May 3, 2015
My bookselling dreams come true
Book City, Behind the Scenes
Was Authors for Indies Day just an elaborate ruse to make all my dreams come true? Because if it was, it worked. After a very fun morning of Jane’s Walking through our neighbourhood, I took to the subway over the East Side to Book City on the Danforth. I met up with friendly authors including Alissa York and Jessica Westhead, and we took to selling books. My best pitch was for Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, which I’d read gleefully, staying up all night the night after Iris was born. I’d read it again recently, I’d assured customers, and still loved it just as much, so it wasn’t simply the effect of drugs. It turns out I have a talent for enthusing about books in public though—I sold copies of Ellen in Pieces, On Immunity and The Bookshop Book (though all I had to do was show them the pictures…). And I also sold Jessica Westhead’s And Also Sharks, Arguments With the Lake by Tanis Rideout, Mating for Life by Marisa Stapley, and Fauna by Alissa York. Plus, Everywhere Babies and Swimming. Swimming, for the picture book crowd. It was ridiculously fun and there was baked goods.
And then my family arrived, and my shift was up. And naturally I had to buy books of my own, and then we went out for Greek Food, and then gelato, and I really don’t know how you can’t say that Authors for Indies wasn’t the success to end all successes.
So many thanks to everyone who came and went shopping!
Sounds wonderful! So glad you had a great time selling books. I was at work all day so didn’t make it to any bookstores at all…but was recommending books all day anyhow 🙂 Joys of library work!
Agreed — It was SO MUCH FUN playing bookseller! I hung out all afternoon at Pulp Fiction Books in Kits (new & used) and convinced people to buy Kate Atkinson’s Behind the Scenes at the Museum and Heather O’Neill’s collection of stories hot of the press, Daydreams of Angels, and other stuff. Not a high-traffic store on a sunny Vancouver Saturday, but a heady experience none-the-less. Was joined by the wonderful Renee Rodin, who used to own one of the best indie bookshops in the city, R2B2, and the delightful manager Emilie, a long-time books person all around town.
Of course, I bought more books than I sold. New copy of Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend, and a lightly used Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford, some mother’s day books for me mom, and ordered Bren Simmers new poetry book, Hastings-Sunrise, for a friend gift, and more.
Oh, I LOVE Renee Rodin. Her essay collection is such a beloved book to me. It was a fantastic day. I’m glad to share it with you!