More Young Guns of Bookselling

20 Jan 2011

The Read’s readers enjoyed our first feature on the young talents making their mark on the retail book trade, so we’ve found more young booksellers just passionate about working in a bookstore. Read the first feature.

Here they talk about what excites them in the book industry, the challenges the trade faces… and of course what books set them on the reading path as kids and what’s on their bedside tables now.

Anna Ferguson
University of Canterbury Bookshop

While Anna Ferguson was studying Art History at Canterbury, she worked part time at the University Bookshop on campus. When she finished her studies and a Book Buyer position came up at UBS Canterbury, Anna applied for and got the job.

She is now one of three buyers, responsible for the general book stock in art, film, travel, philosophy, history, politics, science fiction and music. She’s comfortable with everything except science fiction, recently added to her portfolio. “It’s a bit outside my comfort zone, but I’m getting a handle on it!”

Her own reading nowadays is contemporary fiction, mainly NZ titles. She’s a fan of The 10pm Question and has just finished Carl Nixon’s Settlers’ Creek. It is only since she started at UBSCan four years ago that she has read much fiction, though her elder sister, an English teacher, is a fund of reading recommendations.

As a child, her reading was “all things Roald Dahl”, Dr Seuss and Harry Potter. She is a fan of the graphic books of Shaun Tan, but feels their appeal is more to adults than children.

The Read asked Anna for her favourites in art books. “I’m into contemporary crafts right now so I’d suggest Juxtapoz Handmade, combining paper craft and knitting.”

Also passionate about the Japanese aesthetic, she nominates Japan: Season by Season and Yoshitomo Nara's Nobody's Fool for those who want to explore that art culture.

What excites and motivates her passion for reading? “Art history has given me an appreciation for books as artistic creations, the cover, the font chosen, the binding. “What disheartens me is e-books, but I’m sure they will never extend to art books and children’s books.”

Another threat to the existence of bookstores Anna sees is the increasing ease of finding books online. “Publishers have got to do their job and help booksellers with this. It is ridiculous that you can get 7 – 10 days delivery from the Book Depository, but when you ring a publisher in Auckland, they quote 4 – 6 months to get the same book.”

One of the challenges of her current career is finding time for travel – Anna especially wants to visit overseas bookstores as a major part of any holiday. So for later this year, Anna has negotiated a four month break that works between semesters and is off to America, Canada, Iceland and Europe.

Anna would also like to try bookselling in another country, but long term she sees her future in bookstores here. Her view of an ideal job later in her career is the second in command role in a major bookstore.

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Leila Austin
Dorothy Butler Children’s Bookstore, Auckland

Leila Austin, sales assistant at Dorothy Butler Children’s Books in Ponsonby, is a passionate fan of Young Adult (YA) fiction, so she couldn’t be more at home in her job.

A BA Hons graduate in English, Leila is not ruling out a return to university to do an MA, but a part-time job morphed into a full-time one after she finished studying and she is into her third year at the bookshop.

Her reading interests are wider than just YA books – add in popular fiction, fantasy, Shakespeare and ‘lots of different ends of the spectrum’. Plus she writes YA fiction as well as just selling it.

What’s the appeal of the YA area? “When I compare what was around when I was a teenager, to the selection available today, the field has grown hugely. There are new and wonderful stories all the time. I started reading in the area as a recovery from study and love its immediacy, freshness and connections.”

A title she is currently hand-selling is When I Reach You. “It combines realism and time travel at the same time.” Other recommendations: This is Shyness by Leanne Hall, Graffiti Moon by Australian author Cath Crowley and Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.

Leila isn’t directly involved in buying for Dorothy Butler Books as it is done out of the companion store in Christchurch, but her suggestions are listened to and acted on. “I’m hoping to stay in the children’s book area and love having a job where I’m surrounded by books, but a career in bookselling, publishing or as a writer would make me happy.”

You might guess that as a kid Leila needed to have a pile of books by her bed, with the current favourite always put carefully under her pillow. “Margaret Mahy was my most loved author and The Boy Who Was Followed Home and The Witch and the Cherry Tree (try the gingerbread recipe) are my nostalgic favourites.”

The future of bookselling faces many challenges, says Leila. “There’s the state of the economy, it is harder to get people to buy, though having said that, most don’t skimp on children’s reading.

“It will be a negotiation in the future when e-books become more prominent. I like the e-readers I’ve tried and e-books will be useful, but the book as a solid object will never die.

“There will be new ways to balance things, and print on demand will play a bigger part. The future will be exciting but tricky.”

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Jonathan Shine
Scorpio Books, Christchurch

Jonathan Shine, Scorpio Books Christchurch’s newest staff member, is an experienced bookseller who learnt his craft at UBS Canterbury. He was responsible for receiving and returns of books there, before moving to Scorpio nine months ago.

A more enthusiastic, personable bookseller (who picks up knowledge like a sponge) you are not likely to find. So it is a suprise to discover his tertiary qualification is in general animal science, aka veterinary nursing.

Since arriving at Scorpio his reading has “gone into overdrive.”

As a kid he was turned on to reading by Bill Peet’s picture books, Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox and The Witches. “But most of all by the Lucky Book Club at school. You’d put in your order off the mailer and it always came in bigger, brighter and better than you expected.”

What excites him about bookselling is the customers. “People who come to Scorpio are really keen on books, whether they are tourists or locals. They want advice on what to buy and I talk with them in order to suggest something good that will suit the person best.”

Yet his book trade ambitions are modest. “I don’t have to be the one in charge, I’m happy doing what I do. Long term I might like to run a second hand store or work in a library – my ultimate ambition – but I don’t have the appropriate qualification.”

His current reading suggestions are eclectic, and he credits fellow staffers Jo and Gill for putting him on to some titles. For sci-fi buffs there’s The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, a Nebula Award winner. Local authors Kelly Ana Morey for Quinine and Carl Nixon’s Settlers’ Creek are recent enthusiasms.

Plus anything from Gecko Press. "They're my favourite publisher! I just love their books, particularly The Noisy Book, a board book by Soledad Bravi. It's the book I pushed most at Christmas.”

Wulf, a debut historical novel from New Zealander Hamish Clayton, a title released later this month, is another recommendation, as is Freakonomics, and “books by Haruki Murakami.”

Crystal ball gazing, Jonathan finds the future a little murky. “E-books will impact on general day-to-day reading. Independent bookstores are going to have to find creative ways to market them alongside what we already have, and in two generations from now the trade will be quite different.

I also wonder how online stores like Amazon, the Book Depository and Fishpond will continue to impact on sales. “But for us here in Christchurch the immediate problem is getting people to come back into the inner city; some are still unsure if we are closed because of the quake. We’re not, we’re fine, although each major aftershock did minor damage. Other city bookstores near us weren’t so fortunate and our thoughts go out to them.”

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Rowena Sanders
Take Note Tawa, Wellington

Rowena Sanders is a second generation bookseller. Her parents Karen and Steve Pettigrew bought Take Note Tawa in the early 90’s, and while all of their girls worked in the store on school holidays, Rowena is the only one to make it a full time career.

“I enjoy working in a family business and in the Tawa community. “The variety of books and our Kiwibank and Post Office agencies mean you are always on your toes!”

Currently Rowena is managing the Post Office and Kiwibank sides of the business. This entails a 7am start to sort mail in Post Office boxes. The agencies are systems-based businesses, but asked if those systems rub off in the book and stationery side of the business, Rowena is quick to point out that Paper Plus has excellent stock systems already in place. But the two agencies do draw people in to the store, says Rowena.

“People come in to pay some bills and see a book they would love to read!”

Her childhood favourite read was Judith Kerr’s The Lion Who Came to Tea. “I knew it by heart but still had to have it read to me every single day. Quite a strange story, now I look back on it!”

As an adult, her reading choices are for light-hearted crime novels. “It's  because I’m busy – it's relaxation reading.” Janet Evanovich and Carl Hiassen are two favourite authors, and she has just finished and highly recommends The Day of the Jack Russell by Colin Bateman.

When her home renovation is complete in a couple of months, Rowena’s looking to get all her cookbooks back in the kitchen, particularly her newest acquisition, India: Cookbook by Pushpesh Pant. Presented in a cloth bag, this was a popular title for Take Note Tawa.

Current challenges she sees facing the retail book industry are the variety of choice. “We have to be informed and skilled to pick the right titles for our customers and local community.”

And for the future, Rowena’s ambition for Take Note Tawa is: “I’d like to see us keep up with the changing world of retail and prosper.”

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By Jillian Ewart, writer for The Read.

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