This is, first and foremost, the question that defines my job. As a bookseller, it is my duty to help you find a book (or more than one) that will satisfy you. Whether it’s a specific title or just a general idea of what you need, as long as I can help you in some fashion, my duty is fulfilled.
Having said that, the customer needs to help out the bookseller as well by providing sufficient enough information to, at the barest of minimums, set you in front of the right topic. For example, asking where the nonfiction books are will get you absolutely nowhere since books are all divided into genres and subsections and so forth. One subject might be on the left wall of a store whereas another subject will be on the opposite side of the building. So what is the best information to provide a bookseller or (while we’re at it) a librarian?
Below you’ll find several options that are what people arm themselves with before walking into a bookish location. Each one will be given a percentage rating on how useful that particular piece of information is, 0% for utterly useless (so don’t bother bringing it up) all the way up to 100% (the best info, and we love you for it). There are many variations in between, but I’ll explain just what makes one thing far better than another.
Title – 90% Coming in with a title gets you pretty high marks – but this percentage only applies if that title is accurate. It is common for people not to know precisely what a book title is and be off by a word, have something misspelled, or know the TV/movie name rather than the actual book title:
The Gunfighter vs. The Gunslinger
Pet Cemetery vs Pet Sematary
Stand By Me vs. The Body
Granted, a lot of booksellers can figure out what you’re after with a bit of detective work, but if it’s something they’ve never heard of it can become a bigger challenge. Titles also aren’t 100% effective because there are plenty of books out there that share titles, especially single words or simple phrases. Search for One Bite and you’ll get dozens upon dozens of hits. Without additional information, the bookseller can’t help you find what you’re looking for.
Author – 60% I often have customers ask, “Which would you like? Author or title?” I tell them to give me the title first. If that doesn’t work, we can move on to the author. It may seem like having the author first is more useful, but it’s not unless that author has written a single book. This is because authors with multiple books under their belt will require knowing which book it is you want. If the customer says they’re looking for Holly Black, she has over twenty books to choose from (and that’s ignoring any collections, series, or anthologies she’s contributed to). If the customer wants to thumb through what is available on the shelf, that’s fine. But if you want “that one with the mean fae guy,” and none of the books on the shelf are what you have in mind, you’ll have to go Google that yourself because there are too many choices and while our job is to help, that doesn’t cover reading every single book description to you.
Publisher – 1% It may sound like a great, fancy idea to deliver the publisher’s name to us, but you might as well save yourself the trouble because that information is virtually useless. That 1% is reserved for the selection of specific imprints and specialized publishers that booksellers and librarians are well-versed in, though they rarely come up (such as Osprey’s military book series). Popping into a store and saying that you’re looking for a vampire romance published by Simon and Schuster will only get you a blank stare (meanwhile the bookseller is thinking, “What even is this request?”) and then more questions – such as whether or not you had a title or author. Large publishers put out hundreds of books per year. What’s more, those same large publishers have multiple imprints that specialize in certain genres. Though to be fair, having the imprint information would be just as useless.
What the Book Is About – 5% Unless you’re an excellent storyteller and the book is fairly well-known, this isn’t the best way to go about requesting a book. That’s not to say you shouldn’t try. If you’re at your wits’ end and cannot for the life of you remember, then there’s nothing wrong with seeing if someone versed in all manner of books will know what you’re talking about. More than one library has an area on their website where you can describe the book with the hope that the librarians figure it out and reply. Sometimes a bookseller will know exactly what you’re talking about. Other times, however, we’ll stare at our screens blankly, wracking our brains for titles that might fit the bill. Sometimes we’ll even try to Google it for you on the off chance that we find success where you did not. But if you’re able to figure out at least the title beforehand, please bring that instead of a description.
What the Cover Looks Like – 1% There’s a joke that exists with booksellers and librarians alike that typically goes, “I don’t know the title or the author, but the cover was blue.” Sometimes it might be red. But the idea is the same. The customer has no idea what the book is, but for some reason believes that if they provide us with a color we’ll magically be able to say, “Ah ha! I know precisely what book you’re looking for!” Spoiler alert: We don’t. Having more detail than just the color might help, but not always. We see a lot of books and we remember a surprising number of them, but there are problems to cover description.
“I don’t know what the title is, but the cover is blue.”
A lot of covers that come out tend to be the same. They might be mimicking similar books in order to attract the same readers. They might have similar motifs or the publisher believes something might be eye-catching. From flowers to weapons to people, you may not even realize that you’re describing dozens of books all at once, even if you think it’s something unique. “It’s got an exploding flower on it.” Does it now? Or perhaps the book you want is older and you’re remembering the original cover. Publishers these days change book covers the way we change clothes—surprisingly often. They’ll even do it before a series is finished, so while you’re trying to find a book with beautiful starry skies, that particular cover no longer exists and hasn’t for several years.
Your best bet, when it comes to the cover, is to try searching online first. If you can find it there, then you’ll be able to find out the title, author, and maybe even more.
The TV/Radio Show It was Featured On – 20% This percentage is low, and it’s infuriating because it shouldn’t be. There are a lot of customers who come in and confess they don’t exactly remember the title or author, but that they heard a bit about a book on a television show that morning or in the car while driving. I don’t blame them for not remembering—those segments can be very short and you may not have time to grab something to scribble down the info. You’re certainly not going to do it in a car. The annoying part is because of the shows featuring these books. There are a surprising number of them that don’t have a section of their website that showcase the books they’ve talked about. Some do, but the area is buried in another chunk of website like Pop Culture or list them with the respective shows that discussed them. Some have book sections, but fail to have dates or indicate whether the book was on the show itself or just reviewed on the site. We’ll still try our best, but can’t promise anything.
ISBN – 100% This stands for International Standard Book Number and it is the best thing you can possibly bring us in order to find exactly what you’re looking for (provided you wrote it down right). The ISBN is a book’s fingerprint. It’s easy to search for. It comes right up when available. If it doesn’t, we can usually cheat and look online to see who actually does carry it (a small number of authors only sell through their website or certain vendors/mediums). I’m always happy when someone tells me they have an ISBN—I’m also proud that they had the foresight to bring that particular piece of information. And even if that exact book isn’t available, it allows us to see if there are other editions or formats—provided the customer will accept an alternative. In the end, hands down, the ISBN is the way to go.
The more information you have for booksellers (and librarians!) the better. Combinations of titles and authors can be just as good as an ISBN. Knowing a book’s series name can be as useful as if you’d had the title as long as you know what number in the series you need. We can work with a lot of pieces in order to figure out what book you want. It may take us a few more keyboard strokes and mouse clicks to Sherlock our way to victory, but as long as you bring us the right clues, you’ll be able to go home happy, book(s) in hand!
I worked at the library when I was in college (25 years ago. ARGH). Actually had someone who was trying to find a book from the “Education” section and all they remembered that the book was green. 🙂
[insert long sigh here]
And then you also get the people who either remember an old cover or *think* they remember the cover and are adamant that the book you found for them isn’t the right one. I remember one woman would absolutely not accept the book I was trying to give her as the one she wanted, even though I knew 100% it was the right one – all because the bird on it was the wrong color. *headdesk*
*headdesk*, indeed…