Wolfe & Kron Books is hiring an Events Coordinator / Bookseller.
Starting as part-time at $21/hr this position is for someone interested in a long-term career as a bookseller. Candidates must be willing to complete certification trainings through the Professional Booksellers School, paid for by Wolfe & Kron Books. Depending on success of events, the position is intended to develop into a full-time / salary position over the next 1-3yrs.
While all employees are expected to cover shifts at the store as a bookseller, and since the team is small, covering for other employees will at times necessitate this, the primary focus for this position is in the Development, Co-ordination, and Execution of events including:
Individual author events
Book release parties
Craft workshops
Supper Clubs
Book Clubs
Themed multi-author + market events like MerMay or Pirate Day
RESPONSIBILITIES
Identify and track books to promote on their release days
Plan, schedule, and co-ordinate in-person author events, community events, and workshops
Manage local partner business relationships to host book clubs & author events
Maintain event postings on the Wolfe & Kron Books website, and local events calendars
Match customers to books they'll love based on a depth of knowledge across genres
Open and close the store, and maintain inventory tidiness and shopability throughout the day
QUALIFICATIONS
Previous retail or hospitality positions with repeat customers
+3yrs bookselling / book industry experience
Demonstrated success organizing and executing events both small/intimate large-scale
Working knowledge of office software, including managing spreadsheets and handling data entry
Well-developed communication skills, including comfort answering the store phone, calling customers, speaking with business partners, publishers, and authors, and drafting emails / creating templates
REQUIREMENTS
Ability to lift and carry 50lb boxes of books, climb ladders, and stand for extended periods of time
Reliable transportation to and from work, and to off-site events
Availability during store hours including nights, weekends, and holidays
Punctuality and task management, including self-directed work, are a must
As a retail store, we do wind up open through many of the major holidays, but close during Sea.Hear.Now. and on both Christmas Eve/Day and New Years Eve/Day.
We are a small (tiny) indie bookstore stocking Collectible, Used + New Titles for readers YA and older, dedicated to centering LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPoC / AAPI authors, with a focus on Speculative Fiction. Our inventory beyond books is tightly curated to platform Queer Makers in the TriState area.
Customers expect hands on treatment and an awareness of / affordances to their needs, be those of physical access, or neurospicy. Our readers look to us not only for book advice, but as a point of connection with the queer community, and a third space of belonging. This is a store where we say hello to every person who walks in the door, where we shape ourselves to make them feel comfortable*, and where we expect to see customers come back over and over.
We are not here merely to please the summer tourists. We are here for our year-round readers, and for those who come to Asbury Park because they are looking to feel seen. The books we stock are not the Beach Reads or Bestsellers found in big-box stores. They are the first books to be banned, or to be quietly removed from the shelves of stores less willing to stand up for a cause.
Our motto after all is: Show some spine. Get shelved.
PLEASE PROVIDE FOR CONSIDERATION
a Resume / CV
Cover Letter telling why you should work here
List of 1-5 books you have read with a 1-2 sentence "shelf talker" for each in the following genres
Mystery
Horror
Memoir/Biography
Science Fiction
Poetry
Narrative Non-Fiction
Fantasy
Romance
OTHER
BENEFITS
Sick time accrual
PTO accrual
30-50% Employee discount (cost + sales tax)
Access to physical / digital / audio ARCs
Professional development
EMAIL SUBJECT - ATTN [your name] wants to be your Events Coordinator
*...unless they're determined to make us, or any member of our community uncomfortable, or put us at risk... you know who we mean
