I DID IT
Hooked on Books Susan Novotny on her life selling books By Cari Scribner | Photos by Colleen Ingerto
T
he Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza has everything a great bookstore should have: row upon row of books based on genre (with written recommendations), carpeting, perfect lighting and comfy chairs — the perfect atmosphere for opening a new book and discovering it’s exactly what you want to read. In the back office/storage space, at an unassuming desk in a corner workspace, sits owner Susan Novotny, the driving force behind the independent bookstore. Determined, smart, and appreciative of all the support she’s been given, Novotny
SUSAN NOVOTNY, owner of The Book House and The Little Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza.
is a formidable force keeping bricks and mortar bookstores alive in the face of overwhelming competition by big box stores and the online ordering site that’s stealthily stealing the lion’s share of business. Novotny’s career began when she earned a degree in classical studies/art history from SUNY Albany in the mid-1970s. After graduating, she spent two years working in the college’s bookstore. She then landed
a job as a traveling book salesperson for Simon & Schuster publishers, followed by Putnam/Penguin, peddling upcoming titles directly to booksellers, jobs she held for a total of 10 years. In 1986, two years after her son Alex was born, she left the New York publishing scene and went to work computerizing the inventory at The Book House, buying into the business and finally buying out the business in 1991 after taking out a small busicapregionwomenatwork.com | 19