Booksellers Blog

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It’s fall trade show time, and there will be much buzz about booksellers and social media during educational sessions and panels. I think that’s a fantastic thing. My point of view has always been that participating in social media is optional IF you understand how social media works, the benefits, and the drawbacks. I look forward to hearing reports of bookseller experiences with social media.

Rich Rennicks of Malaprop’s Bookstore has done a wise thing and posted his ideas on booksellers and social media in advance of his SIBA panel appearance. It’s so easy to lose track of what you want to say on those panels. I’ve often left the stage frustrated because I forgot to make that one key point that would have made someone understand my message more clearly. And this way, Rich’s wisdom can be shared with those of us who won’t be attending SIBA.

I highly recommend that you go read Rich’s post in full. Here are a few gems that he shares from his experiences with social media:

To participate you don’t actually need your own blog — I think it’s better if you have a homepage, blog or store website to link back to because it’s a place for the conversation to continue and grow – but it’s not essential in order to get involved in the conversations you want to be involved in.

…you can’t be afraid to be personal, to show some heart and share your individual interests and point of view: that’s what makes social media compelling.

Twitter isn’t the be-all and end-all. … Different mediums suit different personalities; play around with what’s out there before you reject social media as not for you.

There’s more — much more — that can’t be summed up in pull quotes. Please go read Rich’s post, and think about it as you talk with your fellow booksellers. I’d love to hear your thoughts. What happened at your local trade show? Did you come away with new thoughts about social media? Did you hear any great success stories? Please share, we’d all love to hear about it.