tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post4406493147857063514..comments2024-03-13T07:34:24.149+00:00Comments on The Age of Uncertainty: Homage to the Sales RepSteerforthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-54046381356533659482013-10-09T15:13:51.341+00:002013-10-09T15:13:51.341+00:00Small world!
Sadly, I only had a Metro. The chok...Small world! <br /><br />Sadly, I only had a Metro. The choke wouldn't stay out, so I had to use three clothes pegs, taking one peg off at a time as the engine warned up.<br /><br />Happy days.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-11071696699740684082013-10-09T13:48:57.750+00:002013-10-09T13:48:57.750+00:00the pic of the blue austin i was the last ownerthe pic of the blue austin i was the last ownerAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07818359351857472832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-88725306177136815952012-04-03T23:44:04.056+00:002012-04-03T23:44:04.056+00:00Believe that Chris and I started as publishers rep...Believe that Chris and I started as publishers reps in 1977, for the same publisher. <br /><br />Brilliant profession, lovely people.<br /><br />Have no regrets, although teaching Shakespeare at King's College or Trinity does have its hindsight temptation.Georgehttp://www.redsides.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-11861529666428609142012-04-03T18:28:13.007+00:002012-04-03T18:28:13.007+00:00Re: My little act of rebellion -- I'm sure yo...Re: My little act of rebellion -- I'm sure you're absolutely right and that the books were probably back where they belonged before I got out the door. But it seemed harmless enough, and sort of made my day, so I don't feel it was totally wasted effort!!Canadian Chickadeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12995693884248628958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-42007197431808801882012-04-02T16:54:18.120+00:002012-04-02T16:54:18.120+00:00OMG, Thank you for your comments Kristhe former co...OMG, Thank you for your comments Kristhe former comments scared me a bit.<br />My daughters a book sales rep, has loved and read books since she was very young,went straight into a bookshop from school,worked her way up to manager in various companies and then came the'rep' part.<br /> Loves it! meeting and helping the book sellers.<br /> Is now the West Australian Agent for a publishing ompany and has always made a point of reading bookings before she goes to sleep at night.She can honestly give her opinion of most books she sells.<br />Luckily shes a 'speed' reader.<br />Her attitude is "If you havent read it how can you advise or sell it."<br />Thanks Kris youve put my heart at easeCarolnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-62797211843647701552012-04-02T16:26:43.454+00:002012-04-02T16:26:43.454+00:00The book trade used to be a refuge from the time a...The book trade used to be a refuge from the time and motion people who liked to cost everything down to the last minute. <br /><br />Bookselling was an art, not a science. <br /><br />Working lunches - liquid or otherwise - were part of a culture that recognised that people worked best when the drugery of full-time work was relieved by a little bit of fun.<br /><br />I think that the demise of the NBA and the advent of EPOS systems destroyed that world. Head offices increasingly promoted a risk-averse buying culture, whilst the 'jollies' were seen as a waste of time and resources.<br /><br />Now that we're competing with warehouses employing people on the minimum wage, there's not much money left for expense account lunches and launch parties at the Groucho. <br /><br />A great pity. <br /><br />It's only a matter of time before the reps (if there are any left) are driving Nissan Micras.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-17055639750820600352012-04-02T16:09:22.607+00:002012-04-02T16:09:22.607+00:00My favourite reps are the ones who remember 't...My favourite reps are the ones who remember 'the good old days' before the end of the NBA. One in particular always used to see me over lunch (there's a cafe attached to the Gallery and bookshop) where he'd order a bottle of wine and tell me how they used to do the Waterstone's Friday afternoon subs down the pub.<br /><br />Another insisted on lunch as it was simply a more 'civilised' way to do business.<br /><br />Others of course have no idea about the books on their lists, moan about head office, and hate the resent the very idea of lugging a finished copy to a meeting.<br /><br />Gawd bless 'em.Galleristocrathttp://twitter.com/galleristocratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-31515546644814222882012-04-01T16:52:42.155+00:002012-04-01T16:52:42.155+00:00Thanks Chris - It's good to hear from a book r...Thanks Chris - It's good to hear from a book rep. I'm glad that you feel that way about booksellers - for most of us, a visit from a rep lightened up the day.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-84395659074728795922012-04-01T15:52:06.491+00:002012-04-01T15:52:06.491+00:00Thank you. Wonderful anecdotes. I've been a bo...Thank you. Wonderful anecdotes. I've been a book sales rep for 35+ years and still love it. Left unsaid in these posts is that most book reps love their bookstores and hate their employers. The alienation only deepens as more mountains of unreadable crap are foisted off as the "next big thing." Many of my bookstore friends are among the best parts of my life. We suffer their hardships and enjoy their triumphs. It is always huge fun when a book works and it is deeply satisfying to have helped so many worthy authors find supportive booksellers. In spite of the many gloomy forecasts for the industry, booksellers at every level remain an essential part of the process and the key to a healthy, vibrant literary culture. Most book reps I know are very proud of their small part in this noble undertaking. /s/ Chris Kerr, Parson Weems.Chris Kerrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16547456072434386829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-70317670696992159642012-04-01T14:21:56.380+00:002012-04-01T14:21:56.380+00:00Brett - That's a huge area to cover! It must b...Brett - That's a huge area to cover! It must be tough being a rep in those parts of the US where the calls are long distances apart and nights are spent in motels. When I travelled around California, the motels always seemed to be near a fast food place, but miles from a decent meal, so the weight just piled on. <br /><br />Jonathan - Our paths must have almost crossed - you could have sold me a dumpbin I didn't realy need ;) Which publisher were you with?<br /><br />Annabel - I couldn't be a rep either. They're squeezed between demanding employers who often don't value them enough and increasingly overworked booksellers who regard them as an unwelcome distraction.<br /><br />I was always grateful for the opportunity to leave the shop floor and go out for a coffee with a rep.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-34688427948106450512012-03-31T18:52:58.964+00:002012-03-31T18:52:58.964+00:00Another wonderful post. I could never be a rep.
R...Another wonderful post. I could never be a rep.<br /><br />Read Jilly Cooper (Riders) for the first time earlier this year. Loved it - yes - took me right back to the 1970s, but such great fun. We read it at book group, and we all thought she was probably great fun too.Annabel (gaskella)http://gaskella.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-15853266338924530662012-03-31T09:06:17.312+00:002012-03-31T09:06:17.312+00:00For about two and a half years in the late 80s I w...For about two and a half years in the late 80s I was that man. Central London. Peugeot 205GTI. Rarely did the breakfast thing. The lunches were legendary though. It all started to change when I saw my first Waterstone's manager in a suit on Charing Cross Road. There was also the Waterstone's buyer who refused to stock anything with a foil cover. And in central London at least, it wasn't unusual to take out an author for the day. I once did Penelope Lively. She told me I would make a good cab driver. Perhaps I should have listened to her.JonathanMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14282373784021642208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-55240588868314227842012-03-31T05:21:49.092+00:002012-03-31T05:21:49.092+00:00My wife was a sales rep for Random House, (includi...My wife was a sales rep for Random House, (including Knopf, Pantheon, and others), in the early '80s. Though she did have an English degree, her father had been a men's wear buyer for a chain of department stores. Her mentor and trainer, Bob, was one of your old-time traveling salesmen.<br /><br />She covered Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi, and then Austin and West Texas. It was hard for us. She was often on the road or at sales conferences in Bermuda or Puerto Rico.<br /><br />I still remember one title that was an object of humor among the reps, <i>With Enough Shovels: Reagan, Bush, and Nuclear War</i>, by Robert Scheer, and on the floor at my Bookstop store in Austin, I saw it languish on the shelves.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09389916070547430075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-37422676488537175272012-03-30T22:30:07.620+00:002012-03-30T22:30:07.620+00:00Lucy - You've obviously met him! If I had a qu...Lucy - You've obviously met him! If I had a quid for every time I've heard "We got this lovely deal on a place in Fuerteventura, but we won't be able to do that when the oldest passes her driving test. She's got her heart set on a Micra, but it's muggins here who'll have to pay for it..."<br /><br />Martin - On a less enlightened note, I found a 1970s Jilly Cooper book the other day and saw her author photo - she was beautiful. <br /><br />One rep told me that when he took her out on a signing session, she caught him looking at a jumper in a shop window. Later in the day, she sneaked out and bought it for him. A striking contrast with some of the Jeffrey Archer anecdotes I've heard.<br /><br />Sam - Thank you (and thanks for the Facebook link too).Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-79032860120346671962012-03-30T19:55:59.343+00:002012-03-30T19:55:59.343+00:00Superb, as ever, Steerforth. Thank you.Superb, as ever, Steerforth. Thank you.Sam Jordisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847113158131387947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-37032626479738138852012-03-30T19:50:37.104+00:002012-03-30T19:50:37.104+00:00I never met Jilly Cooper, but she did write to me ...I never met Jilly Cooper, but she did write to me once. The warm tone of her letter (which I still have) bears out your rep's assessment.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13494219959077922220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-31464529062204633432012-03-30T18:11:50.024+00:002012-03-30T18:11:50.024+00:00I have a very strong image of 'Keith'. BHS...I have a very strong image of 'Keith'. BHS shirt, knows all the best deals on last-minute holidays, tells you "teenagers are expensive!" and talks about the good old days of sales repping. My ex father-in-law fits the book rep persona. He sold seatbelts in the eighties - made a fortune. The business mysteriously 'burned down' once seatbelts were fitted as standard in the back of vehicles. To this day, wherever Don is, he will say "I'm paying cash mind you" when told the price of something. <br />I liked this post a lot, a little glimpse into an unfamiliar world.lucy joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04863146546863419637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-39863968359526714602012-03-30T17:58:21.625+00:002012-03-30T17:58:21.625+00:00Be careful. You might not think we're watching...Be careful. You might not think we're watching you, but we are ;)<br /><br />I remember an author called Lee Langley whose friends were forever coming into the shop and moving her books to more prominent positions. We got so fed-up, we responded by hiding them in the stock cupboard, with one copy spine-on.<br /><br />These days, I think the best thing you can do for your friend is write a good Amazon review (but I bet you've already done that).Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-40113148151107253772012-03-30T17:51:27.264+00:002012-03-30T17:51:27.264+00:00What a great post! I had to laugh when I read abo...What a great post! I had to laugh when I read about booksellers burying books on the shelves to prevent them from selling.<br /><br />I have a good friend (no, I won't tell you her name!) who writes really good historical mysteries. Her books are carefully plotted, well researched, and her gift for language and character development is superb.<br /><br />Whenever I am in a book shop (like Waterstone's), I look for her books. Then I check around to see if anyone is watching me -- and if not, I move her books around and put some of them with the covers facing out.<br /><br />Just my own personal little act of rebellion. Well, you know what they say -- small things amuse small minds! LOLCanadian Chickadeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12995693884248628958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-55448817781401047362012-03-30T17:43:29.608+00:002012-03-30T17:43:29.608+00:00Thanks for the tip Nell. Yes, the reps worked very...Thanks for the tip Nell. Yes, the reps worked very hard - the days of golf on Friday were well on their way out by the time I started. <br /><br />Repping was a lonely life, with a lot of time wasted in traffic jams and motorway tailbacks. The middle of a day was a dead zone, because booksellers wouldn't make appointments in the middle of the day, so many reps spent a two-hour lunch in a car park, eating sandwiches and doing paperwork.<br /><br />In recent years, any rep who dared to go on holiday would return to at least 150 emails.<br /><br />As far as reading books goes, I don't blame them. Why should they invest ten or more hours of their personal time reading something because someone in editorial thinks it's <i>fantastic</i>. I refused to read books that head office recommended for the same reason: my time is my own.<br /><br />However, it was odd that so many reps spent years surrounded by free books without ever succumbing to the temptation to read them.<br /><br />As a buyer, I have to say that if a rep had actually read the book and rated it, that made a real difference. I remember an Orion rep telling me how much she enjoyed Harlen Coben's 'Tell No One'. I trusted her judgement and it turned out that she was absolutely right - it became a bestseller.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-56974239447160026312012-03-30T17:18:59.743+00:002012-03-30T17:18:59.743+00:00My dad was a sales rep, though not in publishing a...My dad was a sales rep, though not in publishing and some of the scenarios you describe are familiar to me from stories he would tell. It was a pretty thankless job, which didn't pay very well, and he suffered redundancy a couple of times too. If your reps worked the hours my dad did they wouldn’t have had much time for reading. He covered an ever-increasing area and was frequently home late. After his evening meal, he’d have to do what he called his ‘figures’, endless paperwork, and make phone calls - a real drain on family life. He retired in the mid-eighties but it sounds like some things never changed. I enjoyed all your anecdotes. You should link to the Sepia Saturday blog this week, as it’s all about the world of work and I know the regulars would enjoy this post. My contribution was called ‘Learning on the Job’ - guess what that was about - and I think that’s a thread that runs through this post too.Little Nellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11862657943846727987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-20355957625139123572012-03-30T16:36:10.396+00:002012-03-30T16:36:10.396+00:00Rog - I'd forgotten about the 'i'.Rog - I'd forgotten about the 'i'.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-8957397967399969592012-03-30T16:34:48.859+00:002012-03-30T16:34:48.859+00:00Glad you liked it Janet.
Yes, you probably did s...Glad you liked it Janet. <br /><br />Yes, you probably did spoil things a little for the old reps, who had worked out a nice little timetable that included golf on Fridays! The last thing they needed was a call from the boss asking why Janet was making so many more calls per week. <br /><br />I bet you were very popular with your employers, if not the Keiths!Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-58460967975759212822012-03-30T16:24:40.097+00:002012-03-30T16:24:40.097+00:00...and you had to have a car with that magic "......and you had to have a car with that magic "i" at the end of the name...Roghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09430706557035189147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-13246912672480473382012-03-30T16:18:21.561+00:002012-03-30T16:18:21.561+00:00I love this post. As a former sales rep, though sa...I love this post. As a former sales rep, though sadly not in the publishing world, I was one of the new "Sue's" to break into the world of Liquor Sales and Consumer Goods sales. So many sales truism's here.<br /><br />I did the travelling with the car and met many of the old Keith's along the way, who hated me for replacing them. I was the honest sales person and genuinely wanted to help my customers. (As well as make my quotas) Alas, now I'm the oldtimer and out of the biz and I'm on the other side of the fence as an author. <br /><br />I love being an author but sometimes I do miss being on the road and the thrill of selling my wares. <br /><br />I think a publishing sales rep would be one of the most awesome jobs ever. Although, like some of the reps you mentioned who didn't read, a couple years into my career as a liquor rep I quit drinking. The non drinking liquor rep. I still was able to sell it though and do a great job doing so if I do say so myself. <br /><br />Great post!Janet Gurtlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09378521577302320423noreply@blogger.com