trueromance

Borders Bookseller:  Ellen,  California

There are a lot of things I enjoy about selling romance.  I like seeing the new books as soon as they come out, shelving and straightening to satisfy my slight obsessive-compulsive tendencies, and I get a little thrill when I can find a book for a customer when she doesn’t have the title or author, just the plot or a description of the cover.  But the best part of selling romance is talking to other romance readers!

On the selling floor I don’t get to chat as much as I can during our romance readers group meetings, but my shifts at the store are the only opportunities I have to talk about romance books in-depth.  When I find someone browsing in the romance section I always ask if I can help them and make a special effort to engage them in conversation.  Some customers seem reluctant to talk until I tell them it’s my section and I read a ton of romances.  But once we start talking about what we like and dislike, we end up exchanging recommendations and our TBR lists get longer and longer. I especially enjoy it when a customer comes back and says, “I loved that book you recommended!”

I don’t know how many times I nagged one readers group member to read Nalini Singh, but because she didn’t read paranormals at all she resisted all my efforts.  She finally gave in and read Slave to Sensation and got hooked on the series and read them all in about a month.  I also recommended Shelly Laurenston to both her and another reader, and now they’re both hooked.  I love it when that happens J.

I also appreciate the recommendations I receive from customers, hence the ever-growing TBR pile.  After The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley received rave reviews from a member, several people in the readers group bought the book.  Actually, they bought out my remaining copies and a couple people were left wanting (I had to order it from borders.com for myself!). All the feedback I receive from customers and the readers group also help me to make recommendations to customers whose preferences are different from my own.  Some authors who are often mentioned are Diana Gabaldon, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and of course the many other big-name standards like Nora Roberts and Linda Howard.  But I especially like to give and receive recommendations for authors who aren’t yet household names, and of course, our great local authors.

That’ another perk of my job-meeting authors, from bestselling, established authors to those who are just starting out.  Over the years, we’ve had many authors come to sign at the two stores at which I’ve worked, including  Julia Quinn, Lisa Jackson, Susan Wiggs, and most recently Brenda Novak and new author JoAnn Smith Ainsworth.  We’re also lucky enough to have local authors who sign for us whenever they have a new release, some of whom are regulars at our meetings.  At our October 29^th meeting we’ll have Jami Alden, Bella Andre, Mardi Ballou, Lucienne Diver (young adult author), Jasmine Haynes/Jennifer Skully, Paty Jager (who is flying in to join us-thanks Paty!), Crystal Jordan, Diana Orgain (debut mystery author), Kate Perry and Veronica Wolff.  So if you’re in the South San Francisco Bay Area, please stop by the Los Gatos Borders (10/29 at 6:30 p.m.)!

So from a customer POV, what makes a store romance section a great romance section?  What draws you to a particular romance section in a particular store?  As a bookseller I don’t have carte blanche with the section, but I’d like to do what I can to make it as inviting as possible !