{"id":19791,"date":"2016-12-07T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=19791"},"modified":"2016-12-07T08:00:20","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T13:00:20","slug":"the-true-heart-soul-and-success-of-a-bookstore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=19791","title":{"rendered":"The True Heart, Soul, and Success of a Bookstore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"We have had a beautiful couple of weeks\u00a0at the Flying Pig. Our store’s 20th anniversary has brought in old customers and new, lots of cards and kudos, and much-appreciated\u00a0press coverage. But something has nagged at me through this time, and I realized there has been a piece missing.
\nBecause Josie and I started the bookstore, much of the love has been aimed at us. But as anyone who loves bookstores knows, the\u00a0staff is what makes\u00a0a\u00a0bookstore great. They bring all of the experiences from their full, rich lives into\u00a0the store, informing their knowledge of books and literature and allowing them to connect with a wide\u00a0spectrum of readers.
\nThese are the people we ask to\u00a0recommend books for visitors\u00a0of every conceivable age and interest. They have a broad expanse of book knowledge, with special deep pockets of expertise.They\u00a0matchmake books and readers on the spot, dozens of times a day, often with scant information.They\u00a0read customer cues in body language and tone of voice to gauge how much help to offer, and when.
\nThey are the friendly faces behind the counter and on the floor who will spend endless amounts of time and energy tracking down fragments of book titles, NPR recommendations from seven months ago, obscure out-of-print volumes, and books remembered from decades-gone childhoods. They track lost and late bookstore shipments, call in damages, and deal with the endless minutiae of bookselling’s back end. And they do it all with genuine good nature and ready resourcefulness.
\nWhile we often mention our fab staff in ShelfTalker posts, I thought it was high time you officially met the rest of the Flying Pig fleet and learned the important things about them, like their secret identities, superpowers, and celebrity alter egos. Because we quite literally could not do this without them.
\n\"img_8138\"<\/strong>Name:\u00a0<\/strong>Darrilyn
\nAge in Flying Pig Years: <\/strong>10
\nGo-To Gal for: <\/strong>Mysteries, Literary Fiction, History, Thrillers, Cookbooks, Adult Nonfiction, Picture Books
\nSuperpowers:\u00a0<\/strong>Flawless taste \/ Diamond-sharp brain
\nSecret Identity:\u00a0<\/strong>Former CIA agent
\nNot-So-Secret Identity:\u00a0<\/strong>Mover and shaker on arts and public health boards \/ Former bookstore owner
\nCelebrity Alter Ego:\u00a0<\/strong>Helen Mirren
\nMost Likely To:\u00a0<\/strong>Do something fabulous and\u00a0worthy every day
\n\"sandy-first\"
\n Name: <\/strong>Sandy
\nAge in Flying Pig Years:\u00a0<\/strong>7
\nGo-To Gal for:\u00a0<\/strong>History, Biography, Fiction, Mystery, Sports, all kids’ books including MG Fiction, YA Fantasy, Juvenile Nonfiction
\nSuperpowers:\u00a0<\/strong>Ability to find the right book for any reader \/\u00a0Ability to zero\u00a0in on\u00a0elusive books’ hiding places
\nSecret Identity:\u00a0<\/strong>Fortune-Teller
\nNot-So-Secret Identity:<\/strong> Chef extraordinaire and former\u00a0Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse
\nCelebrity Alter Ego:\u00a0<\/strong>Florence Nightingale
\nMost Likely To:\u00a0<\/strong>Significantly improve the lives of all who know her
\n 
\n\"dk\"
\nName:\u00a0<\/strong>David
\n Age in Flying Pig Years:\u00a0<\/strong>4.5
\n Go-To Guy for:\u00a0<\/strong>Fantasy, Adventure, Music, History, Humor
\n Superpowers:\u00a0<\/strong>Boundless good cheer \/ Ability to charm humans from babies to seniors
\n Secret Identity:\u00a0<\/strong>Future President of the United States
\n Not-So-Secret Identity:<\/strong> Baritone sax phenom
\n Celebrity Alter Ego: <\/strong>Joe Cool, aka\u00a0<\/strong>Snoopy
\n Most Likely To:\u00a0<\/strong>Set a goal, stick to it, and surpass it
\n 
\n 
\n\"laura-heaberlin-photo\"
\nName:\u00a0<\/strong>Laura
\nAge in Flying Pig Years:\u00a0<\/strong>3.5
\nGo-To Gal for:\u00a0<\/strong>Poetry, Cookbooks, Offbeat Fiction (Adult and Juvenile), MG Fiction
\nSuperpowers:<\/strong>\u00a0Systems! \/ Graceful, good-humored customer service
\nSecret Identity:\u00a0<\/strong>Librarian
\nNot-So-Secret Identity:<\/strong>\u00a0Half of the gorgeously-harmonied\u00a0Cricket Blue<\/a> music duo \/ Baker of delicious items
\nCelebrity Alter Ego:\u00a0<\/strong>Wednesday Addams
\nMost Likely To:<\/strong> Get a recording contract and become the nicest famous person ever
\n 
\n\"emily\"Name: <\/strong>Emily
\n Age in Flying Pig Years: <\/strong>10 months
\n Go-To Gal for: <\/strong>Literary Fiction, Picture Books, Eclectic variety of genres
\n Superpowers:\u00a0<\/strong>Goofy coolness \/\u00a0Prioritizing genius
\n Secret Identity:<\/strong>\u00a0Musician and singer in a band
\n Not-So-Secret Identity:\u00a0<\/strong>Mother of\u00a0the world’s most hilarious children
\n Celebrity Alter Ego: <\/strong>Love child of\u00a0Zoey Deschanel and Lucille Ball
\n Most Likely To:\u00a0<\/strong>Create\u00a0an eduring\u00a0arts + human services organization
\n 
\n\"dan\"Name: <\/strong>Dan
\n Age in Flying Pig Years:\u00a0<\/strong>5 months
\n Go-To Guy for: <\/strong>Science Fiction, MG and YA Fiction and Nonfiction, Literature
\n Superpower: <\/strong>A freakish lack of rookie bookseller errors \/ Healthy snack inflictor
\n Secret Identity:\u00a0<\/strong>Singer\/Songwriter
\n Not-So-Secret Identity:<\/strong> Elementary school teacher, music teacher
\n Celebrity Alter Ego:\u00a0<\/strong>Stephen Wright
\n Most Likely To:<\/strong> Engage in wordplay and dry jokery \/ Hike very large mountains
\n***
\nSeveral times a week, we hear grateful comments from customers (and sometimes even receive thank you cards!) waxing rhapsodic about\u00a0one of our staffers\u00a0who offered the perfect suggestion at just the right time.
\nAuthors and illustrators and publishing folks, next time you visit an indie bookstore, try to meet a bookseller you don’t yet know. When\u00a0you watch these frontline folks at work, you’ll be blown away by their superpowers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Owners may be the most visible faces at a bookstore, but good staffs are pure gold – with mysterious supo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19791\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}