The Type Of Customer Service Bookstores Need To Deliver

 

 

“Give me a buttered roll for Brian,” yelled the middle-aged waitress from behind the narrow counter of my town’s greasy spoon.

It is my daily order at this joint. I go there out of convenience. It is right next to the Starbucks where I get my favorite drink: a grande, non-fat mocha, no whip, with two pumps of the mocha, hot. The baristas at The Buck know my order as soon as they see me walk through the door, shouting their corporate-forced “Welcome back, Brian.” Then they ask if I want my usual. They must remember hundreds of orders.

What I like about the coffee shop where I get my roll from is that the waitresses and the owner are friendly. They have known me for years and they remember everything I tell them, as they will incorporate it into future conversations. And they know how I like my bread buttered.

I want a light butter spread, and not for the kaiser roll to be bombarded by the cholesterol-thick dairy treat. They know that. So, rather than saying “light butter roll,” they say “buttered roll for Brian.” My name becomes like a Social Security number or a body tattoo, forever defining how I like something. That is customized and personal.

Some of this type of treatment needs to exist in the book marketplace. Bookstores need to know their customers and they need to know what books are out there in a variety of genres, from the classics and bestsellers to the new and critically acclaimed.

Consumers need their bookstores, even chains, not to turn into Target, Walmart, or Taco Bell. We want to see literate, book-loving people ready to service our needs or be ready, willing, able to help us find what we would like to read.

If I owned a bookstore I would look at what type of information consumers have access to, the kind that informs or inspires their book-reading tastes. You have various bestseller lists, social media drivers like BookTok, major book review sources like NYT, WSJ, PW, and Kirkus Reviews, and you can see what is trending on YouTube that may involve a book. The more that you know of as a store, the better you can anticipate the needs and desires of your customer base.

My local bookstores see me shopping at their business but they don’t really know me nor do they seem to have deep knowledge of what to read in many genres. They need to take the buttered roll for Brian approach or they may just find their business stagnating while Amazon eats their lunch — or buttered roll.

 

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 4.7 million pageviews. With 5,300+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum