EVENTS COORDINATOR

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, with course fees paid for by Wolfe & Kron Books. Depending on success of Events planned and executed by the Events Coordinator, this position is intended to develop into a full-time / salary position over the next 1-3yrs. Yes, your paycheck is, while not commission based, directly dependent on the work you’ll be doing.

The primary focus for this position is in the Development, Co-ordination, and Execution of events including:

• Individual author events

• Book release parties

• Community outreach

• Craft workshops

• Supper clubs

• Fundraisers

• Book clubs

• Holiday / Farmers markets hosted at / organized by other businesses

• Themed multi-author + artist / vendor market events like MerMay or Pirate Day

All employees are required to work at least three shifts a month on the floor at the bookstore to ensure they are familiar with our customers, and our inventory. Since our team is small, there will also be times when shifts will need coverage due to employee vacations, or because someone is out sick.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Plan, schedule, and co-ordinate in-person author events, community events, and workshops

• Manage local partner business relationships to host book clubs & author events

• Track success rate of events based on attendance, ticket sales, book sales, media coverage, and other ROI

• Select Holiday / Farmers markets and other Pop-up opportunities and set inventory stock requirements and order timing

• Handle donations, collaborations, etc for local fundraisers by non-profits and community groups

• Maintain event postings on the Wolfe & Kron Books website, and local events calendars

• Identify and track books to promote on their release days

GENERAL BOOKSELLING

• 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

• Contribute book reviews / recs, Social Media posts, shelf talkers,

• Read incoming ARCs and provide inventory recommendations both of new / upcoming releases, and backlist titles to pair or sub for ‘hot’ titles

QUALIFICATIONS

• +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

• Previous retail or hospitality positions with repeat customers

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 in Asbury Park, 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. We often eschew shelving the ‘big deal’ titles, preferring instead to highlight the too often overlooked authors that TikTok has yet to find. However, knowing those trending titles is key to successfully recommending an esoteric author.

Our 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. As booksellers, we present ourselves professionally, but this isn’t some department store perfume counter. Dress to be you, but also to climb a 7ft ladder, or load 50lb boxes of books out for an event.

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.

FOR CONSIDERATION PLEASE PROVIDE

• 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