Today we’d like to introduce you to John Shableski.
John, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Marketing and promotions have been apart of who I am for as long as I can remember. Prior to my publishing days I was in radio broadcasting both as on air talent and in programming followed by a stint in cable television advertising. The common thread shared by those industries and now, publishing and bookselling is this: How do you get your message about your book, song, or product to connect with the audience? After leaving the cable television world I landed with Brodart Co. the oldest library book distribution company in the country. I was given this new category called Graphic Novels to foster for our library customers. With that I needed to learn why libraries would benefit from this ‘thing’ but I had to learn how libraries operate. And that meant learning how they choose the books that best serve their community. Then I had to teach the new graphic novel publishers how libraries buy and what is required for a book to qualify for this part of our market. That led to learning how books become bestsellers, how they win awards, etc. From there I began consulting with publishers, distributors, and authors and teaching them how they can become even better at marketing their books. Independent booksellers naturally became the next audience for this conversation. Like the publishers and libraries, booksellers needed to develop a much clearer message about their value to the communities they serve. All of that has culminated in this role as general manager of the oldest independent bookstore in the U.S.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Has it been a smooth road? Hmmm….it has been wonderfully crazy. When the owners, Kathryn Nassberg and Isak Sidenbladh brought me in, the one big question was “How do we do this better?” That led to wholesale changes in how we order books, what categories needed attention, expanding operational hours and days, physically expanding the store and increasing the number of titles from 21,000 to over 60,000. It also required that we basically blow up our market profile from this cozy quiet bookshop to a larger more vibrant center of literacy in our region.
As a bookseller or librarian, or any indie retailer, you have to earn your place in the community on a daily basis. It is not enough to declare ‘Shop Local!’ you have to earn it, you have to give people valid reasons to shop local.
The first step we took in this area was to expand our hours of operations. We used to close at 5pm ‘because that’s the way it has always been’. Well, the shopping malls and major retailers have known all along that you need to be convenient for the customer so you need to be open when they are off of work. When we expanded our hours to 7pm the response was immediate and the impact was even felt by our neighbors. We are now open 7 days a week and that too has generated a significant increase in business.
We have also dramatically increased the number of events that we host from book signings to womens health events and from street festivals to midnight releases, it has been a whirlwind. Not everything has been flawless but we are learning and improving with every new event.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Otto Bookstore. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The store originally opened in 1841 which is about the time that American Publishing began to find it’s voice. Books were becoming accessible to the the general public and in the early days, were a sideline next to other things like wall paper and stationary. As the American publishing industry grew so too did our offering of books. The current owners, Kathryn and Isak, are closing in on their first decade of owning the store and it has been a fantastic opportunity to manage a legacy such as this one. They have really invested their hearts and souls into this wonderful bookstore. After bringing me in over two years ago we’ve gone through some incredible changes and growth not only physically in the store but within our community. A wonderful bookstore such as this can often become the heart beat of a community and with all the improvements, we can definitely proudly say that we are feeling the love of our community. A major part of our growth has been in fostering parnterships with our public library system, universities, school districts, educators and arts communities along with the programming we have produced-from children’s book festivals to our women’s health series and supporting local authors and artists, we are becoming that third space that every community needs.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I rarely have time to read a book from cover to cover. It’s the irony of running a bookstore or library. We are surrounded by these things we dearly love and yet have so little time to actually enjoy them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ottobookstore.com
- Instagram: otto_bookstore
- Facebook: @ottobookstore
