I hope I don’t sound too ignorant but I’m curious about the job of one who buys books for a store like Barnes and Noble. What is a day in the life of that person like? Could one move up to a position like that from working at the store? Might a book buyer (is that the right term?) have other store-related duties? Just exploring potential career options; don’t know why I never thought about it before.
job as book buyer?
- Thread starter michelle25
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While I don't know for certain, chances are pretty good that you'd have to either work your way up from inside the company or be hired away from another company (bookstore or chain) for your experience.
The book buyers I've met over the years have all worked their way up from within.
The book buyers I've met over the years have all worked their way up from within.
I would think a good route into book-buying would be to start as a cashier in a book shop, and move up from there. At least, that's how a couple of my friends who do the job started out.
Thanks guys. Since I posted this I've been thinking more about whether these jobs will last through the transition from paper to e-books. If downloading stuff becomes the norm, what will happen to bookstores?
I'm fairly confident downloading stuff won't become the norm. Not for a good long while, anyway. People like books.
Hey, I'm not sure about the US, but in Ireland/UK, most people work their way up and gain more responsibility as they go. There's more to being competent book buyers than picking random books and numbers--through working their way up, people get the necessary experience and get to know trends and what type of books sell well in different sections etc.
And I agree, paper isn't going to entirely disappear any time soon.
And I agree, paper isn't going to entirely disappear any time soon.
Check out Pimp My Novel -- a blog by this guy who is in the sales department of a major publisher. I remember that he's had some posts about book sellers/buyers and might respond to an email question about it. He seems to know A LOT about the industry.
I did email him a couple days ago, actually. Thanks. Hopefully he'll respond but it's good to get AW'ers feedback too.
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