From the inside front cover of A History of England by W. Freeman Galpin (NY: Prentice-Hall, 1938), and weighing in at 2.75” by 3.5”.

From the inside front cover of A Treatise on Fine Arts by W. B. Brandt et al (W. B. Brandt & Co., 1930). Not much publishing information, other than this is Copy 871 of an unknown limitation. This is an insurance company gift bookplate for a work that combines ruminations on the fine arts with a naked attempt to sell “All Risks Fine Arts Insurance.” From the Introductory Remarks: “Have you ever returned to your home at night, tired out mentally and physically, and looked through your library for a volume containing matter of interest to you that you could pick up, sit in your favorite chair by your favorite lamp, and read easily without much mental effort of these things, and after having perused the pages of the particular article in which you are interested, find yourself relaxed both mentally and physically? This is the object of this book.” One of them, anyway.

Table of Contents Live Free or Die: A Book Dealer’s Travels in New Hampshire Foreword Buying Inventory on the Internet from Overseas Dealers Time and Again: A Fraudulent Book Purchase on Ebay Bruce Gventer of B&S Gventer Books and Ephemera and babf Promotions The Hard Way Insurance for Bookdealers Book Hunter Press Really Useful Phone List Sam Heitman of Naples Books, Inc. Mark Sugen of Sugen & Co. Film & TV Tie-Ins Michelle Black Reagan of Everleaf Books Happy Hits Pray Tell, Private Hell Images of Book Culture Auction Action House Calls Harry Hansen Book Store Labels: F. Loeser & Co., Brooklyn, NY Bookplates: St. Andrew’s Society Library

As IOBAns on our internal Announce List know, I was recently elected president of the organization. The board of directors consists of a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer who are elected every year, and six members at large who serve staggered terms of three years each. We also have eight standing committees (Bylaws, Education, Ethics, Finance, Internet, Membership, Public Relations, and Standard), but some of these were dormant and even vacant. My first goal of dual service whereby board members also chair committees has already been realized. The advantage of this is that board members are more fully invested, and frankly it is easier to find ten motivated people than it is to find eighteen. If you want to give back to the organization, you start off by joining the committee of your choice, you may chair it some day, and after that the sky is the limit (or such sky as a small trade association has to offer at any rate). Small can be good, but so can big. I am firmly in the camp that believes IOBA should have 500 professional members by now, rather than 250 to 300. Part of the reason for slow growth has been inertia on the part of the leadership fed in part by apathy on the part of the membership, and we had a couple of withering internal debates some years ago, but it is mostly related to the stormy seas of online bookselling in general. We have also fumbled the annual renewal process on occasion, in terms of effective and timely announcements and reminders. 300 seems to be a magic number for independently minded bookselling organizations such as ours. The only one that has cracked it lately has been the search service Biblio. If ABEbooks can attract 13,500 booksellers, many of whom are of professional caliber, IOBA should be able to reach 500. Membership will be my first priority. The Membership Committee does the most everyday work in IOBA. They vet and they vote. In the very beginning vetting was unnecessary, as most of us were the same professionals that helped companies like Interloc, Bibliofind, and ABE pioneer online bookselling to begin with. When the floodgates opened, however, standards suffered as we took pretty much anybody without review. Many of those were “instant booksellers” and they have long since departed. We now go about this differently. The Membership Committee basically requires the following. Primary online business is selling books, a minimum of 200 books listed, no more than 10% of total stock should be priced under $5, should own at least 90% of books listed (this bars “megalisters” while recognizing that some specialty stock is ordered directly from the publisher), a standard satisfaction guaranteed returns policy, and full and accurate descriptions (no boilerplate) of the actual book in hand. Automated pricing and similarly lazy or eyebrow-raising practices are frowned upon. Specialization and having your own website are considered a plus. Most successful applicants spend one year at the Associate Member level ($30/year) and then move up to the Professional Member level ($60/year). The first step may be waived at the discretion of the committee co-chair, and needless to say we are very desirous of adding top shelf booksellers to our ranks. For borderline entry-level booksellers, we want to formalize a mentor program, to be administered through the Education Committee. The Membership Committee will recommend mentoring in those cases where the applicant may be able to meet the standards within a reasonable amount of time. There is also an expectation that they will maintain these standards, adhere to the IOBA Code of Ethics, and grow as professional booksellers. We don’t mean to be elitist with all of this, but IOBA was formed over a concern for slipping standards, and it is natural that we would institute our own. For a refresher on what IOBA is all about, it’s right on our home page in five short paragraphs. I mentioned apathy on the part of the membership, and I would like to clarify. Most IOBAns are not at the very top of the food chain, with decades of experience, a bricks and mortar presence, and tens of thousands of stellar books in stock. We have some ABAA and ILAB members and many highly accomplished and specialized bricks and clicks and internet-only dealers, but as a trade association of independent online booksellers, many of whom are relatively new to the profession and want to better themselves in the modern absence of traditional apprenticeships, we take more of a big tent approach. There has been board discussion in the past about requiring all members to participate at some level, kind of like some food co-ops do. I don’t favor this, as it would require a lot of administration and would engender headaches and departures. Board members and committee chairs have consistently noted signs of apathy over the years, and such discouragement often leads to inertia. From my perspective as editor of the Standard, for example, I spend over 150 hours per issue and get perhaps one response (this is not a plea for feel good feedback…just an observation); or I email IOBA members several times asking for a profile or other contribution and don’t even hear back (I am tempted to order a book from them just to get their attention). Others joined only because of the ability to sell through IOBAbooks, and when that did not produce enough profit they packed up and left. Varying levels of participation is a common occurrence in most organizations, and indeed throughout history. The 300 Spartans were awesome, but they got a little help from a pan-Greek army and untold numbers of everyday citizens you don’t hear too much about. Speaking for myself, this general malaise isn’t ideal, but it does not bother me greatly. We are all busy, and the more time you save for selling books the better chance you have of staying in business. To me it is all about the IOBA logo that can be displayed on your website and elsewhere. That logo stands for something. It is reassuring to colleagues and to book buyers. The logo alone is worth $60/year, even if the organization is not always incredibly vibrant or active. Luckily the founders erected a pretty good framework, and there are always some dedicated members who step up and give of their time and talents. I am not especially well suited to be president of my own sock drawer, let alone a disparate group of booksellers, but one reason I took it on is that I feel we are at a sink or swim stage. We can slide into murky depths at under 200 members or barely tread water at under 300 members, but please consider joining and/or giving back to the association if you are in a position to do so as we gear up for the goals and challenges ahead. Let’s reach a nice island (with modern amenities, and not Fantasy Island either) and IOBA can be our port in the storm now and our naval station later. This year I will mainly be concentrating on infrastructure. The website, internet applications, membership issues, defining the roles of the committees and populating them with volunteers and, either this year or next, revising many of the bylaws. IOBA does seem to have a short institutional memory due to high turnover at the top, and I would like to get some pages up in the Members Section that will explain how certain things are done, so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel so often. I’m also interested in improved internal and external communications; advertising and promoting and internationalizing IOBA; and improving IOBAbooks. Now that I’ve aired our organizational laundry in public, let’s get back to finding and selling and reading and loving books. In this issue, U.S. overseas internet book buying; a shape shifting eBay experience; an interview with book fair promoter Bruce Gventer; a wall-mounted hard drive; and Joe Perlman scales New Hampshire. Quirky QSLs qualify for the ephemera column; and the book review is murderous this time around. Tool Box content includes book hunting, insurance, and contact info. IOBA Bookseller Profiles hail from Lehigh Acres, FL; Spring Hill, KS; and North Yorkshire, England. And Addenda.

When I was younger and in the throes of child-rearing, my typical response to most requests quickly degenerated into, “Do what you want…you will anyway.” I have mellowed a bit in middle age, and I now say, “You are your own chairman,” or, when corrected by my wife, “You are your own chairperson.” This expression comes from my college days in the late 1960s. Group dynamics was all the rage and the psychology professors would begin each seminar session by stating, “Before the class begins, close you eyes and think about what you want to get from this class, and what you want to give to this class. Remember, you are your own chairman.” In mid-January we spent a long weekend in New Hampshire, where the populace has extended “You are your own chairperson” even further through their motto “Live Free or Die.” My wife is an avid Nordic skier, so we have a tradition of spending Martin Luther King weekend up in New England. She bundles up and braves the cold, while I crank up the car and check out the used bookstores. In the past we usually went up to Stowe, Vermont, but this year the snow was supposed to be better in the White Mountains, and some cousins who live in Cambridge, Massachusetts are always bragging about their great book finds up in the land of the free, so we left at the crack of dawn on Friday morning and headed up to Jackson, New Hampshire. It was foggy and raining on Long Island, but seven and a half hours of a great audio book later (Benjamin Black’s Christine Falls) we arrived in a snow covered winter wonderland. It had been at least twenty years since I was in New Hampshire. At the time, my brother lived up there in a town so small that even if you were looking for it, it was easy to miss, as the center consisted of a ten by ten foot cottage that was the town hall, post office and general store. Back then, the country gentry all lived in Vermont and this part of New England was like the Wild West. I was surprised by how much things had changed since then. We arrived at a beautiful old country inn (Thorn Hill Inn and Spa) in a town that looked like a Norman Rockwell Christmas card. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace, and an English Tea laid out for guests, with fresh baked scones, cakes and cookies, and bowls of clotted cream and fruits and jams, comparable to what one is served at Fortnum and Mason in London. After we warmed ourselves with tea and I ate one too many scones, we received a guided tour of the premises. There was a spa with saunas and massage rooms, an outdoor hot tub, even a cozy library with a large selection of interesting novels by local authors. I might have traded some of my own books for a signed copy or two, but all of the free end papers had large “Property of” stampings. The biggest surprise was their enormous wine cellars. They had over 5000 different wines. Twenty years ago the liquor stores were all state-owned and you had a choice of Boone’s Farm, Gallo Burgundy, or the slightly classier Mateus rosé which I always pronounced Ma-toos, until I learned in Portugal that the proper pronunciation is Ma-TAE-us. It was almost dusk and too late for outdoor activity or book scouting, so we explored the number two tourist attraction in that part of New Hampshire which are the outlet shops in North Conway. After two hours of watching the chairwoman try on clothing, the chairman was hungry, so we had dinner at an elegant restaurant in town. Its claim to fame is preparing food at your table. I passed on the Caesar salad with freshly made dressing because although they claimed to briefly scald the egg shells before cracking them, I still considered the egg yolks to be raw. I was more interested in the Bananas Foster. Every fifteen minutes one of the waiters would wheel a cart into the dining room with great aplomb and make the famous dessert for another table. I watched with great interest and kept asking the waiters questions about the process. When it came time for dessert, the waiter remarked that he had a surprise for us. A diner at another table had pre-ordered the dessert for us and paid for it. Maybe he thought I was not enough of my own chairman to order it for myself, or maybe he just admired the interest I took in the procedures, but it was a welcome surprise and the dessert was superb. Saturday was to be my major book buying day. I dropped my wife at the nearby cross country ski center and headed down to Northwood, which was a longer drive than I expected, due to the fact that there are no real highways in Eastern New Hampshire. For many years the taxes were very low, so I guess there was little money for road construction. This was only a few days after the New Hampshire primary, but the only political signs I saw along the road were for Ron Paul. You would never guess who won the primaries. Northwood Old Books was well worth the drive, a large shop crammed with interesting titles on all subjects. I purchased a large carton of books, and the clerk recommended that I visit the owner’s other, larger shop, about an hour’s drive due west in Henniker. On the way I saw a sign that said “Old Books and Furniture,” so I slowed down and pulled in. It was a large shop filled with paperback books and used furniture. I asked the proprietor if she had any hardcover books, and she pointed to a few very common former bestsellers along the top shelves of the bookcases. “I’d have more but they don’t sell,” she told me. I apologized and told her I was only interested in literary hardcover books. I left a bit amazed that one could make a living selling used romance and popular fiction paperbacks. Maybe she made more money on the furniture. I arrived in Henniker right on schedule, and before I reached my destination I saw a sign for an old book barn. This barn had been highly recommended to me by the cousins, so I made another detour and drove up into the parking lot. This, too, turned out to be a disappointment. I would call it “The Leaky Book Barn” since most of the books had a substantial amount of water damage and were in terrible condition. I bought one signed Russell Banks to see if I could salvage it, but despite my best efforts, it still looks pretty warped and I am hesitant to list it on-line. Old Number Six Book Depot in Henniker is another wonderful old shop that one could easily spend a day browsing in. It has a broad selection of reasonably priced books in all categories, and again I left with a large carton of treasures, mostly for re-sale. I had a long chat with Mr. Morrison, the owner, who knows several of the older booksellers on Long Island from book fairs. It was a slow two hour trip back up to Jackson, and I wanted to pick my wife up before the ski center closed and arrive at the Inn in time for their marvelous tea, so I headed north again on the two lane roads enjoying the scenery. I saw numerous signs that warned of moose and bear crossings, but that day there wasn’t a moose or a bear in sight. After a few too many fresh baked scones and cookies, it was time to try the hot tub. I have always been curious about outdoor hot tubs in winter. Does your head stay warm in the cold air, because of the steam? If you stay in long enough are you warm when you jump out into the cold? I learned that your face does stay warm from the steam, but in 16 degree weather, if you have a big head like I do, you get icicles on top of your head, and when you step out you stay warm for about ten seconds, just long enough to throw a robe on and run inside. By now, I had had enough of the frigid temperatures, so we spent the evening at the Inn, eating dinner in the elegant candlelit dining room, and reading in the lounge in front of the roaring fire. There were even such modern amenities as wireless internet in the lobby, so I was able to take out my laptop and check my e-mail for book orders, which were trickling in. Sunday was to be devoted to the new bookstores in the North Conway area, of which there were three. My first stop was the one independent bookshop in town, as these shops are usually a good source of signed books by local authors. Immediately upon entering I saw a stack of signed copies of the latest book by the wonderful regional novelist, Howard Frank Mosher, who lives only a few hours away across the Vermont border. To my dismay they were all second printings. There were some unsigned first editions on the fiction shelves, but I figured I could buy an unsigned one much cheaper in New York, where he is not nearly as popular or well-known. I did manage to pick up a few interesting items, including a signed collection of nature essays, and a heavily discounted book about Vermont fiction writers (after all this was New Hampshire). My next stop was the local Borders, the only chain bookstore in the region, but unlike any other Borders I have ever visited. The front third of the store was all remainders, and you had to wade through them to get to the new books. I had a 40% off on any one item coupon that I had received via e-mail, which when coupled with no sales tax is a substantial discount, but the selection of books was so small I had trouble finding anything. My third stop was a remainder outlet tucked away in the back of the large outlet mall in North Conway. The store was the size of a small supermarket with a large fiction section and I found a number of nice, pristine first edition remainders without that nasty remainder slash on the bottom edge. Since I had exhausted the supply of local bookshops with a few hours to spare before I had to pick up my wife at the slopes, I had some time to don a pair of snowshoes and enjoy this winter wonderland for myself. The trail was snow covered and empty. I passed a single snowshoer on my two hour trek, so I enjoyed the tranquility and beauty of the snow covered white birch and pine trees until it was time to return to the ski center. As I tromped through the woods, I thought to myself this must be what they mean by “Live Free”…a long slow drive on a two lane country road, a quiet walk in an empty wood, a shopkeeper who can make a living selling used paperbacks, or one who can afford a large inexpensive space to sell used books. It was nice, but it was also time to take off my rustic ski cap and go back to being simply my own chairman. I already missed the highways, the crowded streets, and the energy of urban life. In minutes I removed my snowshoes, met up with my wife and headed down the mountains to my brother’s house in Massachusetts, where he lives in a slightly bigger town (the town hall, post office and general store are actually three separate buildings) in time to watch the Giants win the playoff game. We celebrated Martin Luther King Day with most other Americans, instead of Civil Rights Day as they call it up there in the “Live Free or Die” state of New Hampshire. Joe Perlman operates Mostly Useful Fictions out of East Northport, NY and can be contacted at http://www.mostlyusefulfictions.com.

For many years, I was reluctant to purchase books from overseas dealers. Not speaking any foreign languages, I assumed it would be a nightmare communicating with them, figuring out the exchange rates, and arranging for shipment. What convinced me to try buying from overseas was my experience selling books to international buyers. Almost as soon as I opened my online bookstore, I began receiving inquiries from overseas clients. Working through these transactions convinced me that the international book market was both accessible and reliable. It was not long before I started buying internationally. I now have done so frequently without a hitch. For those of you who have been hesitant to buy from overseas dealers, I offer below a few tips to guide you through the process. With the weak dollar, it may not be the best time for Americans to be spending money abroad. Nevertheless, there is a wide variety of material readily available in Europe and elsewhere that cannot be easily found in the United States. If you have not yet explored overseas book listings, I suggest that they are worth further investigation. As you probably know from your experience with the major online marketplaces and meta search engines, searching for books on the international book market does not differ much from searching the inventory of U.S. dealers. When using a service such as AddALL or viaLibri be sure that, on the initial search screens, you include international resources in your preference list. The only challenging part is what to do with overseas listings once you find them, particularly the ones written in foreign languages. When I first started buying internationally, I limited myself to dealers who listed their inventory in English. I ignored the foreign language listings as if they did not even exist. But then, on a foray into a used book store in small town in southwest Virginia, I stumbled onto a reference book issued by the American Library Association called The Language of the Foreign Book Trade: Abbreviations, Terms, Phrases. I snapped it up and began trying to make sense of some German and French listings that I thought might be interesting. This worked passably well until a friend introduced me to the wonders of the free translator service available on www.dictionary.com. (Under the heading “Other Languages,” click on the link for “Translator: Translate Text Instantly.”) Using this program, you can instantly translate foreign language listings by copying the listing text and dropping it into the translator program. Designate what language the listing is in and into what language you want it translated. Within seconds, you will have a fairly legible translation of the text. Gaps can generally be filled in with the ALA guide. So, what do you do once you have translated the listing and decided you want the book? What if you have questions about the condition or are wondering about the possibility of a dealer discount? As it turns out, a large number of overseas booksellers do speak English even though their listings are in their native language. Thus, you might want to send an email in English to see if you get a response. Another option is to type your questions into the translator program in English and then ask it to translate your text into whatever language you need. You then copy the translated inquiry into an email. I generally include a copy of my inquiry in English in case that might help. To my knowledge, I have not yet offended anyone. At this point, currency issues may be on your mind. While most listing sites will provide prices in various currencies, things can get complicated when you are negotiating discounts or attempting to combine shipping on multiple volumes. Again, the internet offers an easy solution. There are numerous online currency converters that, for no charge, convert foreign currencies into U.S. dollars and vice versa. Google and Yahoo both offer this service, as do numerous banks and financial websites. Next come questions of shipping and customs. To my surprise, neither has turned out to be a major impediment. International shipping is often fairly reasonable if you are not in a rush to obtain the item. If a listed shipping fee seems high, ask the dealer to determine if there are alternative methods of transport that might be more reasonable or if there is a discount for multiple purchases. I have even had luck asking a dealer in Zurich to obtain books from other local dealers so that he could combine shipping in one package. Moreover, I have never been directed to pay a tariff nor had any trouble getting packages through customs. (My casual reading of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule posted on the website of the U.S. International Trade Commission suggests that printed books are generally duty free, but I am no expert. Questions can be directed to your local U.S. Customs office.) Finally, there is the issue of remuneration. Rest assured, paying for international purchases need not pose any additional stress if you are able to pay with a credit card or PayPal. Be aware, though, that there might be a fee involved. Contact your credit card company or PayPal for specific details. Ellen Firsching Brown operates Liberty Hall Books out of Richmond, VA and can be contacted at http://www.libertyhallbooks.com.

Jack Finney’s novel, Time and Again, subtitled An Illustrated Novel, is one of his fantasy-like visions of time travel. The book was published by Simon and Schuster in 1970 and was quite successful. It went into many printings and was also widely distributed as a Book of the Month Club (BOMC) selection. The true first printing was apparently produced in a small print run, and it is relatively rare in collectible condition. The production was not of high quality, and the dust jacket is prone to sun fade and tanning. The book was often passed around among different readers. Most copies offered for sale have a variety of problems and are most often described as “Very Good” at best. As I write this article, there are three copies offered on IOBAbooks, all BOMC printings, and there are about 25 copies offered on Biblio, with two or three of these possibly being true first printings. On ABE there appear to be about 80 copies offered, with perhaps 30 or so of these being true first printings. Listing prices for the first printings range from $100 to $750. I also noted an identified BOMC copy offered on eBay for $150! The reason I am not certain how many true firsts are offered is that the BOMC copies are extremely similar to the trade first printing, and are often misrepresented as collectible first editions. The BOMCs state “First Printing” on the copyright page with a price of $7.95 at the bottom of the front dust jacket flap. However, the BOMC books were blind stamped on the bottom of the rear board near the spine. Thus, the BOMC book is identical to the first printing, except for the small, square blind stamp. The true first printing dust jacket states at the bottom of the front flap, “…Fifth Avenue from 34th to 14th—is enchanted….” This error was corrected in later trade editions to read, “…Broadway from 23rd to 8th—is enchanted by…." All BOMC copies that I have seen carry the corrected text. The jacket of the BOMC version identifies it as a BOMC copy with “BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH-CLUB* SELECTION” in red text at the top of the front flap and a trademark statement at the bottom of the front flap. The BOMC jacket also carries the statement “BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH” at the top of the back flap. BOMC jackets are numbered 1521 at the bottom right of the back panel, while trade printing jackets are numbered 20497. Because of these similarities, many internet BOMC copies are listed in error, or sometimes purposefully, as “First Printing stated” or “Price of $7.95 present on the jacket.” Any listing that does not state directly that the copy is a BOMC version, or note that the ubiquitous blind stamp is, or is not, present, should be considered suspect. In this new age of internet caveat emptor, an interested buyer should ask questions before purchasing an expensive copy of this title. A purchase on eBay: Sadly, I sometimes don’t follow my own advice. I wanted to obtain a true first of this title for my own library and was browsing eBay auctions in February 2004 when I noticed: “Jack Finney TRUE FIRST Time and Again “Condition: Very Good Book with Very Good Dust jacket. Light staining and tanning to page edges due to age. “Attributes: TRUE First of Jack Finney’s classic tale of time travel….” As part of the listing, there was a single photograph of the front of the book in jacket. There was little time left in the auction, and I decided to take a chance, putting in a bid that eventually won the book. But when the $110 “true first” arrived, I could not believe what had been sent. It was a fake; a fabrication that married parts from several different copies of the book. The boards and spine were dirty, the cloth was worn through to the boards on the bottom edges, and there were old tape marks indicating that a dust jacket had been taped to the book at some time in the past, as if from a library copy. The boards were from a trade printing, since there was no blind stamp present. The text block was clean and white and apparently from a much more recent club version. So it appears that the boards and spine from an ex-library copy had been married to the text block from a different BOMC copy of the book. The paste downs and end papers were white, rather than mustard yellow, but with the original yellow paste downs visible around the bottom edges of the replacements. The top page edges were not stained yellow, as they should have been with either a true first or early BOMC copy. The jacket was correct for the true first printing but had obviously been married to the faked book. There were no indications that the jacket on the book had at one time been taped to the boards. Thus, I concluded that the strange book that arrived was constructed purposefully as a fake. I e-mailed the seller about the problems and my concerns. His reply and only explanation: “I never took the dust jacket off of this one, so I don’t know about any of the tape marks or staining. I bought the book from (name deleted) a few months ago, and was just listing it to trim my collection a bit.” The seller did not address the issue of the text block from another book being married to old boards that were free of the damning BOMC blind stamp. He did, however, offer a full refund, if I wanted to return the book. I decided to keep it, since it is the most bizarre book that has ever shown up in my mailbox. I also thought that I should share this strange tale of the faked “true first” of Time and Again with fellow booksellers. Final thoughts and a question: Many books listed on eBay and many other internet venues are poorly described and/or misrepresented, either due to the seller’s ignorance or as a deliberate attempt to scam potential buyers. I often check listings and auctions for Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea and Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. These two titles continue to produce a large percentage of internet listings that misrepresent the books actually up for sale as first printings. Most of us are also aware that signatures are sometimes (frequently?) forged on highly collectible books, as their value is much inflated by a rare signature. However, the obvious question related to the fake described here is why would someone go to such lengths to fabricate a fraudulent book that at most would have a selling price of a couple hundred dollars? It is certainly a bibliomystery to me. Bob Maddox operates Squid Ink Books out of Tucson, AZ and can be contacted at http://www.squidinkbooks.com.

Hi Bruce. Thanks for discussing the ins, outs, ups and downs of organizing book fairs. Before we get into it, can you tell us a little about your early background? I was working in the high tech industry in NYC in the late 70s when we moved to Berkshire County, MA where there was no high tech industry yet. I was looking for a career, saw a store for rent in South Egremont for $75 a month, and decided I should be able to sell something to cover the rent. Both my wife Sue and I loved books, so we decided to try selling used books. We were new to the book world and bought every used book we came across, including many non-sellable items, which was a good lesson in what to never purchase again. Every summer we had a huge tent sale. We did a great deal of reading/research and attending book auctions religiously in order to learn the business. After two years we discovered book fairs, and after the first show we learned that you could, in fact, make a living at this if you put yourself where there are more people than are found in an isolated rural town. Tell us about your specialties as a bookseller. After three years we built a book barn on our property in South Egremont. Our first specialty was 19th century hand colored illustrated books, as I was intrigued by the amount of individual labor involved in the process. Our next specialty became medieval manuscript pages, sparked by the discovery of a page priced at $300 at a book fair on Long Island. After this aroused my curiosity, I met Nick Pavlov, who explained that the item I had noticed was an original page from the Johannes Gutenberg Bible worth close to $10,000. I made an appointment to visit Nick at his home in order to view his collection. I convinced my wife to join me, worried that I could/would easily spend all of our money on these intense individualized works of art, where as many as four people could be responsible for the writing, the artwork, and the gold leafing/drawing on one single page. While reviewing the pages with Sue, she began creating a small pile and a large pile, and I soon discovered that the larger pile were those most to her liking. Interestingly enough, I spent more money by bringing my wife than I would have if I had gone alone. I now specialize in Antiphonal pages as well. While I now boast a broad range of specialties including children’s books, cookbooks, art and architecture, and engravings and maps, with the addition of my new partner D. Curto and her genuine interest in vintage documents, photographs, comic books etc., ephemera has also become a great and interesting specialty of the business. May we assume that you have participated in book fairs early on strictly as a seller and found some were run better than others? I have exhibited at as many as 30 shows in one given year, and find them to be run on many different levels. How did you get into the book fair promotion part of the business? The managers of the Stockbridge Antiquarian Book Fair were retiring and approached me to continue the show. I realized that my best sales came from show exhibitions, and as I also did not want to lose that show, I took it over. Do you maintain a table at your own book fairs? One of the main reasons that I promote book fairs is so that I have places to sell from. What were some of your greatest buys ever at book fairs? I consistently shop at book fairs and have owned some of the rarest items for sometimes only minutes at a time before they were purchased from me. The best thing I ever found was an Egyptian Papyrus from 1500 BC at a small show in Cazenovia, NY. What states do you work in? From the beginning, I always exhibited/promoted in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine. I later added New Jersey. In 2006, due to her interest and excitement in the business, my new partner began exhibiting for me at paper shows in Pennsylvania and antique shows in Atlanta, North Carolina, Washington, D.C. and Texas. She then began buying in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas on her way home. Roughly how many fairs have you produced over the years? Close to 100 shows since 1985. Some shows were dropped and others were added. Is the business financially self-sustaining? While selling books and ephemera can be profitable, one is constantly putting money out in order to replace inventory. In the promotion business there can be a lot of risks involved. One show might make a profit and another might endure a loss. Why and how did GABF beget babf? Actually the first business was Berkshire Antiquarian Book Fairs which I named babf when I produced outside of the Berkshires in Litchfield, Connecticut and Portland, Maine. GABF started later as the Greenwich Connecticut Antiquarian Book Fair when I took on a partner and began NYC book fairs as GABF/babf Promotions. Last year I dissolved the GABF partnership and took on D. Curto as a new partner with babf Promotions. What does a Creative Director bring to the tables, as it were? D. Curto came to me in 2006, when I was in the process of designing a website and considering the internet for additional business. I placed an ad to have someone research and input the book related information online, and D. was in the process of recreating herself and her lifestyle in order to care for her mother back here in NY. Ironically, after meeting D., we never completed the internet process. With over 30 years as a visual merchandiser, D. first began her own business of window display as “Definitely D” in the Bronx. In the late 80s she moved to Florida where she began working for the likes of Jacobson’s Stores, Saks Fifth Avenue and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, where she produced window displays, fashion shows, high end events and innovative floral designs as a freelance artist. She also worked as marketing director and public relations manager for a major real estate developer in Florida, producing ground breaking events (and even book fairs) while designing brochures and promotional items for the company. D. joined Neiman Marcus in 2000 as a Visual Presentation Manager in Tampa, and was later promoted to the Neiman Marcus flagship store in Dallas, TX. The question should read what doesn’t D. Curto, my Creative Director, bring to the table? As Creative Director for babf antiquarian book and ephemera events, working full time either onsite or from her private design studio, D. is responsible for executing creative direction, art direction and team strategy; determining event site location and event production needs; overall direction, strength, profile, output, and excellence of the company, as well as the tone and quality of company interactions and collaborations; and creative management and development for babf Promotions, designing promotional and marketing/advertising materials and consulting on www.bookfairs.com web design. Your shows (whoops…fairs) have a reputation for elegance. How is this achieved? It is a “show” by all means of the word, but books always seems to make it a book “fair!” We remain conscious of and careful not to confuse the customer, who has seen the word “fair” for a long time now. Elegance came with the arrival of D. Curto. When we met, D. became so absorbed in the presentation side of the business that she basically took it over. After walking through and shopping my booth, my regular clients would then ask me if in fact this was my booth. D. truly has the ability to create and present things in an alluring manner. With my shows promotion and her organization skills and show production background we have produced great results. The first thing she mentioned (after seeing the different colored tablecloths that each vendor would bring to my shows) was that we needed to provide uniform tablecloths ourselves for consistency. She then added a champagne service, floral decorations, and most recently, a harpist as an added touch of, well, elegance. Obviously I am very happy to have D. Curto “behind the curtain.” How does one buy or take over an existing book fair? I am typically approached by other show managers due to the fact that I have been in the business for over 20 years. They appreciate that I come from the book selling aspect of the business, which just helps/works overall. How do “satellite” book fairs work? Don’t they present some negatives for the more established fair? While the book world has its competitive aspects, I like to think that we can do better when the customer gets caught up in the options and combination of shows exhibiting simultaneously. We have actually hired buses in order to transport book shoppers from our shows to other shows and of course from their shows to ours, as a customer courtesy. Bruce, take us on an impressionistic journey through a typical fair as if you were explaining it to somebody who has never attended one, from the time you are the first one through the doors until you finally leave two or three days later. Months and months precede the preparation of a successful event. D. is constantly researching marketing and presentation standards/options, while I am constantly referencing my past contacts/resources (over 20 years of a collected client database and knowledge of the book world). From load-in day through the end of the show, with D. now on board, we are reinventing the process as we speak, so maybe I can better address this in the future! Who do you usually work with when booking a venue? I used to work with all the same people/processes/locations, however D. now insists on visual appeal combined with location, location, location. Our last show took place in a beautiful loft, most commonly used for weddings and high end events/fashion shows. With Hunter College, our most recently acquired venue, D. was adamant about the location, even though with a gymnasium she has given herself quite the challenge. I utilized my book world contacts in order to open some (let’s just say) “closed” doors, so we have a great location, and it will cost us to give it visual appeal. The logistics of organizing a book fair must be mind boggling, particularly in New York City. How do you do it? What things do you have to take care of? Parking is the ultimate nightmare, and the exhibitor load-in process can sometimes be exhausting and difficult. D. has this amazing ability to network, partner and build relationships. We will produce this upcoming show with all of that and more in place. What about insurance? We buy show management insurance for each production. Amid the fine wares, scholarship, mentoring, and pockets of humility at a high-end book fair, there is a good deal of puffery, one-upmanship, and even the occasional obfuscation. What are the most common complaints booksellers are apt to make about each other? My approach is to always build support and I consistently try not to partake in any of the drama and cajoling so to speak. I have always had a reputation for being fair and considerate in both my pricing and in my business, and D. is the queen of diplomacy and consideration, always attempting to please everyone. At our show last April, she asked that I turn the air conditioning on and off every ten minutes, and we took turns doing so because some exhibitors were cold and some were hot! As both exhibitors and as show promoters in most cases, if you care about people, they tend to try (at least) to care back. What are the most common customer complaints? Customers always want new product or new exhibitors, and diversity. They are not happy if they come though the door and cannot find something/anything to add to their collection. They all want to get in there and get it before someone else does! You receive many accolades and compliments, and things usually go splendidly, but what are some of the worst specific things that ever happened at your fairs? For some reason, it is always about the parking and exhibitor load-in or load-out process. The shows/fairs typically go well for the most part. We try to run the shows so that if problems arise, no one actually knows that there are any problems. I started doing book shows before the online revolution and found this to be an invaluable learning experience. As one small example, I was swarmed for under priced bargains at my first show, and later raided newbies myself before the opening bell for the same reason. Even today, aspiring booksellers in many parts of the country can find entry-level shows that will provide a more rounded experience. For awhile there the internet was hurting buyer and seller attendance at the better shows, partly because there are fewer greatly underpriced bargains to be had, and partly because it can be easier and less expensive to buy and sell from home. Has this leveled off? While I did attempt to join the online revolution, I never left the book fair market. I actually refused to get caught up in the frenzy. While many people capitalized online, I stood fast to the idea that I, as a buyer, always wanted to see, touch and feel the product. I found most of my customers agreed, and they remained in the market and at the fairs. There are others who do quite well online and enjoy the armchair opportunity to shop/search. One can never be too sure where it will go or end up, but there will always be an individual approach to the process itself, which will hopefully sustain us all at some level. I still have plans to get my product online and on my website to encourage additional sales. It is my understanding that some dealers had a very difficult time with the online revolution, but I believe it is all in the understanding, concept and approach. You have to keep up both the buying side and the selling side, both in person and online. I have noticed that many exhibitors have returned to my book fairs from the online world. What fairs do you have coming up in 2008? Visit our website at www.bookfairs.com for all of not only our upcoming show promotions, but those of other management companies as well. Thanks again for your time and insights Bruce. I’ll stop in and buy something from you the next time I pass through the lovely town of South Egremont. Probably an illuminating book rather than one of those illuminated pages. Bruce Gventer operates B&S Gventer Books and Ephemera in, and babf out of, South Egremont, MA and can be contacted at http://www.bookfairs.com. #booksellers

There is a package on my desk, unopened. I know what’s in it. It weighs slightly more than a pound, and its cold, metallic heart holds my merchant’s life blood as surely as did that pound of flesh from another merchant so long ago. It’s my hard drive, still encased in the static-free, plastic sleeve the technicians used when they returned it to me. Through the lightly tinted plastic, I can read the “Seagate Recovery Services” sticker. I have finally learned the hard way what every computer geek and technical website has been saying since computers become commonplace: If you’ve never lost all of your data, it’s only a matter of time. I can remember reading those words so clearly, and thinking that I really should back up my important files. But somehow, I never got around to buying that extra hard drive, never found the time to burn it on disks. I did find the time, however, to fully savor the heart-stopping moment when I realized that my hard drive was dead, dead, dead, and beyond the help of ordinary technicians. Well, I’ve got the external hard drive now. Seagate Recovery Services offered to sell me one for $120 so they would have somewhere to load the 31 gig of recovered data, but I saved $20 with a Costco coupon. Frugal me. I could have bought nine of these external hard drives for what it cost me to have the lab recover my data. And I got lucky, coming in near the low end of the $700 to $1900 quote for “economy” service (five to six weeks). To get my data back in a week would have been another $500. My friends who are IT techs tell me that $1000 is right in the ballpark for a data recovery job that has to be handled by a lab, as mine was. So…what have I learned? I mean, besides the fact that life is much more difficult without my data base, my address book, my customer list, and all of my inventory, sales, and other tax records. Well, the first thing is, all of those annoying techies who claimed that if you haven’t lost your data yet you surely will some day were right, at least in my case. Second, the cost of that extra data storage is the same whether you buy it before you need it or after, but it’s a whole lot cheaper to make your own backup files as you go along than it is to pay a lab to do it after the fact. Third, now that I’m reloading all of my programs and scrounging for the data files in my recovered documents, I’m putting everything I create in My Documents instead of making up clever personal folders for it, and I’m writing down where each program stores its files, so that I can get it all backed up on a regular basis. Fourth, I’m thanking my lucky stars that this didn’t happen closer to tax time! I would have been able to recreate most of my records, but for Cost of Goods sold almost everything was on the computer, and I’m not sure I could have ever recreated that. I’m considering hot-gluing my old hard drive to a suitable plaque and mounting it on my office wall like a diploma. It’s been an expensive education. Alice Voith operates MyWings Books out of Schaumburg, Illinois and can be contacted at http://www.mywingsbooks.com.

I decided a while ago that it was time to reconsider what I was doing with insurance for the company and began collecting information on the various options. One of my first paths was to post a request to the two book listserv groups that I follow the most closely, seeking recommendations (or warnings) from others. I also asked a number of specific dealers who I knew approached such matters with considerable care and forethought. I received a *lot* of responses. (N.B. A fair bit of what follows is sort of Insurance 101, but I received a number of requests from people asking if I would post about the responses I got from people and/or about the various insurance options.) First and foremost, as much as I personally dislike insurance companies (far too much of a previous incarnation of my life was spent up to my eyes in CGL policies and/or negotiating with various insurers), the importance of business insurance really can’t be understated. Mind you, you do not *need* to have insurance (though some clients, particularly at the higher end of the spectrum, will require that you prove you are insured/bonded). You can “self insure,” with all the risk that entails (and very few people actually create/maintain the reserves such self insurance requires). In addition to our E&O, CGL and Workman’s Comp, I wanted to put a Fine Art policy in place that would insure our stock *and* items that have been consigned with us (this can be a bit tricky, as title does not actually pass until sale and the owner’s homeowner’s policy is still in play). Every bit as importantly, I wanted coverage that would insure our books while at book fairs *and* while in transit to book fairs (both in our vehicle and/or while being shipped). Finally, I wanted coverage that would insure any package being shipped to a client. Inclusion of this last coverage will save a fair bit of money and streamline our processes a bit. We insure every shipment we post and have been using Endicia recently. We have found that they become unreasonably expensive over a fairly low limit and cap at a relatively low level. Rolling our shipping insurance into our new policy will not pay for the added policy, but it certainly makes a reasonable dent in the premium. From the responses I received, three insurers clearly dominate the market. They are, in no particular order: -Michals Insurance Agency (Bernie Michals) -DeWitt Stern Group -Collectibles Insurance Group (CIA) Of people who emailed me, two were using CIA and had no complaints. Three or four were using DeWitt Stern and generally had no complaints (though at least one said my email was going to make him go re-evaluate staying with them). Six or seven people said they were using Bernie Michals and, interestingly, they were overall the most positive and “happy” with their choice (while one or two did complain about growing premiums…which is, of course, par for the course in all insurance matters). I think this highlights a major issue in/around insurance matters. In the end, if you have spent any amount of time negotiating, identifying terms and conditions, etc., nearly all coverages are fungible. The underwriters all write more or less the same paper and, in the end, one’s being happy with their insurance experience rests heavily with their relationship with their agent. In *this* area there are great differences. How much an agent knows or doesn’t know about a given area, how hard they are willing to work to tailor a policy to your needs, and/or how experienced an agent is in working with their underwriter(s) to get quick answers/solutions is what really separates the great from the good from the…er…not so good. I talked with people at each company (or several people, as the case may be). After talking with them all and pretty much before premiums were quoted, I knew I was going to go with Bernie Michals. I never spoke with anyone “in charge” at CIA and while the woman I spoke with was pleasant, the interaction was cursory at best. DeWitt is a large and sophisticated firm. I spoke with a very nice woman based in NY City who has published in the area of Fine Art insurance and seemed knowledgeable and pleasant. I received a quick follow-up message from one of the others in her department, basically saying that any further questions should be directed to him. They are a very big agency and operate at a very high level. Nice, professional and competent…but, distant (N.B. part of my lukewarm reaction is undoubtedly based on spending too much time around law firms where the big name and generally brilliant partners gave some face time and worked major cases/clients, but the vast majority of “work” was executed by minions of widely varying skill sets). Bernie Michals is one of those old-school, high-touch agencies. My first call put me in touch with Brad, Bernie’s son who now owns the firm and is clearly focused on filling his father’s shoes. We had a long good talk about what I needed (short and long term), what was happening with the firm, insurance generally and the Maine Black Bears (Brad went to UMO, it turns out). He explained that his dad was unavailable at the time, but he would get in touch with him and I should hear something shortly. Brad called me back to give me an update and Bernie called me first thing the next day. It was absolutely clear from the beginning that Bernie *knows* the book business and how and where insurance issues rest and how to address those issues. I admit that the quote form didn’t hurt my impression. It is clearly from Lloyd’s and uses some terms that one simply doesn’t see on this side of the pond (I had not seen the term “entrustments” since first year law/commercial paper). It also did not hurt that some dealers I respect a great deal (including two of my three ABAA sponsors) *strongly* advocated Bernie. In the end, however, it was Bernie himself (and, frankly, Brad emerging behind him) that closed the deal. I hope I will never need to file a claim, but I know if I do, Bernie will deal with it in a way that annoys me a little as possible. I am absolutely confident that if I need to tweak a coverage for a specific shipment or show, it will get done quickly and correctly. Insurance is, in the end, all about peace of mind. I am very pleased to have signed up with Bernie and look forward to working with him (and/or Brad) for years to come. I thought a couple of clarifying statements might be useful: Comprehensive General Liability (CGL) is pretty much what it claims to be…coverage from all sorts of interesting, surprising and/or annoying liability matters. Broadly, it covers bodily injury, personal injury, advertising injury and, perhaps most importantly, property damage. If you are at a friend’s shop and pour your toxic sugar/dairy quasi-coffee drink all over their wildly fragile galley proof of Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea, you will be happy to have your CGL (as will your friend). Errors and Omissions insurance (E&O, also called Professional Liability) generally covers liability for actions *not* covered by a CGL policy. This is especially important if you do any appraisal work…but it also covers such things as loss of client data, breach of contract, copyright infringement and the like. Workers’ Comp covers medical and rehab costs and lost wages for employees injured at work (this includes “you” under most circumstances). It is *required* in all states and should be ignored at your own risk. Ian J. Kahn operates Lux Mentis, Booksellers out of Portland, Maine and can be contacted at http://www.luxmentis.com.

(An update by Susan Siegel, co-author and publisher of the Used Book Lover’s Guides, the series of seven regional guides to 8,000 used book dealers in the United States and Canada.) Just as the Internet has dramatically changed the business of buying and selling used books, the computer has also changed the way Book Hunter Press delivers the information contained in the Used Book Lover’s Guides to its target audience: traveling bibliophiles. First published in 1993 as travel guides for book lovers who enjoyed browsing used bookstores, and kept up to date with new editions and annual print supplements, beginning in 2000 the entire Book Hunter Press database was put online, giving bibliophiles instant access to the constantly changing world of used booksellers. Today, the Book Hunter Press database remains the most comprehensive and continuously updated online directory of brick and mortar used bookstores in the United States and Canada. By accessing the database, traveling book buyers can learn if there are used bookstores in or near the cities they’ll be visiting or passing through and whether those stores are likely to have the types of books they’re looking for. Some things change but others remain constant. The Guides continue to include all three categories of dealers: open shops, by appointment dealers, and Internet only dealers, as well as antique malls where dealers have booths. In recent years, however, as used book buying patterns have changed, updates to the Guides have focused primarily on open shops. And, as the name implies, the Guides continue to list only dealers who sell used books, although they do include dealers who sell both new and used books. The Guides do not include shops that sell only used paperbacks. Dealer listings remain free, but the online version does give dealers the option to upgrade their listing in order to give their business greater visibility. And, unlike other online book dealer directories that rely on dealers to submit listing information, Book Hunter Press continues to take the initiative in searching out new shops to add to the database while continuing to update existing listings. This extra effort results in more dealer listings and more useful and accurate information. For bibliophiles not yet familiar with the Online Used Book Lover’s Guides, the database contains the same basic information that book lovers have found useful in the print guides for so many years, plus the ability to search the database by any combination of the following eight search criteria: Dealer name Specialty (from a list of 1,400 possible subject headings) State or province City Size of the collection Type of dealer: open shop, by appointment, mail order/Internet only, antique mall Type of collection: general or specialty Along the interstate highway network Visitors to bookhunterpress.com who already have the latest edition of the print guides have the added option of being able to search the database to bring up ALL the dealers who meet their search criteria, OR only dealers who have been added to the database since the current edition of the print guide was published, OR only dealers whose listings in the print guide have been changed. Full access to the online database is available on a subscription basis, although non-subscribers can do limited searches for free. Also available are special book/subscription packages that, at a substantial savings, enable book lovers to combine the convenience of the print guides with the most up-to-date dealer information in the online database. The Guides cover the following seven regions: New England Mid-Atlantic States (NY, NJ, PA, DE) South Atlantic States (along the Atlantic coast from MD to FL) Midwest (a 10 state region) Central/Western States (a diverse collection of 19 states) Pacific Coast States (CA, OR, WA, AK, HI) Canada (the entire country) More information about the Used Book Lover’s Guides, including an Information Form dealers can use to submit their new listing, or update an existing listing, and/or information on how to order one or more of the seven regional Guides, is available at http://bookhunterpress.com, or by contacting Book Hunter Press directly at bookhunterpress@verizon.net or (914) 245-6608.

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