Books are my business: Lily Keohane of Waterstones

Lily's role covers all the new Irish publishing: books written by an Irish person, published by an Irish publisher, or anything about Ireland

Lily Keohane: 'I’ve always wanted to work with books. I was a voracious reader as a kid, I would read a book in one sitting and then move on to the next one.'

Lily Keohane holds the role of Irish commercial support at Waterstones, responsible for all Irish publishing in the bookshop chain’s 13 stores in Ireland. 

She is based at Waterstones on Patrick’s Street, Cork; originally from Bantry, Co Cork, she lives in Cork City.

How did you get into publishing?

I’ve always wanted to work with books. I was a voracious reader as a kid, I would read a book in one sitting and then move on to the next one. 

My mom was very supportive with my reading and the local librarian in Bantry was great. They took the cap off how many I could check out and I could just read as much as I wanted. 

Then when I went to UCC, I worked in the library as a student help, which is the best job ever. 

I probably didn’t read that many books while I was there, but just working with them was great. 

And then I came to Waterstones after UCC, nine years ago. I was a Christmas temp, just for the month of December and it was really fun. 

Then I came back to Waterstones in the spring full-time, and I’ve been here ever since.

What does your role involve?

It’s a new role for me; before this I was buying the stock for Cork, but now I do all 12 Waterstones stores and Hodges Figgis in Dublin, all of the new Irish publishing, so books that are written by an Irish person, published by an Irish publisher, or anything that’s about Ireland. 

Ireland is a huge producer of books as we are a very literary people, so it’s a full-time job to to support that. 

I liaise with publishers, order the stock, and I help launch campaigns for a book.

Irish people are incredibly supportive of Irish writing. 

You have to know where an author is from; if they’re from Cork, you triple the stock. 

Irish writing is booming outside of Ireland, too, in the UK and America. 

It’s a good time to be in my job. I think it takes years to become a good bookseller. 

A huge part of learning is just reading as much as you can across all genres, but also really listening to your colleagues and customers. 

I’m so lucky that a big part of my job is just talking to people about books.

What do you like most about what you do?

There’s so many things to love in this business. As soon as I started working in books, I really felt like I had found my people; there was just an immediate connection with everybody I worked with and dealt with every day. 

I also love being part of a cultural moment, when everybody is abuzz about a book or writer, for example, Claire Keegan. 

She’s always been a very respected writer and she’s been on the school reading list for years, but in the last couple of years she’s just taken off. 

Also, there’s the lifetime worth of free books I’ve accumulated. One day I’ll have time to read them

What do you like least about it?

There is an element of having to tell the future with everything I do, where you have to predict the next thing and make sure you have enough of something in time. 

It’s fun when you get it right, but not when you get it wrong. 

A book I loved that I thought would sell brilliantly might just tip away and then months after publication it’s the only book everyone wants and I’m scrambling to get more.

What three books would you bring to a desert island?

My first one is I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, a Belgian writer. It’s from 1995 and is kind of a rediscovered classic. 

It’s speculative post-apocalyptic fiction; it’s devastating and also hopeful. It’s a good desert island one because it is all about coping with loneliness. It is one I give people all the time and they love it.

My next one is Stoner, by John Williams, which is a beautiful, life-changing book.

It sounds like it’s about nothing and then it’s just about everything.

My third one is my advance copy of the next Sally Rooney, Intermezzo. I am really savouring this one. 

I don’t know how much I can say about it — I can’t wait for everybody to read it, so I can talk to people about it.

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