Publishers Weekly profiles sales rep finalist Doris Allen as a reminder that field reps still build the hand-selling layer between catalog and indie front tables - reorders, co-op conversations, event coordination when a regional title pops.
Authors who think marketing is only digital forget this job exists. For booksellers, a strong rep relationship can mean the difference between two copies and twenty when word of mouth starts.
(Shortened and summarised to avoid devaluing the source)