The Corner Office: On the Record With: Paul Bogaards
I always ask people who are interviewing with me if they’ve ever worked in sales. It’s the second question I ask. The first is “What are you reading now?” You’d be surprised how many people say Tolstoy. F***ing Tolstoy! Anyhow, almost everyone says “no” in response to the question about sales. Then I ask them how they would feel about working in sales. Almost all of them grimace. So I categorically reject most candidates after the third question because, in my view, you need to have the tenacity of a commission sales rep to perform this job well. You need to be unrelenting in both your advocacy and outreach on behalf of authors. If your friends don’t say to you once a week, “Can you just stop talking about books for a minute?” you are not doing your job well.
- People:
- Knopf Doubleday
- Lynn Rosen