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By: Stuart Manley
stuart@barterbooks.co.uk
Whenever the subject of discount comes up in a bookseller discussion group, back come a wonderful range of opinions and advice. Most of it being the 'it works for me' variety, but of such a mixed message that any newcomer must be left wondering how on earth one can make any sense of it.
This article is an attempt to clear the thinking on this thorny subject.
Of course, you Americans are part of the problem: - not content with over-tipping our taxi drivers, you mess up our discount structure too!
From time immemorial, the accepted trade discount in Britain was 10%. Somehow, our transatlantic cousins seem to have crept up to 20% in some quarters, but we will leave that to one side at the moment.
The key point about this discount was that it was TRADE and it was RECIPROCAL. It was referred to as 'TWC' - Trade, With Card. It was therefore offered only to genuine fellow traders - not collectors, amateurs, or poseurs. To qualify, you had to be a member of a recognised book trade association such as ABA or PBFA, or be listed in one of the bookdealer directories such as Shephards, Skoob, Coles, or even the memorable Drif's guide. Or at the very least, to produce an acceptable business card or catalogue.
The arrival of the internet has blurred these lines considerably, but that is no reason not to have standards and stick to them.
Why bother, you might ask?
(Once again I have to give the health warning that I seem to have to give with all the articles I write for the IOBA - if you are a 'bookdealer' for any of the following reasons, do not bother to read on - this article is not for you:
But if you are serious about trying to run a business, read on.)
Why not just increase your prices and give discount to anyone who asks? (And rub your hands with glee when they don't ask.)
Well, for one reason, it is not FAIR.
Secondly, it tends to make your books overpriced. And, most importantly, it encourages the culture of haggling.
Haggling in itself is fun, but as a business practice it is time consuming and therefore expensive. Every time you have to negotiate a price, the dollars or pounds are going out of the window - not only are you having to give a discount, but it is costing you money to do so!
Or why not keep your prices level but give a discount whenever the customer asks or insists?
Once again, because it is not fair. But more importantly, because it eats into your margins, both in time and money. And the more you encourage this sort of haggling by caving in, the more difficult you make it for yourself in the future. Whereas I do not care too much if you struggle to make a profit because of your own stupidity, I do care about the effect it has on other more sensible dealers - who strive to run a fair discount policy and are constantly undermined and have their time wasted by customers expecting a discount for no good reason beyond that they asked for it.
So what is a fair discount policy?
One way is to give no discount whatsoever.
This has many advantages and is certainly easy to administer. But it does not encourage trade. Nor does it reward genuine major orders or regular clients.
Another way is to establish straightforward rules - and stick to them:
'Genuine fellow dealers'?
Set your own standards, but our criteria goes like this:
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Although we operate the usual 10% reciprocal trade discount to accredited fellow dealers for our main catalogue range, this does not extend to the 'Bargain Book' section (the under £10 range) of our catalogue. Books from this range are strictly net. Important - trade accreditation: We require ONE of the following references: EITHER (1) direction to a trade directory (Sheppard's, Cole's, Skoob, PBFA, IOBA, etc.) where you are listed, OR (2) the URL of a site where your catalogue is listed, OR (3) A scan of the cover of a recent book catalogue that you have issued.
We regret that without one of these references, we will be unable to offer trade terms. |
10% discount?
All right, you Yanks, give me 20%, but don't expect it to be reciprocal!
If you do decide to adopt a solid discount policy in some similar fashion to the above, how do you handle those customers who ask 'What's your best price?'
The answer is to treat them in a courteous, friendly, but firm manner - they are still potential customers and it is not their fault that others have encouraged haggling in the past.
Our stock reply goes along these lines:
“Long ago we had to decide whether we should inflate our prices so that we could 'give' a 'discount', or work from a straight margin. For better or worse, we chose the latter course. I'm very sorry we cannot help in this instance.” |
Quite apart from this being fair to all (a concept on which I am very keen), in practice I have found it to be effective - as often as not the customer proceeds with the purchase and accepts the clear guidelines that have been laid down. 'Sorry we cannot help in this instance' seems to increase the appetite to purchase, not diminish it!
On a few occasions, just as an experiment, we have tried the other tack - giving in to an unjustified discount demand/request and offering the book at the price the customer wanted. The astonishing result of this experiment was less finalised sales than refusing to reduce the prices, which gave much food for thought and helped solidify the advice being offered in this article.
Selling books on the web at any old price is easy - any fool can do it and many do. But SUCCESSFUL book dealing (i.e. selling books in enough volume and at a big enough profit margin to make a proper living), whether on the web or via a bookshop, is quite a skilled and complicated business. A sensible discount policy is only one of a myriad of things you have to get right, but it is a very good foundation stone to lay before tackling other issues.
If you think that selling your books at any price is more important than maintaining your profit margins, keep on doing it your way, but don't blame me if you join the many moaners that I see on the book discussion groups complaining of their lack of profitability.
But for those who have followed this complex argument to the end, I thank you - If I have convinced just a few of you to tighten up and clarify your discount practices, I will be well pleased - welcome to the professionals.
Having had a surprisingly large response to my article 'Penny Selling' in the last issue of 'The Standard', I intend to talk further on pricing and profitability next issue - if I'm asked back!
Stuart Manley, co-owner, Barter Books, Alnwick, Northumberland, England
http://www.barterbooks.co.uk
By: Chris Finan, president
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
chris@abffe.com
Attorney General John Ashcroft is on the campaign trail.
He is not running for office. He is trying to shore up support for the USA Patriot Act. Ashcroft is making speeches to groups all over the country in an effort to head off a growing list of amendments that have been proposed by members of Congress.
It's a remarkable change in the political fortunes of the Patriot Act, and booksellers can claim a considerable share of the credit for calling attention to its problems.
Certainly, no one could have predicted even eight months ago that opposition to the Patriot Act would grow so quickly. It was approved with astonishing speed-just six weeks after the September 11 attacks. It passed almost unanimously. Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin was the only opponent in the Senate. The vote was 357 to 66 in the House.
The Patriot Act passed so quickly that few members of Congress knew what was in it. One House member observed ruefully that when his copy of the bill reached his desk shortly before the final vote, it was still warm from the copying machine.
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) discovered only in the final days before passage that the Patriot Act contained a provision that gives the FBI the authority to secretly obtain a list of the books purchased by a bookstore customer or borrowed by a library patron. Section 215 gives the FBI the right to search the records of anyone in connection with a foreign intelligence or terrorism investigation, even someone who is not suspected of committing a crime. It also bars booksellers and librarians from reporting the fact that their records have been searched.
We were deeply concerned about the chilling effect of such unprecedented power to inquire into what people were reading. But it was impossible to get much attention for our concerns at a time when anthrax had contaminated the offices of members of Congress and another terrorist attack appeared imminent.
We didn't have much luck even six months later when ABFFE joined ACLU, the National Coalition Against Censorship and several other free expression groups in holding a press conference in Washington, D.C. Senator Feingold and the late Patsy Mink, a representative from Hawaii, joined us in a hearing room on Capitol Hill. Only one reporter showed up.
That's pretty much where things stood until March of this year when Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was persuaded by a group of Vermont booksellers and librarians to introduce the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157). The Sanders bill exempts bookstore and library records from Section 215. The FBI can still obtain the records. However, the requests are subject to the same safeguards that normally apply when the police subpoena bookstore and library records. Even then, we did not expect the support for H.R. 1157 to grow as quickly as it did. It was soon apparent that Section 215 had struck a deep nerve in booksellers and librarians. In May, ABFFE released a statement supporting the Sanders bill that included the names of over 30 book and library groups as well as a number of large companies, including Barnes & Noble, Borders Group, Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor.
Soon newspapers were carrying stories about the issue, and public outrage began to grow. Congress is beginning to reflect that concern. The bill currently has 141 co-sponsors, including both Democrats and Republicans.
It wasn't just Section 215 that was making people nervous. Civil libertarians raised the alarm about Section 213, which authorizes the FBI to conduct secret searches in foreign intelligence investigations. They also criticized the expansion of the FBI's power to engage in wiretapping. More than 200 communities around the country and several state legislatures have now announced their support for curbing some of the powers granted by the Patriot Act.
In July, pressure to amend the Patriot Act produced a stunning result. By a vote of 309-118, the House voted to bar the Justice Department from executing “sneak and peak” search warrants. This was the first restriction on the Patriot Act to pass the House. The attorney general hit the road very soon after.
Meanwhile, pressure continues to grow to amend Section 215. Several bills have now been introduced in the Senate that have the same purpose as the Freedom to Read Protection Act: Barbara Boxer's Library and Bookseller Protection Act (S. 1158) and Feingold's Library, Bookseller and Personal Data Privacy Act (S. 1507). Perhaps the most significant political development recently has been the introduction of corrective legislation by Republicans. Senator Larry Craig of Idaho is the sponsor of the Security and Freedom Ensured Act (S. 1709), which includes the language of the Feingold bill. Representative Otter has introduced a companion bill in the House, H.R. 3352.
The 2003 Congressional session closed without any of this legislation passing. However, we have laid a solid foundation for progress in the 2004 Congressional session.
ABFFE is asking booksellers to help in two ways. First, if you have not done so already, please write or call your members of Congress. If they are already co-sponsors of the Freedom to Read Protection Act or another corrective bill, thank them! It is not easy to support civil liberties at times like this, and your representatives need to know that it is appreciated. If they are not supporting the legislation yet, ask them to become a co-sponsor. To see a list of the co-sponsors of the Freedom to Read Protection Act, use this link, http://news.bookweb.org/freeexpression/1257.html
Co-sponsors of H.R. 3352 and the Senate bills are available through the Library of Congress Web site, THOMAS, To look up contact information about your members of Congress, click here, http://www.house.gov and here http://www.senate.gov
Second, if you're not already a member of ABFFE, please join today. ABFFE is the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship. ABFFE helped pay for the defense of Kramerbooks and the Tattered Cover Book Store when they faced government efforts to obtain their records. A sponsor of Banned Books Week, we are actively involved in a wide range of issues that affect the First Amendment rights of booksellers and their customers.
Dues are $35 for individuals and $100 for bookstores. You can join through our online store, https://www.abffe.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv, by sending a check to ABFFE, 139 Fulton St., Suite 302, New York, NY 10038, or by calling us at (212) 587-4025 with your credit card.
For those of you who have already supported the fight to restore the protections for bookstore privacy, thanks!
By: Phillip Bevis, Arundel Books
IOBA Standard readers are getting a good look at what should be the big bookselling story of 2004, with a chance to play an important part in this campaign that will help our businesses, our customers, and America as a whole.
This February, retail and online booksellers, coordinated by the ABA, ALA, and PEN, and other concerned groups and organizations, launched a nationwide and on-line petition, backed by large-scale phone and email campaigns. The goal is to generate 1 millions signatures in support the over 150 US Senators and House Members who sponsor important bi-partisan bills to amend Section 215 of the Patriot Act. This on-line petition, phone and email campaign is being reinforced by a nationwide petition campaign at ABA-member bookstores (open to all stores).
Chronology:
February 17th: ABA, ALA, and PEN jointly announce the "Campaign for Reader Privacy". (See: http://www.readerprivacy.com/?mod[type]=press and scroll down to Press Release.) READERPRIVACY.COM goes live. This site is a simple one-stop resource supporting this campaign for booksellers, bookstore customers and concerned citizens (no commercial use will be made of information collected). ABFFE.COM also has extensive info.
Emails and calling scripts (see below) go out to booksellers. This is a carefully scripted plan to make sure that Congress hears not just random noise, but that an entire industry is demanding action. This is where you can help, by making sure that Congress hears this is an important business issue. This will take less than 10 minutes of your time.
You will be surprised at how receptive your elected representatives are on this issue when you are calling as a business owner (no matter how small).
Late February: The ABA booksellers and organizations petition campaign rolls out in stores and online. This campaign is open to all and still going on; please participate! You can sign the on-line version at http://www.readerprivacy.com, download a printable version to circulate to your customers and friends, or both! If you would like to add your business name as a supporter of legislation amending Section 215 of the Patriot Act, please go to: http://www.readerprivacy.com/?mod[type]=book_community to sign on.
Late Spring: We will begin to present the petitions to members of Congress this spring during meetings in their home districts and in Washington.
Our goal: To restore the protections for customer privacy-something that will help our country and that we can take pride in for the rest of our lives.
If you don't make an effort, don't complain.
What is Section 215?
Section 215 "gives the FBI virtually unlimited access to... bookstore and library records" (please see the ABFFE.com home page for more info and links), and has caused tremendous concern among booksellers and bookstore customers, authors, publishers, distributors, librarians and library patrons, as well as many other groups.
Section 215 of the Patriot Act is an issue that has united American retail and online booksellers, large and small, as never before. It has only been recently that efforts by ABFFE (The American Bookseller's Foundation for Free Expression) have revealed how united we are as an industry in being concerned about Section 215, and thus it is only now that we can collectively realize how much power we have to drive change.
An Industry United
Most, if not all, American retail and online booksellers are concerned about Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. The firms and associations supporting the two main bi-partisan bills in Congress represent roughly 90% of retail book sales in the US, big market shares of publishers and distributors, as well as the entire library field. (See: http://www.readerprivacy.com/?mod[type]=learn_more.) Changing this law will repeal the troubling aspects of Section 215 that concern booksellers and our customers.
What does that mean? It means collectively we have the power. It means that if we use this power properly, Congress will hear us. Our customers and staff will no longer be worried by Section 215, and we can get back to serving our customers, growing our businesses, and creating jobs. The uniformity of opinion in our industry regarding Section 215 means that we can address Congress with a clear and simple message: "This law is bad for business and we want it changed now".
Section 215 - Bipartisan Mistake
The USA Patriot Act was hurriedly crafted and passed after the tragedy of 9/11, a time when Congress clearly felt that the consequences of inaction outweighed the dangers of a bad law. The Patriot Act passed with near-unanimous, bipartisan support, meaning that almost every member of Congress voted in its favor. (Russell Feingold of Wisconsin was the only “no” vote in the Senate. There were 66 opponents in the House.) Most Senators and Representatives will honestly tell you that they did not have a chance to read the bill before voting for it.
In an effort to shore up the increasingly shaky support for the Patriot Act, Attorney General John Ashcroft recently revealed that the Department of Justice has never used Section 215. We should accept him at his word, and conclude that, if Section 215 was not needed in the two years after 9/11, during our Nation's greatest crisis since Pearl Harbor, then it is clear that the laws that already give the government the power to seek bookstore and library records while protecting against potential abuses of customer privacy are entirely adequate to the task of pursuing terrorists. What this proves is that Section 215 has not made a single American family safer, yet it has upset our customers and cost our industry revenue and our country jobs.
Using Our Muscle
Americans are increasingly concerned about intrusions into their privacy. As a result of this feeling, Congress enacted the "Do Not Call List" which garnered support from over 54 million households in a matter of weeks. As booksellers, we sell a single product category, which means our businesses are extremely vulnerable to changes in consumer behavior. There is evidence that consumers are becoming nervous about making purchases where material is controversial in nature or would be an embarrassment. Any law, such as Section 215, that associates our sole product line with negativity or risk in the mind of the consumer is a threat that must be dealt with.
To my knowledge, there is not a single company in our industry that supports Section 215. A law opposed by our entire industry, which concerns our customers, and has never even been used, is a law without a constituency. A few hundred or thousand phone calls from businesses like ours could make the difference.
Although ABFFE and other Civil Rights and Free Speech groups are currently challenging Section 215 and other aspects of the Patriot Act in court, as businesses we have the ability to get Congress to repeal the part that troubles us, and get results fast.
Get Off the Fence
In my memory of this industry, this sort of unity is rare and unique. I realize that for independent retail and online booksellers continually buffeted by change and brutal competition the very thought that we do in fact have power is an alien concept, but I can assure you that this is in fact the case. So often in our business careers our companies and this nation as a whole are adversely affected by bad laws or circumstances that we feel powerless to change. Section 215 of the Patriot Act is a bad law that we can change.
If you have not considered this issue, or are a fence sitter, I suggest you ask a few random customers the following:
Are you aware that the Federal Government has the right to make us tell them what you read?
If you believed the government would learn what you were buying, are you more likely, less likely or as likely, to buy books in the following subjects:
firearms & Second Amendment rights
religion (if you want to be specific pick any one you want)
depression, anxiety and personal medical issues
addiction & recovery
abortion, pro-choice & pro-life issues
sexuality
And last: As credit card transactions can be traced, ask do you believe your privacy is "better protected" if you pay cash?
The answers will get you off the fence. They will also lead you to understand that there are other, powerful constituencies and special interest groups (all of whom poll extensively), who will shortly realize that Section 215 is impeding their ability to get their message across to future members. And, in the case of the credit card companies, how will they feel about customers shift to cash in bookstore purchases?
Do You Want to Vent - or Win?
For some companies and individuals in our field, opposition to Section 215 is strictly a matter of principle and a patriotic commitment to the freedoms and Constitutional rights bequeathed to us by the Founding Fathers, and sustained by the blood and toil of our forefathers. For others, opposition is strictly based upon business principles and their customers' increasing discomfort. I believe that most of our colleagues oppose Section 215 on both counts.
It is important to remember that the Patriot Act is not a Republican law, it is a bi-partisan law. Just as Democrats were full partners in creating and passing the Patriot Act, Republicans are playing a leading role in changing Section 215 (and Independents as well, Congressman Bernie Sanders, I, VT is author of the leading bill in the House). Just as with Democrats and liberals, Republicans and the Republican Party are not monolithic, and if we approach this as a bad bi-partisan law - not a bad Republican law - Republican Senators and Representatives will in many cases be receptive.
Just prior to 9/11, we at Arundel Books had our own fight over our customer records with Attorney General Ashcroft, the Justice Department, and the FBI. Yes... we won, with help from ABFFE and other groups across the political spectrum. While I realize that Mr. Ashcroft is a divisive and controversial figure, he alone did not pass Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Democratic and Republican Senators and Representatives did. I personally am opposed to Section 215 regardless of which party is in power, no matter who fills the office of Attorney General.
If we individually and collectively confuse Mr. Ashcroft or the Bush Administration with the problem that Section 215 represents, we will make our ultimate victory more difficult.
So, when I tell you that you can vent, or win, what do I mean? Section 215 presents us with a business problem that needs a businesslike solution. Hundreds if not thousands of business owners like you and I need to pick up the phone and spend a few minutes making calls. If we are businesslike, it will be easier to pick up support. If too many of us use this opportunity to attack Mr. Ashcroft, President Bush, or the Republican Party as a whole, there is a good chance that Republican Senators and Representatives whose votes we need will circle the wagons to defend Section 215 - which is at the end of the day a law that they oppose in principle and would otherwise happily repeal. We would also lose the support and votes of many Democrats (and possibly Independents) who are interested in results and not posturing. The Senate bill, S-1709 (the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act), which we should support, was in fact written and sponsored by a Republican, Senator Larry Craig of Idaho.
If you want to vent, call a talk show, your Mom, or your therapist. If you want to win, take this seriously and treat it like an appointment with your banker. If we take this approach and leave the partisan political rhetoric aside, we will win, our customers will be happy, and America will be better off for our efforts. Our industry is so united that there will be no cost or retaliation and you will feel like you made a difference and achieved something important.
GETTING IT DONE
What to Do?
First of all let me assure you, you are in fact going to enjoy this. It is not like going to the dentist, these people actually want to hear from you and stay in office by being responsive to business owners like us. It is companies like ours that create jobs, pay taxes and make this country work.
If this takes more than 10 minutes, you are a slow dialer.
Get your phone numbers and bill numbers ready, and get your script ready (see below for examples). This will get you to the right person, help you get your point across, respect that person's time, and leave them time to speak to you. Your 'script' should fit on an index card, and you should do one each for the House and the Senate. Feel free to write your own, I have provided a generic model if it helps. Just remember, venting and winning are two different things. Let's win!
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Congress has Two Houses & Two Bills
Just as there are two houses of Congress, there are two somewhat different bills.
The bill in the US Senate is S-1709 (the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act), written and sponsored by a Republican, Senator Larry Craig of Idaho.
Your Senators:
Find your senators' names and contact info. Go to the following website (you can also check the Government section of your white pages phone book):
http://www.senate.gov Use the pull-down menu to select your state (if you operate or own homes in more than one state, go for broke - call them all).
Write down or print out both of your Senator's names and phone #'s. Unless you are allergic to long distance, it is best if you call their Washington offices (starts with area code 202).
Have your script ready. Call both of your Senators.
Sample Senate script:
2 Senators, 2 Calls: ---------------------------
How it works:
[ring... Senator Blank's office]
FIRST - GET THE RIGHT PERSON (hint - it is NOT the Senator but a staff member):
You Ask: Who can I speak with regarding the Senator's position on S-1709? [If they need more info S-1709 is the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act - bi-partisan, sponsored by Larry Craig and Dick Durbin]
[answer will include name and number - write them down; if the person is unavailable you will get voice mail - in which case you say your name and number, and that you are a business owner and constituent calling for info on the Senator's position on S-1709]
When you get through, here is a sample script:
Hello [name], thank you for taking my call.
I am calling to inquire about the Senator's position on S-1709 [If they need more info S-1709 is the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act - bi-partisan, sponsored by Larry Craig and Dick Durbin].
I am a business owner and a constituent (if you share the Senator's party affiliation say so). Section 215 of the Patriot Act is causing my customers concern and giving me and my business headaches. Mr. Ashcroft himself has plainly said it has not been used, and I would like the Senator to join in support of S-1709 - a bi-partisan bill, sponsored by Larry Craig and Dick Durbin, that will restore the safeguards for customer privacy without undermining the ability of the government to pursue terrorists. Are you aware that virtually every company in our industry opposes Section 215 and supports S-1709 - from the malls to Main Street - amounting to over 90% of gross retail book industry market share?
Where does the Senator stand on this?
If the Senator is supporting the bill - express your thanks and restate the importance of this issue to you.
If the Senator is not yet on board, it helps to leave your name and number and ask for a follow-up call, and ask: How can I help the Senator to understand the importance of this bill to our industry, our customers, and the Senator's constituents?
Repeat this phone call to your state's second Senator. Great job!
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Calls #3 & 4 - Your US Representatives (unless you live in the same zip code as you work - if you own multiple houses of businesses call all Representatives in your areas)
Go to the following website
http://www.house.gov
Enter the zip codes that apply for your home and work, and write down names and phone numbers.
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[ring... Representative Blank's office]
FIRST - GET THE RIGHT PERSON (hint - it is NOT the Representative but a staff member):
You Ask: Who can I speak with regarding the Representative's position on HR-1157? [If they need more info it is Bernie Sanders' Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) which has over 140 co-sponsors so there is a good chance they are on board]
[Answer will include name and number - write them down; if the person is unavailable you will get voice mail - in which case you say your name and number, and that you are a business owner and constituent calling for info on the Representative's position on H.R. 1157]
When you get through, here is a sample script:
Hello [name], thank you for taking my call.
I am calling to inquire about the Representative's position on H.R. 1157 [If they need more info it is Bernie Sanders' Freedom to Read Protection Act with over 140 co-sponsors].
I am a business owner and a constituent (if you share party affiliation say so). Section 215 of the Patriot Act is causing my customers concern and giving me and my business headaches. Mr. Ashcroft himself has plainly said it has not been used, and I would like the Representative to join in support of H.R. 1157 - a bi-partisan bill, sponsored by Bernie Sanders, that will restore the safeguards for customer privacy without undermining the ability of the government to pursue terrorists. Are you aware that virtually every company in our industry opposes Section 215 and supports H.R. 1157 - from the malls to Main Street? - amounting to over 90% of gross retail market share?
Where does the representative stand on this?
If he/she is supporting the bill - express your thanks and restate the importance of this issue to you.
If he/she is not yet on board it helps to leave your name and number and ask for a follow-up call, and ask: How can I help you folks to understand the importance of this bill to our industry, our customers, and your constituents?
************************
************************
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Phillip Bevis
Arundel Books
(206) 624-4442
By: Rick Russell
rick@sangraal-books.com
When any business changes, and the used/rare/antiquarian book market has changed dramatically over the last decade, everybody seems to be pointing fingers at everyone else. The terms "fraud", "forgery" and "fake" get tossed around in wild abandon. "Playing fields" are described as "tilted", "honest information" is hidden and "the buying public" routinely cheated. This is, of course, hogwash. There has, in fact, been a revolution in used and rare bookselling, occasioned by the internet, and a lot of the old ways are disappearing. Tuesday was once dedicated to quoting books on postcards, now, we put books into databases to put them into our sites, on a database site or in an auction. Of course, with anything new, there are glitches, and how the internet gets over these will probably determine the future course of the business.
The internet did several things that changed the nature of the book business. First, it opened it up to a new and larger audience, which is vastly different from that of seven or eight years ago. Second, it put information at the tips of their fingers. Third, it opened up trunks in attics, garages and storage sheds, so that rare, isn't so rare anymore. There are a lot more booksellers in the world now than there were before the internet came along. Some very good ones have grown up on the net, with its wealth of information, and then, of course, there are always the ones who cut corners.
Booksellers did not create the internet. The database and auction sites were created by people with vastly different ideas, goals and expertise than a bookseller. eBay, for example, began life as a sort of internet flea market. It is evolving in two directions at once, as if deciding to be a flea market, or an antique mall, while trying to hold onto both markets. There are inherent differences between the two, thus leading to all manner of problems and becoming a “target of opportunity” for those who want to cut corners a bit.
Not so very long ago, a “flat-signed” book without any verification of the signature, would not have been worth much more than the same book sans signature. In a flea market atmosphere, it is worth more, in an antique mall atmosphere, it is not. eBay's taxonomy puts all signed books in the “First Edition” category. There is no separate category for verified signatures, or signatures on later printings. Thus, with a signed book, and a light box, one can begin a cottage industry. Hence, the oft-leveled charge of forgery. Not that forgeries don't sit in catalogues, on database sites, or in brick and mortar stores, they do in gay profusion. eBay, after all, did not invent the light box. It is the seeming aid and comfort eBay is giving to forgers that draws fire. Does this mean that all signatures on eBay are forgeries? Of course not. On the net, I have little doubt that the hidden forgeries on ABE outnumber eBay's by several times. On eBay, there is often a picture that can belie a forgery, unless it is very good.
And, of course, the “First Edition” category is a big “Welcome” mat for those bent on deception. First Edition is really a pretty meaningless term. And to create a category that is just this catch-all mishmash of a thing creates the confusion that con-men can feed on. If it were put in the Genres, as “Modern First Edition” and defined, it would cut down on a lot of the confusion. Every single book there is had a first edition. “First Editions” are neither especially rare nor particularly valuable. Because eBay is neither designed nor run by booksellers, it is understandable that eBay should fall for this superstition, giving the modern later printing of a best seller this status. So the charge of fraud gets levied. In point of fact, many publishers label later printings “First Edition”, and, indeed, they are; the printing plates are the same. The collector, by and large, is looking for the first appearance of the work and therefore the first print run, and often, if a change was made during that run, the first state. Again, the taxonomy of eBay can be seen to be aiding and abetting the bogus bookseller, and indeed, it does. Once again, the flea market mentality comes into play. The first assumption, and an undoubtedly true one, is that a great many eBay sellers do not know how to distinguish a first edition, first printing, first state. Those who do are, thus, according to some, placed at a disadvantage. In the short run, quite probably this is true. In the long run, however, the honest, knowledgeable and frequent eBay bookseller gains a reputation that not only outweighs the disadvantage, but actually allows for a higher opening bid and final price on better books.
The internet has opened new vistas of information. As a bookseller for more than 30 years, I have a room full of reference books. Yet the internet eclipses my poor little library to the point of making it almost a nonentity. Never, outside of major cities, with large libraries holding extensive collections, has so much information been available to the average collector. Again, eBay doesn't help, doesn't recommend sites, or even point out that such references are a google search away. So we get the charge that eBay is hiding information. Indeed, they are. The flea market mentality puts the onus on the buyer, “caveat emptor”. In a brick and mortar store, the onus is likewise, on the buyer, but the atmosphere makes the knowledge available seem greater. While, in many cases this is an illusion, in many cases it is not. Knowledgeable booksellers often take the time to explain, and verify what they have. Many such booksellers have reputations that draw people into their stores, and allow a buyer to trust “First Edition” when they pencil it on the free end paper. This is only beginning to be available on the internet, as some booksellers build an online reputation. Should eBay do more to point out information? Perhaps. Should they do more in the way of providing information, if only links? Probably. However, not being booksellers, not even focusing on bookselling, can they be accused of hiding information? Hardly.
The schizophrenic nature of eBay is open to numerous charges of all types. I don't think there has been anyone who has been more vocal on the eBay booksellers' board than I have been about these deficiencies in better books. I am sure that flea marketers, on the other end of things, have their woes as well. Eventually, either eBay or outside entrepreneurs will change this. There will eventually be an auction site and a database site for better books on the internet. That is the future, and we can look forward to it. Time never moves backward, except in Science Fiction novels. Until then, if you are honest and are working on becoming more knowledgeable, you are a part of that future. For now, it doesn't get better than eBay. But, it will.
Rick Russell, Bookseller
Selling as rickrussell on eBay
http://sangraal-books.com/
By: David Holloway
Hollowayd@aol.com
Buying books on eBay can be a frustrating experience. I hope to give a few basic pointers to make the experience safer and more rewarding in the long run. To begin with, I must explain that nobody ever bought a book from eBay, but thousands of people buy books offered by eBay sellers. This is an important distinction. I have been in open shops where Grosset & Dunlap reprint titles were offered as first editions, and I have received catalogs where book club reprints were offered as first editions. My point is that a smart book collector needs to use common sense and be careful no matter where he shops.
How can you be sure on eBay? Since so many sellers on eBay have little experience selling books it is important to be careful. Try to buy from a dealer who takes returns. Even the most experienced bookseller makes errors, and the more experienced and professional sellers are willing to admit that and will take a return within a given period of time with no questions asked. This has been a standard in the mail order book trade for as long as I can remember. An honest seller will take a return if the book isn't as described, and most sellers will take returns for any reason. I've had several books returned because the person ˜found out they already have a copy.” As a seller it is frustrating, but I know it gives buyers the confidence to bid on or purchase my books so I have always accepted returns.
Another way to make your shopping safer is to buy from people who sell books. I know it sounds ridiculous; after all, you are buying a book so they sell books, right? Look and see what else they are selling. If they have three books, and two hundred pokemon cards, six chipped mugs, and a vintage motorcycle for sale, maybe they aren't primarily booksellers. If all you want is a reading copy, these dealers will be fine to buy from, but they generally don't understand condition standards for book collecting or how to identify first editions or how to properly describe them. These sellers often write "I'm not a bookseller" somewhere in their descriptions. The truth is they ARE booksellers, they just aren't very good at it.
Another way to judge the experience of the seller is to look for bookselling terminology and clear descriptions of condition. If the person knows the ˜lingo” of bibliography and of book description then they will be able to answer your questions and describe their books correctly.
In general it is wise to be suspicious of dealers who sell through private auctions. Although it does protect the identity of their bidders, it also hides information that is important for bidders to know. Many times books that are misdescribed or contain bad signatures are offered in private auctions so that the bidders cannot be warned off by other members of the eBay community.
If the image and the written description are at odds, believe whichever is worse. I have seen books that are beautiful in the scans with condition descriptions of "fair”--upon inquiring it turns out that a major flaw has not been described or pictured in the scan.
Following these rules may lose you some bargains. You might not get that first edition of Huckleberry Finn for $10.00. On the other hand you might not get that first edition of Huckleberry Finn for $1,000 and find out that it is a Grossett & Dunlap reprint, and the seller doesn't take returns.
Essentially a buyer's responsibility on eBay is to learn enough about the seller from their listing style, the types of goods they sell, and their feedback history to feel confident buying from them. It may be a bit more trouble than some mail order transactions, and there certainly are more unsophisticated sellers on eBay, but it really means no more than knowing something about the person or business that you are buying from.
By carefully reading the seller's listings, judging what types of items they usually sell, and not bidding on auctions where the terms are unfavorable (no returns, or private auctions for instance) anyone can buy safely on eBay. There are as many honest sellers on eBay as there are on any other venue. Unfortunately, the dishonest and irresponsible sellers are the ones that get the most attention.
David Holloway, Bookseller
Selling as Hollowayd on eBay.
Books online at ABEBOOKS at:
http://www.abebooks.com/home/DRHBOOKS/
By: Tim Miller
unitedpublishing@surfnetcorp.com
[Note: IOBA in no way endorses the contents of this article. It was printed here as an alternative viewpoint, and is left here in the interest of archival integrity.]
For the past five centuries, regular people like you and I have enjoyed the pleasure of collecting autographs of both the well known and the not-so-well-known. The hobby began when 16th Century German students maintained albums of correspondence from family, friends and noblemen. It wasn't until the late 18th century that autograph collecting, in its modern sense, had evolved into a worldwide past time for millions of people from all socioeconomic levels of humanity. While the number of collectors continued to expand, the hobby went through a natural transition to focus on the most popular figures in human culture - those in power and those in vogue. The subjects of our affection have changed very little - politicians, religious leaders, sports heroes, and literary greats.
Many people have invested small fortunes in the hobby. This has been true when the economy and markets have done well as well as when the economy and markets have done poorly. Many people have hedged their portfolios by investing in Americana; signed books, unsigned 1sts, art and other collectibles. The educated consumer of autographs is becoming more and more discriminating, the result being that the quality of the autograph is now highly important. Details are significant - such as whether it is a full signature, or just the family name and first initial (the famous A. Lincoln versus Abraham Lincoln variation), and if the autograph has a good provenance or history that is verifiable and/or special. Important content, like historical references or the mention of well-known persons included in a note, means increased value for an autographed piece. A signature from a United States President is usually more valuable if the signature can be dated to the time the President was in office. The phrase “Signed as President” is used to distinguish this and we tend to value these at a premium price.
Recently there has been a “great-debate” between the old-guard and the avant-garde about autographed books and their values with inscriptions versus Flatsigned, which is the author's signature alone, without being personalized to some stranger. Many booksellers, who have been selling signed books far longer than I have been, have stated that inscribed is better. I do not believe this to be the case. While I find there are exceptions like a lengthy inscription from Lincoln or Hemingway for example, the marketability and hence the value of a Flatsigned modern book is far superior to those that are personalized to some stranger. This has proven to be one of the keys to my successful venture of selling online and has also been a target of attack from those who dismiss and attack internet booksellers in general.
This is an exciting time to be an autograph collector. Many of our most prominent people are recording their thoughts for posterity and then signing their works. The medium that has generated huge interest (and prices) among collectors recently is signed books. The collecting of books was a recognized hobby long before autograph collecting became popular, but it wasn't until the invention of the printing press that those other than the very wealthy could afford to own even a small library. Then, in the 19th century, the idea of having authors autograph their books struck gold and now is one of the most popular and most rewarding forms of autograph collecting. Signed books are the medium through which I first became hooked on the love of select, special autographs, and how I phased away from my previous full-time profession into my current multi-million dollar business of selling books, art and Americana, mostly Flatsigned, via online and especially on eBay.
Selling online began for me via Amazon.com auctions. I owed the IRS twenty thousand dollars and decided to sell part of my collection to pay off the government. After selling a few of my books via Amazon.com Auctions it became increasingly apparent that there was a need and a market yet untapped for the selling of autographed books online. Within a couple of weeks I had the money to pay the IRS and began reinvesting my revenue into building an even larger collection. Within six months it was apparent to me that this was an obvious career move.
In the early days of Amazon.com auctions, the prices conceived for signed books was incredible. There was little competition and good marketing led to monthly sales that were close to my annual salary. I hired two part-time employees to do the computer-related tasks and to do packing while I then focused on buying and marketing. Within a year I quit my “real-job” and began selling online full-time.
All during this time I was being attacked by the old-school of booksellers who wanted to completely do away with online book sales. While most fellow on-line booksellers stuck together and worked together for the greater good, many decided to go on the offensive. Within a few months Amazon.com Auctions were basically dead…….no customers, no sales, no revenue. That is when eBay really came alive with booksellers, including myself.
Along with selling books from my long-term, personal collection I had been buying books on eBay and selling them on Amazon. All during this time I found literally thousands of people who wanted to learn more about the hobby and who wanted to invest in what was an incredible future. Many of those people have remained in contact with me over the years and many are still loyal customers of mine, making the shift from Amazon to eBay with me.
Since that time literally thousands of people have become “booksellers” resulting in a flooding of the market for the lower end, collectible books and a devaluation of the prices. However, the high-end, non-replaceable, collectible books have continued to go up in price and value. The logic here is simple. When the internet became an option for people to sell books, thousands of people searched their world and found more and more product to sell. But, there were few or no Hemingway's or To Kill a Mockingbirds which resulted in the low-end books going down and the high end books going up as there were more and more collectors and still few high-end books. This entire flooding and devaluation has begun to level off as should be expected with the advent of a new technology that resulted in a new marketplace.
For those of you who are meek at heart, I do not advise a life of selling on eBay. It is expensive (I pay about $7,000.00 per month in fees), difficult and puts your future out of your control and into eBay's. For those of you who are already there then I encourage you to grow by providing the best service and product available. That is how to distinguish yourself from those who truly harm the trade. Beware those who do not show signatures online and beware those who do not give their real, physical address and their real telephone numbers. eBay is a wonderful and scary place to work, visit and buy.
Selling on eBay has now allowed me to become a family-owned business with four full-time employees. We have been featured in national magazines and in a nationally televised infomercial about making money online. We have met and made friends of some of the most wonderful people in the world. We have made enemies of those who hate that online book sales have taken away from used to be a very controlled and monopolized business. To paraphrase a wonderful line of literature, “These have been the best of times and the worst of times” but I would change few of the things that I did along the way.
When it comes to eBay, my success has been due to a number of things. One of the most important was the addition of the bulk-loading services offered by http://www.auctionwatch.com (now http://www.vendio.com). This company provided the ability to bulk-upload, schedule in advance, schedule repeat auctions, monitor hits and bids as well as preview capabilities long before eBay or companies like Andale (I do not like Andale at all) ever were on the scene. This company also provides post-auction management services, which I don't use. My system is very simple; upload the auctions, PayPal sends out an automated "congratulations" email, customer pays and we ship. We truly do "keep it simple." The MOST important aspect of this business is providing almost 24/7 customer service and we provide many, many free services like an informative newsletter, free opinions and we answer almost any questions posed by our members, customers and strangers.
I believe the area of signed books is the fastest-growing segment of the autograph collectibles trade. After carefully watching the autograph and book markets for two decades, I observed a very intriguing trend that is quite significant in this time of economic instability. When the stock market went up during the booming years of the late 1990s, signed book values climbed, as did most collectibles during that era. However, as the United States economy and collectibles in general began to move toward a recession, the price and value of most signed books continued to go up. The rationale behind this apparent paradox is simple: When the market goes up, more people have more money available to invest in long-term collectibles that they really enjoy. When the market goes down, people look for other investment potential and restrict their spending to areas that they really enjoy (i.e., long-term collectibles).
Investors and collectors have been speculating and investing in collectibles of all types for decades. While many collectibles, such as baseball cards and beanie babies, have large followings, they have provided a market with peaks but mostly valleys. However, many collectible books have enjoyed relatively upward-spiraling increases in value over a long time, and they reward investors with hours of pleasure as well as a nest egg for the future. While there are never guarantees, collectors have seen some of their signed “first edition” books increase in market price from two thousand to twenty-five thousand dollars in a decade or so. One example of this is a First Edition, First Printing of “Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway.
There are two things to be very mindful of when purchasing an autographed book for both collecting and/or investment: condition of the book and popularity of the title. As with most collectibles, books in As New/Fine condition command a premium price in the market. It is especially true of what we call “hyper-modern” books that condition plays an incredibly important role in determining value. By hyper-modern, we mean in the last twenty years or so, since there are so many more people who have been carefully storing their treasured copies as they come off the bookstore shelf. For more rare books, it isn't unusual to find just Good condition copies of titles in demand by such legends as Hemingway or Salinger that still command prices of over a thousand dollars
For best values, always pay close attention to new authors and their new books. If you are able to get an As New hardcover signed first printing for $50 or less, what have you got to lose? At worst, you have another interesting and collectible autographed book for your library! There is no doubt some of today's newcomers will be the literary giants of our future!
How does someone best predict which autographed books will go up in value? One of the most certain signs that an autographed book will significantly go up in value is when that particular book and/or author wins a prominent award. This may be a national book award like the Shamus or a worldwide award like the Pulitzer Prize.
Other signs of particular interest, when buying books for long-term investment potential, would be those that have already held their own during decades of collecting. Examples are books by Hemingway, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald and Faulkner. Those books will experience less volatility in the marketplace since they have withstood the test of time. More recent books are much more likely to have large price swings.
We cannot know for certain if our investment in autographs or autographed books will provide us a fortune when we retire. However, we can certainly improve our chances by being smart collectors. Always remember to collect what YOU enjoy! That way you will always have a wonderful collection whether book values go up or down.
Just like all other autograph collectors, I still get a real thrill when I see and hold that long-desired signature of that famous person who I have always admired. Today's newsmakers and yesterday's heroes all continue to help us have a wonderful hobby and for some, a satisfying career. For me, I am fortunate enough to have both. My best wishes to you on your collecting adventures!
Tim Miller is an author and entrepreneur who regularly advises collectors of rare books and fine art. He is a life-long collector of autographs. Miller is the publisher of his own newsletter and magazine who has contributed to many other publications in the field of autographs. Miller is a fully credentialed member of the International Society of Appraisers, a Certified Member Trainer of the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce and an Ambassador of the Junior Chamber International, an affiliate member of the United Nations.
The term FLATSIGNED was originally coined by the world's most popular author, Stephen King. This word has now become a worldwide, recognized symbol of the best quality of rare and collectible books. Visit the website at http://www.FLATSIGNED.com or phone Tim Miller or Mike Cotter toll free at 888 568 3048 to discuss your needs for rare, autographed books, art or other rare, autographed collectibles. A full-time staff of professionals is available to assist you.
By: Chuck Pierce
gub@shasta.com
There are many types of book dealers. When one uses the words “book dealer” to someone who is not in the business, what is often pictured is a poorly lit and cramped bookstore in the poorer side of town, with shelves sagging from the weight of too many dusty but beautifully hand carved leather wrapped collectibles. In the corner of the store is an over stuffed chair, with a goose neck lamp looking over the shoulder of the dealer, who sits and puffs on his pipe while reading.
This well educated and well read, slightly grumpy (but in an oddly kind way) old timer is more at home with his books, and the store cat, than with customers. He knows that the customer really does not understand his books, and he hesitates to sell them - preferring to adopt them to a good home. He is as independent as his cat (maybe that's why he likes the store cat - they share a secret). When he does finally sell a book, it is for lots of money, and he takes great care in preparing the book for it's long and dangerous journey to its new home. Wrapping it in plain paper and tying a string lovingly around the package before passing it over the cluttered counter to the eager and very happy customer. His strong sense of independence does not allow him to ACT like he really needs the sale - even if he does.
I'm sure that such places exist. I know that such dealers exist. In fact, I've been there. I am describing a scene that I've seen (sorry about the pun). From talking to others in my industry, I know that they are just that kind of dealer, or close to it. They are everywhere: on every continent, in every country on the planet.
The modern traditional dealer has an on-line presence, but he brings many of the ideas and customs of the dealer from a hundred years ago with him into a new millennium.
A different kind of dealer has emerged. I call him the New Age Book Seller.
The biggest difference between the contemporary book seller and our old curmudgeon is that our new age seller is a businessman first. The skills that he brings to bear to sell his wares could easily be applied to any commodity. He views the books he has in stock as inventory. He has no emotional ties to his inventory. He recognizes that a book has no soul and no feelings. He sees a book as a tool, like a wrench or a car. It has a use, and it has a useful life. When it becomes valueless because of age, condition or obsolescence, it should be discarded to make room for inventory that has value (i.e. can be sold).
He buys in bulk, by the truckload for pennies per unit - knowing full well that a third of the purchase will be worthless, and will therefore be destroyed. This is reflected in the price he pays for a book. He does not “donate” books - he sells them or he destroys them.
Most, if not all, of his inventory is paperbacks. A third of it is Historical Romance, another third is Science Fiction. He knows that the reason there is so much Historical Romance out there is because a lot of people read it. Bored housewives and old women who just adore Danielle Steel and Nora Roberts. Pimply faced kids who can't wait for that next StarTrek episode. Middle aged men who will re-read that Robert Heinlein classic until it falls apart. Youngish pierced and tattooed females who wear all black and truly believe that Anne Rice and Stephen King are the ONLY authors in the world. These are the customers of the New Age Book Seller.
His store is on-line. He has a couple of thousand square feet of warehouse space in the light industrial section of town. His “store” is sandwiched between a carpet cleaning business storage facility, and a guy that rebuilds marine engines. Across the street is a propane storage facility, so the “neighborhood” always smells bad. But, it doesn't matter because he only goes there twice a week for three or four hours to pull the orders and prepare them for shipping. It's not unusual to see an open can of beer on the shipping station desk and the TV blaring a football game as he wraps the last two days' orders.
His office is nice, because that's where he spends most of his time. There is a network of state of the art computer equipment. He spends at least half of his time marketing. He uses pop-up ads, swaps links with other non-bookselling websites that share demographics, and utilizes email marketing (some people call this spamming.) While he complies with the law, he is acutely aware where the line is, and purposefully gets as close to it as possible in his marketing strategies.
While our traditional book dealer might sell five or ten books a week, our New Age dealer must sell that in one day just to break even, and he is not in business to break even. He demands profit so he has to sell twenty or thirty books - every day. His overhead is much higher; he spends so much on shipping the IRS doesn't believe his tax filings and he gets audited most every year.
He is a practical expert at computers, a generalist. He knows how to do much of what needs to be done, but more importantly - he knows when to not spend too much time learning to be what he isn't. He figures that if it takes him six hours to learn how to do it, and he can pay a professional $100 to do it in an hour, he'll hire the professional. He knows he'll make much more than $100 in six hours doing something more productive.
His approach to dealing with a customer is much different too. While our wizened traditional book dealer appears to be in no big hurry to sell a book, the New Age Book Seller is always in a hurry. Time is money. “Speed and profit” is his motto. He hits the cash register as often as possible. If sales slow down, he gets busy. In fact he works harder when sales are slow than when they are roaring.
The New Age Book Seller admires the efficiency of MacDonalds - not necessarily their cuisine. He notes that there has never, ever been a MacDonalds restaurant that has failed - gone out of business. He tries hard to emulate their operation, and apply its assembly line efficiency to his business. He sells brain candy, empty calories for the empty craniums that he serves. He also copies their approach to customer service.
I was in a MacDonalds once. I got a Big Mac meal deal for $3.95 - when I got back to my seat I looked down at a cardboard box that was only half full of french fries, um, I mean freedom fries. Well, I want ALL of my fries. I went back up to the counter and pointed out that I didn't get a full measure. The clerk shrugged and gave me another one. I now had one and a half orders of fries. No complaint right?
Well, our New Age Book Seller takes the same approach. If someone orders a paperback Patricia Cornwell book, and two weeks later he gets an email that says, “The book was in poor shape, and it arrived late, and the story was awful” he refunds the buyer's $3.95 because it just isn't worth a whole lot of his time. If it happens too often with the same customer, he politely invites the customer to shop somewhere else. If the customer consistently takes up more than his allotted few minutes per purchase of customer service time, he is a liability. Liabilities need to be referred to his competition.
Should the customer get the same service as the one who is spending $100 on a rare coffee table book about tall sailing ships? Of course not. And the traditional dealer MUST treat his sale differently. He can't just go to the shelves and get another copy and give it to the customer if it is damaged in transit. He has to take extra care in everything from confirming the financial transaction information to packaging for shipment and insuring. The New Age Seller drops the book in a paper envelope and mails it - and if it gets damaged in transit, he ships another one or refunds - or both.
Our New Age Book Seller is a capitalist. He works equations all day long in his head. “Is what I'm getting worth MORE than what I'm giving up?” and “Can I have someone else do this job cheaper than what my time is worth?” and, “Yea, it's a beautiful book - I wonder what it will sell for, and cost to ship?”
While the dealer and the seller have a lot in common, they are also as different as night and day. They are as different as two restaurants. One where you are seated by a waiter with a freedom accent and the cheapest bottle of wine is a day's minimum-wages - and the hamburger stand uptown where you fill your own paper cup with soda pop. The traditional dealer believes that it is much less work to sell one book for $100 than ten books for $10 each. I wonder if that's true, but to each his own. We both serve a need - or we wouldn't both exist.
The New Age Book Seller is looked down upon by the traditional dealers. I've heard us described as “drek dealers” and “penny dealers”, and worse. But we serve a need, we fill a niche.
Since we make a hundred small decisions every day, a bad decision is not earth shattering. If we miss an opportunity, we learn from it and keep an eye peeled for the next one because it's right around the corner. It is fast paced, fun, and profitable, and much to the chagrin of the traditional dealer - we are here to stay.
By: Joyce Godsey
book_pundit@comcast.net
So, the other day I was chewing the fat with this guy, this book collector guy, you know, and in the middle of emailing the conversation back and forth this guy he comes right out and just gives me a URL for a Roman numeral converter. Without even asking if I needed it, or wanted it or anything. And like, it gave me like the weirdest feeling, you know? I was shocked for like an entire ten minutes. I mean, I may not know much but I KNOW my Roman numerals.
I have since found that there are many Roman numeral converters on the net. Why is that? Has American education devolved to the point where Roman numerals are considered higher math? I think I learned how to convert them back in third grade. Granted there were nuns and corporal punishments involved and until I discovered I was a bookseller, they weren't good for much of anything except reading inscriptions on buildings and the thing at the end of the movie next to the MPAA rating. But now it is just something I can do subconsciously. It's really hard to imagine that it's not common knowledge anymore.
There are a lot of basic skills a good bookseller should have, being able to convert Roman Numerals is one of them. Even if you have to you make up a post-it crib note and put it on your monitor, do it, because eventually you just have to do it all by yourself on the fly. When you're standing in a crowded aisle of a book sale holding a crappy ex-Harvard-library copy of Frankenstein it's good to know it DOES say 1836 on it. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing...and most especially when you don't have it.
Another useful asset is a basic knowledge of Latin. Now, I am not saying you need to be able to stand up in from of the class and conjugate "amo, amas, amat" like an "O" level student, but to be able to distinguish the verbs FROM the nouns is a good start. Epigraphs still pop up in Latin from time to time and for those of you 21st century booksellers who don't know what an epigraph is, you have bigger issues at hand. Besides if Latin wasn't still a valuable asset, why would Harry Potter be translated into it? Huh? Nevermind. Trust me, it's a good thing and it can't possibly hurt you.
Speaking of epigraphs, versos, and appendices: learn the proper terms for the PARTS of a book. You learned the proper names for all YOUR body parts. Why not do the same for the thing you supposedly hold most dear? And don't be alarmed when you find that people who publish books, people who collect books and people who print books have different terms for the same parts. Parts is parts, use good reference works, like Carter's ABC's of Book Collecting and the first chapter of Chicago Manual of Style. Oh yeah, BTW: the Internet is NOT the end-all and be-all of information, it's just the tip of the iceberg. GET SOME REFERENCE BOOKS.
And speaking of the Chicago Manual of Style... learn how to write a proper catalog listing or bibliography. You need to know the correct forms and terms before you can go off and start inventing your own abbrevitions. THIS: "cvrscuff,crnrbmp&edgefeather, H2Owaving,edg'fthr&spinecrs LibraryHB, dw/DJ.Ins.cvrpg.cutout,typical-mrk&stmp"....IS BAD. Can you hear me in the back? If you don't have a good manual of style by anybody in the house, look up listings by long established booksellers like those in the ABAA. Learn by example. You can't tack up an unprofessional listing of a valuable book on any old database and expect people to take you seriously; that's how accidents happen.
Another thing that not enough booksellers pay attention to, which I don't think even has a name, but is the ability to recognize non-English languages by sight. You know that table that everyone cruises past at a booksale? The one over next to reference? It's covered in books that aren't in English; you may not be able to read any of the books, but it is helpful to know if something is in Icelandic or Farsi or Sanskrit. At least it will make you feel all superior while you browse. Oh yeah and guys, those books that look like they are written in some gothic script language, guess what? It's pre-1930's German using the Gothic typeface, and if you look around you can find an old Cassel's English/German-German/English Dictionary in the same typeface (which I don't think anyone produces anymore.) If I am not mistaken a German first edition of Nietzsche would be in this typeface...but how would YOU know?
That's all I can think up at the moment. I am well past the deadline on this thing and if I think about all the knowledge that used to be passed from learned bookseller to apprentice bookseller wanna-be that isn't I get all wound up and start hollering at the computer screen, but that could be just me.
By: Joe Perlman
Mostly Useful Fictions
Perlmanj@aol.com
This past August, my wife and I made a long awaited trip to Greece. For the first time in many years, this vacation would represent an almost two week break from the book business. No email, no checking orders, no buying books, no schlepping books, no arranging to have books shipped. There was one exception. I personally collect copies of James Joyce's Ulysses in various editions and translations, and intended to pick up a copy translated into Greek to add to my collection.
We boarded the plane on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and I did what I always do when forced into a cramped seat and with a safety belt fastened tightly around me--I fell asleep. For some reason I can read almost anywhere except on airplanes. My wife, in contrast, does most of her reading in the air. Needless to say, when we arrived in Athens around noon on Monday, I was rested and ready to explore the city, while she was eager for a hotel room and a long nap. Thus, I had a perfect opportunity to check out the bookstores and purchase my copy of Ulysses.
In my years of business travel, I have discovered that concierges are often excellent sources of information about local bookshops. After checking into our hotel room, I went down for a consultation with our friendly concierge. He was a bit surprised that I was looking for store with books in Greek when it was obvious to him that I did not even know how to say the word “book” in his language, but he pulled out a map and highlighted a street in the center of Athens, right in back of the University.
The street with the bookstores was three subway stops from the hotel. I stepped out into bright Athens sunshine, and saw the Acropolis looming in the distance. Trusting my sense of direction considerably more than my ability to read the subway signs in Greek, I opted to try to walk, using the Acropolis as a point of reference. I walked for about half an hour and decided that it was time for an ice cream break. I scanned the storefronts and was surprised to learn that in spite of the sun and the heat, there were no ice cream stands in sight. The news kiosk had a freezer with pre-packaged ice creams, so I bought one, sat on a bench and ate it. It tasted like a good humor made with skim milk instead of cream, that had been thawed and re-frozen at least three times.
I pulled out my map and tried to figure out where I was. This was no easy task, since my map was in English and the street signs were in Greek. Much to my chagrin, the Acropolis proved to be an illusory point of reference, and I discovered that I had just walked half an hour in the wrong direction.
One of the things that I learned from Leopold Bloom was the value of carrying food in my pockets. Power bars have replaced beef kidneys since this is, after all, the twenty-first century. I threw out most of the ice cream, and walked the half hour back to the hotel munching on my tasty high protein, low carb treat. Now I was ready for anything, including the subway. The platforms were large and not crowded. In less than one minute a train pulled into the station and within five minutes I disembarked at my destination.
I walked up several flights of stairs to the street level and found myself directly across the street from the university. In front of me was a familiar sight--a Starbucks Cafe. I walked in and order an iced coffee to go. The large sign over the counter was identical to the ones in the United States, except that it was in both English and Greek. I was so impressed that I whisked out my digital camera and took a picture of it. The counterman became irate and almost confiscated the expensive 256K photo disk in the camera. He told me that the prices on the sign are confidential information and should not be photographed.
Iced coffee in hand, and camera intact, I crossed the street and headed towards the university. On a small side street just in back of the main campus, I saw a large bookstore. I went up to a clerk and politely asked he had a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses in Greek. He signaled for me to wait, then disappeared to the back of the shop. A few minutes later a different clerk appeared, who asked me in English how he could help me. I told him what I was looking for and he too disappeared, returning shortly with a copy of the book. It was a very large format paperback, not unlike the actual first edition of Ulysses, with French flaps. It was all in Greek, but I could decode enough of the letters to know that it was the item I was looking for.
“How much?” I asked.
He replied “Thirty-five euro.” I was taken aback, as this was quite a bit of money- about 40 American dollars, and for only a paperback. I thought it over for a minute, then reached into my wallet and took out a credit card and handed it to him. “Sorry” he said, “the telephone lines are not working well, we can't accept credit card payments.” I did not want to use up all of my cash the first afternoon, so I decided that since the book was readily available, I would come back and get it another day. I was already long overdue back at the hotel, so I left the shop, and headed toward the subway.
The next morning we boarded a bus for a five-day classical tour. Each night we stopped in a different town, Nafpoli, Olympia. Delphi, etc. and each time we stopped for I went looking for a bookstore, but without success. These towns had shops that sold a few books, mostly popular novels to read on the beach, along with suntan lotion, hats and other necessities. If I collected John Grisham or Stephen King, I would have been in luck, as each store had wide selections of their novels in Greek translations. There were also many editions of Greek versions of the Kama Sutra, with the instructional illustrations taken from ancient vases. In Delphi, when I passed the tree that marked the site of the original oracle, I leaned over and whispered, “Where can I find a copy of Ulysses in Greek?” There was no response. I did notice a spider spinning a web in some of the dead branches, but she was no Charlotte, and there was no hidden text.
We arrived back in Athens late Saturday afternoon, just after the bookstores had closed. They would not re-open until mid-morning on Monday, by which time we would already be aboard the ship heading to the Islands. Greece may be the ˜cradle of civilization” but they still have not discovered the value of the late-night book-cafes that dot the landscape of even small cities across the United States.
On Sunday, I did manage to find one open bookshop in the flea market district. It was a large, dark, cavernous basement store filled with piles of dusty (and musty) old books. The shop clerk spoke little English and did not understand my question when I asked if he had a Greek translation of Ulysses. Instead he pointed me to the English language section, which consisted of dog-eared paperbacks abandoned by young English speaking visitors attempting to travel lightly by abandoning their books as they finished them.
The next morning, by the time the shops had opened we were on a bus speeding toward the port of Pireaus. Once aboard the ship, and settled into our stateroom, I decided to skip the orientation, grab a book and head for the pool deck. Topless sun bathing was strictly prohibited, so I decided to walk around and check out what the other passengers were reading. Perhaps I would find a copy of Ulysses and try to persuade its owner to sell it to me. I am familiar enough with the novel to tell them the ending. In fact, I can quote the last sentence verbatim. I quickly discovered that the reading selections of Europeans on Greek cruise ships are what Americans call “beach reading” - mostly light bestsellers, advice books and the occasional long Russian novel.
We arrived in Mykonos, late in the afternoon. With its reputation as a haven for writers and artists, I was sure there would be a well-stocked bookshop. We found pelicans, windmills, cobblestone streets with whitewashed shops, and a magnificent sunset, but no books. The next day, I did find a bookshop on the island of Patmos, but it mainly contained souvenir picture books for the religious pilgrims who flock to the island, and a few popular novels. I did not want to return home without buying at least one book, so I purchased an English translation of a historical novel about Alexander the Great, that I had seen at least three people on the boat reading in different languages.
We spent the third day on the island of Rhodes. The city of Rhodes is quite large and has its own university. We spent the morning on an organized tour of the old city. At the end I asked the tour guide where I could find some bookshops within walking distance of the dock. She pulled out a map and pointed to a neighborhood that she described as the sophisticated shopping district. After lunch on the boat, I dropped my wife off at the archeological museum and headed for the bookstores. I found two large bookstores, but both of them were closed for the remainder of the afternoon. The typical shop on Rhodes is open from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. then closes for lunch and reopens from 5 P.M. to 8 P.M. I did manage to find an ice cream shop with excellent soft ice cream then headed back to the museum to pick up my wife. We were not due back at the boat until 5:30, so we headed for the beach. This time, the sun-bathing was topless, so there were few readers to survey. We left the beach at 5, so I could stop at the larger of the two bookstores on the way back to the boat. By the time we reached the shop it was well after 5, but the windows looked dark. The door was locked, so I peered in through the glass and saw a light on in the back room. I banged on the door, and an elderly gentleman appeared, and opened the shop. After I explained to him what I was looking for, he confessed that it was really his daughter's shop, and he was not very familiar with possible contributions in her stock. He called her at her home, and she explained to him where the book would be if she had it. We walked over to the section, but there was no Ulysses. In fact, there was no James Joyce at all. By this time I would have settled for Portrait of the Artist, or even The Dubliners. Sadly, we raced back to the boat empty-handed.
I had no luck on either Crete or Santorini, and my last chance was at the Athens airport. The airport bookshop had a nice selection of world classics in Greek. If I was looking for Hemingway, or Faulkner or even Virginia Woolf, I would have been in luck, but Leopold Bloom's musings in Greece are even scarcer than punctuation in his wife Molly's famous soliloquy, and I returned home with nothing to add to my Joyce collection.
A few weeks later, when I was labeling the photos from the trip, I picked up a picture of the site of the oracle, and realized that it had been right. There was no response, because I could not obtain a copy of the book in Greece. Then, I remembered the spider web. Eureka! I logged onto the Internet and went into the worldwide web. I did a search on Athens bookstores and sent a few email queries looking for the book. The first dealer who responded wrote that he could not accept credit cards, but I could send a money order in Euro. I went to a local bank, but had no luck obtaining a foreign money order. Fortunately, the next day, I received an email from a different dealer who had the book and accepted credit cards. I sent him the information, and 5 days later a pristine copy of Ulysses in Greek arrived, identical to the one that I had passed up that first day in Athens. (The price, including shipping, was even the same as I would have paid in the store.) Up on the shelf it went, next to its cousins in Hebrew, Turkish, Rumanian, etc.
Next year, I would like to fulfill another dream, and visit Mainland China. While it would be easier just to log onto the web and order a copy of Ulysses from a bookstore in Bejing, it would only spoil both the fun, and the mystery of the chase.
Joe Perlman, Editor
LIABDA (Long Island Antiquarian Book Dealer Newsletter)
By: Peter Tafuri
frost@teisprint.com
Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were the seemingly endless miles of perfectly straight stone walls which line the fields and places in the woods where fields once were. Having spent a week of hard labor rebuilding a not too long section of a collapsed one, I have first hand experience of the work involved, to say nothing of what it must have been like to bring all the stones to the site. Some of the descendents of the pioneers who built the originals are now selling them off for a quick ten bucks a pallet, indifferent to the fact that they fetch between $250 to $350 on the suburban frontiers of New Jersey and Long Island, a fitting metaphor for the fate of books now that the Internet has opened the frontiers of the trade to all comers. Everyone who has a computer, or knows someone who does, seems to be trying their hand at it; everyone who has been in the business for more than a couple of years is certainly aware of the affect on the selling side. The point of this article is to give a glimpse into the current buying experience in this corner of the world.
Most people, or at least those who remember when domestic poverty was a national concern (rather than a personal reality for those who went into the book business), probably associate Appalachia with places like Kentucky and West Virginia, but like the trail, it stretches from Maine to Georgia, and apart from some pockets of prosperity, the poverty is still there, even if the media is not. Here in northern Pennsylvania, the coal mines have long since been abandoned, and the few remaining family farms often do not generate enough income to even make the operating expenses. While there are some decent paying jobs, especially if you know someone to get you one with the government or in the public schools, such a rare event as the opening of a warehouse brings out long lines of people hoping to get something that pays a dollar or two above minimum wage. Even back in the good old days, workers in the now vanished iron industry made $12 a month, coal miners the equivalent in script from the company store, and farmers what they could. While the $2 prices we see in the tipped in publisher's catalogues in some 19th century books may seem cheap, they were actually a small fortune for the working class. Thus, besides a Bible, some religious tracts, possibly a few children's titles and purloined textbooks, most households had rather sparse libraries, assuming the occupants could read. The more prosperous could enjoy the luxury of acid paper reprints, and for those fortunate enough to live in those nice 15+ room Victorians, a decent assortment of more respectable bindings and titles could perchance be found. A few small colleges sprang up which, along with some vacation homes and retirees from New York and Philadelphia, and the advent of book clubs and chain stores, all added a bit to the biblio-Mulligan stew. Death and fortune level us all; one way or another books drifted around on the tides of time, and eventually wound up in such venues as rummage, library and yard sales, flea markets, auctions, etc.
A lifelong book nut, even in the days before we moved up here in 1989, I always made it a point to browse through whatever local sales I learned about when in the area to go canoeing or camping. Prices were low, the quantity high, the selection decent enough and people quite happy to get rid of them. Once in a while a gem, more of a garnet such as a Civil War regimental history, rather than a ruby, such as one signed by Grant or Lee, would turn up but again, considering the demographics, not much more could be expected. Not to complain; for a few dollars I had a few boxes of books and maybe a bag of apples thrown in as a thank you from the seller.
After a series of misfortunes and follies, I decided to commit perhaps the greatest one and go into “professional” bookselling. The caprices of the gods being what they are, the timing at least was right, since it was just at the dawn of online selling, that now fabled Golden Age when a Stephen King could bring $10 but, foreseeing the coming Age of Iron, I went on a buying rampage, coming back with literal truck loads (full bed Ford pick-up with rails, anyway), which, even after ruthless sorting of those I had to buy en masse, still yielded more inventory than I will live to process.
I also made the acquaintance of most of the few other dealers in the area. With one or two exceptions, they were friendly and helpful. Thus, if say at an auction, one had a particular interest in a certain lot, a de facto, unspoken protocol of not spitefully running up the price was observed; at library sales there would sometimes be a show and tell before checking out, and if you spotted a missing volume to a set or something you had a customer lined up for, all you had to do was ask, and why not? There was usually more than enough to go around, and it happened often enough that there would not even be any other dealers present.
Sic transit gloria mundi, and we might add, libri, and thus the sands of that time began running out with the last years of the millennium. The personal computer, the internet and the word that one could sell just about anything online spread. I first noticed the effects of this at auctions. In the ante-eBayian (pardon the crude neologism) world, antique dealers rarely, if ever bid on books, but now if any saw a bookseller bidding, they jumped in; even boxes of junk were being seriously bid on, and treasures such as falling apart McLaughlins would sometimes go for more than the pots of gold the leprechauns in the stories were guarding. More and more people climbed aboard, and going to auctions became more an exercise in seeing what prices garbage would go for than serious buying venues. Not that there was much worth buying after a while. Whether people were no longer consigning their more promising looking books, or they were being cherry picked beforehand, it seemed a bit odd that in the midst of dozens of boxes full of Horatio Alger reprints, Yearbooks of Agriculture and the rest from an advertised “huge estate sale” there was rarely a single book that would have even paid for the gas, let alone time wasted in going there, whereas in the past say a Cram's Atlas, a few decent first editions and the usual nuggets would have been mixed in with the debris.
Two examples (skip ahead, fair reader, if bored):
A box of six books, the bait in which was an Arctic travel that looked like it had been recovered from a melting glacier and was missing a map, was bid up to $45 by a competing trio of eBay barons. How the winning member of the Unholy Trinity described it or what he got for it I never found out, but intact very good (or so the descriptions claimed) copies started at $15 on Addall and Bookfinder
An estate auction that was billed as having “1000s and 1000s of books”, which was true, except they had almost certainly been skimmed, nevertheless had three leather bounds that somehow made it past the censor librorum, the only one of which that was possibly sellable being an 1820s Webster's Speller. While there was no indication of the edition, a look at the testimonial pages featuring various, and obviously (to anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of history) long dead luminaries, made it clear it was far from the first, even if one did not know the date of its debut, far enough to make it worth maybe $15 to $45 retail, and perhaps $5 to $10 at auction. It went to an antique dealer who dabbles in books for, if I recall, $125.
Had it not been for some bad experiences with things I consigned mysteriously vanishing, I would no longer have to bother selling online; my donation box of Grosset & Dunlap Zane Greys alone would make my fortune.
To jump into flea markets, they are now mostly full of literal garbage, i.e., boxes of books taken out of the trash on town clean-up days (annual or biannual occasions when people may legally dispose of broken appliances, tires, 20 year old condensed books and other treasures), the more figurative kind, such as romances and 1980s bestsellers, or, what the vendor, after watching “Antiques Roadshow” KNOWS are RARE BOOKS. Rather than belabor this, two anecdotes will suffice to manifest the Zeitgeist:
Seeing me going through some books on his table, the seller took one that had been sitting by itself in the center, handed it to me, and asked, “How much do you think this is worth?” It was a moldy, falling apart Authorized Edition of “Roughing It”. He took it back, opened it to the appropriate page, and proclaimed, “See! It's signed by Mark Twain!” While honesty is a virtue, discretion should accompany it; I naively said, “It's a facsimile; it's worth a quarter or so.” While not particularly creative, the quantity, vehemence and volume of the profanity with which he replied took me aback and, worse yet, he came out from behind his table. Discretion should also accompany valor; I backed away, and thankfully no shots were fired.
At the end of another flea market, I saw a table full of old looking books the dealer was beginning to pack away. Unsolicited, he said, “I won't be bringing this s--- with me anymore. $2 each and I couldn't sell a f------ thing! The f------ old lady says she can sell them with the f------ computer; they're worth a lot of money she says and I'm f------ crazy to be selling them here.” Unless the price of scrap paper skyrocketed, I didn't see his fortune in the making. It was all the usual late 19th and early 20th century reprints, forgotten bestsellers, scribbled to oblivion textbooks, etc. The only thing that looked even remotely promising, and even more remotely sellable, was a fair memoirs of Lady So-and-so. Since I had bought nothing book-wise that day, an increasingly common occurrence, and felt it would be worth a skim through for some cheap entertainment before going into the donation box, I asked him how much he wanted. “I better let the old lady handle this.” The “old lady” materialized. She might have been in her 40s, but the cigarette wedged into the gap left by missing teeth and presumed other such peccadilloes probably resulted in the descriptive adjective. She grabbed the book out of my hands, opened it at random in a few spots, thus adding to the cracks, and said, “This book is real old!” It was copyright 1915. “$100!” I foolishly replied, “I thought he was selling them for $2.” “$2! The best I can do is $10! This book is real valuable!” Considering that 50 cents would have been more apropos, I passed. She threw it at the gentleman, “What the f--- did I tell you! I'll f------ sell all these f------ books on the computer and make some real f------ money!”
Assuming the astute reader gets the point, I will move on to library sales. While more the Ship of Fools than the Good Ship Lollipop, in times past the passengers at least recognized each other as fellow sufferers from the gentle madness of bookselling, and thus displayed at least courtesy, often compassion, and never (well, hardly ever) the cannibalism which seems to be more the case now that we are on board the Raft of the Medusa.
As mentioned above, this deep pocket of poverty was once a coal mining area, and as an unheeded sign to those coming here certain they will capture an Audubon double elephant lurking in the dollar book jungle, most of the highways leading in are lined with culm banks; these are mountains of mine waste consisting of dirt and rock in which are bits of coal that, even during the good old days when wages and working conditions were such as would appall the most rapacious Third World sweatshop operator, was simply not worth the time and trouble to recover. Both an omen, and a fitting metaphor for what awaits them. Again as mentioned, this area never really had much book-wise to begin with, and what little there was has mostly long since been picked clean. Besides in situ scavengers, such as myself, a large New York dealer has been running display ads, complete with toll free numbers, for years, and a local with a rumored significant other source of income has a daily classified ad. What little may be left is now often sold online rather than donated; there are still a few occasional crumbs that Lazarus may hope to beat the dogs to, but it should be remembered that it was hope that was the cruelest of the punishments inflicted on Pandora.
Ruling out the more established dealers that come here in the spirit of Petrarch who, when asked why he climbed Mt. Blanc, replied, “Because it was there!” and like him nevertheless do not repeat the escapade, local wannabes who, after having spent a few hundred hours listing the 1000 books they got for a buck a bag at the last sale, actually sold one and seek to double their profit, who is bothering to drive 100, perhaps 200 or more miles to attempt Mt Biblio-culm? Here Hieronymous Bosch, or some other allegorical painter would find a plethora of faces to depict the Deadly Sins. Avarice, boasting how his just discovered Heritage Press in the ORIGINAL SLIPCASE is worth a fortune; Envy, incessantly complaining to the bedraggled librarian running the sale that the people who set it up grabbed all the illuminated manuscripts, incunabula and such before she could get it; Gluttony, adding ever more to his pile of self-helps and Danielle Steele modern firsts; Drunkenness, running back and forth, banging into three year old kids paging through Winnie the Pooh, giddy with all his “real OLD books from the 1800s!”; Sloth, remarking how once he starts making enough money selling books he'll never have to do anything except turn on the computer; Anger, ranting about how she saw that James Beard cookbook first; Lust, drooling over his COMPLETE SET of Time-Life World War IIs, but I will stop, since I am perhaps acting out of the spirit of that sin which even the angels can succumb to, Pride. St. John of the Cross warned us that the seven-headed beast of Revelation was in fact the Seven Deadly Sins which prevent us from even beginning the ascent of Mt Carmel, and that Pride was the trickiest of them all. Thus, in an attempt to keep the beast at bay, I shall brandish the sword of Charity, and write with a bit more compassion towards Sisyphus attempting to reach some bookish apotheosis.
It is obvious that it has become very easy not so much to sell books, as to try to sell them. Disregarding the hobbyists, retirees and others who wish to do something book related, and would be of actual use to society if they volunteered for a children's reading or adult literacy program, amongst the “thousands of dealers” many on-line sites boast of, it seems that a large number, perhaps the majority, have but tasted a few drops from the Pierian Spring, not so serious as regards book terminology, identifying editions, etc., which, while sadly lacking in too many cases, can nevertheless be had easily enough with a few decent reference guides, but more so concerning that almost bottomless pool of human knowledge out of which only the deepest draughts can see one through the spreading desert of bookselling. True specialists rarely waste their time at the run of the mill general sale, which, by definition is just that, and hence the domain of often justly (but often enough not) maligned generalists. With the market oozing the more (and even less) common titles, this is a far narrower niche than it may seem, with survival dependent upon knowing the scholarly, the unusual, and the collectible. In this ever worsening environment, to be able to distinguish between Chrysogonus and Chrysologus, Aruj and Khayrad'din Barbarossa (neither to be confused with Frederick), Zosimus of Panopolis and Zosimus, sometimes called of Constantinople, sulfate and sulfite, and other such minutiae is, while perhaps not the sine qua non, certainly crucial to survival, as is telling a coffee table book from a catalogue raisone, a text book from a treatise and, more germane to this article, knowing when to stop belaboring the point. Mindful of the difficulty of keeping Pride, and its outrider Scorn at bay, based upon my unscientific survey of the vast culm banks of books I see my random sample of the “thousands of dealers” heaping up, it all seems to be the result of a little bit of knowledge, and both optimism and desperation. To guess that Herod is probably not the nickname for Herodotus is laudable enough in our culturally illiterate society, but to buy a paperback copy of the latter, even if as new, and then spend time copying the blurb from the back cover for the description, followed by a stream of consciousness discourse on what a wonderful book it is, or having no description to speak of, and pricing it at either 25 cents or 25 dollars depending upon one's marketing strategy, but also passing over a good copy of Herodian, is not conducive to success, and neither is driving 100 miles in hopes of grabbing a 1502 Aldine. Thus, assuming it's not all a tax write-off scheme, the boxes of new cookbooks, recent nonfictions, and 50 year old deluxe editions are all symptomatic of the Quixotic quest to make it in bookselling, with the occasional odd volume that may actually sell for $50 serving as an intermittent reward, which, just as winning $50 on a slot machine makes gambling such a difficult psychological addiction to break, keeps them coming. Apparently, they have few, if any other sources of supply, did not do enough buying back in the days when it was possible to get a quantity of the far more important quality, and have not drunk deeply enough out of that other, and most bitter of springs, experience, to know the difference. Mindful of the fate of Phidippides, take pity on those engaged in this marathon race to the bottom.
If a sale is close by, I usually go to it, both for the thrill of the hunt and to support the sponsoring organization. Occasionally, I'll even venture into the First World sales of New York, New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania, where the quality and quantity are several orders of magnitude better than here, but only if I have other business in the area, or wish to visit someone there, otherwise, it simply is not worth the time and trouble. In any case, I buy one book for every five, ten or more I see most others accumulating, but would not trade any randomly chosen five or ten of mine for any 50 or 100 of theirs, and even so, am often enough horrified at how far far too many of these have been half-witted to death in price. Along that line, most of the local dabblers who try to sell books on the f------ computer usually wind up getting analogously as much as they do for a stone wall. Besides the expected descriptions such as, “Like new book! Covers torn off,” at the other extreme I have noticed one dealer who has several thousand mostly $1 to $5 books listed, complete with a picture and usually a verbatim copy of the publisher's blurb. Rumor has it the seller is associated with a fundamentalist religious organization, so perhaps this is a spiritual practice in lieu of self-flagellation.
The economics of bookselling have been discussed in other issues of this august journal, so I shan't make this already too long article any more tedious by delving further into that. Rather, I will approach a conclusion with the thought that it would be nice if those who wish to go on this quest could first consult some oracle, but alas, all are now silent. Engraved upon the Temple at Delphi were three admonishments, which, if the supplicant understood, would obviate the necessity of seeing the Pythia. Besides the now much misunderstood, and more often misused, “Know thyself,” were, “Thou art,” and, “Nothing in excess.” Upon the hypothetical biblio-sanctuary would be, “Know thy books,” “Time is money,” and “Do not nickel and dime thyself to death.”
Thankfully, the Gorgon is also no longer extent, or I would have been turned into stone by some of the glances I received from the guardians of the heaps of books I had to navigate around during a local sale that occurred while writing this. I spotted an older children's title, fine, in a rarely seen near fine dustjacket, that I probably could have gotten enough money for to have made it worth buying. I also spotted someone from the Golden, or at least gold-plated, Age who specialized in children's books. I picked it up, ran over, and gave it to her. As one of the great philosophers, Bozo the Clown, put it so well, “It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.”
By: Ken Fermoyle
(Ed. Note: We suspect that every dedicated reader and book lover remembers at least one library from his or her past in a special way. We hope that the following article will stir up some of those memories among readers of The Standard. We hope further that some of you will be moved to share them with us in future issues. Send your paeans to libraries past, or present, to editor@ioba.org .)
This impressive half-dome topped the large doors of the McGregor Library's front entrance, which was an impressive one indeed!
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I recall being awed by my first sight of the imposing granite and limestone building. Built in the Beaux Arts style and designed by noted New York City library architects Tilton and Githens, the rectangular two-story library sat in a park-like setting about half the size of a large city lot. Magnificently crafted doors topped by a striking half-dome (see accompanying photos) sat squarely in the center of the McGregor's symmetrical façade.
Craftsmanship evident in the McGregor's front doors was typical of the loving care lavished on the building when it was constructed. Construction was completed in 1926.
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The McGregor was less than a mile from our flat over a store at 12023 Hamilton, where we lived when Dad and I walked to the library. It was only a tad further, perhaps a mile, when we moved to a larger two-family flat at 377 Richton a year or so later. By then, I was able to walk to that magic structure on my own. (Remember that this was the mid-1930s, when the streets were safer for kids in those days.) I made the trek often.
Centerpiece of the McGregor's interior was this spacious, airy central hall.
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My crowning McGregor reading achievement came in the summer of 1936. All my friends were away at camp or visiting relatives. I walked to the McGregor after breakfast on Monday and read a Tom Swift book in the library. I took out four more titles (all in the Treasure Island, Nancy Drew or Lad, a Dog category) read them at home that afternoon and evening. I did the same thing Tuesday and every day for the rest of the week, going through 30 books in six days. If I had been the librarians' pet before, now I was their reading poster boy!
One of the librarians introduced me to Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazon books. I was enthralled, and a small sailboat replaced a Schwinn bicycle as the top item on my wish list. (An impossible dream in the midst of the Depression.) Other librarians turned me on to other books and authors. They were delighted when I returned the books with my thanks for their recommendations.
This sculpture is just one example of the decorative touches that adorned the building interior.
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At age 12, as I recall, I became eligible for an intermediate library card. This meant you could take out six books at a time, two from the adult section and four from the children's section. At about the same time, I came under the care of a doctor located just a few blocks from Detroit's Main Library at 5201 Woodward Avenue. I took the bus to his office three times every two weeks-and visited the Main Library to take out my six-book quota every time.
The treasury of books here was even greater than at the McGregor. And like many an adolescent swain, I began to forsake my first love for the lure of a new, more enticing romance.
My reading horizons broadened considerably as my tastes became wildly eclectic. I discovered such varied authors as P.G. Wodehouse, Thorne Smith, Kenneth Roberts, James T. Farrell, Owen Wister, Ernest Hemingway, Alexander Dumas, Conan-Doyle and Upton Sinclair, to name a few. My non-library reading habits, however, leaned to Doc Savage Magazine, daily paper “funnies” and early comic books. One such was The Phantom. (He made his debut on February 17th, 1936 and was the first costumed hero.)
My next well-remembered library was a tiny one, compared to the McGregor or Detroit's Main Library. Housed in a small room of the USO at Camp Wolters, Texas, it amounted to a few shelves stocked with donated books. I recall it because it was responsible for one of the most prodigious reading feats of my life.
I was heart-broken when I learned in the late 1990s that Highland Park's budget problems forced closing of the McGregor. Here we see the workers boarding up the massive entrance, hiding the front doors that graced the library for nearly 75 years.
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At times, I got up from my bunk and paced the aisle of the near-empty barracks, reading some of Old Man Gant's passages aloud. This understandably cemented my reputation as the company character. The only thing that elevated me somewhat in the eyes of my fellow soldiers was that I was on the battalion boxing team, and eventually won the camp flyweight division championship.
(An added, admittedly non-book related footnote: Maximum flyweight limit was 114 pounds. Yet once some guys in my platoon weighed me just before we set out on one of our many 25-mile full field pack marches, I tipped the scale at 211 pounds. My pack, rifle, ammo, cans of C rations and other gear totaled just 19 pounds less than my body weight.)
I finished Angel by mid-afternoon and hurried back to the USO to return it and take Of Time And The River, which I had spotted during my earlier browsing. I started reading while walking back to the barracks, then kept on through the afternoon and into the night. I finished the book in the latrine after “Lights Out,” about 10 p.m. (I later read everything Wolfe wrote, and everything I could find written about him. This made it easy to do an in-depth paper on him later when I was a junior in college. My teacher gave me an A+ and said the paper needed only a little more work to qualify as a Masters thesis.)
Libraries continued to be important in my life, but a career, marriage and children overshadowed them. Most were commonplace and forgettable, a blur in my memory. One exception were the libraries at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn MI, where I learned a lot that that helped me tremendously during my later years as an auto and racing writer/editor.
"Left for Dead" was the caption on this picture in a local paper, just after Highland Park's financial problems forced closure of the library, but before boarding up of the entrance.
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The original Woodland Hills library was torn down in 2000 and replaced by a new one that opened in August 2003. It has two stories, is twice the size of the old facility, but retains hints of the previous building. The trees remain, by request of the community, and the exterior again is red brick and glass. The new library and I are going through a flirtation stage right now, but I'm sure a lasting love will develop. I'm active in the Friends of the Library again, serving on the executive board and as newsletter editor.
Another library has captured my heart in recent years also. My wife and I have spent a week or two in Palm Springs, California, in recent years. We discovered that the Palm Spring Library Center on Sunrise Way is a true treasure.
The building is a large, airy, low-slung structure with a circular koi pool (see accompanying photo) as its central interior focus. I will hold off on more details of the Palm Springs Library for the moment. It merits more space than I can give it here, so I will return to it in a 2004 issue of The Standard.
In my case, love of libraries, books and reading literally (pun intended) shaped my life. By age 10 or 11, I decided I wanted to be a writer. And that's what I became. My first paid writing job was on a small Michigan weekly paper in October 1947. I've made my living as a writer, editor and journalist ever since. Now, 56 years later, I look back on a career that has been varied, challenging and rewarding in many ways. I never got rich but seldom was bored and always got by. And I can thank the McGregor, my first library love, for planting the seed that grew into a lifelong vocation.
By: Martha Kelly
Gutenberg Books
mkelly03@rochester.rr.com
This is the third article on the American women's suffrage movement. All three are overviews in which I've tried to emphasize the major books and ephemera of the period. Although much new material continues to appear, The History of Woman Suffrage is still the main source of information.
“Dr Gannon told me I must be fed. …I was held down by five people…Gannon pushed the tube up left nostril…It hurts nose and throat very much and makes nose bleed freely…Operation leaves one very sick.” Lucy Burns in a note smuggled out of jail, where she was leading a protest against jailed suffragists treatment in 1917. (1)
After nearly seventy-five years of unsuccessful attempts to pass a federal amendment giving women the vote, the Susan B. Anthony amendment passed in 1919. Why was the drive for suffrage finally successful after seventy-five years? There were a number of reasons. Suffrage had finally become respectable after the largest suffrage association, NAWSA, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, worked to gain social acceptance for the movement. Younger and more militant women, inspired by British suffrage workers, embarrassed politicians and the Wilson administration into supporting suffrage. Increasing political sophistication, better communications, the influence of the national progressive movement, and the new consumer movement were factors as well. And, as 19th Century leaders Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton had predicated, the time had finally come for right to prevail
Much of the collectible suffrage ephemera now available (mostly on ebay but also, occasionally, from dealers and private sellers) was printed between 1900 and 1920. The onslaught of suffrage paper increased after 1910, and posters, fliers (must have been hundreds, maybe thousands of these), postcards, trade cards, ads, articles, debate manuals, fund-raising items like cookbooks, and periodicals were produced by both the pro and the anti suffrage groups. Suffrage sheet music and romance novels were popular, there was Stanton soap and beauty and health hi