This girl read 181 books last year (56,000 pages, people!)

A Q&A with bookstore manager Andi Richardson about what she's reading and what she's selling

Hey there. This is Poe Can Save Your Life, a newsletter about the modern-day arts and the olden-day arts. I’ve had my head down with a new book proposal, the last few months, so it’s been a while since I posted. Happy new year! Sort of! I’ll be resuming my series on how writers and creators can increase their sales here shortly!

So far we’ve covered:

• Why you should care about your sales, like at all

• How to produce a classic

• And how to launch your next big project from a simple spreadsheet

The next post will be about hand-selling your art in real life. Which is a terrifying thing, but sometimes a rewarding thing, sometimes even a bit of an adventure. Only in the last year have I started going to cons and fan festivals. Maybe you’ve been going to them for a while—maybe you already know what a fascinating subculture there is to be discovered at such events. I was not aware, but wow. They are incredibly fun, and now I understand why “Fan Studies” is a growing academic discipline, and now I’m convinced that creators should definitely carefully consider fandoms as they look to sell their own work. More on all this in the next post.

In the meantime, I thought it’d be fun to introduce you to my friend Andi Richardson, a ray of sunshine who sells a LOT of books and reads nearly as many.

It’s all part of the job. Andi manages a very cool and eclectic bookstore here in Richmond, which you should totally visit if you’re ever in town. And like you’d guess, she knows the current literary landscape, from genre to highbrow, extremely well. Her taste in books is fabulous. Whenever I need a new book, I text her. Now here she is to talk reading and book-selling with you, and to share some recent favorites.

Hey, Andi. Thanks for agreeing to this. First up: What's your job title, and how long have you been at the job?

I’m the General Manager of Fountain Bookstore. I've been a bookseller for five years and the GM for two. 

So have you just always been a reader? 

Oh yes—I used to get in trouble for reading under my desk during math class. I still can't do math and I regret nothing! Both of my parents were big readers so there were always books around the house. 

How many books did you read last year? What was the best romance novel you read, the best horror, the best nonfiction?

I read 181 books/56,000 pages in 2022—that is by FAR a personal record. 

S.A. Cosby is my current favorite writer—that man's pen makes magic. I also loved When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole. It's a twisty murder novel with a dash of romance—all of my favorite things in one!

I can't get enough queer YA, either. My #1 book of 2022 was The One True Me & You by Remi K. England. It's an adorable romance that made me happy-cry.

I love horror for any age group, too! Tiffany D. Jackson is killing it with her recent YA horror and Grady Hendrix, Stephen Graham Jones, and Cassandra Khaw all brought me a lot of grisly joy.

I like to balance out the murder-y stuff with a good romance and Lacie Waldon, Ashley Poston, and Alison Cochrun did my faves of last year (From the Jump, The Dead Romantics, and Kiss Her Once for Me, in order). 

How do you read that many books? Where and when are you doing all this reading?

It's my superpower! I've just always been a super-fast reader. Once I get into a book, I truly cannot wait to find out what happens. I can also read while doing other things, which I think is rare. I read during TV time at home sometimes and if I'm sitting in a line somewhere or bored at a bar, I'm reading on my phone. I am not sure how many hours I read. That would be fun to track and I think I'm going to try and figure that out next... If I'm tucking in with a brand-new book I'm excited about, the best place is my couch, under a cozy blanket. Sadly, the cats rarely join me though that would make it perfect. 

Do you know anyone who reads more??

I don't think so but I am sure there's someone out there that does. And if there isn't, I need to find a way to monetize it!

Managing a bookstore is a good way! What about some books that aren’t out yet—any you’re particularly excited about?

SO MANY.

S.A. Cosby's new one, All the Sinners Bleed, coming in June is incredible—his best yet, and that's saying something. Cosby also has a book coming out with Questlove in April for Middle Grade readers—it's SO fun and looks to be the first in a series. It's got big fun Back to the Future vibes. 

Sadeqa Johnsons's The House of Eve just came out in early February but is already solidly in my top 3 novels for this year. No contest.

Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis (OSD, June '23) is so weird and good. Rachel Beanland's The House is on Fire is coming in April and is a really great historical fiction set in RVA—she did a fabulous job with it.

What are some of the biggest sellers at the store right now?

Staff picks are constant movers. People like to come in and see what they can find beyond the big bestsellers—it's fun to introduce them to writers from smaller publishers that they may not come across otherwise. The biggest seller this week is a local guy, Dean King. His Guardians of the Valley just came out last week and it's been selling like crazy!

Last question: How many books have you read so far this year, in 2023?

67 so far, and I’ll probably finish another one tonight! (It’s Real Love by Rachel Lindsay.)

Man, I’m doing well if I read that many in a year. Thanks for the recs and inspiration, Andi. You have my dream job and maybe everyone else’s dream job, too. I’m going to link to your Bookstagram so people can find you.

More Good Links

Andi mentioned Dean King’s new one, Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship that Saved Yosemite, and you can check out the NYT review right here.

Also, if you haven’t read this NYT profile of S.A. Cosby, don’t wait. It covers his breakout as a writer of “Southern noir,” his childhood in rural tidewater Virginia, and his wife’s funeral parlor (for which he drives the hearse). Like Andi, I love Cosby’s novels and his whole vibe.

As I said, the next post will be about going to conferences and festivals to sell your books, drawings, jewelry and/or handmade anime keychains. So, more very soon, and as always, thank you for reading.

Cat