{"id":1931,"date":"2010-08-17T06:00:51","date_gmt":"2010-08-17T10:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=1931"},"modified":"2010-08-17T06:00:51","modified_gmt":"2010-08-17T10:00:51","slug":"a-reminder-of-why-i-sell-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=1931","title":{"rendered":"A Reminder of Why I Sell Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

I admit that there are days when I am run down by my job — days when nothing goes right and customers yell at me for things that are out of my control. Then there are days like yesterday.
\nI opened my email and found the loveliest note from one of my favorite summer customers. With her permission, I am reprinting it below. This email will bolster me on the tough days and remind me always why I do what I do. And it points up the fact that the books have a long life after they leave the store.
\n“Josie….I don’t know if this is still your address, but I hope so. I was listening to something on NPR yesterday, an interview with two bookstore owners about what to read this summer. One mentioned the incredible power bookstore owners had, curating the titles they carry and subtly shaping what their customers read.<\/p>\n

Faith was on the screened-in porch, having devoured “Chains” in two days, turning the next book in her pile you had put together in about three minutes. I thought, where would my children be without having had you in their lives? What a lucky, lucky day for us, that first day so many years ago that I walked into your store. Thank you so much. You have been a certain kind of mother to my children and I am grateful.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
love love love<\/div>\n
Rebecca”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now, if a letter like this doesn’t make it all worthwhile, then I don’t know what does. The beauty of an independent bookstore is that the love is mutual, as I feel just as privileged to be part of her children’s lives, too.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I admit that there are days when I am run down by my job — days when nothing goes right and customers yell at me for things that are out of my control. Then there are days like yesterday. I opened my email and found the loveliest note from one of my favorite summer customers. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1931\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}