With the enormous influx of new stores, we want to provide a resource to help navigate the wilderness of publisher catalogs, buying processes, engaged inventory management, and more.
In this course, you’ll find tips and best practices, practical advice and wisdom gained from 20+ years of buying, teaching, and solving problems for many facets of the book industry.
Figuring out how to buy books for your store can be daunting. The aim of this course is to both demystify the process and to give concrete lessons on how to buy for your store.
Additional information:
Ghostbuyers’ Guide to Becoming a Great Bookstore Buyer
No quizzes, no tests, just useful and practical information to which you can refer as often as you like.
The format allows for us to easily and quickly update with new information as new tools and new industry dynamics emerge.
*This course is designed for US Booksellers with reference to US based tools and vendors. Booksellers from other parts of our fair world will find useful and enlightening universal principles, but with a US regional advice.
Target audiences
- New Bookstore Owners
- Prospective Bookstore Owners
- New Buyers
- Boostore Job Seekers
Curriculum
- 9 Sections
- 27 Lessons
- Lifetime
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- IntroductionLet’s talk about what it means to be a buyer at a bookstore. Including a few video interviews.4
- Before Your First Buy: Laying the FoundationWe’ll go over the things you need to do before you start buying for your store. Decide the personality of your store, create the right accounts, and prepare your shiny new point-of-sale system. Tips, helpful anecdotes, and an interview with the awesome Nathan from Batch for Books.4
- Understanding Frontlist vs. Backlist: Shaping Inventory StrategyLearn the difference between frontlist and backlist, and the very different processes, strategies, and tools required to order both effectively. We’ll also dive in to the process and strategies involved in creating your opening inventory and talk about working with sales reps.5
- Using Edelweiss to Simplify Buying DecisionsEdelweiss does a lot of different things for a lot of different sorts of book industry professionals…which can make it pretty confusing. We’ll cut through all the noise and show you just what you need to know.3
- Beyond Books: Incorporating Sidelines into InventorySidelines, or non-book items, can be an important part of your inventory strategy. Learn why and how.1
- Inventory ManagementBeing a Buyer is about more than just buying. A better name for this position would be “Inventory Manager.” This section will discuss what to measure, expectations for your POS system, the step-by-step processes for pulling returns and doing an annual physical inventory.3
- Tracking Market Trends & Customer PreferencesKeeping abreast of hot titles, what is moving, and what your customers are looking for is both critical and difficult. We’ll discuss places to watch and methods for tracking.1
- Staff Engagement: Harnessing Team InsightsYour staff is, or can be, one of your business’s most powerful tools. There are very real and very useful processes you can put in place to make the most of your staff, get them involved, and track which employees might be candidates for more responsibility as you grow.3
- Final Wrap-Up: Resources & WorksheetsJust a few tools you can use to get a handle on your inventory.3
Instructor
Featured
$350.00