I’m a bookseller at heart. I started in publishing as an intern at the venerable Coffee House Press, then became a bookseller at an old orange-and-black B.Dalton, plus some fun times at a Barnes & Noble here in Chicago during the standalone chain store boom.

I’m a big fan of Fredrik Backman, Michael Perry, Rainbow Rowell, Jason Reynolds, Christopher Moore, Suzanne Collins, Richard Russo, my old neighbor in Minnesota Steve Rushin, Rick Riordan, Ian Falconer, Sandra Boynton, all things Silverstein, oh mercy the list goes on... I once had a panel that followed a speech by author Chris Crutcher at a writers’ conference. That didn’t go well for me—there’s no way to follow the emotional whomp. Read his stuff, go see him if you get the chance.

“Position” the individual titles and position the author as a brand. Acquiring and developing editors do lots of things, but I think their role as creative services specialists is perhaps the most underrated. There’s instinct involved, yes, but that instinct actually comes from hands-on experience, deep research, and live consumer and market data. The core of our job is to connect authors and readers anywhere and anytime, and we have decades of experience positioning authors’ work for the biggest possible audience.

It’s right there on our t-shirts: “authors are our rock stars.”

In teetering towers on an end table I built out of broken hockey sticks. It makes for an apt visual metaphor for my life.

Anderson’s Bookshop right here in Naperville, Illinois is a special place. I’ve made pilgrimages to Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, City Lights in San Francisco, King’s English in Salt Lake City, and Bookworks in Albuquerque. And because I’m partial to my hometown, Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis and Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul are not to be missed (hit the Red Balloon, then zip down the street to the Tavern on Grand for walleye and a Summit).

Pedaling or skating. I’m an avid cyclist and cycling advocate, plus a geriatric hockey player. Or in the garden.

Shelf Awareness Pro (for bookseller and author news & fun) and Publishers Lunch (for industry news and analysis).

todd.stocke@sourcebooks.com, direct line 630-536-0543