Selling Books by Day, Writing Them By Night

The New York Times profiles authors who work as booksellers.

From the article...

In 2009, Straub published a novella and celebrated with a party at BookCourt. She started working there the next day. Last month, when Riverhead bought her first novel with a significant advance, a co-worker asked if she was planning to quit.

“I told him absolutely not,” Straub said. “I’m a writer, but I also love selling books.”

Through her job, Straub has befriended other booksellers across the country, at conferences and, increasingly, on Twitter. Which, in turn, helps her as an author. “When I was setting up a tour, I called on them,” she said. “Working at the store has helped me make relationships with people I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.”

It’s safe to say that the staff of the average independent bookstore contains at least a few aspiring writers. But Straub and other bookseller-authors like her don’t necessarily need their bookstore paychecks to survive. They have already been published, enjoying (in some cases) sizable advances and (in many more) critical praise. For the most part, they view bookselling as more than just a steppingstone.

“I had twin secret dreams my entire life,” said Ellen Meeropol, whose first novel, “House Arrest,” was published in February. “One was to work in a bookstore. The other was to write fiction.”