I just read a very interesting rant over at Publisher’s Weekly, about the short shrift the romance genre receives at some large chain book franchises.  And I have to say, I agree overall with the tone of the post.  Some large chain stores look down on Romance.  Now note, this is not corporate policy – it can’t be, Romance is the top selling genre in mass market!  And I have been in large chain stores that have rows upon rows of Romance, the titles lovingly featured in the front display racks, everything you could hope for.  But there are those few individual stores that don’t have salespeople that read our genre and therefore can’t recommend, or the old prejudices come up (i.e. “Those books are all the same” “They’re girl porn,” “Bodice-rippers,” etc.), and the romance novels get shoved aside… or in the case of my local mass chain back in New York, shoved into the back row of the top floor, where they store the folding chairs.

Sometimes, those uneducated salespeople look down on you, and can make you feel awfully small when you ask them for help or recommendations, so what should we as avid readers do?  Educate them, of course!  Now, some people might say that the manager is the person to talk to about book placement in stores, the profitability of individual orders, and the strength of romance sales.  I prefer a far more insidious approach.  Weasel into their brains, one salesperson at a time.  The following is my five-step process for such situations:

1. Isolate the Weak from the Herd.
   You enter the store.  Maybe it’s the morning.  You bewilderedly look around, trying to find your favorite books.  The ones with the pretty covers and exotic titles.  Not finding what you’re looking for with ease, hunt down a sales person.  Not the ones at checkout, or the ones shelving books.  Get the one that’s behind the info counter.  The one that’s a little bored, a little tired.  The one whose coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.
2. Look ‘em Dead in the Eye.
   Don’t let that superciliously raised eyebrow of a 19-year-old salesclerk make you feel ashamed that you’re asking for a title that could only be found in the romance genre.  Tell them what you want, and they have to find it for you.  Period.
3. Make ‘em Find it.
   Say you’re in the store on the release day of your favorite author’s ultimate installment in her long running series that you’ve been following religiously for a decade.  But the salesclerk says the book hasn’t come in yet, or probably more accurately, is still in boxes in the back.  This is when you ask, kindly and sweetly, if they could go get it for you.  Yes, all the way from the back room, in the newly arrived boxes.  They’ll do it.  They have to.  And this has the added benefit of making them crack open those boxes, and maybe, just maybe, putting the books on the shelves a little more on time than they had originally set out to.
4. Show ‘em your Smarts.
   When our hypothetical young salesclerk comes back, twenty minutes later, your book in hand, thank them profusely for it.  Make your passion for the romance genre known.  Then hit them with your knowledgeability about the book:  “You know, this book is going to debut on the New York Times best-seller list, you should probably have them displayed prominently.”  Or, “I know I won’t be the last person today to ask for this book – it’s got a huge buzz on the web.”  Possibly, if you’re feeling bold, “I don’t know why you don’t shelve more romance books – they’re the best-selling genre by a mile!”  For good measure, you can make a phone call to your high-profile job with the CIA or an international humanitarian think-tank while you’re at it.  Then, phone call complete, thank the kid again, and hold your head high as you go to pay for your book.   Trust me, that salesclerk – young and coffee-deprived – will think about that exchange through the rest of the morning.
5. Repeat.
   Every couple months or so.  And get your romance-reading friends in on the rotation.

Ok, ok so other approaches might be more direct, but I like mine.  It turns the tables.  If you do it right, you can make a salesclerk feel ashamed of their lack of book-knowledge.

Thoughts?  How would you go about educating someone about the romance genre?