3 Minutes on a Park Bench with P Town Books

Patch: What is your definition of success?

Chris: In general I would define success as "achieving ones goals at an acceptable cost". "Winning and all cost!" is not a good long-term strategy for success. I believe that true success is achieved in the long run, like a marathon, not just picking off small wins, like a sprint. As this applies to our mission at P-Town Book Rescue, success is defined by rescuing as many books as possible that are trapped in boxes and on peoples dusty book shelve and finding new home for as many of these books as possible, while insuring none of them end up in a landfill.

Patch: What is your morning routine?

Chris: The first thing I do every morning is check to see how many books we sold the night before (at our sister company - P-Town Book Sales). Every sales represents one more book that has found a new home. From there I work with the team to see where we can find I new lot of books that need our help.

Patch: What services does P Town Books offer?

Chris: P-Town Book Rescue buys your unused books. For small numbers of books, you can drop them off in Petaluma at our warehouse. For larger collections and libraries, our team will go to your location, pack and move the books.

Patch: What’s the best piece of sales advice you’ve ever been given and who gave it to you?

Chris: "The easiest products to sell are products that sell them selves". This was told to me buy my first boss. I think P-Town Book Rescue is one of those products. We help people find homes for there treasured books. We do all the heaving lifting and pay you for them. Now that is a "Win-Win!"

Patch: If you had to recommend someone three books what would they be and why?

Chris: Only three?!? With more than 50,000 books in our inventory today, it will be very hard to pick only three. My first choice would be Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, this is one of the first books I read after college, I often wished I had read it when I was much younger. Second would be The Catcher in the Rye, a timeless classic, it is probably the only book that I go back and re-read every few years, each time it seems to take on a new life of its own. And lastly The Fountainhead, not the easiest book to read (or carry on the buss for that matter), it was very influential to me discovering that I was an entrepreneur.

Patch: How did you get involved in the book industry?

Chris: I have always been a book lover. Once I started buying books at garage sales and thrift stores, then selling them online, I was hooked pretty quickly! It became a challenge looking for that one special book that someone somewhere was looking for then they would order it from me. It felt like I was finding homes for forgotten books. It was (and is) very gratifying.

Patch: What is the most important question readers should ask when trying to find a reputable book buyer?

Chris: The first thing I would ask them is "What happens to the books you don't sell?" Many book buyer send rejected books to the local landfill. At P-Town Book Rescue we work very hard to find new homes for our books, the ones that can not be saved, we have pulped and turned back into paper and cardboard.

Patch: What is the most interesting book you have rescued?

Chris: While going through a box of children's books that were purchased from an estate sale, I found an autographed Dr. Seuss! It feels like we saves a little bit of history by finding it. As much as I hope someone buys it someday, it is one of my favorite books to show to people that visit the bookstore.

Patch: How can readers contact you or learn more about P Town Books?

If you want to add to your personal library you can brows and search our inventory at www.ptownbooksales.com

If you have books you are ready to set free, go to www.ptownbookrescue.com/gotbooks and tell us about your books!