Changing Places at Changing Hands: An ABA Staff Member Becomes a Temporary Bookseller

From December 9 through December 12, ABA Chief Marketing Officer Meg Smith joined the booksellers at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, for a brief stint as a frontline bookseller. This is her account of what it's like to be a rookie bookseller during the hectic holiday sales days at an award-winning independent bookstore.

At age 10, I decided to become a professional ballerina. Edward Villella leapt across the stage in a New York City Ballet performance of Balanchine's Prodigal Son, and I burst into tears. The moment is clear. I am sitting with my parents, close to the stage, and the height, the power, the force of that jump enters my bloodstream like a powerful wave. Many years later, I decided to become a professional bookseller. After a visit to a neighboring deli, I stood in the biography section of Massachusetts' Brookline Booksmith. The moment is clear. I am facing towards the back of the store, it is a Sunday afternoon, surely cold, and I realize that all my neurons are at peace, and at home. A moment of power, a moment of peace. Both transforming.

But I became neither a ballerina nor a bookseller for the usual variety of reasons, although I continued with dance lessons until my late 20s, and shopped at Brookline Booksmith and countless other bookstores. I read and wrote and eventually went to law school (not all choices are inspired). Fast forward through lawyering and children and mothering and marketing and I've landed softly at ABA, my arches intact.

Yet, here I am on a plane, late in 2007, flying west towards Phoenix where I will become, finally, a bookseller. I'm one of several ABA senior staff members who are off to different corners of the country to experience firsthand the fury and the fun of bookselling around the holidays. I have signed up for three days under the tender, patient care of Gayle Shanks and Bob Sommer and their staff at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona. This is my story of those three days, the story of ... The Rookie Bookseller.

It is raining when I land at Sky Harbor Airport, which bills itself as "The Friendliest Airport in the World." (I could use some "friendliest," having come from Newark, where a work slowdown almost caused me to miss my flight.) I find the hotel and meet Gayle and Bobby so we can go to the Changing Hands holiday party. Auspicious timing, me arriving in time for a party! We arrive at Flicka's, and I get to see the whole staff in one place. Even though the light is dim and the music loud they seem a happy bunch. Food is eaten, stories are told, and gift cards are disbursed.

Rather than the usual Secret Santa gift exchange, Gayle decided the store would buy each employee a gift card from a neighboring independent business. She bartered for some, bought others, and staff chose colored stones at random, which corresponded to a particular card. A nice idea, fair, and supportive of indie retailers!

I was also struck by one particular story a staff member shared that night: A customer said she wanted to buy a gift for her sister from whom she was estranged. She wasn't sure what to buy, so she asked the bookseller if she'd call the sister and ask her what she'd like. The bookseller made a couple of calls to the sister that went unanswered. When the bookseller got back in touch with the customer she learned that the sister, seeing a Phoenix number on her caller ID, became concerned something had happened to the customer/estranged sister, so she called yet another sister to check up. One thing led to another, and the two sisters have happily reconciled and are both thrilled! Talk about customer service! (And P.S., the customer bought a bunch of books!)

I arrive at the store at 9:45 the next morning, ready to report to work. The day starts with a morning meeting -- part pep talk, part practical sharing-time. The booksellers and staff gather around the front registers to talk about what's up for the day, the event scheduled for that night, and tips and things to take note of. I then do what comes naturally to me -- I straighten the shelves. An empty space? Face out! A toy in the cookbook section? Back to the kids' side! Ah, I'm feeling OK, this I can do! Nothing to it!

Then Gayle says she wants me at the information desk. That means computers and Booklog and iPage and checking inventory and all of the essential stuff of the store. More importantly, it means I will be speaking with customers! Who ask for recommendations for an uncle who likes adventure stories ... (I steer that customer to the history section, and suggest 1491 and 1776, and ... she buys them both!) My personal high is handselling Siddhartha by Herman Hesse to a young woman with a long list of recommended reading for a Buddhist retreat she is attending.

I also borrow a staff T-shirt so the noon crew -- surely wondering, who is that women at the computer? -- stops asking if they can help me.

Next up, I shadow Gayle at a meeting with marketing director Cindy Dach, where they will decide how many books to order for the store's January events. With one event each night of the month, this planning is crucial, and part science (based on how the author sold at prior store events), part magic, and part luck.

Changing Hands has a really cool calendar system that enables staff to track events and drill down to information pages about everything that happens (it's all in the note taking). Gayle and Cindy decide whether to buy 10 or 50 or 100 copies of the author's newest title and how many backlist titles. I'm impressed by their confidence, born I know, from their many years of bookselling. I'm also struck by the hard, ongoing work needed to keep the events calendar popping and enticing: there are Excel spreadsheets from publishers to complete, partners to engage where helpful, and authorless events to design. (One such event is the annual Changing Hands birthday party for the large population of Sudanese Lost Boys in the area who all celebrate their birthday on January 1. Last year, Valentino Achak Deng, the hero of What Is the What, attended, and Dave Eggers was there the year before.)

I also eavesdrop on a conversation between Bob and store designer Brandon Stout regarding a Constant Contact e-mail going to the store's newsletter subscribers. They talk about the best subject heading to use, one that avoids spam filters and yet communicates the true nature of the offer ... something special for this list of customers only. Brandon creates a cool coupon for customers to bring to the store to earn 15 percent off, right in the midst of holiday shopping season. A good deal, I think, one sure to bring in this loyal customer group.

The back offices at Changing Hands are full. There is a full-time PR person, full-time designer, two full-time marketing directors, a full-time educational sales person, and many more. For a store with roots in the hippie days of the early 1970s, this is one business that has changed with the times. And Tempe needs Changing Hands. This suburb is long and low, with shopping centers on every corner, and a sometimes scary downtown. Changing Hands assumes the role of town center, with events, a room in the back that is rented for classes ranging from Reiki to tarot readings, and the in-store Wildflowers Café. Not for nothing was this store named Publishers Weekly Bookstore of the Year for 2007!

When I show up the next day wearing my Changing Hands T-shirt, there's a staff of 15 on the floor, and lots of new, young faces, so I introduce myself to anyone who looks curious. The staff is nice and energetic, and unfailingly polite and helpful to customers.

"I'm looking for a book on angels."
"We have a whole section on angels. Let me take you there."

"It has the word 'wolves' in the title."
"Do you remember where you heard about the book? It might help us narrow it down."

I start shelving and quickly realize this is the fastest way to learn the inventory. With the store's 8,000 square feet of selling space, we're talking about a lot of inventory! And I mean books, and pottery, and notebooks, and chimes, and oh my! Shelving is a never-ending task. I smile eagerly at customers, hoping to catch someone's eye to ask if they need help. I won't intrude in the act of browsing unless I'm given a sign.

I'm asked the anticipated question a few times: "Do you work here?" Yes, I say, can I help you find something? Luckily for me, I was first asked that question in a personal comfort zone ... the poetry section. A man was looking for a gift for a woman. (I guessed it was a new relationship. We were in poetry, after all.) I handed him books by Neruda and Mary Oliver, and another on understanding poetry. He bought them all! What a rush.

Wholesaler shipments are delivered to the store on Tuesdays, so someone has to call customers about the arrival of their special orders. A perfect job for me! I happily made phone calls and notes according to the Changing Hands system and felt very useful.

At 5:15 I finally sit down, uncertain where the day had gone. The store had been busy it seemed to me, though the owners disagreed, and we expect a huge crowd the next day for the 15 percent-off e-mail promotion. But the day isn't really over ... there is an event at 7:00, and it's time to prepare. Joe Garagiola is a local and he's coming to talk and promote his book, Just Play Ball. Joe tells fun stories about Yogi Berra and others, and signs close to 250 books. Yikes!

My final day at the store was more of the same. I'm getting a little more familiar with Booklog, the store sections, the staff, the schedule. This day is crucial for the holiday numbers, and happily the checkout line snakes though the store all day long. I hand out chocolate to those waiting to pay, and the rest of the staff is handselling like crazy. Gayle is a master handseller. She seems to know everyone who walks through the door, and just what they are looking for. She speaks intelligently, and warmly, about the books she likes and the books she thinks the customer will like. I am awed by her skill and stamina. The store empties of favorite titles, and the wholesaler reorder over the weekend will no doubt be a large one.

At the end of my tenure I return to the hotel and collapse into bed with a good book. It is Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. Gayle gave it to me, since I had visited Taliesin West, the Frank Lloyd Wright compound, earlier in the day. Next up is Foreskin's Lament, also a gift from Gayle.

Flying home I reflect on what I've learned. First, bookselling is hard work, hard physical work. Second, booksellers need a skill set that is unique among retailers. And third, maybe hanging in an office all day isn't such a bad gig after all. I do get to sit down whenever I want!

Many thanks to everyone at Changing Hands who endured my lurking around for a few days. A special thanks to Gayle and Bobby, who fed me, taught me, hosted me, and held my hand throughout.