Within the international bookselling community, there is a special cohort: booksellers who are also authors. From Ann Patchett (Parnassus Books), Larry McMurtry (Booked Up), Louise Erdrich (Birchbark Books and Native Arts) and Lauren Groff (The Lynx) to Jeff Kinney (An Unlikely Story), George R. R. Martin (Beastly Books), Judy Blume (Books & Books) and Emma Straub (Books are Magic). You can add to that list the following authors from Aotearoa NZ’s bookselling community: Olivia Spooner (The Booklover), Ruth Shaw (Three Wee Bookshops), Louise Ward & Gareth Ward (Wardini Books Havelock North and Napier), Stella Chrysostomou and Thomas Pors Koed (Volume) and Kate Gordon-Smith (The Kiwi Kids’ Bookstore). We sent these booksellers – and authors – a few questions. We hope you enjoy their answers.
What came first: selling stories or writing stories?
Shaw: Writing.
Spooner: Definitely writing stories. I’ve been writing stories for 25 years and can’t imagine ever stopping.
Chrysostomou: Creative writing was the best thing about primary school. For me, the fire was lit by my standard 2 & 3 (years 4 & 5) teacher who would take us out to the field to look at clouds, out of school grounds to the creek, introducing us to haiku and free verse.
Pors Koed: Writing. Unfortunately, writing spoils you for most “useful” endeavours, but it is not a disadvantage for bookselling. Most people need to earn money somehow.
Gareth Ward: Writing. I’ve always loved writing stories. I studied writing for many years, and in 2016 won the Storylines Tessa Duder Award, which prompted the writing career. We did have the bookshop at that point – I think we had been open about three years – but I was trying to write stories before then.
Gordon-Smith: Writing stories. I created The Kiwi Kids’ Bookstore a year after I published my first junior fiction fantasy adventure.
While writing unanimously came first, we wondered how the craft of bookselling influences their writing?
Spooner: There’s no better way to understand a reader’s likes and dislikes than being a bookseller. I try to absorb what readers tell me works or doesn’t and use it to improve my own writing. Also, I get to meet so many people from all walks of life – perfect inspiration/research for my characters!
Gordon-Smith: It’s widened the array of books I read, particularly books by NZ authors but also authors from all over the world. It’s given me a greater understanding of what parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians, etc. are looking for when buying books for children and teens (they want choice and diversity, IMO, just like the children they’re buying for).
Pors Koed: Being a bookseller tends to broaden your exposure to the possibilities and limitations of literature. Also, contact with customers provides a stream of situations, characters, and ways of talking that could easily be “fished” for fiction.
Louise Ward: Absolutely influences our writing. All the warm character arcs are all told through the medium of the bookshop so the people who come in, that wander in and out, are all part of the fabric of the stories. And, of course, the minutiae of being a bookseller is part of the plot of The Bookshop Detectives too.
What about the numbers side? Is writing books good for business (bookselling business that is)?
Shaw: Incredibly good. Income and customers have increased considerably, especially people from overseas who have read my books.
Gordon-Smith: I think so. People find the bookstore thanks to my books, and vice versa. Being a Kiwi author who also supports other Kiwi authors is the whole premise of my bookstore.
Pors Koed: The labour involved in writing books makes you better at recognising what does and doesn’t work in books that you are reading or selling. This can be helpful for any customers who know how to recognise good writing, but it is not much use for other customers.
Louise Ward: I think writing The Bookshop Detectives has been really good for business. We definitely have destination tourists coming to Wardini Books, the real life Sherlock Tomes, and having a look at the flower trough, trying to see which bookseller is which character, looking at the way the bookshop is described in the book. It’s really nice selling your own book in your own shop. It’s lovely when someone picks it up and has a look at it and says, “Oh, I’ve heard a lot about this book. Is it any good?” and I can go “Yip, I wrote that!”
Gareth Ward: I think many of our customers have a fierce loyalty. They love the fact we’ve written a book and are on the radio and they really are proud of us and proud to be in the bookshop family. So I think it is good, yes.
Do you recommend your own books on the “shop floor”?
Shaw: No, but Lance [Ruth’s husband] does.
Gordon-Smith: Yes, if I think my book fits their age group criteria and interests of the reader.
Spooner: I’m not great at recommending my own books – it’s so awkward! Must do better…
Chrysostomou: Mostly not. I do recommend my book (which is part of an art project) to those that I think would be interested.
Pors Koed: I do not recommend that anyone reads anything that I have written but I do not prevent them from doing so if they are really determined.
Gareth Ward: I have absolutely no shame in recommending my own books on the shop floor. I’ve always done it and always will do. You do get some funny looks from people when you tell them you wrote it, like they think you’re trying to sell them a dog but then you say you have won awards for this, this, and this and sometimes, sometimes, they still think you’re trying to sell them something a bit dodge. But I am proud of my books. I think they’re all very good. I’m particularly proud of the ones Louise and I have written together, so I have no shame in selling my books.
Bookselling is a busy job, and writing a book takes a lot of time. How do you manage both?
Shaw: I start early in the morning, finish around 0830, then have breakfast and rush out to open the bookshops. I now have three part-time workers who are great so some days I can lock myself away and write during the day.
Gordon-Smith: I tend to write the shorter junior fiction books in a concentrated push, prioritising writing over everything else for a few weeks. The bookstore isn’t yet full time (and may never be because I also enjoy working on other book sector projects like publicity and coaching).
Spooner: I like to say I’m an efficient imperfectionist. I value efficiency highly, especially at the bookshop and with my writing – if I’ve carved out time to write, I’m going to damn well sit and write! If I have a long list of things to do at the bookshop, I get on with it. And I don’t strive for perfect – a job done is better than not. I accept I can’t write the ‘perfect’ story, I can only write the very best I can given the busy life I lead.
Chrysostomou: Doing anything creative in a society that is geared towards monetary return is problematic. Creative activities don’t necessarily make financial sense. And in many ways, they shouldn’t. I don’t consider myself a writer. My book was accidental. A product of several years’ study and an ongoing jewellery project. The project just happened to result, in part, in a collection of short stories.
In thinking about this question, the answer is: there isn’t time for everything, but somehow you manage it. I am very strict about ringfencing time for my art practice. When I am working as a bookseller, focus and efficiency are key drivers to keeping that precious time for creativity secure.
Pors Koed: Unfortunately, I am too busy selling books to have the time or headspace to write. I suppose I resent the business of bookselling because of this, but I am sure that in the future I will resent it more in retrospect.
Louise Ward: When trying to balance working in a bookshop and owning a bookshop with writing, we are in the enviable position now, after 12-15 years, that we have staff who are better than us at bookselling. So we are able to step back and not do a lot on the shop floor. Catt, Amy and Phil in Havelock North and Rachael, Adele and Rowe in Napier, as well as a couple of part-timers Piere and Emma, are just the best team in the world. That means we can work around bookselling commitments, rep visits, paperwork and plan in blocks of writing time. We only live 2 km away from the Havelock North shop. So if there is anything we need to be there for we can zip down really quickly. We plan it in and carve out chunks of time and make it happen.
When you meet someone new or declare yourself on a travel document, what occupation do you say?
Shaw: When meeting someone new away from the bookshops I don’t mention what I do. They just assume I am retired. On travel documents I put retired.
Gordon-Smith: Last year I started writing “author” (rather than “media relations consultant” or “writer” as I’ve written for the past 25+ years). With three books out, I felt ready to claim I am an author! It’s not that I’m not proud to be a bookseller too but it doesn’t quite take enough of my working week to be my main occupation.
Spooner: Bookseller, then my husband, if he’s with me, will chip in with “and an author” and I give him a whack.
Chrysostomou: I’m a jeweller. This might surprise some people!
Pors Koed: It is slightly less irritating to be told what books you should sell than what books you should write, so it is slightly less irritating to call yourself a bookseller than a writer.
Louise & Gareth Ward: When we’re doing travel documents we firmly say, “Bookseller.” That’s the thing we are most proud of in our lives, even though being the writer at parties is pretty cool, too. But definitely being a bookseller.
Anything else you would like to share about writing books and selling books?
Pors Koed: Apart from when trying to answer these questions, I try to keep the bookseller and the writer apart in myself. The bookseller is helpful and polite and positive, but the writer is contrary and frustrating to interact with. I am not either of these people.
Spooner: Best. Career. Ever.
Shaw: I love writing and selling books for many reasons. They are a huge part of my life. I am very lucky that I have a husband who puts up with my early morning starts, my highs and lows when writing, and who never complains about being surrounded by secondhand books.
Gordon-Smith: As an author who’s opted for the indie publishing route so far, deciding to set up an online bookstore has fast-tracked my author career – particularly for the New Zealand market – in ways I could never have imagined when I published my first book. As a bookseller who also publishes my own books, I know how much work authors and publishers put into creating great books and my standards of what I regard as a great book for “my bookstore” get more exacting all the time. It’s competitive out there and I appreciate more than ever that not every book suits every store. I’m grateful for the feedback I’ve had on my books from other booksellers and the learning opportunities which turn up every day to help me improve my own writing, tweak the bookstore or inspire me in some way.
Chrysostomou: Both activities are satisfying and rewarding in and of themselves. I love the physical form of the book as an object-maker, and I love the world of possibilities in books, and the ways in which language works on the page. So, if you can share this enthusiasm as a bookseller and light someone else’s fire, what could be better?
Gareth Ward: Part of writing The Bookshop Detectives is we wanted people to understand behind the scenes of bookselling, how difficult it can be to run a bookshop and some of the problems that we have, both the fun and more serious. We also wanted to try and support NZ authors. Wherever possible when we mention an author, we try to mention NZ authors in a NZ book. Trying to big up our whole industry with maybe a bit of tongue in cheek humour about some of the difficulties we face in bookselling.
Books in print: