Meet Glenda Childs, owner of the Doylestown Bookshop.
BACKGROUND: Doylestown Bookshop is a general bookstore that has been in business 18 years and has excellent community support. The customer base skews somewhat to women of all ages, and they have regular children’s programs. They have eight bookclubs. The store is 6,000 square feet, and it 75% books with 25% gift items.
They have an interesting mission statement, which ends with the inspiring thought:
“Helping every customer find just the right book [. . .]
enriching the personal, educational and professional experience of our customers.
The Doylestown Bookshop, purveyors of knowledge and wonder!”
THE RETAIL BOOK BUSINESS: Like other interviewees, Glenda says it feels as if the business is stabilizing. Survivors are finding ways to stay in business – events, fairs, book clubs and so on – and publishers are starting to be responsive to this. Reps are more available and very helpful. Glenda says they love their reps.
MYSTERIES: The mystery section, which includes thrillers, is almost as large as general fiction, about 5% of the store.
MYSTERY SELECTION: Based on what they think the customer wants. There is a very popular Staff Picks wall. Thrillers remain popular and so are books by Sandy Cody, a local author. Nancy Martin also has a large fan base there.
They are open to new authors and have a large consignment business.
EVENTS: There are many authors in the area, so they cannot accommodate all of them. That said, a look at their event calendar shows an extremely active program.
What do they look for in an author who’d like to do an event? Sales figures are considered, but above all, a willingness to promote themselves and their work, to do some of the marketing, and the ability to engage the audience (Not the first time this has been said in these interviews.)
SUGGESTIONS FOR MWA AND ITS MEMBERS: They had a mystery panel last year that was well received, so being willing to participate in an event is critical. Authors who do interactive promotion are a plus, and so are contests. (It’s all about engaging the audience.) When asked, she said yes, they could certainly be interested in a “packaged event,” such as a mystery panel all put together by MWA or an author. A Mystery Writer’s Panel in November 2014, which included Jenny Milchman, Wendy Tyson, John Dixon, Matthew Quinn Martin, and Annette Dashofy, was a great event. “We really liked having a panel of authors,” says Glenda. “It made for interesting discussions with the audience.”
Watch this space for a summary of and some conclusions from our indie bookstore profile series.