Even after 54 years, divided almost evenly between being a bookstore buyer and then a sales rep, Patricia Nelson, of University Press Sales Associates, remains intrigued by the publishing industry, which she describes as “like no other.” Slinging books isn’t simply a job: it’s an intellectual exercise for Nelson: “The collage of books that [indies] carry—why is the book unique in that space? Why is it different in every space? That’s the most interesting thing about selling books.”
Most of the booksellers nominating Nelson emphasized her inquisitiveness and unswerving engagement with her accounts. Luisa Smith, head buyer at Book Passage in the San Francisco Bay Area, says that Nelson’s “superpower” is curiosity. “She is infinitely curious about our stores, our customers, the books we are reading, what we need from our publishing partners,” she says. “She listens intently and then provides a wealth of knowledge about the books and promotions that will help satisfy all of our needs.”
Brad Johnson, owner of East Bay Booksellers in Oakland, describes Nelson as “without a doubt my favorite publisher’s rep. We end up discussing ideas alongside books, and the necessary job of book buying becomes a truly sustaining part of my buying season.” Nelson, Johnson adds, “represents what sets university presses apart from trade publishing, and she does so with good humor and grace.”
John Evans of Diesel: A Bookstore in Los Angeles and Del Mar, Calif., says Nelson is, “bar none, the finest, smartest, most diligent and generous sales rep I’ve worked with in over 40 years as a bookseller,” adding, “Powerfully informed about pretty much everything, she wears her encyclopedic knowledge easily, using it to enhance the stores she visits, spread the word on all of her publishers’ books, and share her readerly enthusiasms.” Evans calls her a “town crier” for the industry, “tying each bookstore to its comrades, publishers, and the larger book world.”
Nelson, who was born in Germany and grew up in a military family, launched her career in 1970 while a student at Scripps College by working at Huntley Bookstore in Claremont, Calif., as a textbook buyer. After moving from California to New Mexico in 1973, she spent the 25 years working as a buyer at indies in Albuquerque: the University of New Mexico Bookstore, Living Batch, and Page One.
In 1998, Nelson switched from bookselling to repping. “Repping offered a lot of room and a new way to think about things,” she said of the transition. “I’d always been very attracted to University Press, I’d always bought it deeply. That job came out of those connections to, at that time, Harvard, MIT, and Yale university presses.”
Nelson’s 13-state territory extends from the Pacific coast through Colorado, and from the Canadian border down through New Mexico. Alaska and Hawaii are also part of Nelson’s portfolio. “It’s all of the west, a fly-and-drive territory,” she says, noting that before the pandemic, she was on the road for 10 weeks each season.
In addition to traveling less, Nelson notes other industry changes since 2020. ,“The way we buy now,” she says, “through the Edelweiss interface, requires a lot of preparation and attention in different ways.” While Nelson handles her territory primarily via phone, Zoom, and Edelweiss, it remains essential, she says, to know the bookstores and their buyers, so she still does occasionally travel. Most recently, she spent a week in the Bay Area visiting 16 bookstores, which she calls “kind of an all-time high.”
While Nelson admits that 54 years in the book business is a very long time, she loves her job and has no intention of retiring anytime soon. “I always have felt that life is like a Scheherazade story: there’s always another book, there’s always another season. It’s very hard to stop, because it’s so appealing. My personal slogan is, ‘What’s a day without a bookstore?’ ”
