What is the name and full address of your business?

Ledbury Books and Maps, 20 High Street Ledbury

How long have you been in Ledbury Books and Maps?

I’ve had the shop for 11 and a half years but there has been a bookshop here since the late 1980s

What do you sell?

Books and maps! We sell a wide range of brand new fiction and non-fiction books, both in hardback and paperback. I am constantly replenishing and refreshing the stock so that you will find all the latest new releases on our shelves. This time of year is especially busy as publishers and authors vie to be the Christmas bestseller. There are usually a number of signed books available at this time of year and 2021 is no exception. I have signed copies of books by Bob Mortimer, Alun Wyn Jones, Richard Osman, Peter Schmeichel, Jimmy Carr, Miriam Margolyes, Pam Ayres, Jamie Oliver to name a few with more to follow over the next few weeks..

What is your best selling product?

Last year’s biggest seller was “The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman. That feat looks to be followed this year by the sequel “The Man who Died Twice”.

What is the strangest request you have had at Ledbury Book and Maps?

We’ve had some odd requests over the years but the weirdest one was from a gentleman who asked us if we sold pyjamas! We have some annoying requests too like the woman who phoned to ask the title of a book she’d seen in the shop. She described the book and I found the title for her. She then said “Thank you - no wonder I couldn’t find it on Amazon”. She didn’t buy the book from me.

How did you get into Ledbury Book and Maps/ book selling?

I have a degree in Biology and Geography and my first job after graduating was a book production controller with a small scientific publishing company. Subsequent jobs from then on involved print production in one form or another so I guess I have always been “bookish”. In fact, my work experience at school was in a bookshop - and that was a very long time ago!

What is your view of Ledbury as a town to trade in?

Ledbury is lovely. Tourism really seems to have taken off this year and I am very proud when visitors comment on how pretty Ledbury is. A fellow bookseller from Lancashire popped in the other day and said that she had serious town envy as soon as she saw Ledbury.