Bookseller

Booksellers buy books from publishers or wholesalers and sell them to customers, so a love of books and a keen business mind are helpful for this role

Your primary concern as a bookseller will be customer service, but you'll also need an excellent knowledge of the shop's stock and the wider book market.

You'll offer information and advice about books and will help customers locate titles. You'll also order and display stock and work with publishing companies and representatives.

You may work for a specialist book retailer or for a retailer where books form only part of the stock. This could be a large retailer or small independent bookshop specialising in a particular area of bookselling, such as children's or antiquarian books.

Responsibilities

Your duties as a bookseller may vary slightly depending on the size and location of the shop, but you'll generally need to:

• serve a range of customers and deal with their enquiries
• offer advice and recommend books where appropriate
• maintain an up-to-date knowledge of current titles and changes in the market
• undertake bibliographic work using computer or print sources to identify and locate titles
• process customer orders and book reservations
• deal with mail order, email and web-based orders - in certain businesses
• handle payments made by cash, card and with book tokens – often this involves using EPOS (electronic point of sale technology)
• buy from catalogues and publisher’s representatives - although the extent to which bookselling staff are involved in buying stock varies a great deal from shop to shop
• negotiate prices with sellers
• pay and process invoices
• process book deliveries and returns
• carry out stock checks of books and any other merchandise
• create in-store and window displays
• maintain commercial awareness including identifying business and promotional opportunities
• help with book events, including organising talks, signing sessions and reading groups
• liaise with teaching and library staff on set texts in academic shops
• liaise with other external account holders, such as schools, councils and companies
• meet sales targets and review sales performance
• undertake general duties, including handling deliveries, unpacking stock, refilling shelves and tidying.

With increased responsibility, the role becomes more operations and business-orientated. For those at higher levels, the work also involves dealing with staffing and training, budget setting and reporting sales and budget figures.

Salary

• Starting salaries fall between £14,000 and £17,000.
• Salaries at senior level or with experience (e.g. after ten to 15 years in the role) fall between £20,000 and £40,000. The upper end of the scale is only achieved by those who have progressed to managing a large bookshop or a large branch of a chain.

Salaries vary and depend on the location and size of the shop, but tend to be modest. There may be more scope for increased pay in the larger bookshop chains. Many shops offer staff discounts and some offer other incentives.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Working hours typically include regular unsocial hours as bookshops often open longer hours during the week and at least part of the weekend.

Opportunities for part-time work are good. Career breaks are also possible.

What to expect

• Compared to other areas of retailing, bookselling can offer more responsibility (such as managing a section) at an earlier stage.
• The job is largely based on the shop floor with some behind-the-scenes work. Customer service skills are therefore important.
• The work can be very busy and physically demanding. Standing for long periods and moving books can be tiring.
• Although not known for its diversity, the bookselling workforce is felt to be generally inclusive. There are slightly more women than men working in the occupation. The Booksellers Association (BA) provides detailed information in its Workforce Diversity Survey.
• The role is not well paid, but competition for posts is high. Some jobs are secured through speculative applications.

Qualifications

Although this area is open to all graduates, a degree or HND in literature or business and management may increase your chances.

A degree is not essential, but a high proportion of those working in bookselling have a degree or HND, especially those working as academic booksellers.

Bookshops on campus often employ students on temporary contracts. More specialist shops may favour applicants with a good academic background and specify a degree for entry, although the work itself may not necessarily draw upon this.

A pre-entry postgraduate qualification is not needed.

Skills

In general, you'll need to have:

• a passion for books, with an awareness of current literary topics
• excellent communication skills
• the ability and confidence to deal with a range of people
• organisational skills
• time management skills
• good teamworking ability
• the ability to work under pressure
• good general knowledge
• commercial awareness, with a grasp of e-commerce to use online delivery services
• IT literacy
• an interest in, and knowledge of, the bookselling sector
• the ability to multitask.

Work experience

Although pre-entry experience is not always required, experience in the retail sector or any other experience that demonstrates your ability to work with the public, communicate effectively and work as part of a team will improve your chances.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

The most likely employers in this field are the chains of high street specialist and non-specialist bookshops, which, between them, account for the largest share of the retail bookselling market in the UK.

Employment can also be found in the many smaller, privately owned businesses, representing a substantial proportion of the book sales market.

Books are also sold in supermarkets and discount stores, through book clubs, mail order and online so other job opportunities can be found through these sales channels.

Up-to-date information about bookshop groups and the book market is available from the BA.

Look for job vacancies at:

• bookcareers.com
• The Bookseller

Some jobs are secured through speculative applications, and both the BA and the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association (ABA) publish directories of members.

Professional development

Training is mainly on the job and there is currently no formal professional qualification in this area. It may be useful to gain membership of the BA or the ABA.

All posts are likely to involve structured training in the form of an induction, covering an introduction to the business and basic bookselling techniques. Further training opportunities vary depending on the size and nature of the organisation but may include:

• bibliographic searching
• customer service
• specialist areas, such as children's bookselling or event management.

For those aiming higher, some larger employers offer fast-track training schemes or trainee manager schemes, covering areas such as:

• budgeting and finance
• business and consumer legislation
• marketing
• recruitment and management of staff
• stock management.

The ability to understand and manage digital marketing is increasingly important within the industry. In particular, knowledge of social media platforms to help attract younger readers. Some training is available in this area, such as in the format of workshops and webinars. See the BA's Resources for aspiring and new booksellers.

In smaller businesses, training and development may be provided primarily by more experienced colleagues, though some external training courses may be supported. The BA runs some training courses, such as Introduction to Bookselling.

Postgraduate courses are available in the history of the book, which may be an option for those interested in a career in antiquarian bookselling and who are interested in further study. For more details, search postgraduate courses in book history.

Career prospects

Promotion prospects are good within large chains, which often promote from within, although relocation to a different branch may be necessary. Promotion prospects in smaller outlets may be more limited.

Typically progression in a larger store might involve specialisation in a specific subject area, managing a particular section or floor before moving into an assistant manager or store manager position. This process can be rapid and it's possible for a graduate to be managing a branch within three years from starting as a more junior bookseller.

Booksellers may move into publishing where a bookseller's commercial knowledge of the book industry can be very useful, although this is a very competitive field.

Other avenues include independent bookselling and antiquarian bookselling. Specialist market sectors include academic, children's and religious bookshops.

Developments in the field of bookselling relating to digital reading devices, such as e-readers and different sales platforms, such as online, direct and discount selling (e.g. supermarkets), provide a wider variety of opportunities in bookselling. They also, however, create intensified competition for a share of the book-buying market. As a result, commercial knowledge and aptitude are increasingly important to succeed.