Bookselling in a Changing Literary Landscape

By Patricia Mulcahy and Jane Rosenman

How do booksellers get titles into the hands of eager readers? Are the old ways of buying and selling still relevant in a digitally dominant age? How have algorithms and social media affected how independent booksellers stock their stores? Can indie bookstores still help individual customers find titles they didn’t know they were looking for?

We explored these and other questions in a 5E Office Hours session online with three luminaries of the bookselling trade: Mitchell Kaplan, founder of Books & Books, a major independent retailer in South Florida, and co-founder of the Miami Book Fair; Melanie Fleishman, buyer at the Center for Fiction Bookstore in Brooklyn and for Arcadia Books in Spring Green, Wisconsin; and Andy Ross, now a literary agent, formerly owner and operator of the legendary bookstore Cody’s in Berkeley, California, for thirty years.

From left: Mitchell Kaplan, Melanie Fleishman, Andy Ross

WHAT HAS CHANGED

• Though publishers still employ sales reps, who pitch new titles to book buyers, increasingly book buyers order from Edelweiss, an online platform that provides real-life data about how titles are performing across independent bookstores. “It’s changing everything,” according to Melanie and Mitchell. Melanie explained, “Edelweiss posts most publishers’ catalogues on their site, which is extremely helpful to booksellers. You can sort titles, tag them for event requests, see how much you are spending per publisher if you work with budgets. The publishers submit the ‘tip sheets’ they make for their sales conferences so the bookseller can see not only title information but advance reviews and comp sales to other books by the same author or books with a similar market. Some publishers include the editor in addition to announced print runs, which can make a difference for me.” Melanie added, “On Bookmanager, you can see what and how many copies other bookstores are ordering,” referring to a point-of-sale and inventory-tracking program.

• Distribution is better than ever, which has enabled small presses titles to be much more visible. Andy pointed out that big New York publishers are increasingly reluctant to take risks on literary titles—another factor boosting the visibility of smaller presses. “And we’re seeing stronger jacket covers from these presses, which is a real plus,” he added.

• Pre-ordering campaigns have become increasingly important. At Books & Books, Mitch encourages authors to start the process months before publication date by sending an email blast to everyone they know, as well as posting on social media. Books & Books offers author-signed copies to customers who purchase before publication date. This works particularly well for those with good mailing lists, platforms, and social media profiles.

• Readings and Q&As are not enough. Melanie noted that this format does not attract as many readers as it used to pre-pandemic. Mitch reported that his store holds about four hundred events a year, many off-site at performance spaces, temples, and churches. In 2023, Books & Books launched a nonprofit literary foundation to raise money to expand community programming and bring books to those in prison and into Title I schools. Kids get to “meet an author, build a library.” Both the Center for Fiction Bookstore and Books & Books have robust school reading programs. In short, indie booksellers are constantly innovating vis-à-vis outreach to different communities.

• “Harry Potter fans have grown up and are contributing to a boom among young readers,” Mitchell commented, “Young people are a big presence at the cafés in our stores in particular. Post-Covid, bookstores have increasingly become ‘the great third place.’” Both Mitch and Melanie rely on young staff to take the pulse of what younger readers are looking for. And they’ve found that shelves devoted to staff picks are a great way to draw these readers’ attention to intriguing new titles. Andy approved: “We need bookstores today that feel personalized. Curated.”

• Readers—and particularly younger readers—are embracing a range of genres. There was a strong consensus among our panelists that belonging to a particular genre doesn’t negatively affect a book’s placement or appeal. Mitch commented that “romantasy” titles and speculative and dystopian fiction have boomed in popularity. Melanie added that horror is no longer consigned to a “genre” section at her Brooklyn store.

• Traditional book reviews don’t drive as many sales as they used to. Word of mouth, exposure on NPR, and selection for book clubs like those helmed by Reese Witherspoon and Oprah are more effective, as are prize nominations. As podcasts have proliferated, their impact on sales has diminished.

WHAT HAS NOT CHANGED

• Booksellers like Mitchell and Melanie do not order by algorithms. Instead, they know they need to connect with readers in the moment, which is how they come to fully understand their customers’ tastes. “Book buying is an art,” Mitch explained. Melanie described how ordering for a store in small-town Wisconsin is quite different from ordering for one in Brooklyn, New York. Both Mitch and Melanie appreciate the letters to booksellers that editors at publishing houses often write in the front of advance readers’ copies.

• Authors should not be shy about approaching booksellers ahead of time. Visit stores and try to make a meaningful connection. Melanie urged New York–based agents and editors to do the same at her Brooklyn store. She’s delighted when committed book lovers visit. The personal touch is still alive and well.

• The ripple, word-of-mouth effect is still the number #1 driver of sales—although these surges may originate in new and unexpected places. Mitchell explained that he’ll sometimes see a particular book spike in sales that seemingly come out of nowhere. He investigates and discovers an Instagram post by someone with a large following. Once, he received a mysterious call from a woman named Laufey, who introduced herself as an Icelandic singer with an online book club and asked him to buy merch for a one-day event on which she would send her fans around the world to local bookstores to buy her recommended titles. Skeptical, Mitch bought a small amount of merch, only to arrive at work on the appointed day to discover a line of five hundred young women waiting to get into his store! At first, he admitted, he was unnerved by the power that such influencers wield—but he’s come around to celebrating the developing pathways by which young readers are introduced to a new world of reading.

The session included plenty of humor. A highlight was Andy’s story about urging a clever client to write a whole scene into a novel featuring none other than Mitchell Kaplan. The writer did just that, and Books & Books stocked the book! While it’s unlikely that all writers will include scenes starring their local bookseller, what’s certain is that authors, agents, and booksellers will always dream up creative ways to get worthy new titles into the hands of readers. This illustrates a maxim Mitch laid down for the group: “We live in a passion economy. The economics of owning a bookstore don’t make a lot of sense, but it is passion that fuels us.”