Database URL: http://www.myownbookshop.com Andy, when will MyOwnBookshop.com launch? Target launch date is set for November 15, 2002. What was your purpose in starting a online book database (i.e., to help online booksellers, to get a database that does what you think a book database should do, because it’s a good business to be in, all of the above, none of the above, or ????). We’ve been in the book business for over 17 years and absolutely love the business. One of the things we’ve noticed over the years is that although most booksellers list their books on multiple book databases, there is no single site out there that seems to be serving these booksellers properly while at the same time focusing business attention where it will help everyone the most, namely, enabling buyers to find and buy their books as easily as possible through accurate search returns coupled with a smooth e-commerce system, as well as attracting book-buyers to the site. Nobody yet seems to understand both sides of the equation, Buyers AND Sellers. Most existing online book exchanges focus on booksellers because booksellers supply their revenue in the form of subscription fees. We think there is a wonderful opportunity for MyOwnBookshop.com to shift the focus to book buyers and make a fun, easy and accurate site that caters to the needs and wants of book buyers rather than booksellers. Don’t get me wrong, we will be fanatical about supporting our booksellers, but we believe that booksellers understand that in order to succeed on any online book exchange, the site must have a clear focus on customer support while at the same time placing most of the emphasis and resources on attracting and retaining a loyal, book-buying customer base. Without customers, an online exchange is pointless, so that is where the emphasis needs to be. We also believe that it was very important to have booksellers as the owners of the site and that is why we have pursued our existing funding strategy. Our service is owned and operated by many knowledgeable booksellers who know the business and have a passion for books. They are not here simply to make a fast buck. I know you have several investors in TitlesDirect. Are all of your present investors booksellers? All but two. We started out with four people starting UBIX Corp. to develop and sell BookTrakker Pro in 1996, with plans to start an online service through the program. With UBIX, two of us were booksellers and the other two were programmers. After three years in development, with many changes in the market for programs, we launched BookTrakker Pro 1.0. Very quickly we developed two upgrades to 2.0, which 260 booksellers are now using. We just released version 2.1, which, among other improvements, now runs anywhere in the world. BookTrakker has become the most popular program for those booksellers willing to purchase a program for managing their inventory and uploads. In 1998 we started to explore the possibility of developing an online database like ABE and Bibliofind. Through a personal connection with executive management at Barnesandnoble.com we were able to go to New York in May 1999, and give the executive management a demonstration of BookTrakker and our plans for an online system. What none of us at that table knew was the Chairman of B&N had already made a decision not in invest in an outside database developer. So we left New York considerably wiser, with a much better understanding of the corporate mindset, and came back to Charlottesville to try and do this on our own. It’s taken us a little over three years, but here we are, only months away from launch. It was because of BookTrakker that we were able to consider the idea that we could successfully start up a new online system. You are well aware of my postings about the need for a new system, so in March 2001, I asked BookTrakker users if they wanted to invest in a new venture to do this. Between March 2001, and the actual offering completion, April 2002, twenty-nine booksellers came forward and invested their money in TitlesDirect.com so we could develop and launch MyOwnBookshop.com. TitlesDirect raised $285,000 through a Regulation D, Rule 506 Private Equity Funding. Via a tax-free stock swap, TitlesDirect then purchased UBIX from the original four founders, thus the two shareholders who are not booksellers. One of those non-booksellers is presently working on BookTrakker 3.0 with ISBN lookup. With Robin and myself, that makes 31 of 33 shareholders being booksellers, with plans to expand the roster of bookseller owners through future rounds of funding. I’m a strong believer that the users of our system should have a stake in the business through ownership of equity, so I’m willing to sell shares of the company, even though this dilutes my ownership. Having two shareholders who are not booksellers is an advantage; we get input from outside the bookselling community all the time; sometimes being a bookseller gets in the way of development. One of these two shareholders is on the Board of Directors. On your investors, how was it decided who would do what, or be in charge of what parts of the business (i.e., was it decided on an amount of stock owned basis, or on a talent and/or knowledge basis, by committee or board meeting)? I am assuming that everyday business operations will be managed by you, with the major directions in which TitlesDirect be will taken decided by a board of directors? The largest investor required that I be in charge of the company, and most of the other investors felt the same way. I have the second largest interest in the company, but because of the voting structure, control 64% of the votes on the Board of Directors. I run the day-to-day affairs of the company, but often ask the advice of one or more of the Directors, and when they clearly have a better feel for the situation, implement their decisions rather than my own. I’m not always right, and sometimes I don’t even understand the issue. And sometimes they vote against me, and I listen. Most major decisions like issuing stock for fund-raising, setting broad corporate policy, and similar items require unanimous consent of the Directors, my control notwithstanding. If someone were to come in and make an offer for all the stock of the company, they would have to gain unanimous consent from the Board to pursue such an offer. Since the common stock is restricted, the only way a sale could be made is through the Board. It is highly unlikely that all seven Directors would agree to a sale, hence the built-in protection from a corporate takeover. You have said on book-related lists that, even though you may well do another stock offering, perhaps public, to raise sufficient capital for major advertising expenses, the stock spread will remain diffused enough that no one stockholder can ever sell TitlesDirect out from under the rest of your stockholders. I assume you’ve had legal advice on how to accomplish this, and will continue to have such advice to keep TitlesDirect ownership in the hands of its bookseller investors? This is very simple. Currently shareholders cannot sell their stock. It is restricted stock, by SEC and state law. Owners will only be able to sell stock when we do a public offering, and that won’t happen before 2004, at the earliest. And a public offering would further dilute the ownership of the company, all but guaranteeing that control would remain in the hands of booksellers. My vision has always been a site owned and operated by booksellers for the benefit of booksellers and the book-buying public. This is why I’m trying my best to diversify ownership into as many hands as possible, limited to booksellers only. Our legal advice comes from one of the best qualified law firms in the United States, McGuire Woods LLP, originally founded right here in Charlottesville, but now a worldwide firm with over 600 attorneys. Is this a long-term commitment on your part? Where do you see yourself and your database in 3 years? 5 years? I’m 51. I expect to be doing this well into my 70’s. I see MyOwnBookshop.com becoming the dominant player in the repeat serious book market. We cannot compete on low price; I’ll leave that to the Amazons and Half.coms. We can compete on service and functionality. 3 years, 5 years, 7 yearsI see us remaining focused on book buyers’ needs and building a company that is fun and provides a good rate of return to our investors. We are committed to the long-term success of this venture. What lister book database inventory programs will you support? BookTrakker, Record Manager and Homebase to start, as well as BookRouter. Very soon after launch we will develop a desktop or server-based upload/conversion utility to convert and upload any other format users might have. The bookseller will control the output of this conversion utility, eliminating the need for custom translations of bookseller’s data. Doing it this way will eliminate the lion’s share of vendor support, allowing us to focus on customer acquisition and retention instead. What will be your upload procedures? Deletion procedures? Will “wants” listings be available? For sale matches? Are any additions/changes planned? Web-based upload for all programs other than BookTrakker. Files must be in Homebase 2.0 txt format or standard UIEE. Both formats include added/modified/deleted records. At initial launch, there will be no Wants nor Matches for the sake of getting the site live a little more quickly. These features, however, are on our development list and will be added as soon as possible after launch. We have a long list of features we want to add to the site, but only after we launch and are sure that what we have works as advertised. Our experience in developing BookTrakker has taught us that although new features are nice to have, it’s better to have the current features work before adding in the new ones. Developing an online database isn’t much different than developing software, except you get a lot more users with the site. What customer service (for both sellers and buyers) will you have? We’ll be absolutely focused on customer service and will do everything we can to monitor our bookseller base as necessary while at the same time intervening in the book-buying process only when required. We envision most customer service will be provided via email, with toll free telephone support for the booksellers. Most correspondence will be by email; those of you who know me know that we respond very quickly to inquiries, whether by email or phone. It’s rare that we don’t respond within 24 hours, let alone a few minutes. Will you have any quality (i.e., descriptions, shipping, and/or customer service) standards for your listers? If so, what will be/are the consequences of violating those standards? We will have quality standards for listing booksellers. Full descriptions will be required. Terms will be set by the site for shipping and customer service, and we will expect all listing booksellers to adhere to them. We will require all booksellers listing on our service to upload sold books every business day. They can upload more often if they like, but we will expect a daily upload at a minimum. Obviously, if a bookseller is ill or something happens beyond their control, we will not remove them from the system. But for those who willfully ignore our requirements, we reserve the right to suspend or remove their listings. What are your technical arrangements (in non-technical language, please) to ensure reliability of service? Future growth? Additional services? We have contracted with a local hosting service for 99.9% reliability. (8.76 hours/year downtime) They have two Internet service backbone accounts and plenty of capacity. We also are making provisions to be scalable as our growth and traffic dictate. Our goal is 100% uptime, all the time, as well as very fast searching and purchasing. Obviously this is an unattainable goal; however, we will strive to come as close as feasible. Will you have the capability of taking credit card info for orders? If so, what can you tell us about the safety procedures you have or will have in place to ensure the security of such info? We will offer the buyer the option of processing the card through the site or contacting the bookseller direct. We will not be storing credit card information for booksellers to then log onto the site and collect. Cards that get processed by us will be completely encrypted, using 128-bit encryption. A third party processor will process customer’s credit cards. Do you ever plan to process credit card orders through your database (rather than simply passing on the info to the lister) and, if so, will the lister or buyer bear the processing cost, and how long will it take to get payment to the lister? See above. Seller pays the cost of processing. Payment will be every two weeks, with a two-week lag. Do you have any plans for programs associated with your database that would involve anything other than direct contact between seller and buyer? We are here to act as a value added intermediary between booksellers and book buyers. We view our role as that of creating a strong, umbrella brand for knowledgeable booksellers. This brand will attract book buyers through a superior, user-friendly site. Our database will be a “book finding” service that makes it easy for customers to find the book they want in the exact condition they want it while making it seamless to buy from multiple booksellers in the same transaction. User friendly, expert knowledge, fast, accurate, fun, customizable, no hidden chargesin short, a book site for book buyers. We will consider programs and strategies that help us build that brand and deliver on that vision. Do you plan to have an “all word search” capability? Yes, we will have an “All Word” search. This will search in all fields other than Author or Title, since you have that capability in those fields already. A bookseller may put Publisher in their description, but will use Author and Title for those fields directly. What search capabilities does your database have now? What is planned for the future? We have an Advanced Search engine that is being designed to try and limit search results to exactly the book or books you are looking for. We spent four months on designing the rules for parsing data and searching for terms to allow us to eliminate much of the junk users are used to getting on the other sites. This is one of the key distinguishing features of the site that is going to make MyOwnBookshop.com popular with book buyers. They’ve told us they want closer matches from their searches so we are going to give that to them. I understand that TitlesDirect will be using a commission based on actual sales, rather than a monthly listing fee. Can you tell us what the amount of commission will be? Do you think TitlesDirect will always be commissioned-based? Starting out, 10% for public transactions, 5% for bookseller to bookseller. If cards are processed by the site, there will be an additional charge of 6%, for a possible total of 16%. There will be lower commissions for higher priced books and/or volume sales from the public site; we will announce these later. Yes. Commission is the only method that makes sense. You only pay if we sell; you aren’t forced to subsidize sellers who do sell when you don’t. In a monthly fee based system you pay the site in advance of making sales, hoping they will materialize. Booksellers will pay for performance and we will perform to the level such that there is no doubt that selling through MyOwnBookshop.com is a worthwhile investment. How do you plan to ensure that TitlesDirect knows which inquiries actually result in sales, so that you can collect commissions (I’m assuming that sales orders actually placed on your site will automatically be recorded, but am unsure how you’ll know if an inquiry to a bookseller placed through your site results in a later sale)? There will be a two-step process involved so that we know that the sale happened through us. The buyer will add the item to their cart, setting a flag in the database. Then they have a choice of payment through us or the bookseller. Clicking the bookseller choice will set another flag. If the book is removed within 24 hours then it is likely that it was sold through our site. We will track statistics and keep open lines of communication with our dealers so everyone understands exactly how sales are being made. If books are sold as a result of being listed on our site without payment to us then we reserve the right to suspend sales through our site. If we deliver on the performance we promise and everyone knows the terms up-front, then we expect booksellers to comply with the terms. Do you plan to have or now have your database searched by Addall or Bookfinder or any other meta-search site? No. Not at this time. Searching isn’t free, the cost is quite high from both a monetary viewpoint and a resource issue. We would rather spend the money on direct marketing of the site rather than supporting other sites at our expense. We’re investing in building the premier site for used, out-of-print, antiquarian, and collectible books. In our minds, becoming a site that is merely a part of someone else’s meta-search engine defeats that purpose. We value a strong MyOwnBookshop.com brand above all else and will fight to keep it new, unique, and very relevant in our customers’ minds. How do you plan to advertise your database (both to draw listers and buyers)? You know we cannot comment on this! :o} Since we are still pre-launch, I do not want to discuss our plans in great detail. What I can tell you is that we are exploring a lot of traditional and non-traditional ways to achieve our advertising objectives– both online and off. We’ve retained the help of a Professional Certified Marketer who has experience in this area and we are confident that we will reach our target audience and build a strong, loyal base of customers. Do you or are you planning to have professional management, to always have bookseller management, or???? When the site has launched and is fully operational we may seek professional management, but always under the control of booksellers. What markets (geographical and/or demographic) are you aiming at? All markets. Global. What services/features does your database have that you feel sets you apart and/or will ensure the success of your database? Currency display in the user’s local currency. Multiple order/multiple vendor shopping cart capability. The ability to save default settings in the advanced search mode. Cleaner data returns. Less noise. Eventually we will have a customizable user interface based on individual preferences and interests, and lots of other little touches that will make this the best online book site on the Internet. Please tell us anything you’d like about yourself and/or your database, and thank you for participating. MyOwnBookshop.com will become the destination for finding used, out-of-print, antiquarian, and collectible books. Visitors finally will have a “book-finding’ site that looks, behaves, and changes the way they want it to and they’ll be happy to call it their preferred book site. Come experience it for yourself as a bookseller or book buyer and we think you’ll agree.

Our initial interview was published in the May, 2002 edition of the IOBA Newsletter. We are thrilled to be able to give you, Gentle Readers, an update on our progress. We opened for dealer registration on 4/22/02 and file uploading was activated during the first week of June. We are very happy to say that currently we have 240 registered sellers (with more signing up daily), and a continuously growing database of over 1 million items. At ChooseBooks.com, everything we do is centered on providing choices. From order processing, to payment structures, to inventory management and uploading, we let you decide on a system that would best fit your business. If you do not have credit card processing capabilities, you can have us process credit card orders. If you do not want to pay a flat monthly fee to list books with us, you can pay a small percent of sales (only when your books sell). Offering many choices has not been easy for our programmers. However, they rose to the occasion. Following is a list of major features that are currently functional: 1. All of the various searching functions including Any Word Search and the exclusion of Book Club Editions and Ex-library books (please see our search functions at http://www.choosebooks.com ). 2. Inventory Uploading & Management, including: a. FTP and Web-based File Uploading interfaces. b. Ability to accept Book files in various formats (HomeBase 1&2, UIEE, Delimited Text). c. Ability to manually Add, Modify or Delete books online. d. Ability to accept picture files in various formats. e. Purge and Relist your inventory. f. Uploaded File Management System. 3. Ability to submit Want Lists with nightly matching. 4. Watch Item Function, where if you find a book of interest to you, but are not ready to purchase it at the time of the search, you can put it on your Watch List and quickly access it at your convenience without repeating the search. 5. Ability to Find Sellers by Specialty, Geographically or Alphabetically. 6. Browsing through various categories. Please note, many of these features were designed with the help and input of our book sellers (we hope that they will read this and will accept our profound gratitude for their help). We strongly believe that ChooseBooks.com is for you and consequently are very open to any suggestions or comments that would improve it. What is left to be done? We are glad you asked. There is only 1 major functional feature left to finish before we are ready for buyers – The Shopping Cart. That is not to say that after the shopping cart is finished, our work is done. Quite the contrary. Many improvements (i.e., Tracking System to determine where your orders are coming from, ability to raise or lower all of your prices by a fixed amount and Home Pages for sellers with various html pre-coded functions, etc.) are on our To-Do list and will be implemented upon Shopping Cart completion. Following is a list of items that are in the process of being completed. 1. Shopping Cart: This, by far, is the most important feature left to complete. Currently it takes most of our time since its completion will allow for actual sales. Our Shopping Cart is comprised of 3 separate portions – Shopping Cart, Checkout Process (including our optional Dealer Discount Ring) and Payment Processing. The Shopping Cart itself and Payment Processing system are completed. Checkout process is the one that we are currently working on. This is by far the most complex of the 3, since we want to have a shopping cart where a buyer will be able to purchase multiple items from different sellers and checkout all at one time. 2. Shipping: Not long after we opened for dealer registration, it became apparent that current shipping choices that we offered were inadequate. We needed more flexibility to allow for differences in shipping to different parts of the world from sellers in various countries (i.e., thanks to our Canadian sellers, we realized that shipping from Canada to the U.S. is substantially lower than shipping from Canada to Europe or Asia). But, just as we had the more flexible system worked out, the U.S. Postal Service decided to drastically change their shipping structure within the U.S. (it is now dependent on zip codes and zones). In order to accommodate this change, we are currently reprogramming our shipping fees system. 3. Our translators are finishing up various text portions of foreign language sites. And let’s not forget Marketing. We would like to reiterate our strong conviction that without generating sales, all of our features become meaningless. Marketing ChooseBooks.com deserves a separate update. Suffice it to say that we: 1. Initiated groundwork of collecting information from our sellers to be used in promoting their individual businesses along with ChooseBooks.com 2. Laid ground work for several distinct targeted marketing campaigns to introduce ChooseBooks.com to both “seasoned” and “new” online book buyers. Our promotional activities will begin as soon as the site is ready to accept buyers. Our aim is to offer buyers positive experiences from the beginning, to ensure their return. To summarize it all: We are doing our utmost to create a high quality, useful and user- friendly site that will attract buyers and will sell books. It is close to completion, and getting closer every day. We are trying to finish the last major functional feature – Shopping Cart – and will continue implementation of all other functions immediately following shopping cart completion. WE WILL NOT CHARGE ANY FEES UNTIL THE SITE IS FULLY TESTED AND READY FOR BUYERS. This includes our introductory free months offer that we will start counting only after we officially launch. We feel that it is better to double test everything and have a perfectly working site, than have any glitches after the launch. Again, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to IOBA for letting us post this update and to all book sellers who have or plan to sign up with us. Please visit us at http://www.choosebooks.com and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at info@choosebooks.com or by calling toll free to 1-877-844-8333.

Database URL: http://www.bookavenue.com How did you originally get into the bookselling business, Rhett? It was my second job after getting out of the Army. Well, actually not a job, it became a career. I needed money, had plenty of books, so I went to the local bookstore and offered some of my books. I was offered a few cents a book, and I walked out thinking “What a thief.” So I went to the library, read some books, then read some more, and put out a list that I sent to a few booksellers and sold all of the books. I figured out that I could make money buying and selling books, but at fair prices, and since I was unemployed gave it a good shot, and it paid off. What has been the course of your career as a bookseller, i.e., a bricks & mortar shop, book fairs, paper catalogs, etc.? When did you go online, and how? Reader, collector, book scout, B&M, catalog/AB Bookman’s sales, catalog sales, search service/catalog sales, on-line sales/catalog sales, B&M. It’s been a long journey from 1965 to the present. We started online with a site on Antiquarian Book Worm, I think it was. Then we went to Interloc. Do you have, or have you had, specialties in the types of books you personally sell? We have 3 active specialties: Psychology/Psychiatry, Business and Investing, and Theology. That means we’re actively buying collections in those fields. Since we no longer put out catalogs, much of what we buy remains in our warehouse in boxes, awaiting data entry. Just like every other bookseller we have much more waiting for entering than on-line. Have you always dealt with the very large volume of books that you have now, i.e., was accumulating so many books intentional or did it sneak up on you? No, we were somewhat sane once. It kinda snuck up on us, but now it’s a part of our life. You might ask how 600,000 books can sneak up on anyone, but it can. I think the preventive is to not get a big warehouse. Once you have the warehouse it seems a shame not to fill it. Do you find it hard, or just interesting, to be an online bookseller, an owner of a bricks and mortar shop, and a commercial book database owner? Any more balls you’re going to be tossing into the air? It’s not hard at all. We have great and productive employees, and they run Gutenberg Holdings without our day-to-day supervision. That leaves Helen and me to run the bookstore and BookAvenue. Since the store is only busy 8 weeks of the year, it’s a no-brainer. I spend most of my time on BookAvenue. We are active people and have a number of projects in the works. What originally made you decide to start BookAvenue? Because of changes taking place in the marketplace, we decided to build a site that would remain available for booksellers for years to come. We wanted to build a site where any bookseller could afford to offer their books over the net. We’re still very active people, and we need work, so we create our own. BookAvenue is work, but we love it. Over the 3-1/2 years we’ve been active, we never strayed from our original plan. Not many databases can make that statement. We offer stability. Did you already have the knowledge needed to start a database? If not, how did you go about finding that knowledge, the people needed, etc.? First we went to the IBM retired exec in the family who consults on database development, and sought direction, and free help. Then we went to the young programmers who are brilliant, who we knew from another project. They all still help when needed, and we’re working on some interesting improvements to BookAvenue right now, that I’m not able to write about yet. Nothing that will change our business model, however, so we don’t want folks to worry. Do you intend to continue BookAvenue as long as you’re a bookseller? Ever think you’ll quit either one or the other—selling books or running a database? Helen and I are passionate about bookselling and database management, and business in general. I doubt we’ll leave either, except feet first. Remember bookselling is a way of life for us, and not a job we can leave. Database management has become a part of our family. Any information you can give us about planned upgrades, improvements, innovations that you want or can see happening on BookAvenue? We’re very enthusiastic about our 800 toll free service, which will become the portal for internet-challenged book buyers, collectors, organizations, institutions, and businesses. Not to say they are internet-challenged, but time plays a big roll in business, and if we can cut down the amount of time a business or institution spends on the web to find a much needed book, we’ll provide a service to them and to the booksellers selling over BookAvenue. We found that lots of folks have e-mailed asking about booksellers on BookAvenue, and if we can provide an operator to answer their questions it will make BookAvenue the place to call for books and information about particular booksellers. BookAvenue has always been very stable—I personally can’t remember any downtime. If not secret, what did you do technically to ensure such stability? We have very little downtime, and that’s because we’re constantly working with BookAvnenue, and because we have a stable ISP and tech people watching all the time. I know BookAvenue is searched by BookFinder now. Any plans for rethinking being searched by Addall? There are no plans at present to redevelop a relationship with Addall. Anything you can tell us about present or future plans for advertising BookAvenue? By the time this interview is published there should be some advertising going into print media, advertising our new toll free order facilitation service. Are there any particular markets (geographical and/or demographic) or types of books where you think BookAvenue excels in reaching and attracting book buyers? Scholars, institutions, booksellers, book buyers worldwide. The internet makes this question irrelevant. What services/features does BookAvenue have that you feel sets you apart? I would say that our new 800 service is fairly indicative of the innovation we look to provide. We seek to develop ways to increase the sale of books by attracting a different audience. Well, if I haven’t been nosy enough, if there’s anything you’d like to tell us about yourself or BookAvenue, please do so—like perhaps your personal hobbies, what books you like to read (if you get time to read), etc. And thank you very much for participating in this interview, Rhett! Helen and I like building things, so of course we’re in the middle of our second year of remodeling our house. We expect to finish in a few years, with a major addition, since it’s going to be our last house. I love Balzac, Melville, Dickens and other 19th Century writers. I also read history and am currently working on Harold Nicolson’s Diaries and Letters. Pepy’s Diary is one of my favorites, particularly the part about the Great London Fire. The minutiae of the lives of historical figures, diaries for example. Helen has an extensive collection of Orientalia, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright. She reads extensively in Architecture and Orientalia. Her collections are large and extensive. We both like early 20th Century English mysteries–who doesn’t?

ANNOUNCEMENT (courtesy of Susan Siegel, BookHunter Press) Meet a 14-year-old book collector on C-SPAN’s Book-TV: September 14th, 8am and 12:00 noon (EDT) The two part Book-TV segment will include a video of the presentation the teenager, Basie Gitlin, gave at a Connecticut public library on the different types of books he collects and his views on how children’s fiction and non-fiction books have changed over the years. He also discusses why he usually prefers the older ones. There is also an interview with Basie in his home. Basie has been collecting books since he was 10 and estimates that he currently has over 2,000 books in his collection. Editor’s Note: Nice to know about this–that there is younger generation of readers and collectors! :>) DAVID GREGOR’S BOOKSELLING WORKSHOPS Looking for a cost and time effective option for professional bookseller training? David Gregor will be offering his intensive weekend formats in the following cities during the remainder of 2002: Seattle WA August 10 & 11 Denver CO September 14 & 15 Seattle WA November 2 & 3 Santa Monica CA November 9 & 10 In his Strategic Bookselling Workshop program, the 15 year industry veteran presents such concepts about the used book trade as the 12 truths for increasing profitability, the importance of branding, along with strategies and ideas for growing a book business in our ever changing Internet economy. This multimedia course includes a 100-page workbook and access to future updates on the billion dollar used book business. Additionally, David’s Book Collecting for Fun & Profit offers in this all day event numerous basic aspects of book collecting from both the buyer and sellers perspectives. The course explores such ideas as what makes a book collectible, industry terminology, how to purchase and care for your books, standards for condition and descriptions, and how to identify first editions. Through this nationally presented seminar, as outlined in his televised CSPAN BookTV lecture on book collecting, David Gregor has helped to train over a thousand book collectors, booksellers, librarians and their staffs. Tuition includes an 80-page workbook, a year’s subscription to Firsts Magazine and a first identification booklet. Space in both programs is limited and pre-registration is required. You can register by calling 206/937-6223 or visit http://www.BookSeminarsInternational.com for more details, costs and available discounts. SEATTLE, WASHINGTON ANTIQUARIAN BOOKFAIR, OCTOBER 12-13, 2002 It’s time again to mark your calendars for the 2002 Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair held next to Key Arena in the Seattle Center Pavilion, on October 12th & 13th, 2002. Make sure to note the new times for the fair, Saturday 10 am to 6 pm, and Sunday 11 am to 4 pm, so as not to miss any of this premier antiquarian event. Your $5 admission–good for both days–gains you access to the largest and most prestigious book fair in the Northwest, counting some of the most important dealers in North America among its exhibitors from Canada and across the United States. For this one weekend, the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair will be the largest and best “used, rare and collectible” bookstore on the West Coast, offering for sale thousands of remarkable items on a thousand subjects of interest, as well as maps, prints and autographs. As in years past, the Book Club of Washington will host the pre-fair dinner, but this year the Friday, October 11th event will be held at the Executive Inn Best Western. Our guest speaker will be Deloris Tarzan Ament, author of “Iridescent Light the Emergence of Northwest Art.” Her most recent University of Washington Press publication discusses the work and personalities of The Northwest School, and is richly illustrated with photographs by Mary Randlett, highlighting such talents as Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, and Guy Anderson. Keep abreast of the exhibitors and their unique offerings by visiting the SABF website: http://www.SeattleBookFair.com. Or, for more information about the dinner with Deloris Tarzan Ament and the book fair, please contact Louis Collins at 206/323-3999 or info@seattlebookfair.com. 2001 Seattle Book Fair Fort Worth Book & Paper Show The Basics What: 9th Annual Fort Worth Book & Paper Show When: September 28- 29 (Sat 10-6, Sun 10-4) Where: Will Rogers Complex, Amon Carter Exhibits Hall Central Texas Room Sponsored by: North Texas Booksellers Association You can get the application and information at the association website with a quick click of a mouse. If you have more questions, email Ken Hobbs at omnibooks@email.msn.com. BTW, one of the best things about the room where we have the show is that you can drive right up to your space. No lugging boxes from a distance! Learn more… Authors and Appraisals John Graves and several other authors have agreed to sign either Saturday or Sunday. We are still lining up authors and we will keep the website updated for everyone to know who will be there and when. This was a big hit last year. We hope it will generate an even bigger turn out this year. Another feature that we’re bringing back from last year is the Appraisal Area. Brian Perkins Sr. as agreed to do the appraisals again this year. Brian says he had a lot of fun last year. He hope that there will be more folks bringing interesting books for him to look at. More… More Important Information Where to stay? Check the website! Actually, the Ramada Inn Midtown which is the closest hotel to the show has given the association special rates for Friday, Saturday & sunday nights. There is all the information and phone numbers on the exhibitors page that links from the book show page. There are other hotels listed also, but only the Ramada Inn has given us a discount. If you are in North Texas ( loosely defined), you can join the association and receive a members discount as well. Those who are not in the area, you may join as associate ( non-voting) members.Again, the paperwork is available on the website or contact Mike Utt at bkcolltr@flash.net for more information. After 7/1, only the members discount applies for the show. Read On… We hope you will join us at the 9th Annual Fort Worth Book & Paper Show. Get your paperwork in before the discounts are over! Sincerely, Kelly Chandler , President North Texas Booksellers Association email: info@ntxbooksellers.org voice: 817-926-8208 web: http://www.ntxbooksellers.org Santa Monica International Book Print and Autograph Fair American Book Fairs announces the Santa Monica International Book Print and Autograph Fair (1855 Main St., Santa Monica, California) to be held on Saturday, September 28, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sunday, September 29th from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm., at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Admission is $6, good for both days. Easy access to parking. Children under twelve are admitted without charge. Contact Denise Gottlieb at: Phone: 480/860-2400 or FAX: 480/451-8070, for more information, or go to: http://www.americanbookfairs.com/smonica02.html. Special IOBA Newsletter Discount Order any of the following Used Book Lover’s Guides by September 30, 2002 and Save an additional 10% on top of the regular quantity discounts. (See below for ordering information.) Featured on Book-TV The Book Hunter’s Bible   (Amer. Booksellers Assn.) The Used Book Lover’s Guides By David S. and Susan SiegelThe only comprehensive and continuously updated guides, in print or online, to more than 8,000 used, out-of-print and antiquarian book dealers in the United States and Canada. Discover the best book dealers for YOUR kind of books Learn where the bookstores are, when they’re open and how to get to them. Savor the Thrill of the Hunt Softcover, 374 pages, plus 2002 Supplement. $19.95 Sample Listing Sample Map 439 pages, plus 2002 Supplement $18.95 Sample Listing Sample Map Softcover, 374 pages, plus 2002 Supplement $17.95 Sample Listing Sample Map Softcover, 510 pages, plus 2002 Supplement $19.95 Sample Listing Sample Map Softcover, 464 pages, plus 2000 Supplement $14.95 Sample Listing Sample Map Softcover, 528 pages, plus 2002 Supplement $19.95 Sample Listing Sample Map Softcover, 334 pages, plus 2001 Supplement $19.95 Sample Listing Sample Map Ordering Information To order any of the above Used Book Lover’s Guides, Use the online Order Form on the Book Hunter Press web page (www.bookhunterpress.com) Call (914) 245-6608 Send a check to Book Hunter Press, PO Box 193, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598. Visa and MasterCard are accepted. Remember to mention this IOBA Newsletter when you place your order so that your Special IOBA 10% Discount is deducted from the total when the order is processed. Shipping ChargesShip ToMethodFirst BookEach Addtional BookUSAMedia Mail$3.50$1.00USAPriority$6.00$2.00Canada*Surface$8.00$3.00**Canada*Air$8.00$5.00**OtherSurface$8.00$4.00**OtherAir$10.00$10.00** * Add 7% GST ** For four or more copies, email for a reduced rate. For more information about The Used Book Lover’s Guides, including the Online version of the Guides, please visit our web page at Book Hunter Press

AUTHOR BOOK REVIEW: DEBRA L. WINEGARTEN Email/Contact Info: Sociosight@aol.com Current Publisher: Eakin Press, Austin, Texas PUBLISHED WORKS: “Strong Family Ties: The Tiny Hawkins Story” 1998, Sociosights Press. Hardcover, Memoirs. “Katherine Stinson: The Flying Schoolgirl” 2001, Eakin Press, Hardcover, Biography. “Mum’s the Word: A Tribute to Ruthe Winegarten” 2001, Sunbelt Media, Hardcover, Memoirs/Biography. BOOK/SUBJECT SYNOPSIS: Katherine Stinson earned her pilot’s wings in 1912, nine years after the Wright Brothers first flight. Katherine didn’t start out to be a pilot; she was a piano player. Her music teacher told her she needed to go to Europe to continue her musical studies. The oldest of four children, with her parents separated, Katherine didn’t have the money. She saw a newspaper headline that screamed, “Barnstormers Earn $1000 a Day,” and her flying career was launched. Flying planes that were little more than modified box kites with bicycle tires, Katherine thrilled audiences across the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Far East, performing stunts, night skywriting, and death-defying dives. Winning many endurance and duration records, she desperately wanted to fly for the U.S. in World War I. The Army refused, so in one day, Katherine raised over two million dollars for the Red Cross flying from Buffalo, New York to Washington, D.C. Katherine joined Mrs. Harriman’s Ambulance Corps in France and transported injured troops from the front lines to the hospital. She developed tuberculosis and returned to Santa Fe to recover. While there, she met John Gaw Meems, a renowned architect, who agreed to teach her. Katherine opened an office in downtown Santa Fe, became an award-winning architect, and is credited with helping preserve the southwest style of architecture we still see in Santa Fe today. She was a true Ambassador of Aviation. I’ve been writing forever, it seems. My “break” came when I told my mother people would pay us to write their family histories. “No they won’t,” she said, and we laid down that sultry August afternoon in Austin to take a nap. The phone rang. It was Tiny Hawkins’ daughter, telling Mom that she needed to write a story about Tiny. And the rest is, as they say, “herstory.” The past year, I’ve been traveling almost non-stop, promoting my book on Katherine Stinson. You can see my travel schedule on my website, www.sociosights.com under the “Events in 2002” link. I love to swim, play the flute, take walks, be owned by cats, and my heart partner.

Email: Kevin@krpaglia.net, or http://www.krpaglia.net Current Publisher: Publish America Published Work: “Exile”, published April 15, 2002, Publish America, trade paperback, Christian Sci-fi SYNOPSIS OF CURRENT BOOK/WORK Mathias is shaken from his chosen path when a dream sparks questions about the God his father died embracing. The same God was now asking Mathias to free His people, feed His people, and lead His people to a new life. Captured and imprisoned with them, Mathias hears the truth of Christ. Relying on their faith and his own will to overcome any obstacle, Mathias leads them in an escape with divine assistance. Mathias’ journey brings him back to the Earth system where he makes a life for himself on the black market port known as the Dutchman, meets the love of his life, Ria, and grows in his understanding of God’s mission for him. Accepting that mission takes him to an extermination camp to save friends and spread his faith to nonbelievers through God’s love, after which Mathias finds himself back at the Earth Senate where his father died for his beliefs to finish the message his father started. “Exile” is $19.95, available through Publish America #ISBN 1-58851-874-4. AUTHOR INFO Kevin R. Paglia Author of “Exile” I started my writing habit at the tender age of seven; basically as soon as I could make coherent sentences I started writing. It evolved along the normal lines of a few short stories to poetry, a play, an eleven-year-old attempt at a novel and finally into an adult love affair with writing. I always loved science fiction and even hand wrote a trilogy but while I loved the material the story just wasn’t there. When I decided to mesh my love of writing and love of God together, the stories came together. Christian sci-fi may seem odd at first, it is rare to find any futuristic Christian story line that does not deal with the end times, but when space exploration starts there will be Christians out there and I wanted to throw out stories that would inspire them like Star Trek did for its generation. For me the greatest honor in the world is to have a reader tell me how much they enjoyed my book and it made them think on a spiritual level. When I’m not writing I love to play with my two boys. I am a stay-at-home daddy, so I have the honor of watching them grow up. I also love to play golf, play video games (political strategy games at the moment) and, fine–I’ll admit it, watching T.V. My wife and I are involved with Marriage Encounter as well, so as a presenting couple we are constantly working on updating our presentations. Since we live between in-laws (Moscow ID and Bakersfield CA), our travel time is spent taking the boys to see their grandparents. I wanted to provide a resource for readers to get to know me so I have a web site (http://www.krpaglia.net) that has a page specifically devoted to informing people about me from favorite food to school to music I enjoy.

Publisher: Shoto Press http://www.shotopress.com Published Work: “Garlands of Moonlight” (ISBN 0971756406), published May 2002 by Shoto Press. A graphic novel retelling of a Malay vampire legend. BOOK/SUBJECT SYNOPSIS: Set in late colonial Indonesia, “Garlands of Moonlight” relates a Malay vampire legend in graphic novel format. Printed in a black and silver duotone, the book captures the quaint feel of turn-of-the-century daguerreotype photographs. Illustrated by Indonesian artist Rizky Wasisto Edi, winner of a 2002 Xeric award. Price $4.59, paperback, 86 pages. Printed in a black/silver duotone using high-definition stochastic (FM) screening to simulate turn-of-the-century daguerreotype photographs from the time period of the story. Publisher: Shoto Press. ISBN: 0971756406. Publication date: May, 2002. AUTHOR INFO: Jai Sen, a writer of speculative fiction, divides his time between New York and Tokyo. Born in Hyderabad, India, Sen lived in Indonesia for seven years. There, he acquired a taste for supernatural folktales. He is the author of “Garlands of Moonlight”, and is currently working on a historical graphic novel planned for release by Shoto Press in the winter of 2003. ABOUT SHOTO PRESS: “Our name is taken from the Shoto district of Shibuya-ku in Tokyo, where one of our authors resides. Shoto is a neighborhood that pays equal homage to tradition and progress, just as we do. We are working to inform the public about the importance of graphic novels as a literary medium.”

By Jean McKenna Q. Is there such a thing as a computer dictionary? I can’t possibly be alone in that I am very proficient at most of the programs that relate to what I’m doing at the moment, but don’t understand a scary amount of what others consider too obvious to even define. A.  Yes, there are computer dictionaries; in fact, there are a variety of them, some covering general computer terminology, some dealing with specific areas (desktop publishing, graphics, the Internet, telecommunications, etc.). I have accumulated a small collection over the past 20 years, some bound volumes and some downloaded from Web sites. An oldie but goodie is JARGON: An Informal Dictionary of Computer Terms, by Robin Williams (long one of the best authors in the computer field), ISBN 0938251643, Peachpit Press, soft cover, 7.5″x9.125″. Mine is a 2nd printing, 199l, so it’s not completely up to date, but I’ve found it an excellent reference. There may be later editions available. Q. My post office refused to let me send a lot of thirty-year-old Surfer magazines BPM because they contained advertising. A. This is from the USPS web page Business Mail 101 (for beginners): http://new.usps.com/cgi-bin/uspsbv/scripts/content.jsp?D=17520&X=&B=mailing1 Bound Printed Matter must: a. Consist of advertising, promotional, directory, or editorial material or any combination of such material). b. Be securely bound by permanent fastenings such as staples, spiral binding, glue, or stitching. Loose-leaf binders and similar fastenings are not considered permanent. c. Consist of sheets of which at least 90% are imprinted by any process other than handwriting or typewriting with words, letters, characters, figures, or images (or any combination of them). d. Not have the nature of personal correspondence. e. Not be stationery, such as pads of blank printed forms. It couldn’t be much clearer than this. (It is also suggested that BPM packages be marked “Return Service Requested”, as the Post Office will not return Bound Printed Matter if undeliverable.) Q.  Does anyone use those white paperback display boxes? They are 30 x 8 x 4-1/2–typically they hover around the feet of bookcases and are meant to display paperback spines. I do not mean shipping boxes, but display boxes. I’m sorry if that wasn’t clear before. A. I get most of my storage supplies, plastic bags, comic boxes, magazine boxes, record boxes from: http://www.bagsunlimited.com/. All kinds of bags and backing boards. And since it seems appropriate here is a list of other specialty suppliers: http://www.egerber.com Archival http://www.bcemylar.com Archival http://www.lightimpressions.com Archival http://www.crystalclearbags.com Canada (The above represents only a few suppliers; there are, of course, others.) Our thanks go to: Bonnie Scott Ken Fermoyle Tom Hood  – Logan Lake Books Terry – An Odd Volume Books Bill Burns Sasha – NeetStuff

FRUSTRATING IMAGE PROCESSING Compiled and Edited by Jean McKenna In the past I have used a scanner (inexpensive $100.00 scanner) to upload Pictures to eBay, and a web site. I found it slow and cumbersome, but adequate for what I was doing. I then purchased a Sony Mavica digital camera, and I love it. Pictures are taken easily and uploaded from floppy disk to Micrografx Picture Publisher. I size and save them, and can then upload to eBay, a web site, send to a customer, etc. It is very quick and easy to use for a computer-challenged person like myself. Here is some very good information/discussion regarding imaging processing as offered by other, more knowledgeable booksellers, which first appeared on that great bookseller newsgroup – Bibliophile. ============================================= Madlyn, of Center Aisle Books, started off the discussion: Bibs: For any or all of you who are considering adding images to your listings please note that it isn’t as easy as others make it sound! Here is a brief recap of the process: 1. Spend about a year researching the digital camera. Every time you get close to making a decision a new feature will become important enough to make you question your decision. 2. Comparing prices of models will slow down the decision making process. 3. Point and shoot and decide which drug store to drop off the film for developing is no longer the process. Now you have to become your own expert in these areas: Get the photos into the computer, find the file names, get them into your photo editing program, do some basic resizing/rotation. 4. Next, try to figure out what the file names SHOULD be to put into your data base program. Example Dsc001.jpg is NOT the name of the book or the file in any db. You have to know the book #. But how? 5. Now that you have spent days figuring out the file names of the first 50 books you took pictures of (before you knew you had to write down the names/#s of the books in order that you shot them), you have to go back and rename each of the images. Of course some don’t match because that would be way too easy. Goddess save you if you have images of 5 different editions of Little Black Sambo without db #s or the list is out of order (cause for divorces). 6. Now copy the …images into your db. Then get them to your web page. 7. Now figure out how to get the images online – let’s say ABE. Just try. 8. A few days later when you have the energy to go back to it, see if the images are showing up at ABE yet. 9. Go take some additional pictures and start again. DON’T FORGET – some of the images are in about 3 files now, some aren’t identified, some are ‘in process’ (named, not reformatted or visa versa) and you can’t figure out which images are where unless you flip back and forth between at least 3 programs. 10. Print off a number of pictures on one of those expensive sheets of photo paper to put up on display of “other books available” at the antique mall or book fair. Go ahead, just try to print multiple images on one page. Find the directions for that one in Paint Shop Pro! Otherwise, I’m really enjoying my new Sony CyberShot . Anyone want to see my photos? I have to get them off the computer or I’ll be out of space. Madlyn —————————————————————————- Forrest Proper of Joslin Hall kindly offered the following information: The process of taking pictures of books, altering them for web use and posting them to the web seems fairly straightforward. However, as we found out from our own experience, and have heard from others, it can be very frustrating and tedious if you have not worked out a system first. We spent several months doing this when we first began working with our digital camera, and perhaps my experiences can help someone else. First and most, most, most important- I always catalog the book before taking the picture. At the time of cataloging each book is given a unique, sequential inventory number, 04415, 04416, 04417, 04418, etc. This is written in the book in pencil (along with the cost code, price and whatever else you make note of there). When I have a pile of 15-50 books I get the camera out and take pictures. I use a five-year old Agfa without many bells and whistles. I have a small flat table-top surface cleared for the purpose, and two large sheets of poster board, one black, one white, to use for backgrounds. I mount the camera on a lightweight Slik camera tripod, and have two 60-watt lamps set up, one to the left and one to the right. I lay the books flat on the poster board. To make the process even quicker, I sort the books by size beforehand, all the 5×8’s and 6×9’s in one pile, the 8.5×11’s and 9×12’s in another pile, etc, so I will not have to move the camera up and down for each book as I take each picture. I can photograph a dozen books of the same size in under a minute using this system. After taking the pictures, the pics are downloaded into a temporary file in my photo program named for the day’s date. At this point each photo has some sort of temporary name like July072002-01 or something, but this does not matter too much, as I will rename them within a few minutes. I carry the pile/s of books, in the same order I photographed them, back to my computer and set them down beside me. I open the photo program and look quickly at the pics, making sure that the light is correct, no fuzzy pics, etc. I do small corrections such as lightening or darkening, sharpening the image and resizing in my Photo program, but you could also do it in Paint Shop Pro (more on that in a minute). I resize the images to about 175 pixels high, or 250 pixels wide if it is a horizontal shot. This means that each pic. will be about 4-8k in file size after I convert them to be jpgs. I then crop them the way I want them to look -I usually crop leaving a small band of either black or white (the background posterboard) around the edges of the book, and cut the image out and paste it into Paint Shop Pro. Once it is pasted into Paint Shop Pro I hit the “Save As” button. I choose to save my pic files as .jpgs because jpegs offer the best compromise between resolution and file size. I then take the book that the photo is of off the pile beside me, look at the item number, and type it in as the name of the picture file I am creating, prefaced by the letters “th”. So the pic. file is now saved as (for instance) th-04417.jpg. Why “th”? Well, that’s my early code for “thumbnail”. You could as easily preface them with “pic”, “ph” or even “trog” -whatever you like. The point of doing this is to make all the pics come up on the same place in your directory, instantly identifiable as photos. In the years to come you will be very happy for this small convenience. When I finish all the pics I upload the files via ftp. to the web. Since the numbers are sequential, I simply do a block upload, which is pretty fast. At this point everything matches -book number written in the book matches the book number on my inventory list, which matches the number of the photo. If I have more than one photo of a book I simple label the second one th-04417-a.jpg, th-04417-b.jpg, etc. That’s all there is. Everything matches, everything is sequential. I go and catalog my next batch of books… In summary, our advice is- -Always catalog the book before you take the picture, and give each book a unique sequential inventory number. -Name the picture file using that unique inventory number. -Take pictures in batches, group books by size, and invest a small amount in such supplies as a few sheets of poster boards for backgrounds and a tripod for your camera. So far this has worked fairly well. Knock on… synthetic wood-like desk surface. -Forrest ————————————————————————— And Susan, of Ravenroost Books comments: Forrest- Thank you, and Madyln, for focusing on this tormenting process. And for offering the streamlining tips. Do you stick to a given size, or size range, for each jpeg? Trying to get motivated to revamp, and eventually ftp, my jpeg files…it has been my favorite “procrastination project”! Susan —————————————————————————- And Forrest responds with: We found that a .jpg 175 pixels high works best. This can vary up to 250, or even larger if I have an expensive book I want to use the space for, but of course the larger the image, the longer the download to view it. A 175 pixel height is large enough to have detail and look good, but small enough to load quickly. For horizontal pics we use about a 250 pixel width. Of course, what you really need to worry about is the size of the picture file itself, especially if you use multiple images on a page. Our individual picture files are almost all between 4000-8000 bytes (4 to 8 k) each, which loads pretty quickly on most systems, even dial-ups such as we still use. -Forrest ————————————————————————- Jim Havraneck also wrote: Here’s the ACDsee site focused on the program I use. http://www.acdsystems.com/English/Products/ImagingProducts/Featured2/index.htm I have the Power Pack that does not include the Foto Slate plugin. The Foto Slate plugin gives some decent options for printing multiple images on one sheet but has to be purchased separately or in a package deal if they are offered. I also have a neat thing from them called pica view that that let’s you right click files and it will show the image or play music files. They also have a Mac version but I don’t think it has all the same features as the Windows program. (Jim also adds that a few people suggested saving their images lower than the 640 pixel width he uses. He further states “I do not know how long the images take to load at dial up speed. The nice thing with ACDsee is that I can resize the images again and reduce size further and re-upload, but I’d check to see how much resolution is lost doing that again.) – Jim Havranek —————————————————————————- And finally, this from G’Jim (Jim Arner): I use an older Sony Mavica for my book images, no need to have the latest and greatest for this process. It isn’t necessary to have really glitzy images, just enough so that the customer can recognize whether this is the book that they really want. And, yes, images DO SELL books! I especially found this to be true when I listed on zShops. Many times I would get an order, and comparing, found that my copy was not the highest, nor lowest, priced copy – but it was the ONLY one with an attached image. The ABE image hosting is a pain in the anatomy, just one of the reasons that I no longer utilize their services. Any listing service should allow you to host your own images and provide the links to those images in your listings. I use a fairly simple setup for my photos – two lamps at low angles (to prevent glare), some old pillowcases for backgrounds. See: http://www.wyomerc.com/bookranch/images/setup.JPG The resulting photo (after some editing): http://www.wyomerc.com/bookranch/images/demo.JPG I crop fairly close, but I leave some of the background so that the customer can see all the book front cover. I adjust each image so that the long edge is 250 pixels and let the short edge fall where it may. Images are named for the record number in my database. Thus, book #2334 has an image named 2334.JPG – this is stored on my web site as: http://www.wyomerc.com/bookranch/images/2334.JPG During editing, I also add the ‘watermark’ at a 45-degree angle, to discourage ‘borrowing’ of my images. I use an older version of PhotoImpact (http://www.ulead.com) but the software that Jim Havranek uses sounds very interesting. Perhaps he will post the web site link for ordering the ACDsee software. G’Jim Wyoming Mercantile – The Book Ranch Thanks to Forrest, Madlyn, Susan, Jim, and G’Jim for enlightening all of us. Jean S. McKenna, Chairman, Education Committee. Editor’s Note: I also “watermark” all my images, as G’Jim does. It was (and may still be) a real problem on online auctions and book databases with unscrupulous sellers using other people’s images to represent their own books—misleading the buyers, of course. I recommend watermarking to everyone (but do put a note about it in your terms–I’ve had more than one prospective buyer ask if I mark my A&A logo on the book, itself). :>) Shirley

The following list has been compiled to inform the newer bookseller/collector of the abbreviations that were commonly used in book ads and catalogs in the not-so-distant past, and to jog the memory of those of us who did use them. The following is an example I once used in advertising a book for sale: “G-VG UNLESS NOTED. CWO PPD RET SASE”. As many of you know, we were charged by the line in most publications and, in order to keep expenses down, used abbreviations. They were also used in book cataloging. An elderly gentleman once asked me to translate the secret bookseller code in the above description. That translation was: “Good to very good unless noted. Check with order, postpaid, returnable, self-addressed stamped envelope”. Granted, these abbreviations are no longer used on a regular basis, but they can still often be found in booksellers’ online descriptions and print catalogs. Since the advent of the computer and book databases, and the demise of most print book publications, they are used less frequently but, if you do come across something you don’t understand, we hope this list will be a useful reference. ABA: American Bookseller’s Association Also: Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (the British equivalent of the ABAA) ABAA: Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America AEG: All Edges Gilt ALS: Autographed Letter Signed ARC: Advance Readers Copy BCE: Book Club Edition BDS: Boards BOMC: Book-of-the-Month Club C.: Small c. before date, meaning circa; around/about (referring to date) CR or CPR or ©: Copyright CWO: Check or cash with order DEC: Decorated DJ: Dust jacket DS: Document signed DW: Dustwrapper (same as dust jacket, or book jacket) ED: Edition or Editor EP: Endpaper EX LIB: Ex-Library copy EX LIBRIS: From the library of, referring to previous owner–often found on bookplates F: Fine FFEP: Front free endpaper FL: Flyleaf FRONTIS: Frontispiece G: Good HC: Hardcover IL or ILLUS: Illustrated IOBA: Independent Online Booksellers Association LITHO: Lithograph LTD ED: Limited Edition ND or n-d: No Date NP or n-pl: No Place OP or OOP: Out-of-Print PP: Pages; p (and then the number) for page; /pp for pages – to PPB or PB: Paperback PPD: Postpaid PR: Printing PSEUD: Pseudonym PUB: Published/publisher RFEP: Rear free endpaper RET: Returnable SLC or SC: Slipcase SGD: Signed SP: Spelling TEG: Top Edge Gilt TLS: Typed letter signed TP: Title Page V. or VOL or VOLS: Volume/Volumes VG: Very Good WAF: With All Faults W/O: Without

by: Julie Fauble and Sue Gallagher Administrative Stuff (What you need to make the sale today) Pens Pencils and Eraser (had a request from a dealer for both items – when he purchased two pricey books, he immediately erased and repriced) Receipt book Credit card slips and imprinter (aka “knuckle cruncher”) Calculator Tax sheet for quick reference Change for cash customers Box or some other place to keep the cash, checks and credit card receipts Marketing (What you need to make more sales down the road) Business cards Bookmarks Notebook or cards for collecting customer contact information and wants. Stapler – keep from losing those pesky little business cards that customers give you – staple them in the notebook. Flyers with information about your business and/or upcoming events Booth Organization and Decor (What you need to get people into your booth) Collapsible shelving – Getting harder to find sturdy ones – rumor has it that Linen ‘n Things now has them Labels for shelves (A one-time investment in a good label maker is a good idea) Card tents (place cards – especially if you have a locked case) 3-4 Lights (the ones with clamps and movable extenders) Bulbs Extension cords Magic marker and cardstock (for making the labels you forgot) Tape or push pins Table covers Easels/book stands Decorative elements that make you stand out (Object d’art that fit the genre such as spurs, old fashioned spectacles, theme bookends, posters) Candy for customers Sign showing which credit cards you accept Exhibitor Comfort (What you need to survive the whole experience) Comfortable shoes Bottled water Quick energy snacks Breath mints Aspirin, ibuprofen or pain reliever of choice (preferably legal) Post-fair relaxing agent of choice (preferably legal) More handy stuff Scissors Utility knife Extra boxes Price guides Extra dust jacket covers Cleaning stuff (travel-sized babywipes work nicely) Pocket-sized reference books Magnifying glass Feather duster, if you’re outside Camera – capture your progress We didn’t come up with all of this on our own. The above list was developed from years of listening to people much smarter than we are and taking notes when something particularly useful crossed our paths. Among the people we’d like to thank for long ago sharing their wisdom on this particular topic are: Lynn DeWeese-Parkinson, Forrest Proper, Linda Keele and Sasha of Neetstuff.

In 1852, when returning home from a visit to her sister in France, she met Captain William Charles Yelverton of the Royal Artillery. Their ship was overbooked, so Teresa and the captain spent the night sitting in deck chairs, wrapped in his plaid blanket. When they disembarked in London, she gave him her address and he called upon her the next day, but that was the end of their encounter for a time. A little later, Theresa wrote to Yelverton, then stationed in Malta, and this led to steady correspondence between the pair, which gradually became affectionate. Then Yelverton was sent to the Crimean war and, as luck would have it, Teresa went too, as a nurse, a Sister of Charity working in the French hospitals. (She was a Roman Catholic who had been educated in a French convent.) In 1855 or 1856, Yelverton chanced to visit the hospital where Teresa was working, renewing their acquaintance. According to Teresa, he proposed marriage, but she declined because she could not leave her nursing post until the war was over. They met up again in the tent of a general, where they were accepted as lovers, and when Teresa left the Crimea, Yelverton, now a major, went with her. Later, Teresa said that he wanted to marry her in the Greek Church, but she was insistent upon a Roman Catholic marriage. When they landed back in England in 1857, she went to live with a friend in Edinburgh. Yelverton visited her there, and by his own admission, “triumphed over her virtue,” and married her in the Scotch manner by reading the marriage ceremony to her and acknowledging her as his wife before a witness. But Teresa still wanted a proper marriage. Yelverton finally agreed, and they went to Waterford, Ireland, where they were married by a Father Mooney for the sum of five pounds. After the wedding they traveled in England, Scotland, and France. When in Bordeaux, Theresa fell ill, and also was pregnant (she lost the baby). The major left her there. When she was well, she wrote to him, imploring him to make their marriage public. He said that this would ruin him, and told her to find some rich man to marry and go to New Zealand. This was the last she heard from him. As so often happened to single Victorian women, she had nowhere to go but to friends, so she went to one in Scotland. Imagine her surprise when she heard the news of her husband’s marriage to the Widow Forbes, a woman of large fortune from Edinburgh! She sued him for alimony at once, and he paid her some money uncontested. But then, in 1861, Teresa went further. She got her landlord to sue Yelverton in the Court of Common Please in Dublin for the amount her board while she had stayed in his house. This was an effort to get a public admission that she was Yelverton’s wife, and that he should pay her debts. But Yelverton denied that he had married her, and thus began a world-famous trial, Thelwall vs. Yelverston. The trial transcript was published in “Harper’s Weekly,” and in the papers of the entire English-speaking world. The case was such a cause celebre that two plays were written about it: “A Wife and Not a Wife” by Cyrus Redding, and “Gentle Blood, or The Secret Marriage” by James Roderick O’Flanagan. Teresa was the chief witness in the trial that lasted three days. She was extremely composed and made a very favorable impression. Yelverton, on the other hand, was forced to admit that he was a cad who had behaved dishonorably throughout. Father Mooney testified that the marriage he had performed was not really valid. Although the validity of both the Scottish marriage and the Roman Catholic one were affirmed and the case ended in her favor, Major Yelverton did not give up the fight, and in 1867 he persuaded the House of Lords to decide against the marriage. By this time, Teresa had spent most of her money in litigation, and so she decided to travel and earn money by writing. She adopted the name Therese Yelverton, Viscountess Avonmore, to which she had no claim, but which added to her celebrity and must have given her some satisfaction to flaunt the name of the man who so much did not want her to have it. In 1870 Teresa traveled to the Yosemite Valley, where a geological survey was just then underway. There she met the Hutchings family, whose daughter Florence (1864-1881) was the first white child born there, as well as the naturalist John Muir. Hutchings wrote many books about Yosemite and had a sawmill that Muir operated for a time. There, Teresa wrote a novel called “The Daughters of Ahwahnee” whose characters were quite obviously the Hutchings and Muir, who became Kenmuir in the book. The title was later changed by the publishers, Hurd and Houghton, to Zanita, a Tale of the Yo-Semite, published in an edition of 2,000 copies in 1872, and rather scarce today. Zanita was Florence (Floy) Hutchings, Cozy her sister Cosa, and the parents are Oswald and Placida Naunton. Teresa herself appears in the book as Mrs. Brown. According to Muir’s extant letters, the book has a fairly good description of him, as well as accurate accounts of the theories of Muir and others regarding the geological formation of the Yosemite Valley. Interestingly enough, in the novel, Zanita dies by falling (or being pushed?) from a mountain, and in real life, years after publication of the book, Florence died in a fall while guiding some tourists a month after her seventeenth birthday. Teresa traveled the world writing articles, including one on Buddha’s tooth, in Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, November 1873, which can be read on-line: http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/b/bib/bibperm?q1=ahj1472-1363over-74 A good account of Muir in the Yosemite Valley, Teresa, and the Hutchings can be found in The Life and Letters of John Muir by William Frederic Bade, Chapter IX, at The Sierra Club site: http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/ Postscript: In doing a Google search for Yo-Semite, I came to a link called “Jewish Humor-Semite.” Following this link, I was led to the Encyclopaedia Britannica “Semite” page, and there was Zanita: Tale of the Yo-Semite with an invitation to “Buy This Book.” Unable to resist seeing who might be linking Zanita to Jewish Humor, I clicked that button and was taken to Barnes and Noble, where a reprint is being offered.