkey Creek! Whenever I travel to Knoxville, that's where I stay.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Yay! It's a hot spot ;)

[@Bridget-oi8gd]

I'm in the UK and love books but am completely bewildered by the idea of a book shop staying open past 7pm. Do people actually go book shopping at 11pm?

[@danasmith7286]

i liked this video when you said " all humans are inherently rude, dirty, and stupid." haha

[@bookslikewhoa]

haha you're welcome ;)

[@abstractbybrian]

Most jobs would be better without people, oh the irony!

[@peggywilliams8229]

Years ago I was management at a large retail store that sold books. A company would bring in new books and take the old ones off the shelf. They would then Rip the covers off the older ones and throw the books away. Part of my job was to get a can of car oil off the shelf and poor over them so no one would get them from the dumpster. And there is something I have always wondered when you look at books in the cafe do you put them back at the risk of putting them in the wrong place or do the employees restock them. Not sure what is proper

[@bookslikewhoa]

I think if you don't know exactly where it goes, either taking it to the register & asking them to reshelf it is probably best practice. If you're confident that you know where to put it, I would go ahead and do that

[@kvitale7734]

Rude. Dirty. Stupid. Yep that sums it up. So funny😆

[@janelonschein3248]

Barnes and Noble or Borders would be my dream job!

[@JNeil1975]

I loved Borders in Nashville, TN. I enjoyed it much more than Barnes & Noble. I hated seeing them close. Retail....I was glad to finally get out of it. I'm too old to put up with peoples bullshit now.

[@Bob-tw4eb]

I got hired by Borders and they said to check the schedule for hours and said they weren't sure when I'd officially start. I checked the weekly schedule for the next week when it came out the Friday (I was hired like Thurs) and I wasn't on it so I figured I wouldn't be starting that week. I go in next Wednesday to ask when I could make it to the schedule and the manager said oh we penciled you in after the last schedule came out and unfortunately we already processed your firing as a no show. I'm like really undo it, and he said he'd be too embarrassed so I was SOL. Also they never bothered to call me about being added to the schedule.

[@ginathomas237]

Thanks for the retail empathy! I work at Marshalls and yes, some people can be very difficult to deal with, but fortunately positive interactions make up for the a**holes most of the time. I also have good coworkers which definitely helps🤓

[@bookslikewhoa]

Good coworkers make all the difference

[@Whoareyoupeople900]

One of the best types of customers are animal lovers. I work at a Petstore and when I was a cashier I rarely got any rude customers. Another type of amazing customers are ANIMALS! I was switched into the daycare center and I play and watch over dogs my whole shift now. I'm not gonna lie it can get frustrating. The hardest part of the job is having to scold a dog. But, then you look into their eyes and just wanna hug them and apologize!

[@bookslikewhoa]

That sounds awesome!

[@CookieR1272]

Crown Books vet here. 😁

[@LKx979]

I miss Borders so badly. The one I went to the most was in Orland Park Illinois, which closed in 2011. It was almost always busy, while the Barnes & Noble across the street which still stands was like a ghost town. B&N seemed cold and sterile and boring, and have always been overpriced on their CDs and DVDs. I liked Seattle's Best coffee and pastries better than whatever B&N sold, too.

[@bookslikewhoa]

SAME!

[@thegreenwoodhub1279]

Hi Mara, what is your full time job now? Do you have to have lots of experience to become a book reader? How do you get a job with publishers so they hire you to read their books? It must be so nice to get free books all the time. Thank you

[@kristavaillancourt6313]

Customers of bookstores are noticeably nicer than in other retail environments. They tend not to read signs for sales. They usually aren't very observant of those details ironically.

[@bookslikewhoa]

I agree that customers in general were really nice - there's always the occasional nightmare (or weird guy who wants to talk to you about the erotica he's buying o.O) but I think overall much better than the general customer at a random store

[@kristavaillancourt6313]

Yeah Kama Sutra guy is a thing.

[@mastersal4644]

I reshelf books at stores too as my pet peeve it not finding the last copy in the store when you're desperately looking for it. So annoying! At least customers should hand it in to the cashier so staff doesn't have to go hunting.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Ugh, exactly!! It’s so frustrating for everyone if the system says it’s in stock but no one can find it 😓

[@Lu.G.]

Oh my goodness, I spent many an afternoon in Borders wandering around. I do miss it, still. Not a huge fan of B&N and now that so many have closed, it's just not convenient for me. Luckily, we have a locally-owned bookstore (Novel - formerly Davis-Kidd also formerly Booksellers) which was re-opened in 2017 - yay!

[@bookslikewhoa]

OMG, Davis-Kidd, yesssss... totally forgot they were a thing there for a while

[@tinabarlage4219]

Almost everything you said also applies to working for a public library. There are plenty of dirty, rude, entitled people even when they're not paying for anything. And it's super fun to be yelled at over a .20 late fee. 😂

[@bookslikewhoa]

OMG, I cannot with those kinds of people >.

[@kathybolton2240]

Yes, I totally agree!

[@kristavaillancourt6313]

I know what it's like to work in a bookstore, why did I click on this? Lol.

[@cortiees]

I went to U of M and am about your age too and got to go to the original Borders all the time in Ann Arbor, MI. Miss it so much!

[@bookslikewhoa]

Aw, that's awesome! Yeah, RIP Borders-- you were well loved

[@user-ql2ml3io3m]

I went to business in two thousand sixteen

[@Tinaendewalvis]

So wat are you doing know for living?

[@bookslikewhoa]

IT! :)

[@rae__8003]

9:20

[@ajilano7753]

Can i follow you in good reads?

[@southernbiscuits1275]

I loved Borders. I do not love Barnes & Noble. When I shopped at Borders I could maneuver around the store because the flow of merchandise made sense. Going into a Barnes & Noble, there is no logical sense of flow. The placement of books is like a patchwork quilt. This is here and what would seem like a logical topic progression would be on the other side of the store. Also, when you went into Borders you felt like you were appreciated as a customer. Barnes & Noble's staff , at least for the one in my town, act superior to the customer. In Borders books were almost always in their correct location. If you were looking for Southern literature, you would not find it in the area where psychology books were located. At Barnes & Noble books can be anywhere in the store. You ask a clerk where to find a particular book, they do not have a clue except to go to the computer to see where it is supposed to be. More than once I've seen a clerk be embarrassed because the book was not in its right place. Their suggestion was to just look around because it "had to be somewhere". And, when you walk into a Barnes & Noble, you are immediately assaulted by the smells coming from the coffee shop. Borders had a coffee shop as well but it did not stink up the rest of the store. In fact, I don't remember the coffee having a smell. Borders also had a greater selection of books than does Barnes & Noble. I could almost always find the book I was looking for at Borders. Not so at Barnes % Noble. If I was only interested in best sellers, yes, Barnes & Noble was adequate. But, let's face it. If a book is on the best seller list, seldom is it a quality piece of literature. As for retail work, when I got into management, there were two nightmare events that happened within months of taking the position. One night a fellow comes in covered in blood. He had shot and killed his friend in our parking lot. Another night I was working when a rush of customers came running into the store shouting, "He's got a gun". Yep. A man had a gun and had fired it outside a children's clothing store. He placed the gun in his jeans pocket and in so doing, he shot himself. The lies, the stupidity, the selfishness of customers are astounding. I had one lady get incensed because I would not give her a shopping pass with her credit card number. She had no identification. When she told me she had just got back into the country and did not have any ID with her, my response was, "the plane didn't just land in the parking lot and let you out, did it?". Oh, yes. Retail stories are the best! LOL!!

[@bookslikewhoa]

OMG, those are some seriously intense situations to start a new position with!! And I agree 100% with what your take on B&N is -- I just find it difficult to locate books and annoyed by how employees are trained to handle questions

[@rosiereviewsbooks72]

I feel like if i worked in a book store i would end up spending all my money on books😄

[@bookslikewhoa]

If you're anything like me.... yes. You would :D

[@Luna-kk6qf]

I asked in a books store if they had any books by the author Meyer. I forgot the first name then but she only knew Stephanie but I didn't ment her 😂

[@llove8283]

I worked in a chain bookstore and someone left a dirty old bra on one of our displays!!! Wtf?

[@bookslikewhoa]

Seriously?? Ugh people are weird!!