How do I even begin to describe what it was like to be on the faculty of the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar—the booksellers’ boot camp—for the first time? Exhilarating, exhausting, exciting—and one of the best weeks I have spent as a bookseller! But no—it was not a vacation—except in the sense that a vacation is a break from the normal routine that can recharge you and help you to return fresher and more energized. Some of the comments from the Class of 2006 are posted on the seminar website (Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar), but I will quote one here: “I am currently implementing many of the practical applications and I am now directed to the areas where I know I need to ‘learn’ more. And this along with a notebook chocked full of real, usable information, contacts, etc. I have attended scores of conferences over the years in several fields, and this coursework was as well organized, classy, attentive to detail and interesting. All of the faculty were ‘characters’ and not shy about straight out talk or tough questions or saying “I don’t know”. I cannot recommend the seminar strongly enough, but it was not for sissies as far as the hours. Your money’s worth??? YOU BET!!” And a word of warning: if you think it might be enjoyable to see something of Colorado and the Colorado Springs area while you are at the seminar, plan on going early—otherwise Pike’s Peak will remain just a mountain in the distance! There is no “spare time” or “free time” during the week itself—you live, think, and eat bookselling. It is only when you are in the middle of the seminar that you realize how apt the nickname “booksellers’ boot camp” is! With a wide range of students’ background and experience, and an even wider range of their knowledge of bookselling and hopes for the seminar, the curriculum has to balance the amount of time spent on different areas—it has to include both depth and breadth in discussing books and bookselling and cram that all into one week—and we all know that bookselling is something you can spend a lifetime learning and still not learn everything. One of the ways that the seminar handles this mission is by long, packed days, careful attention to time and an intensive focus that did not let up even on the “breaks” or at lunchtime (most days, the faculty sat at different tables, so “seminarians” could sit with them and continue discussing books and bookselling). A significant part of the learning was in one-to-one conversations, or small group discussions either with faculty or just among the students themselves. The curriculum is also evolving to confront the changing realities of today’s bookselling world, but without neglecting the traditional knowledge base that a professional bookseller needs. Since this was my first year, I have no basis for comparison, but other faculty members commented on what a dynamic group of students were at the seminar. A large part of what makes an experience like this so valuable is not just the information given by the faculty but also that shared by the attendees from their years of experience! As a (former) teacher, I was dismayed when halfway through the week, a student asked in conversation a very basic question: “what is a trade paperback?” While I was able to answer that specific question then, the reality is that the seminar does not, and cannot in one week, answer every student’s questions. It is easy to assume that dealing with concrete “how to” topics can be more valuable to beginning booksellers—and the seminar addresses many very specific issues, ranging from details on packing for the mail order bookseller to Dan Gregory’s marketing presentation (an hour that contained enough ideas that would in itself justify the expense of the seminar) to the use of reference materials and how to approach librarians (another extremely valuable presentation given by Dan DeSimone, a bookseller for 25 years and now a Curator at the Library of Congress). And even though I am a bookseller who loves scouting and pride myself on being pretty good at it, I picked up several great tips from Michael Ginsberg’s session on scouting! Although many specific presentations focused on the practical to a large extent, that is not—in my opinion—where the real value of this seminar lies. Rather it is in opening up to booksellers the idea that they do not have to deal in “ordinary” books, but can become involved with the best and most significant and interesting books. It is in creating a sense of limitless possibilities—in telling booksellers that, yes, they can control both their business and how much money they can make—and then in showing them what they need to know to do this. Almost anyone can teach “how-to” methods, but I think the Colorado seminar is unique in its ability to convey the sense of what bookselling, at its best, can be—and I think that the uniqueness is due to the quality of those booksellers who have kept the seminar going year after year, ranging from Ed Glaser, who has given of his time, energy and knowledge for the entire 28 year history of the seminar, to Michael Ginsburg, Rob Rulon-Miller, and newer participants like Tom Congalton. They present, as booksellers, an example of collegiality, professionalism, and generosity that is unmatched. A recurring theme was that other booksellers are not your competitors; they are your colleagues, that helping other booksellers will help you, and even that booksellers can be your best customers. It is also important to emphasize that the seminar does not end at the end of the week. Since so much is covered and so quickly, the fat binder both extends the information presented and becomes a resource that can be consulted over and over again as a reminder of what was covered. The students are told that they can call upon anyone on the faculty afterwards for help. A mailing list was started before the actual seminar and it is still going on. More importantly, I am sure that some of those attending have already formed relationships with other seminarians that will survive for years of their bookselling careers. And finally, the worth of the seminar will be determined by how many of those ideas are put into practice! The ABAA has a clear sense of how significant the seminar can be, and it is reflected in their membership requirements: attendance at the seminar is worth six months of full-time experience as a bookseller. Chris Volk operates Bookfever along with Shep Iiams out of the Sierra foothills of Amador County, CA and can be contacted at http://www.bookfever.com.

I had been hearing about the Colorado Antiquarian Book Market Seminar, as it is formally termed, for a number of years. Sometime a few years back I started thinking that it might be fun to go. So, with that in mind, I began following the emails and notices that showed up in various chat and news groups online. I gradually became aware of the occasional ads that appeared in book publications such as Fine Books and Collections and Book Source Magazine. This year I attended the 2006 seminar, which was held from August 5th through the 12th. First a little more background on my decision to attend. In the early days of the Internet book selling was laughably easy. You bought a lot of books, priced them for something or other and sold them relatively quickly. It turned out that even I could do it pretty well. As time went by it seemed that this was becoming apparent to everyone with a computer. So the pressure began. With the price competition began the race to the bottom. Before the Internet there was no really reliable way to know how many books were out there of a given title. As book prices became more transparent the high prices being realized brought books out of the barns, attics, trunks and bookshelves of America. What was previously thought to be a good book was now found to be a mediocre book and what was thought to be a mediocre book now became fodder for the soon to arrive penny sellers. I had always admired penny sellers who bought books by the truckload and sold thousands of them every day. They subsisted mainly on the few pennies in shipping profit they gleaned from each book that they often sold for one penny each. They were doing America a great service in spreading literacy and knowledge and making a profit while doing it. But they were driving many booksellers to the wall. I had no desire to be one of those standing resignedly, back to the wall, with a blindfold across his eyes and a cigarette in his mouth. I had started very modestly, worked hard and gradually built up a decent inventory. It had become clear to me early on that my only salvation was to buy those books that were sufficiently scarce not to decline in value as more and more books were driven to market. It seems that at some point soon fewer and fewer of the modestly uncommon books will be appearing and even the cheaper books will again turn and head back up a bit. Surely at some point the reserves will become at least partially exhausted. For most of the cheap books, say less than $25 today, it seems unlikely to me that anything will ever save them—not even time. As sources dry up, and long before retail prices began to rise significantly, the cost of acquisition increases. Increased acquisition costs are a direct result of new sellers willing to work for less, a lot less, maybe even nothing. I found it no longer feasible to compete with hobby sellers. The more so because most of them seemed blithely unaware that their business was a hobby. There was another factor that concerned me as well. I was regularly logging 80 hours or more a week. I knew that it wouldn’t be too many more years before this would begin to lose its attraction. I had been there before in other businesses and wanted to avoid that downward spiral at all costs. It was fun and I wanted it to stay fun. So with these concerns turning in my mind I felt that I had to get a different perspective on book dealing. Maybe I had to get many different perspectives. Up until now I had done only Internet sales, some being fixed price sales and some auctions. I don’t mean to imply that I wasn’t doing well. Actually I was doing better than I had any right to expect, up 20%+ every year. If I had thought this would go on indefinitely I could have slept peacefully. But I didn’t see this going on forever. I felt I had to find new venues, new philosophies, new perspectives, new sources and new customers. In a word I had to reengineer my business or run the risk of perishing as I continued upon what I felt was a perilous path. There was another concern which made this cross country jaunt to Colorado almost a perfect fit for me. With recently increasing sales I was badly in need of income tax deductions. You might wonder why I was so concerned if sales were on the uptick. The book business, while not exactly boom and bust, is not a “steady as she goes” business either. It needs careful tending. Ignore your income stream at your peril! I needed just a few more tricks in my basket than I already had if I was going to feel at all secure. So I called and spoke to Kathy Lindeman several times. She was quite forthcoming about the ins and outs of travel, housing and so forth. I owe her a lot and want to thank her again right here. Her assistance in getting me oriented was invaluable. She held my hand while I decided what the best arrangement would be for me. I hadn’t been in Colorado for more than 25 years. I had passed through once when I was living in Nevada and had found the people so friendly that I seriously considered moving there. I am happy to say I found them just as helpful this time as I did the first. While I was there I checked the real estate ads as I usually do in a new area. There are many very beautiful homes available much more cheaply than is common elsewhere. It is high desert with low humidity. The elevation is about 6000 feet. Annual snowfall is 33 inches. So far, so good, then I found that low temperatures reached -10 degrees F or so. So I’ll stay in New Jersey a little longer. I have half a dozen online travel discount sites that I use. They are farefox.com, cheaptickets.com, air-gorilla.com, allcheapfares.com, travelticker.hotwire.com, and priceline.com. To my surprise I found the best fare by a considerable margin on a site I didn’t care for much, orbitz.com. I made a $350 deposit by Visa over the phone to hold my spot, made arrangements for a place to stay, purchased the airline tickets, and I was in! I stayed at the Colorado Inn. This is on campus. It was purchased by Colorado College recently and refurbished. It is quite adequate and a cut above college dorms but just barely. There is an Econo Lodge right next door. Most seminarians chose to stay at one of these. There are a few other choices of lodging including a couple of bed and breakfasts and a Sheraton about 2 miles away. But I wanted to be in the heart of things. As it was I was just about 3 ½ blocks from the cafeteria and from most of the classes. So it worked out well for me and I was able to walk almost everywhere. At the Colorado Inn there are laundry facilities downstairs. Food shopping opportunities are just about non-existent within 2-3 miles. My plan, which is the recommended one, included breakfast and lunch with the students. All but 2 of the dinners were provided by the seminar. In addition there are frequent snacks. So meals are definitely not a problem. Downtown is about 8 blocks and a pleasant and safe stroll away. There are many bars, restaurants and several book stores. Basically a college town within a town. The city of Colorado Springs itself has 600,000 people and is mainly supported by the two military bases there. Many of the military personnel retire and take another job in the tech or the security industry. Because of the difficulty in making connections from Atlantic City I flew in a day early and left a day late. I could have flown much cheaper into Denver which is 80 miles away and taken a shuttle. Full details are provided in the registry materials. However the people I talked to who had flown into Denver had not found the arrangement particularly congenial to their needs. The next morning we began congregating in the cafeteria at about 7. The food was like cafeteria food all around the world but still quite a bit better than I remember it being during my own long distant university days. We were given full materials for the course including a hefty notebook. The notebook is nicely laid out with sections on everything from where to stay to how to paginate an antiquarian work. This contained invaluable materials compiled from the experiences of the best minds in the business. We also received daily handouts and amplified notes for each class. The whole thing was very carefully thought through and cleanly executed. This is a very valuable resource and one to treasure. At 8:30 sharp class began. Morning classes ran 3 ½ hours with a 15 minute break. Afternoons about the same. For the most part we ran 6 classes a day. And none of these, and I do mean none, were lightweight fill-ins. One thing that struck me was how often staff members mentioned that they learned a lot every year from attending. There are so many experts from so many areas. Then came a breathless staccato-like presentation by Dan Gregory on How to Market Your Book Business. Later on he followed up with Technology of the Book Trade. It was almost impossible to take notes because of the speed at which he covered the work. And it was ALL critical material. He generously agreed to email us expanded notes after the seminar. He obviously firmly believed in his message of promoting your business. If people look at your business card, bookmarks or whatever and don’t say “Wow!” then they aren’t good enough. Book selling is story telling. Dan believes that 90% of ABE and Biblio customers are collectors. I especially liked Dan’s summary of communicating with customers and advertising. Customers don’t think Customers are blind Customers have short attention spans Customers are more valuable than your books NEVER underestimate you customers Ed Glaser and Dan DeSimone gave a session on Reference Books. The bibliography handout for this talk alone may well be worth the cost of the course. I have since picked up some of these that I never knew existed such as the English Short Title Catalogue. Tom and Heidi Congalton contributed a copy of First Editions of Dr. Seuss Books which I won at their auction later on. I finally have the title of the mysterious and often cited “Wing” and will be picking that up soon. Angela Scott presented an amazing display of paper making materials including leathers and papers and a discussion of bookbinding. Dan DeSimone presented an illuminating discussion of book illustrations. Then we wrapped up the day with drinks, alcoholic and otherwise, and eats at a gathering from 7 to 9. Day One was pretty much a template for the days that followed. The average age of the seminarians was a little over 40 and the experience level was from “thinking about it” to “full professional.” The majority had been involved for perhaps a few years and wanted to become more involved. There were also a number of librarians and attendees sponsored by various of the book industries. In the next 4 days there were two microphones in the aisle between the seats. Those with questions would (ideally) line up at the microphones and ask their questions. Additionally there was a question box available to drop queries in. These boxes were emptied after each break. I can’t begin to do justice to the material covered. Each topic would require a paper of its own. The best I can do is to skim the subjects to give you the flavor of the sessions and the materials they cover. And perhaps encourage you to find out more for yourself. I have been a long time reader of the works of Kraus, Rosenbach, and other famous dealers. Unfortunately these books are long on stories and short on method. Here are the methods. After a lifetime of boring and often feckless classes and seminars this whole affair came as the most pleasant of surprises. As I sat in the room gradually the awareness grew on me that I was surrounded by a whole lot of very bright people. I have been to Mensa gatherings that were not half as impressive. Rob Rulon-Miller was the seminar director. His discussion covered the areas of Catalogue Making, Ethics, and Appraisals. His discussion of catalogues I found particularly useful. There were probably close to 100 different catalogues along a back table in stacks from various dealers, and they were laid out in such a manner that it made choosing the format most suitable for my business much easier. I definitely have a color laser printer on my list of acquisitions for next year. We were free to take what we wanted and there was an open discussion about costs, efficacy, production and problems. Rob also spent a fair amount of time on ethics. Although some might find it restrictive, I thought it simply the best way to run a successful business with as little pain as possible. Terry Belanger gave an exhaustive and witty talk on Bibliographic Description, Format and Collation. This covered such esoterica as different types of laid paper, watermarks, counter marks and their origins, pagination, and printer’s marks. It was as intensive as it could reasonably be in the short time available. Printed 18th century folio sheets were handed out to the class to help explain various of the printing processes. We were taught how printers numbered sheets so the binders could fold them to form signatures in 8vo, 12mo, 4to and so on. There was a fascinating talk on paper making and how it advanced. Terry said that there was an old saying that the size of the initial sheet of paper was determined by the length of the arms of the papermaker. By the time he finished it was pretty clear why he had been awarded the coveted “MacArthur” in bibliography. Terry Belanger oversees The Rare Book School at the University of Virginia with auxiliary classes in New York, Baltimore, and Washington DC. These classes are subsidized by the University and the tuition charge is about half of the actual cost. They offer about 30 five day courses each year. Tuition is $845. More information is available at virginia.edu/oldbooks. There was a faculty directed workshop on how to write book descriptions and two more on book pricing. We spent some time in class on this and then broke up into groups in various rather nice rooms. There we submitted our books and descriptions for criticism. The groups were, as always, small, with one or two faculty members assigned to each. There was an on-site tutorial on running a used book store by the Ciletti’s, Mary and Jim. The class was split into two groups and bussed to their Hooked On Books book store. There we were treated to talks on running a book store and a packing demonstration. The inventory was also available at standard book dealer’s discounts to us. The class picked up a fair number of books. Half of the class did this on one of two nights while the other half attended Conservation and Preservation by Dan DeSimone and Angela Scott. Angela does antiquarian restoration and book binding at her shop in Washington DC. Dan is the curator of the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection of rare books and manuscripts at the Library of Congress. They combined their skills to give an invaluable look into the nuts and bolts of antiquarian works. Displayed were many materials not commonly seen such as rare leathers and papers. Later on Dan DeSimone presented Libraries as Markets for Books. This was a look into a world that is a pole apart from internet bookselling. With this information, and its diligent application, anyone with at least a modicum of talent could gain entry into this area. He covered the area pretty thoroughly including why the library market, identifying potential customers, how to create bibliographical lists and dealing with librarians. Evaluation and Pricing was taught by Ed Glaser, an internationally known specialist in rare and important books in science, technology and medicine. He noted that the keystone for rare books is 1/3, 1/3, 1/3. He explained this as being 1/3 for acquisition, 1/3 for handling and marketing, and 1/3 for profit. Ed covered auctions, price guides, dealer’s price lists, the Internet and other resources in detail. Chris Volk discussed Internet Bookselling as well as Buying on the Internet. She went into various websites and their peculiarities as well as the ability to move books. We discussed dealing with customers and their questions. One of the promotions she offers is gift wrapping—certainly essential for any Internet seller. Chris offered some caveats about buying stock from eBay sellers. Various database programs for book dealers were also discussed both in her talks and Dan Gregory’s. The general consensus was that BookTrakker is the best available setup for controlling your books next to having your own proprietary database custom designed. Mike Ginsberg discussed Book Fairs, Scouting, and gave a session on Auctions. Then he conducted an auction of donated materials, some of which were quite worthwhile and brought good prices. The auction included various reference materials, book related items and a dinner with the faculty. Mike has an interestingly disciplined approach to scouting. He lays out the route ahead to time with specific objectives in mind. His comments on equipment for book fairs was very useful. One tip he gave was, “Always bring a flashlight for the top and bottom shelves that no one can see.” Tom Congalton is the proprietor of Between the Covers Rare Books. He is also co-owner of Allottabooks.com. Tom made the comment that only 10% of his income came from the Internet. This was a sentiment echoed by many of the faculty. His specialty is modern firsts, however he easily fielded questions in any area that came up. He does a number of major shows each year and is well known there. Currently he is chairman of the ABAA membership committee. There was a conducted tour of a number of the downtown bookstores which I did not attend. A CPA, Bradley A. Walberg, conducted a session on taxes and accounting. He specializes in the area of books and maps. The more so as his wife is a book dealer of 20 years standing. I had to skip this talk in order not to miss Dan’s second presentation. I hope that the faculty will address this issue so that future seminarians won’t have to share my disappointment. They were, however, most cooperative in providing substantial outlines of both talks to help us make the decision as to which to attend. During the whole time the faculty were punctilious in making themselves available to answer all questions and give advice where possible. I tried to pick a different table at lunch each day to get a cross section of their philosophies. Everyone was helpful, everyone was gracious and everyone boasted a wealth of experience. A word about the staff which included 5 past ABAA presidents. These men and women are the legends of tomorrow and the frontrunners of today in the rare book trade. They are well worth listening to. Kenny Parolini operates Poor Man’s Books out of Vineland, NJ and can be contacted at http://www.poormansbooks.com.

My name is Joe Perlman and I am the proud owner of Mostly Useful Fictions. The name describes my specialty, which I like to think of as “Useful Fiction” (i.e., twentieth century world literature). I sell what I love, mostly serious fiction, including lots of literature in translation. My journey to becoming a book dealer has been long and meandering. It best described by some lines in a poem called The Waking, by Theodore Roethke: “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I learn by going where I have to go.” In college, I majored in Psychology and English, and moved from New England to New York City in 1973 to start graduate school in Educational Psychology. In spite of the heavy work load, I would stop studying around midnight, just as the heat in the apartment building went off, turn on the oven for warmth, and pick up a novel. At the time, I was enchanted by the South American magical realists. Unfortunately, their writing did not lull me to sleep. Rather, I had to fight with myself to put the books down so I could wake up in time for classes. The last vestiges of the Book Row on lower Broadway and 4th Avenue were still in existence at that time, so I spent hours browsing and managed to acquire quite a few books, in spite of my meager student income. In 1983, married with two children and three rejected doctoral dissertation topics, I dropped out of graduate school, left the not for profit world, and accepted a position on Wall Street as a computer programmer trainee at the infamous Drexel Burnham Lambert. I worked for several firms and progressed from trainee to programmer to programming manager. Eventually I left the technical side and became a business analyst specializing in the relationship between banks and brokerage houses. As my income rose, so did the number of books that I was able to buy. By 1985, we left Manhattan for the suburbs. We moved to East Northport on Long Island and my commute to Wall Street grew to nearly two hours each way. I was able to buy and read more books than ever. In spite of the fact that the house had a den with wall to wall bookshelves, I still did not have enough shelf space. Every year the number of cartons of books in the attic increased. I collected modern first editions, South American and Eastern European writers in translation, and writers I fell in love with on the train—Yukio Mishima, Naguib Mahfouz, and William Trevor, to name a few. In the early 1990s I saw an article in Biblio magazine about book collector groups. A Long Island group was mentioned, so I wrote a letter to the secretary asking for information about the group. They sent me an invitation to the next meeting, and I have been a member ever since. The organization, Long Island Book Collectors, meets monthly on Sunday afternoons at Adelphi University. Each meeting is hosted by a member on a rotating basis, and the member either recruits a speaker, or talks about some aspect of their own collections. I spoke several times, and continue to learn a lot from other members. One of the valuable lessons that I learned about collecting was to focus and collect in depth. While I continue to buy modern firsts, I now seriously collect Jack Kerouac (who lived in Northport, Long Island for several years), James Joyce, particularly Ulysses and books about Ulysses, Anne Frank, and my newest collecting passion Alice Munro. The best part of belonging to a collector group is that you can talk about books with people who love them as much as you do. It is the only place I know where you can lament the fact that the one book you need to complete a collection costs $1,200, and the person next to you will not look shocked that a book could be so expensive, but instead will reply, “Well, you really should get it, you can afford it and you’re entitled to splurge every once in awhile!” The other important lesson that I learned from the group was that one third of the members were also book dealers. They had formed a separate organization, the Long Island Antiquarian Book Dealers Association (LIABDA), and I was asked to speak to the group a few times about my collecting interests. I became friendly with some of the dealers, attended their twice yearly book fairs, and realized that I should become a dealer myself. When my eldest child left for college in 1997, I started buying books for resale. I had decided that once I had 1,000 books to sell I would put them on-line. I gleaned through the cartons in the attic, scoured tag sales, library sales and used bookstores and by the fall of 1998 I was ready to start. I went to the county office to register my business name, received a tax ID number, and began to price and catalogue the books. Fortunately, I had a teen-aged daughter at home who was glad to earn some extra spending money by helping to enter the books into the database. I would make notes about the condition and price on a post-it attached to the front of each book. She in her typical teenage fashion would emerge at midnight and type away until dawn. When I awoke there would be a large pile of books without post-its, meaning the data had been entered, and a small pile of books with additional post-it notes with her questions. When the one thousandth book was entered, I uploaded them to Bibliofind, and was open for business. I remember the first order—a first American edition of Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, the Sea. The orders increased slowly each year. I discovered that in part, it was a numbers game—the more books listed, the more orders. I now have about 8,500 books on-line at any given time, and hope to increase that number to 12,000 over the next year or two. Bibliofind is long gone, but I list on the standards, ABE, Alibris, Amazon, as well as my own website, Mostly Useful Fictions. Since I always enjoyed writing, I began to write some humor pieces on making the transition from collecting books to selling them. They were published in the now defunct Book Quote magazine. When the editor of the LIABDA newsletter retired, I was quickly recruited, so I have been the corresponding secretary and newsletter editor for that organization for the past four years. Some of the pieces I have written for that newsletter have been reprinted in the Standard, and Book Dealer Monthly. Others are on my website. Working full-time during the day, commuting two hours each way and trying to build an internet business have kept me pretty busy for several years. As of July, I have cut back on my day job to 21 hours, so that Mostly Useful Fictions could become my primary job. Awhile back I wrote a piece about bookselling and the lottery. For me, most of the time being a book dealer feels like winning the lottery even without the big check from the State of New York. Mostly Useful Fictions really did start as the saying goes with just “a dollar and a dream.” That was the first time I actually bought a book at a tag sale, not for my own collection, but to start to build up an inventory to put up on the internet. I can even remember the name though it was sold a long time ago—Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. It is a great book and I still pick up and list copies whenever I run across them. A dollar here and a dream there, and the books began piling up. I may have chosen a few bad sets along the way, but the dream persists, and grows stronger over time. I have held many jobs in my various careers. I lasted one night as a cook at McDonald’s back in high school. I have been a car jockey, a psychiatric aide in a drug and alcohol hospital, a supermarket cashier, a research assistant and a grants writer. I have taught early childhood development as an adjunct at a university in New York City. I have designed and developed numerous computer systems for Wall Street firms including money transfer that handle several billion dollars worth of wire transfers every business day. None of these jobs has given me the satisfaction that I get from selling a book that I love to someone eager to read and to own it. Joe Perlman operates Mostly Useful Fictions out of East Northport, NY and can be contacted at http://www.mostlyusefulfictions.com.

I got into bookselling by purchasing an existing inventory about four years ago. Nothing spectacular—3,500 general inventory titles. The descriptions had to be re-written, conditions checked and photos or scans taken of the more interesting titles. Very time-consuming, but I felt that if I were to represent these books properly, I had to grade them on my own. At the same time I was trying to come up with a specialty, because that’s all I heard—“specialize, specialize” from other sellers (Thank You). Knowing I had to specialize meant it had to be in something that would hold my interest, because our enthusiasm and knowledge of our books shows in our listings. Well, one day I walked into a bookstore and found a back room full of Astounding Science Fictions and Weird Tales and Dell Mapbacks and Ace Doubles and thought, now this is something I could specialize in. The combination of the writing and the illustrating, coupled with the era and the politics, etc. really appealed to me. Since then my inventory has almost doubled, mainly in the speculative fiction area, from the 1920s and onward. The more I began to focus on pulp fiction, the more fascinating the subject became. The authors, artists, publishers and editors combined to make some incredibly thought provoking books and pulps. The effect of the atomic age on science fiction writing and publishing really opened up the field. It’s interesting to note that many of the authors used pseudonyms in the beginning for a variety of reasons creating a challenge when trying to track down information to chart an author’s progress. On the weird fiction front we have the triumvirate of Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E. Howard. Combine those three with Weird Tales and Arkham House and you have some wonderful stories with even better stories behind the stories. The market for historical speculative fiction is still growing. There are areas in the world that I sell to more than others. Sweden and Germany spring to mind, as well as Great Britain. There are specific issues that confront the Canadian bookseller. The main one in my mind is our Canadian postal system which is downright expensive when compared to media mail or m-bags in the US. An American seller can charge $4.00 for shipping and still make a bit, but up here we have to charge $7.00 just to break even on the shipping component. Multiply that by 500 sales a year and you get a sense of how much we have to subsidize our shipping charges just to stay competitive. Another issue for us is the exchange rate against the US dollar. Four years ago or so, when I first started listing, the US dollar was worth $1.39 against the Canadian dollar; now it’s worth $1.11. That’s a 20 percent drop, for those of us who list in USD. On the positive side, a lot of my purchases and listing fees are cheaper now because of the relative strength of the Canadian dollar. But there are lots of issues confronting independent booksellers globally. That discussion is best left for another day. I still deal in general inventory as well, because, let’s face it, they sell. Not everyone is a collector and the general public seems to have a voracious appetite for reading, whether it’s for entertainment or knowledge. My general impression is that most of us didn’t get into this to get rich. What we’re looking for is the ability to make a comfortable income, doing something we love to do. To this idealistic soul, there’s something to be said for the promotion of literacy in this day and age of iPods, Xboxes and downloadable ring tones. Marc Monsarrat operates Bookmarc Books out of Malahat, British Columbia, Canada and can be contacted at http://www.bookmarc.ca.

I’m John Hardy of Hardy Books, Nevada City, California. We’re in our 10th year of business. Hardy Books specializes in “All Things Californian” (California history, fine Press, authors, poets, photographers, artists, food and drink, flora, fauna, movies, books to film, photoplay editions, law and order, San Francisco, Yosemite, Sierra Nevada, and on and on), Western Americana, and Books About Books. As to marketing, we are open by appointment, and on the internet at www.hardybooks.com, which leads prospective buyers to our books listed on www.abebooks.com. Hardy Books is also one of 15 local dealers in a co-operative open shop called Booktown Books & Tomes in Grass Valley, California (4 miles from Nevada City). My wife Susie and I also produce the Gold Rush Book Fair in May each year at the Nevada County Fairgrounds (“California’s Most Beautiful Fairgrounds”). The 7th Annual Gold Rush Book Fair will be held on May 19, 2007. We have over fifty dealers with all kinds of books and paper material, although the preponderance of the material is Western Americana. The GRBF is on Saturday, with the Dealer move-in on Friday. On Friday night, we host the Booksellers Banquet, a complimentary sit-down dinner for all our dealers held in the historic Masonic Hall in Nevada City. Each year we name an “Honored Guest Bookseller,” based upon “Ethical leadership and scholarship in American bookselling.” The Honored Guest Bookseller is given Booth #1 at the GRBF and we put them up at a local hotel, all with our compliments. Past recipients of the honor have been William Reese Company, The Arthur Clark Company, Emmett Harrington Fine Books, Michael Heaston Rare Books and Manuscripts, Edwin Glaser Fine Books and Michael Ginsberg Books. Visit Gold Rush Book Fair for more details and photographs. Susie and I attended the eBayLive! Conference in Las Vegas this year and learned about eBay Stores. Hardy Books opened an eBay store several weeks ago and the results are very promising. As one would expect, the eBay folks are very helpful in providing all sorts of templates, marketing tools and suggestions to help one succeed. I have been a collector of books, primarily Californiana, all my life, as was my father. He was a member of The Book Club of California, as am I. I retired after thirty-five years as a trial lawyer in San Francisco. We bought our house in Nevada City in 1994 and moved here full-time upon my retirement in 1999. Nevada City is a wonderfully restored Gold Rush town, in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, about half-way between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. The area has been designated by Hay-on-Wye’s Richard Booth as “Gold Cities Book Town,” because of the many bookstores, printers, bookbinders and bibliophiles located in Nevada City and Grass Valley. I’ve attended the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar twice; the first time at the dawn of the internet and the second time after the internet explosion. Other than a long apprenticeship in a famous bookshop somewhere, it’s the best thing that ever happened to the education of booksellers, be they fledglings or seasoned veterans. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the company of all book people, be they dealers, customers, librarians, bookbinders, printers or whatever. It’s a vast club to which we all belong. John Hardy operates Hardy Books out of Nevada City, CA and can be contacted at http://www.hardybooks.com.

Post-Erattum In the previous issue, we used “Errata” for the column heading in this space. Errata, of course, is actually a list of writing or printing errors in a given work, usually provided on a small slip of paper and laid in loosely or inserted. I have been taken to task by a British editorial colleague (on the Fourth of July no less, though a bit of a tempest in a teapot as nobody else complained) over my apparently ignorant misuse of the term, as “Addenda” more clearly fits the bill. I pointed out that I was merely stretching the use of the word, as some of the column deals with the errors, misconceptions, and deceits of the modern online book trade, but he counters that I have stretched to the point of “a complete tumble out of the window and a fall to disaster.” Addenda is a bit staid in terms of zingy column headings, and I enjoy the old OED quote, “In whom the dear errata column is the best page in all the volume!,” but we must not forget our mission of education, and if the language is too organic one ends up with literal manure, so Addenda it is. As long as we are qualifying headings, “Happy Hits” means funny little things one runs into when database searching. They aren’t always happy, but I’m sticking with that one. Happy Hits -One of the search services lists 36 copies of Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time with a publication date of 2030. -The bibliographical details of genealogical works can be hard to pin down. These are usually published in limited quantity, often by first-time authors who are long on family history but short on publishing information. Take Gaskill Genealogy, by Elizabeth P. Koleda. That’s the gilt title on the blue front cover of this 759 page work. No copies available online, but there are two WorldCat entries. The 1989 original is held by fourteen repositories, and what looks like a 1996 revision by Donald Oreste Caselli is held by four. You usually want the revision with genealogies, but in this case it doesn’t matter. To back up a bit, the printing in this book is from a computer-generated program of the era. Not too hard to read, but you feel like you’re looking at a printout rather than a published page. The author thanks one Mike Pawley in the dedication, “a very understanding computer friend.” It is this cramped and monotonous printing that led the original cataloger to miss the true title, Edward Gascoigne, aka Edward Gaskill and Many of His Descendants, directly across from the table of contents. That tells you more, and it doesn’t get confused with Gaskill Genealogy by Clinton Gaskill Cudaback, a wholly different work published in 1904. In a new half-page foreword stuck or pasted to an endpaper by Donald Oreste Caselli, a New Jersey relative of some sort, he tells a little about author Elizabeth Potts Koleda, and then uses the occasion to provide the history of his own branch not included in the original work. Caselli also applied a label over the title page “Compiled By” note. It gives us five lines about Koleda, so we learn that she died three years after her life work was published, but it obliterates what lies beneath, which is the original date of publication. Caselli did the same thing at the very rear of this work under “Direct Correspondence,” covering over the original place of self-publication (the same WorldCat record cites both Princeville and Prineville, OR, they are both real towns in that state, and you can’t quite make out the original text under the label in order to settle the question) with his own address in Egg Harbor City, NJ, and thus confusing another sloppy cataloger. To summarize, then, Caselli somehow snapped up a handful of Koleda 1989 first edition copies, and three labels later he is the co-author of a 1996 revision published on the opposite coast, though none of those last three things actually happened. At any rate, on the somewhat confusing, busy, and transmogrified title page, under the heading “Serendipity,” we find the following from the original author. “The British Isles are made up of four nations. The Scots, who keep the Sabbath and anything else they can lay their hands on; the Welsh, who pray on their knees, and on their neighbours; the Irish, who don’t know what the devil they want, but are willing to fight anyone for it; and the English, who consider themselves a race of self-made men, thus relieving the Almighty of a terrible responsibility.” Blurbettes From the dust jacket of Lonesome George: The Life and Loves of a Conservation Icon, by Henry Nicholls (London: Macmillan, 2006). “Lonesome George is on the stamps of the Galapagos Islands. He is a 5ft long, 200lb tortoise aged between 60 and 200. In 1971 he was discovered on the remote island of Pinta, from which tortoises had supposedly been exterminated by whalers and seal hunters in search of a square meal. He was carted off to his current home, the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz island. He has been there ever since, on the off chance that scientific ingenuity will conjure up a way of reproducing him, and resurrecting his species. Meanwhile a million tourists and dozens of baffled scientists have looked on as George shows not a jot of interest in the female company provided. “Henry Nicholls details the efforts of conservationists to preserve the Galapagos’ unique biodiversity and illustrates how their experiences and discoveries are echoed the world over. He explores the controversies raging over which mates are most appropriate for George and the risks of releasing crossbreed offspring into the wild. His story draws together the islands’ geology, evolution, history of human exploitation and imperiled future. It features strong characters, from Charles Darwin, to cloning pioneer Ian Wilmut, to the beautiful Swiss graduate who spent four months trying to persuade George to have sex. Some 100,000 tourists visit the Galapagos Islands each year; all drop in on George.” Book Blogs Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie http://bookplatejunkie.blogspot.com Posted 8/27/2006 “Children’s Bookplates and Meerkats” My Home Library Every Friday evening my wife and I watch a television series called Meerkat Manor. One of the things that bonds Meerkat families is grooming and it occurs to me that reading to children before bedtime is much like grooming. For those of you who read to your children and want to give them a bookplate click onto the link for My Home Library above. If some of you out there are especially proud of the bookplate(s) you or your child have already designed why don’t you send me a scan? I can be reached atBookplatemaven@hotmail.com There are a number of children’s bookplates in my own collection and I have scanned a few for your enjoyment. Additional scans and biographical information about the bookplate designers will be added throughout the week. The bookplate for Harold Chandler Kimball Jr. was designed by Harvey Ellis (1852-1904) who is best known as a furniture designer who worked with Gustav Stickley. I may be mistaken, but it appears that Harold Chandler Kimball Jr. graduated from Harvard in 1912 and was a casualty of world war 1. I bought the bookplate designed by Winifred Bromhall at the Papermania show in Hartford. The artist was unknown to me so here is what I found in a Google search: “Winifred Bromhall was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England and was educated at Queen Mary’s School, Walsall Art School and Birmingham University. Her family immigrated to The United States in 1924. She worked for a while at The Children’s Art Center in Boston and in the art department of a New York settlement house before illustrating full time. She illustrated her first children’s book, Zodiac Town: The Rhymes Of Amos and Ann, by Nancy Byrd Turner in 1921. She continued to illustrate for other authors until 1945, when she began writing and illustrating her own books. Her first self-illustrated book was Johanna Arrives.” Made in IOBA Amy Ione of Diatrope Books is the author of Innovation and Visualization: Trajectories, Strategies, and Myths (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005). There Once Was a Book from Nantucket Boggy Solitudes of Nantucket. Not only is that an evocative title from 1908, but it is doubtful that those four words were ever strung in succession before then. This humble 118 page work epitomizes everything I love about bookselling, and here’s why. It was purchased sight unseen in a large lot of books at a general auction late in 2004. Once home it jumped out as a relatively important item because of the subject matter, it was signed, the binding was attractive, and the NY publisher (Neale) was not well known to me. If this secretive little wildflower had been choiced out on a long table of gaudy dying roses and dyed mums as they often do with books at this auction house, it would not have been plucked until they got down to the $5 level, if at all. Once you have an eye for it, booksellers enjoy a great advantage over dabblers, greater even than that enjoyed by their brethren (and cistern?) in the antiques and collectibles fields. And how much can an old chair or a Pez dispenser inform you anyway, compared to a book? And how much easier is it to ship a book than a set of china? As we sort through the piles and rows back home, some like this catch our eye and demand our attention. We want to understand what it is we have here, and if we happen to like the subject matter or have an enquiring mind, it’s fun to delve deeper. I enjoyed leafing through this wonderful collection of brief essays and observations on the natural history of the island, complete with poetic and literary quotations. The reddish orange lettering and pink and green floral decoration stands in simple but stunning contrast against the There was no good way to place a value on this book using existing records like online listings, prices realized at auction, or bookseller catalogs. No copies for sale online is a very good sign, and the subject matter is specialized rather than general, which is always desirable. It would pay to authenticate the author’s signature though, minor as she was, and that was a tall order. Anne Wilson is a common name, and the much later inscription only reads, “For my friend Margaret Dewey. With the love of Anne. July the Eighth, 1933.” I searched many reference books and databases, including CLAMS (Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing), to no avail. I finally sent out a query to the BookFinder Insider list, enquiring about Nantucket bibliographies, and lo and behold the resident genius there uncovered Everett Uberto’s 1946 Nantucket in Print, which I promptly paged up and consulted. Not only did it list this rare title, but it provided the author’s middle name of Washington. This led to another scarce, slim book of verses by Anne Washington Wilson published nearly twenty years later entitled Scrimshaw (Baltimore, MD: Norman, Remington Co., 1925), with an attractive scrimshaw art cover of its own. Paging this up from the same research library on a long shot, it was signed by the author, in full this time! The handwriting is the same, they both end, “with the love of,” and the two Annes are identical. The sleuthing was fun, it pays to strengthen those types of skills, and I could now honestly claim that this was signed and inscribed by the author. I divined a reasonable asking price of $150. It was listed 1/15/2005, and it sold 8/12/2006, to a buyer in Nantucket. We are both happy. The printer would be proud of how his finished product held up. Above all, Anne Washington Wilson would be delighted that we are talking about her passion and her output nearly a century later. “The whole island is a veritable garden spot. One has only to go on the moors to appreciate the truth of this statement. Flower succeeds flower, springing up from the sandy soil and moss, in greatest luxuriance and profusion, beginning with the tiny hepatica and blue flash of the violet in the spring to the showy golden-rod and imperial aster of the fall.” “I sprang out of bed and ran over to the little window from which there was a glorious view of a long stretch of moorland melting into low hills covered with all the different shades of green, from the pale leaves of the bayberry to the blackness of the stunted growth of heath-like little shrubs.” May the island of Nantucket and the profession of bookselling remain relatively unspoiled. Postal Priorities Postal services. We’ve always needed them, and now more than ever. When I read about booksellers who dread entering their local post office, I count my lucky stars that the two or three I use most are staffed with friendly and efficient workers. Complaints include postal clerks who consider our trade to be a nuisance, sticklers who rule against reinforcing tape on Priority mailers, and various local branch interpretations that defy reason and Post Office policy. If somebody behind the counter really has it in for you, the best options seem to be switching post offices (if practical) or complaining to the postmaster or those above him or her. Whether you are in their good graces or not, however, it isn’t the easiest job in the world, and it pays both parties for the bookseller to bend over backwards in facilitating smooth transactions. In my case, my wife helps out by doing about 75% of the mailings. She goes right by a small PO on the way to work, and the receipt often reads right around 8:03 A.M. She is prettier to look at and more polite than I am, or less likely to be impolite at any rate, so that helps too. The best thing you can do is to be prepared and follow all the rules. Prepare neat and safe packages, use the correct mailing materials for the job, completely fill out customs forms and the like ahead of time, write neatly, tell clerks what they need to know as you proceed, if you are paying by check have it nearly ready to go by the end (including your driver’s license number where required), and try to pick off-hours when the lines are not long. Don’t bend the rules. I forget if I read this on a list or heard it from a clerk, but one customer actually tried to ship a bowling ball Media Mail! Some of the rules are more apparent than others. I saw one customer pitch a fit because he wasn’t allowed to use an empty liquor box for shipping. In short, do everything you can to help the clerk and speed the process. We’ve all been on lines where everyone suffers because of ill preparation or manners. I generally try to keep a low profile too. If some directive in your region orders a crackdown on booksellers, I don’t necessarily want to spring to mind as the most ready sacrificial lamb. Loose lips sink ships too. I have heard many conversations about eBay while waiting on Post Office lines with my box of eBay and book shipments, and chatting there is a little like discussing the particulars of your gold mine while at the assay office. In closing, national postal systems are not perfect, but most do a remarkably good job at delivering things. My only significant complaint about the U.S. Postal Service is how they are raising Priority and Media Mail rates in leaps and bounds, while all the general public howls about is regular stamps going up a penny or two at a time. So far my area has dodged the new and unimproved privatization and automation efforts, but complaints waft in on westerly winds. They should get out of the Teddy Bear business too, because I’ve never seen anybody buy one, and I used to be able to stack packages where they now sit. House Calls “Hi. Are you the man who buys books?” “I do have that ad in the paper.” “What kind of books do you buy?” “It might be easier for you to tell me what you have, but in general I am after large amounts of books, usually hardcover, usually older . . .” “I have hundreds, and they are mostly old. Some are paperbacks, like Harlequins.” “What about the hardcovers? What kinds of books are those?” “Oh, I don’t know, all kinds.” “Are they like best sellers?” “They probably were back then.” “Are they spy and romance novels?” “There might be some of those.” “Can you give me an idea of some of the titles?” “You’d really have to come and look.” “Thanks for calling, but it doesn’t sound like what I am after. You might try donating them to a book sale, or some would probably sell at a garage sale.” “You’re not interested then?” “Well it’s a little hard to tell over the phone, but I don’t think so.” “They are old, but they are like brand new. They probably go back forty years.” “Did you read them yourself?” “No. Actually, they were copies sent to the newspaper for review, but they were never even cracked open.” “Oh. That sounds better. What town do you live in?” Solicitations The Standard can always use interesting, well-written articles on subjects of interest to the bookselling trade. Please query first, however, to editor@ioba.org. You will be supplied with submission guidelines, but to summarize, the material should be original, it is subject to editing, you retain copyright, and of course there is no payment other than most everyone’s satisfaction. You do not need to be a member of IOBA, except for the IOBA Bookseller Profiles section, though we would surely like you to join. We are very interested in the book trade outside the U.S. as well. Currently we are seeking short pieces for the following self-explanatory columns. House Calls; Garage/Estate/Library Sale Tales; Auction Action; Book Show Impressions; and Book Store Lore. Booku I Drove Mules on the C and O Canal by Wolfe, claims he used canal water taken from Lock #44 for his signature, color added. Comic Books From the Comic Weekly section of the New York Journal American dated 4/26/1942, the final panel of Skippy by Percy Crosby from a strip entitled, “Skippy Meets Another Little Bookworm.”

Ye Olde Booksellers Here is a small volume with red pebbled boards entitled, Forty Years Among the Old Booksellers of Philadelphia, with Bibliographical Remarks, by W. Brotherhead (Philadelphia, PA: A. P. Brotherhead, 1891). This 122 page gem must be well known to those interested in the early history of our profession in this city. He tells his own story first. “In 1849 I commenced to sell old books at the northwest corner of Sixth and Market streets. My stock was worth about $60. It did not fill up my shelves, and I added cigars to my stock, and filled the empty shelves with cigar boxes. These in a short time I took down, and in their place I covered the empty shelves with Catlin’s portraits of Indians. These being highly colored, made a good show.” Toward the rear of this little work are chapters on Men and Books, Prices and Editions of Books (with many details of fantastic Americana collections scattered through sale or auction), Something About Old Books and Their Buyers, Old Book Collectors, etc., followed by an index. We are interested in pp. 21-71, however, where he gives an account of dozens of his contemporary booksellers. Excerpts follow. -Apley: In one of those stores resided a very dirty man, surrounded on all sides by a collection of old books almost without form, scattered here and there without any classification. He was a man of about fifty years of age or thereabouts; he might have been older, but his dirty and ragged appearance made it difficult to say how old he was. He always looked dark and sallow. His features were not repulsive to look at, but they had that miserly cast which at one glance caused him to be a marked character. The windows of his store were so thick with dirt and rubbish that it was difficult to see the titles of his books. I have many times visited the store for the purpose of purchasing books, and in looking round through the vistas of shelves erected at random, you would see him in some nook or corner lift up his bedizened face, and if early in the morning he would be cooking or eating his breakfast. The smell of the room, with the mustiness of the old books and the smell of his eatables, was anything buy savory or cleanly. The description which Dickens gives in “Old Curiosity Shop,” of the store in which Little Nell’s grandfather lived, is nothing to compare with old Apley’s store in the Arcade. As far as my recollection carries me, he slept and lived in this dirty atmosphere of old books. If he was married, and I think he was not, I never in all my visits saw the appearance of a womanly face, or any signs of womanly care and attention. -James Dalling: Dalling was a Scotchman, of the old school. He kept a very select collection of old books for sale on South Eighth street, above Chestnut, east side, now Green’s hotel, and was well patronized by book buyers. He was a man of more than ordinary education, and attracted the best class of book buyers. He was not a man who stooped to conquer, but was firm in all his dealings, and with all the canny characteristics of his race. He, like the majority of old booksellers, did not amass a fortune; in fact, the pure and unadulterated old bookseller seldom does more than live comfortably, collect stock, and feast among his books, and love to talk to his literary customers of the great geniuses in the Elizabethan age, and descant on the talents and greatness of the age of Queen Anne. -John Pennington: Mr. Pennington’s store become the centre of the elite litterateurs of this city, and of men like Charles Sumner and others. When the literary men of the Eastern, Northern and Southern States visited this city, nearly all were attracted to his store to buy from his fine stock, or give orders for European books. The literary chit-chat of those men, for I have heard them, reminded me of what can be found in Boswell’s “Life of Johnson,” where men like the burly, stern moralist Dr. Johnson met the inspired idiot Oliver Goldsmith, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Garrick, and other great men, where their wit and learning kept the table in a roar. Those times are past, but I hope at sometime will be resuscitated. I forget the year when John Pennington removed from Fourth street to Seventh street, near Walnut street. He was there for several years. The war broke out in 1861, and as his principal trade was among Southern men, his business become paralyzed, and his losses great. He felt his loss of the Southern trade very much; and as New York had begun about this time to pay special attention to the importation of books, engravings, and the fine arts, we lost that part of our business in this city, and it has been for many years prosecuted with great energy and tact, and is still pursued with vigor by them. To our disgrace it must be said, that New York has robbed us of that fine literary business we had here from 1800 up to 1860. This city was the great literary emporium of the United States from 1800 up to 1850. The finest edition of the Bible—hot-pressed copies—were issued by the Smalls, and fac simile editions of the English Classics were issued from the press of Wardle. Nearly all that prestige has gone; spasmodic attempts appear now and then, it is true, but the general effect has passed into other hands. John Pennington died some years ago; his business passed into the hands of his son, E. Pennington; until physical infirmities caused him to relinquish it into the hands of his son; but the halo of old John Pennington has passed away, and his fine old store and name, except to a few, is sunk into oblivion. -Peterson and Childs: The old book business cabined and confined this young Hercules, and he desired a larger sphere for his talents, and suggested the publication of books. About this time the intrepid traveler, Dr. Kane, had returned from his Arctic voyage—he was the hero of the day. Mr. Childs saw his golden opportunity, and urged Mr. Peterson to make arrangements with Dr. Kane for the publication of his travels. Mr. Childs, with great energy, entered heart and soul into this great enterprise, and, taking the tide at the flood, pushed it on with a resistless vigor—fanned the flame of excitement from every point that an acute observer only can see—and the result was a marvelous success. The book was illustrated with sketches from Dr. Kane’s drawings, by that erratic genius, James Hamilton. Those who are acquainted with art, know well that the genius of James Hamilton, in a collective sense, stands unrivalled as an artist in chiaroscuro, and bold effects. The book will always find a place in Arctic discovery, and stands second to none in artistic illustration. I am not sure, but believe that the masterly management of Mr. Childs in this book caused Mr. Peterson to accept him as his partner. -W. A. Leary: Mr. Leary was a short, stout man, persevering and industrious in his habits, though by no means an educated man. He dealt in books as a grocer deals in sugar and candles, more by weight than from any intrinsic value; in fact, he did not know anything about the bibliographical qualities of books, he never pretended to know, and for this admission we must accord him due credit. -Paine: Mr. Paine kept a book store with a book stand on South Second street near Noble street. His stock was not large. He dealt in school books, and sold any old miscellaneous books he could purchase. He was a very kind man, but did not know much about the value of old books. -John Campbell: Campbell was a pushing man; he soon took the lines of his surroundings, and was one of the heaviest buyers of books at auction. John’s burly figure was always expected there, and soon his sonorous voice was heard above all others. If any one chanced to bid against him, woe to the bidder; John would again raise his sonorous voice to a higher pitch, and advance the price in such a vigorous tone that a laugh or a titter would ring through the room. -Hugh Hamel: This old bookseller kept his store on South Tenth street, next to the Mercantile Library. He was there for many years, and had a large and good stock of old books for sale. He had risen from a mere peddler of books, and by dint of perseverance, collected them as a junk dealer collects his rubbish. He was probably the most ignorant of all the old booksellers in this city. At one time he could not write his own name. Whether he acquired this accomplishment afterwards I know not. Peter Doyle: He was a man of much culture, with a refined taste; his personal appearance was somewhat peculiar. He was, in physique, rather small; delicate frame, with a large head and a peculiar cast in his eye. His face bore a studious aspect—pale and full of thought. A cast of melancholy, somewhat Hamlet-like, struck you on first impression. He was the most silent bookseller I ever met; only his most intimate friends could influence him in any prolonged conversation. He had his books carefully arranged, and when rare or valuable he wrote the most beautiful chirography and suitable descriptions I ever read. He was well posted in general literature, and had a fair knowledge of the bibliographical character of his books. So silent and so very soft in his conversation, that the book had really to sell itself. If you asked for a book and he had it, he would silently give it to you and point to the price, which as a rule was higher in price than any other bookseller in the city. No other effort to sell was made. He was always coldly courteous to you, and the reticent gentleman was always to be seen in him. His window was always filled with choice and rare editions, and often some choice work of art. The sale of his fine stock of books was a very unfortunate affair to Peter Doyle, and there can be but little doubt that it hastened the close of his eccentric but high moral life. He was a man easily duped, and many cases are known where designing knaves took advantage of his generosity. One morning he was found dead in his store, unattended and uncared for. Peace to his ashes. -Brown Brothers: Kept for several years an old book store, I think at the northwest corner of Fourth and Arch streets. One of the brothers was employed in the book department of Thomas & Sons, auctioneers, and had the best chances of purchasing old books of any booksellers in the city. This advantage was well used, and enabled the brothers to have a fine collection of books in their store. The brother with Thomas & Sons acquired bad habits—too fond of stimulants—and he died in a few years after the store was opened. The other brother, who was a kind and genial man, after the death of his brother, removed the stock somewhere out in Iowa, and whether he is dead or not I have not heard. -Joseph Sabin: He entered into his new store with vigor and energy, and soon became the chief buyer at Thomas and Son’s auction store. For a few years he and John Campbell were the principal buyers, and few buyers could purchase books except Sabin and Campbell. Jennings the auctioneer seemed to favor them when opportunity offered. The consequence was that as credit was freely given, Sabin soon had a fine stock of books, the finest in the city at that time. Sabin was the connoisseur among old book buyers, and a fine business was the result. Had his rectitude been equal to his ability, none could have surpassed him in his business. One fine morning his store was closed and his whereabouts was not known. Jennings, of Thomas & Son’s, who had credited him with several thousand dollars, was soon on the alert, and found all the books had been shipped to New York. He at once went there, replevined them, and had them sent to their auction store and sold on their account. This ended Sabin’s career in this city. [More on Sabin’s New York adventures and bibliographic efforts follows.] -Moses Polock: The library of Professor Reed, who was lost in the steamer Arctic over thirty years ago, he bought of the family, and in it were many fine books. The Roxborough Club books, a rare collection of early English reprints, were in this library. I presume Moses Polock was and is in a fair comfortable condition, because he made little exertion as a business man to sell his books, and because his prices are and were always fanciful. At any time after 10 o’clock in the morning you can ascend to his store; there you will find him bachelor-like all alone in his glory, breathing the atmosphere of his old books. He will meet you in the most genial manner, and will talk to you about his gems in the most intelligent spirit. There is but one exception I know of to this. He once sold for $16 “The Laws of New York,” printed by W. Bradford, a good price at that time; but the same copy was sold in the Brindley’s Collection of Americana at auction for $1600. The mention of this fact operated on Polock’s mind as if he had taken bitter gall for his breakfast. He has a rare early knowledge of men in the book business for the last forty years; but being a very reticent and diffident man, I am afraid those of the city will lose a charming lot of history about book-sellers, publishers and books. He is still in his old place, ever ready to do business with you, but is seldom visited except some old book-worm wants some very scarce book or pamphlet. -John Hunt: Some twenty-five years ago, this brusque Englishman kept a book stand at the southeast corner of Sixth and Arch streets, and was very energetic and pushing in business. He also peddled books through the country in a wagon. He seemed to do a thriving business for several years; but all is not gold that glitters. His stock was seized and sold for the benefit of his creditors. He still lives in Camden, N.J. -H. McKean: This old book-seller, who had a book stand against the burial ground was in Fifth street, near Spruce; and also a book store at the northwest corner of Fifth and Adelphi streets—added but little to the credit of the profession of old booksellers. He was literally of the character of an old junk dealer; and as a man his conduct was anything but exemplary—nay, censurable in every sense. I regret to write thus, but truth is the best, after all cavil may say. He was an Irishman by birth, but is now dead. -W. S. Rentuol: An odd-looking character, a Scotchman by birth, and a good type of the old curiosity monger. He is lean and lanky in personal appearance, and always very frowsy-looking about the head. He has a fine collection of old Presbyterian books, and is located in the second story on Sixth street above Market. I understand he came here from Pittsburgh. He has over thirty years, but is known only by that class of book-buyers. He is of the old blue-stocking type, which is now becoming rare. I presume that from his long experience he knows every book of note in the literature he sells, from John Knox to the Old Covenanters of to-day. He is known to few collectors of books, as he deals only in those mentioned. -Henry Holloway: For some years he was very successful; his stock so increased that he rented the next store, and had both of them well filled with books. He is a man of general culture, and has translated books from the German. In physique he is weak and puny; he has been suffering for over twenty years from a spinal complaint, but he still lives and sells old books; he is kind and genial in his manners, and a very interesting conversationalist. I have sold him many books in the course of twenty years, and always found him pleasant. After he had taken the additional store in Tenth street, he flourished for some time; but some ill luck or misfortune overtook him, and he had to remove to S. Ninth street, near Cherry street. There he opened with a poor stock of books; he lingered there for a short time, and then he removed to Eighth and Wood streets, with very few books, and opened a newspaper stand, where he remained a few years doling out a mere existence. About a year ago he removed to S. Tenth street, above Walnut, and there he has a few books, and I hope is improving his financial condition. Old age is creeping on him and with it poor health: it is not to be wondered at that he should be somewhat eccentric in his habits. -Leary & Co.: Old booksellers everywhere consider old school books as trash, and place them away in some remote corner of the store. I am aware that the plea is, there is money in them; I am also aware that this firm has made some money out of them; hence it is continued. But does not this show that the prevailing active spirit of this firm is not influenced by such high types as James Lackington, Henry Bohn or a Quaritch, or the first-class old booksellers in Europe and in this country? All persons who know this well-known store know that it contains many first-class books; and why the lowest class should be their specialty can only be accounted for on the plea of making money. Primarily speaking, money is the chief factor, the great lever in business; but there were old booksellers, and there are still a few left, who look on money produced as secondary as a means to a brighter and nobler end. That end is the intrinsic love of the subject-matter of the books—the large amount of knowledge derived from the reading of them—the association and communion with the great minds of the past and the present—all of which tend to elevate the mind, the development of a higher moral tone, and the pleasures of intellectual growth. I know of old booksellers who have on their shelves the finest and recherché editions of the best authors. I have been in their stores when some of those fine books have been sold, and when the buyer had gone the expression was made, “I am sorry I have sold that book—such a fine edition of so great a writer.” Such men are rare, I know, and show that the money value of the book was merely secondary. -Holloway: He has a book stand and basement in Third street, near Walnut, and has been there for several years, and has a stock of old books and magazines jumbled up in a very chaotic mass. -Walter B. Saunders: A few months ago he removed his fine stock of books into a large store in Walnut street, above Ninth street, and I learn he is selling off his fine books and has commenced the publication of medical books. For this I am sorry, and I fear it shows that the patronage of our book buyers has not been liberal enough to induce him to continue to have for sale such a fine class of books. -David McKay: This young man, whom I am not personally acquainted with, I have learned is a Scotchman, and was a salesman in Lippincott’s book store. He started the old and new book business a few years ago, and seems full of energy. His stock of new and old books is large and of good quality. His experience in old books is necessarily limited, and as several of our old booksellers have become venders and jobbers of new books, it can scarcely be expected that this young man, who is a large jobber of new books, can be of much authority among bibliomaniacs. He also publishes a few books, and judging from their character, no great fortune can be expected from their sales [guess again]. His store is on Ninth street above Chestnut street, rear of the Girard House. -W. H. Brotherhead: His place of business is at 288 Girard avenue. He has been selling old books for a year, and seems as if success was with him. He has a full stock, and I trust all will be successful. He is one of my sons, and I trust and believe that the old book business will prosper.

Table of Contents From the editor Father Richard Reed of St. Gabriels Bookstore A Guide to Improving Your Online Book Sales Seeing Shelley Plain: Memories of New Yorks Legendary Phoenix Book Shop The Team Behind Books Tell You Why Ephemeral Assays: Pulp Frisson Ethics & eBay – No, Really: Perspectives from a Modern Library Collector House Calls, Estate Sales and Auction tales Caite Stevens of Vivarte Books The Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar Addendum

Welcome back to the IOBA Standard, which has been on a bit of a hiatus. I read somewhere once that hiatus often means goodbyatus, but we are back with a new team, a new look, and ambitious plans. If you ever come across premier issues of periodicals, take a look at the opening remarks. Back in the early days, they used to call this the plan of the magazine, where rosy intentions are announced. These messages are remarkably similar through the decades, though the language was far more erudite and flowery a century or two ago. The Standard was first published in 2001, which makes it about forty years old in dog or internet time, and IOBA is for the most part an all-volunteer force, so a breather was not out of order. Going forward, our primary goal is to put out four increasingly substantial issues per year, in January, April, July, and October. We will continue to solicit a wide variety of lively articles on matters pertaining to the noble and hopefully lucrative profession of bookselling. We will broaden our scope with, among other things, more international content, and more views and news you can use. This is an exciting time for the Independent Online Booksellers Association. As many of you know, IOBA was formed out of concern for maintaining traditional bookselling values and standards in the face of a rapidly changing online selling environment. Many of us feel caught in the middle, with a glut of books and unqualified or unscrupulous booksellers on one side and the creeping corporatism of the major search services on the other. The web can be a great real-time pricing tool, and we can display our wares to the entire world, but lots of problems are cropping up too. IOBA is here as a natural byproduct of the online bookselling industry. It provides various tools for learning the trade, it requires meeting certain reasonable standards for membership, it has a code of ethics, and it has a dedicated board of directors and committee members. As IOBA grows, it hopes to provide the traditional advantages of a trade association. This includes member benefits, acting as a clearinghouse for information, taking an activist role when warranted, and uniting professional booksellers under one umbrella for the benefit of buyer and seller alike. That last bit can be difficult, as getting opinionated and occasionally cantankerous booksellers together has been likened to herding cats, but thats why Independent is in the title. IOBA is also here to help earnest new booksellers get started. Although we find rumblings about the changing book trade going back for centuries, surely we are in the midst of the greatest upheaval since the advent of the printing press, due largely to the internet. Some overnight booksellers dont care about traditions and standards, and might as well be hawking Beanie Babies or fake watches. Others are anxious to learn and grow. The old guild or apprentice system is breaking down, partly because many bricks and mortar stores were driven out of business by urban blight, chain stores, high rents, and now the relative ease of selling exclusively online. While many of us might aspire to join the prestigious Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America or one of its international counterparts some fine day, and to perhaps open a shop of our own, that takes time, effort, and dedication, not to mention the proverbial handling of one million books. Im told that at a recent book fair banquet, a former ABAA president conducted a poll of the booksellers present. Of more than fifty, only four were under the age of forty-five. He asked who would mentor the future generation, with so many B&Ms closing. With so many online-only dealers joining the profession, this is where IOBA can make a big difference. In addition to the services previously mentioned, one of the projects we are working on right now is a formal mentor program. The Membership Chair reports a recent surge in new membersfrom 185 last August to 215 in February to the present number of 290 and counting. Joining IOBA is very inexpensive . . . only $60 per year. One fairly new member benefit is listing your inventory through IOBAbooks.com, also very reasonable ($15 a month for 10,000 books, for example, with a modest sliding scale below and above that figure). IOBAbooks.com does not interfere with the buyer-seller relationship, it offers credit card processing, it charges zero commission, and it is currently searched on BookFinder. Crafty booksellers could cover their entire yearly fees by listing some very scarce, collectible, and commission-free titles exclusively on IOBAbooks.com. Many members are reporting very respectable sales. Ive come to view IOBA as a safe harbor in a sea of uncertainty. It wont sell out, and it has our best interests at heart. A recent highly interesting thread on the IOBA Discuss list on why members have joined was inspiring enough to get me to volunteer for this editing job. We are setting a goal of 500 members (and the more of them that list on IOBAbooks.com the better). That is a big increase from 290, but the time is right. And if some of the search services can claim tens of thousands of members and counting, there is no reason why IOBA couldnt grow to several thousand strong by 2010. For more information, please visit our home page at www.ioba.org. As for this issue, we start off with a major tutorial on internet bookselling from Brendan Sherar, the proprietor of Biblio.com; followed by an entertaining look at hunting Modern Library specimens in the steamy and often fetid jungles of eBay. From the Reference Desk section, another ephemeral assay, on pulps; and the first in a series of reviews by the editor on books about bookselling. We crack open the Tool Box for a look at personalized inventory database management by IOBAs talented Chris Volk; followed by a preview of the 2006 Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar, where Chris has just been invited to join that distinguished staff of bookselling professors. There are three fun IOBA bookseller profiles. Rounding things out, an Errata section takes up uncustomary residence at the rear of the work in question, with an emphasis on where we can find good stock and how we can learn good lessons. Special thanks to Shirley Bryant, the first editor of the public version of the Standard and my current mentor in this endeavor, the previous editor Michael Watson, our great and patient new webmaster Rayburn Taylor, and the president and board of IOBA.

Hello, I am Father Rick Reed, the Pastor of Saint Gabriels Chapel and online bookstore. Our aim is to meet and greet each customer with the golden rule of treating others as we would wish to be treated. I opened our online bookstore as an extension of our ministry to all! As a bookseller and book reader, I love books of all kinds and wish to spread this love of reading and learning to everyone I come in contact with. I was not sure where to start when asked to do an autobiography. I sat down and prayed, and began to put some thoughts on paper. This is almost as scary as when I was asked to write my life story for chaplain training, for when I did as I was told, I thought thats nice, but what impact did all that have on your life? Books have shaped me and guided me throughout my life. Good and not-so-good books, but lots of them. A little about myself. I am an Orthodox Catholic Priest, have been married to Carol for just over 33 years, have two grown children, and six grandchildren. I have been in the ministry for ten years now and serve as a Hospice chaplain as well as at two local hospitals as an on-call chaplain. I also serve as a priest at Holy Trinity Celtic Orthodox Church, and I am an online bookseller. In shortI am kinda busy. I was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, was gone for many years, and then returned back about four years ago to take care of family. I began a career in the medical field 35 years ago and have served as a surgical and x-ray technician, as well as in radiation health, emergency medical, and field medicine, including several administrative positions. For around 25 years I served in the US Military, retiring from the US Navy six years ago. I served in many different settings and capacities including Desert Shield/Storm; the first Gulf War in a US Marine Corps field hospital; staff positions; joint military; hospitals and clinics; as well as with a Marine Corps Expeditionary Unit Medical Planner. I have two Masters Degrees as well as a smattering of experience just living and I am still wondering what will happen tomorrow. Okay, that really gives everyone a good picture of what I have done. Over many years I collected books and soon developed my own large library. My collection included books on many different topics to include Christianity, Religion, Military, Survival, Medical, Marital Arts, Weapons, Wilderness, and History. This love for books grew into my dream of owning and running my own bookstore. Not being able to actually open a B&M store, I turned to online bookselling and have found excitement and my passion! I joined IOBA almost a year ago when I first started in the business. Oh, and yes my books moved with me over the years from place to place. I guess you can say I have served my fellow man (and woman) all my life, and owning and running an online bookstore is just an extension of that service to my fellow humans; ones who have a thirst for reading and knowledge. One of the books I had to read in high school was Fahrenheit 451. I detested that book almost as much as I did 1984. I was once told by a teacher that she wanted to see me ten to twenty years down the road to see what I turned into, because I kept saying there had to be a better way and society was not going the way I thought it should. Well I am not sure how much I actually changed in these many years, though my love for reading and books grew and grew until now I am able to say they have become a major part of my life. Let me please give you an example or two of how books have helped to change and enhance my life. I was raised Roman Catholic, and drifted from my faith. As study and reading took place, I eventually became an Ordained Pentecostal Minister ten years ago. Four years ago my faith and beliefs were challenged and I ended up in Sudan in East Africa for six months, assisting and teaching in a Bible College. After that I began to read and study. Eventually after careful study I returned to the Catholic faith, Old Catholic and then Orthodox Catholic. Without the written word, the Bible, and other early Church Fathers writings, I may never have had the opportunity to read and study. My whole life was changed. While serving in the US Navy I had the chance to teach survival. Many men have written about their challenges to survive a variety of situations, from prisoner of war to wilderness and desert survival. These men put their experiences into words and print. I was able to read and study those works, becoming a better instructor and person in the process as I learned from their challenges and life-changing decisions. Reading books has changed my life, and now I have the opportunity to share these wonderful books with the whole world, for the life of an online bookseller is truly global. The first book I sold was to a gentleman in Germany, and since then I have sold many books to customers overseas as well as throughout the entire USA. Oh, I didnt say I could writethough that is another goal somedaybut this is my story! Postscript since this was first submitted. After careful consideration and prayer, we have decided to relocate to New Port Richey, Florida. It has been a nice challenge to pack up our household goods and the bookstore and move 1100 miles. I have been told this is an excellent area in which to obtain books for my store. God has continued to bless us. As I have put things on vacation with the online listing sites, we have had four orders in the past two days. We didn’t want the customer to have to wait, so we searched, found the books (that was fun), shipped them out, and then resealed the boxes again. We will be all moved in and back online by the time you read this. Father Rick Reed operates St. Gabriels Bookstore and can be contacted at http://www.christianbooksonline.us.

There is little doubt that the internet has changed the nature of the book business, just as it has altered many other trades and industries. For many booksellers, this has resulted in a substantial additional revenue stream for their existing brick and mortar, and for others it has allowed them to become professional booksellers, selling exclusively online. However, for many booksellers, it can pose a challenge as they struggle to adapt to the changing expectations of customers and of doing business. Over the years with Biblio.com, I’ve seen many of the best business practices of some of the finest booksellers, and I’ve also seen some which leave much to be desired. Based on that experience, I’ve written the following guide with the intent of highlighting some of the best practices (and to point out ways to avoid the worst). Naturally, this is not a comprehensive guide to running an online business, but hopefully should serve as a bed of ideas from which you can grow your sales online. Part I—Managing Your Inventory 1. Your online business is your data—so invest in it. I know this sounds a little dramatic, but the simple truth is that without a carefully compiled database of inventory, you’re not going to sell your books online (not many, anyhow). In fact, it is such a vital part of the online bookselling business that I am astounded at how many people invest unending hours in adding to and maintaining their book database, but do not invest in software to best highlight and maintain their data. In fact, I should bring up one thing right here. If you are hand-entering and maintaining your inventory directly on a listing website (or worse yet, more than one) without your own database program, you should read the rest of this section and immediately begin finding a software solution for yourself. There are a few free software packages out there that are marginally adequate for some booksellers’ needs, but the first time you want to be able to do something slightly “creative” with your inventory, you’ll find yourself up against a cold stone wall with no support. Like what, you might ask? Well, let’s say you are tired of those 3,000+ modern fiction hardcovers on your shelves (say it ain’t so!) and want to get them moving—out. “Simple,” you think, “I’ll just re-price it all to be 50% off my original price.” But then you realize that in your Modern Fiction catalog, you’ve also got a nice run of Cormac McCarthy firsts. “OK,” you think, “so I’ll just do that for books priced under $50.” If you’re using one of the free solutions out there, you’d better stock up on your favorite jazz albums and Arabica roast coffee, because you’re in for a long evening. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Some of the very reasonably priced software programs out there can do all of this for you in a matter of minutes. And, if you want, you can still listen to jazz and have a cup of coffee. If you are thinking that software programs are expensive and only for expert computer users, it’s entirely the other way around. These programs are built to be extremely user-friendly, and most offer great support along the way if you need help. Some of the programs out there which are great overall picks for price, reliability and support are: -BookHound: http://www.bibliopolis.com (Windows and Mac) -Booklist: http://www.clique.co.uk/booklist.htm (Windows) -BookTrakker: http://www.booktrakker.com (Windows) -Readerware: http://www.readerware.com (Windows, Mac, Linux) One final note on your database, which I’d be totally remiss in ignoring. BACK UP YOUR DATA AT LEAST WEEKLY, IF NOT DAILY. I recommend making this a part of your daily routine. Before turning off your computer for the day, simply put a floppy or rewritable CD into your drive and literally drag and drop a copy of your data file onto it. Keep this backup copy in a separate location. 2. Keep your inventory accurate and up to date. This sounds pedantic, but it is one of the biggest difficulties a customer faces in purchasing used and out-of-print books online. Not only is it disappointing to the customer, but it is frustrating, because they are left feeling that their time has been wasted. And this is a feeling they may well retain the next time they are considering a book purchase. Of course, everyone in the bookselling industry knows that stock-outs occur occasionally for a variety of reasons, and no one would reasonably expect a bookseller to indefinitely maintain a perfect 100% fulfillment rate on their orders. However, it is possible for booksellers, whether small or large, to achieve fill rates of well over 98%. We have a number of booksellers on Biblio with inventories of more than 100,000 titles who maintain fill rates over 99%, as well as hundreds with very small inventories who are able to do the same. These, of course, are the shining examples, but, as a minimum, I would suggest working towards a 92-93% fill rate on all the sites you list on. So, what are some major obstacles to achieving high fulfillment rates? First, check that you are using software that enables you to perform incremental uploads (i.e., upload only records that have changed since a certain date). Or, if you are using your own system (such as Excel), make sure to add a field called something like “Status,” which contains a brief notation as to the record’s status (for example, “A” for “Add this book” or “D” for “Delete this book”). This enables you to upload your changes daily, without having to rely on a purge and replace, or even worse, deleting records manually from all the sites you list on. I would highly recommend against performing a daily purge and replace. Not only does this run the risk of pulling your listings offline for a period of time, but it is burdensome to listing sites, and can often slow down their ability to process your files. Using an incremental upload method like this, you should only need to purge and replace about once a month to “freshen up” your listings. Sometimes when a book sells you may realize it is potentially a hot item—and one for which you may receive orders for from other sites very shortly. In these cases, immediately upon receiving the order, visit each of the sites you list on and manually delete that item. Just don’t forget to mark it deleted in your database as well. Additionally, the occasional stock-out presents an opportunity to implement another best-of-industry practice. If you must reject an order because of a stock-out, try helping the customer find an alternate copy of the book by sending them a link to a search service or bookseller that has that title in stock, offering assistance such as, “Have a look at the third copy in the results list.” In the short term this will not make any money for you, but you will have just taken the first step towards building a long-term relationship with that customer. Finally, if you list on multiple sites, give consideration to using a service or tool that allows you to update and add to your listings on multiple sites simultaneously, such as: -BookRouter (http://www.bookrouter.com) -Art of Books (http://www.theartofbooks.com) -Fillz (http://www.fillz.com) -BookTrakker (http://www.booktrakker.com) 3. A picture is worth a thousand words. Although it’s impossible to precisely measure the increased sales conversions associated with placing images with your listings, I have often seen examples where booksellers who provide photos with most of their listings achieve 200-300% more sales than other booksellers. Although scanning or taking photos of your books sounds like a laborious process, consider setting a certain threshold value for books you’d like to list with images—say all books greater than $75. Given the option between a digital camera or a scanner for capturing images of books, I would generally recommend a digital camera, since most people are already familiar with using a camera, and it is much more versatile in being able to capture three dimensional views of a book. You can get a serviceable digital camera or scanner that comes with a very easy-to-use image editing program these days for about $100 to $125. So, how do you get started? Below is a quick checklist that should help. -Purchase a decent digital camera, and install the software provided by the equipment manufacturer. -Set up a “studio.” If you have the space in your office or storeroom, consider setting aside about three to four square feet to tack up a cloth backdrop. Steer away from using patterned cloth, or extremely light (such as white) or vibrant colors for your backdrop, as that will take the customers’ eyes away from the book itself. Blacks, greys, browns, and dark blues tend to make good background colors. Another idea is to take a cardboard box about 2’x2′ and line it with your backdrop cloth. This way, you’ve got an easily storable unit which is highly portable. Instead of carrying armfuls of heavy books to your studio, you can take your studio to the books. -Take your photos. I recommend images which will display the spine and the top edge—this helps reinforce the fact that it is not just a stock image. -Crop and size your photos. Using the software provided with your camera (read the accompanying documentation for specific instructions), crop your images so that the majority of the photo displays the book, leaving only a small border around the outside. Rotate the photo, if needed, so that it appears straight. Save a copy of the image as is (high-resolution), and then trim the photo down to 30-35k (about 300 pixels high) and save it in a separate folder by its inventory number. For example, if your inventory number is 0001234, save the photo as 0001234.jpg. This is the copy you will use to upload to the sites you list on. Saving the high resolution copy will allow you to easily re-use the photo for other purposes that require higher resolutions, such as print catalogs, display ads, etc. -Upload your photos. Most services will allow you the ability to upload your photos en masse through FTP, provided they are named according to your inventory numbers. For site specific instructions, see their help sections. -If a site allows multiple photos with your listings (Biblio.com does!), take full advantage of that, especially for the rarer items in your collection. 4. Give the people what they want. Nearly anyone in the trade would have no problem understanding the following: Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988. 1st Ed. VG in or. cl. with slight bumping to spine heel. In VG mylar protected dj. Short closed tear to front flap. 8vo. However, with the advent of the internet, the industry has opened up to include millions of potential new customers. Take a look at this from the point of view of someone who has never learned the terminology, but would like a used hardcover copy of Italo Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millennium in good condition, and you’ll understand why many of them find it easier to just go to one of the mega-sites to buy a brand new or more simply described copy, rather than try to comprehend this description. Unless your products are so specialized as to interest advanced collectors only, consider adding one more line to your description to help reassure the well-meaning laymen out there, such as, “Overall, an attractive, clean copy with a small bit of wear.” Also, many booksellers catalog their inventory with only five fields: inventory number, author, title, description, and price. While this is likely to meet the basic requirements for uploading to most sites, this minimalism is not likely to make up in aesthetics what it loses them in sales. Again, the internet has changed the way people shop for things. Customers online generally prefer a logical presentation of data and search options which allow them to refine their criteria or to see things bulleted by field. For example, if you are only cataloging in a limited number of fields, and a customer visits a site searching for “Golden Cockerel” as the publisher, your wonderful reasonably priced copy of T. E. Lawrence’s Secret Dispatches from Arabia is not likely to be found by the customer. In short, try to catalog your books with distinct fields for distinct parts of the bibliographic description, rather than relying entirely on a prose form of description. At least try to separate out fields for publisher, publication date, ISBN, condition, edition, binding, whether the book is signed, and whether the book is a first edition/printing. 5. Include ISBNs wherever possible. Unfortunately, too many booksellers neglect to include ISBNs in their databases for whatever reason. I suspect in part that some believe this cheapens their offerings. Others may not see it as important, and are reluctant to invest the small additional amount of time to include this information. On the contrary, the ISBN is an important part of the bibliographic detail of a book, and is widely used by customers, and especially libraries, when searching for a title. Not only that, but some of the price comparison engines out there will not even pick up your listings unless they have ISBNs attached, so your book may be missing out on exposure to millions of potential customers. Part II—Showcasing and Conducting Business 6. You mean business—make sure the customer knows this. These days, nearly everyone has a story of how they’ve been burned in dealing with individuals on auction sites, or some of the major consumer resale venues. As a result, many are a little bit gun-shy when it comes to making purchases online from businesses they don’t know or have experience with. It can be hard for a potential customer to make a judgment call from among several similar offerings, and often the basis for this decision is derived from the way you’ve described your business. Make sure you stand out as reputable, fair, and honest. So, how can you do this? Although not etched in stone, here are a few general points you might consider in presenting your business to the world. -Choose a name for your business that boosts a customer’s confidence in you. Stay away from names that make you sound like an individual just selling off a couple dusty books from your attic. It sounds superficial, but we’ve seen that given the choice between the same product from “The River Village Bookstore” versus “ilovedogs879,” customers will nearly always buy from the former. Once you’ve chosen a name for your business, make sure to register a DBA (Doing Business As) certificate with your local government (inside the U.S., anyhow) so everything is on the up and up. -Try to avoid using free e-mail account addresses for your business contact information. Again, although it sounds a little picky, this is very similar to the point raised above. To many people, e-mail addresses like something@hotmail.com or something@yahoo.com raise instant red flags. Not that they won’t do business with these folks, but it definitely makes people take a harder look at the individual or business. Unfortunately, these two companies in particular have a very tarnished reputation as havens for spammers and scammers. -Include a generous return policy. Even with the most verbose descriptions and extra photographs, the customer is still making a purchase “sight unseen.” Make sure they know that the book can be returned if they made the wrong selection, or if it is incorrectly described. Consider offering a full 30-day return policy. -Use your terms of sale to tell the customer how you are going to handle their order. If you ship by UPS, tell them so. If shipments are made within 48 hours, tell them that too. If you jacket all hardcovers . . . well, you get the idea. The more the customer knows about you and the way you do business, the more likely they are to make a purchase from you, and the less questions you’ll probably have to answer from them before and after the sale. -Join a trade organization, and list those memberships in your terms of sale. Studies clearly show that trade association memberships help to boost customer confidence. If you’re eligible, consider pursuing a membership with organizations such as IOBA (Independent Online Booksellers Association), ABAA (Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America), ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers), et al. In addition, there are many state or regional bookseller trade associations you may be eligible for. The bottom line is that if you place yourself in good company, you’ll immediately find yourself in good standing with a potential customer. -If the site provides you with a place to describe your business, use it. Perhaps you might state how long you’ve been doing business, or your specialties. Include information that reinforces the customer’s faith in doing business with you. Be careful about sharing a whole lot of personal information about yourself in this area. Remember, the point is to assure the customer that you are a decent and fair business for them to enter into a transaction with rather than talking about your weekend hobbies. 7. People out there want to pay you for your books! On Biblio.com, we have found that well over 90% of customers prefer to pay for items online with a credit card. If you’re not able to accept credit card payments from these customers, you may be achieving less than 10% of your potential sales. If you do not currently accept credit cards, I highly recommend either setting up a merchant account or taking advantage of the credit card processing facilities offered by most listing sites. The sites’ fees are usually very reasonable (usually about 5-6%), especially when you consider the fact that they usually absorb all risk of fraud charge backs, and you do not have to go through the frustration of credit cards being declined or billing address mismatches (which very often result in lost sales), since all of this is taken care of while the customer is still on the site with an eye toward finalizing the purchase. If you would prefer to process your own credit cards, a phone/internet sales rate from a merchant account might run about 3-3.5% of each purchase. There may or may not also be a small monthly fee for account maintenance and equipment or software leasing. Some booksellers are able to get lower rates when they have a physical store where the card is present, however, this rate is supposed to be applied only to in-store purchases, and card issuers are increasingly cracking down on the practice of using a low “card present” account for processing phone or internet orders. Some booksellers try to use PayPal to capture credit card payments for them, instead of using a merchant account or letting a listing site handle the processing. I would discourage using PayPal for this particular purpose for the simple reason that customers have to visit a separate site just to buy the book, and most simply give up, never completing the transaction. We’ve seen countless booksellers lose as much as 50% of their sales as a result of this. So, either way, whether you use your own merchant service account or a service offered by a listing site, make sure that customers can buy your books quickly and painlessly with a credit card while you have them on the brink of finalizing said purchase. Part III—Generating Repeat Business This next section is all about one thing—repeat business. There is a great myth that, on the internet, repeat business doesn’t happen, and that shoppers are driven by nothing but the bottom line price on an item. Nothing could be further from the truth! For most customers, shopping online can be a swirl of uncertainty and mistrust. With our company, for example, we spend a great deal of money on technical equipment and parts and have found a couple of vendors whom we trust. Whenever possible these are the vendors we choose to purchase from, even if we could get the part 20% cheaper somewhere else. We routinely see many customers who return to our site to transact repeat business with a specific bookseller. It’s all about establishing a trust relationship. 8. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Despite that maxim, customers will. And to further abuse old platitudes, first impressions are lasting impressions. When a customer receives the book they’ve ordered from you, make sure the first thing they see is a product and package that you are proud to have supplied. Make sure your books are clean. Our friend, Bern Marcowitz, with the help of Margot Rosenberg, has written a wonderful guide called The Care and Feeding of Books Old and New: A Simple Repair Manual for Book Lovers, in which he outlines some basic steps through which you can improve the presentation of your books, including cleaning and repair. Bern also moderates a book care forum on Biblio (http://forum.biblio.com) in which he will gladly answer your individual questions about preservation, presentation, and general care. Consider investing in book jacket covers from companies like Brodart (http://www.shopbrodart.com), which not only protects your inventory but also improves the presentation of the product to the customer. Try to use clean, new boxes without writing (or envelopes for low-cost paperbacks) for your shipments. That said, many booksellers have an admirable desire to reuse packaging, and I would encourage that. However, consider saving recycled packaging for sales to other booksellers or customers with whom you already have a relationship, rather than for your first shipment to a brand-new customer. Sturdy cardboard boxes can be purchased for 30-50 cents from either Brodart (http://www.shopbrodart.com) or ULINE (http://www.uline.com), as can padded mailers for about 20-30 cents each. 9. Keep customers in the loop on everything! There is nothing more frustrating to a customer than to put their credit card information online and then hear nothing from the bookseller. Or, to order a book, and on the day they’re expecting to receive it, to finally get a notice that the book is unavailable. Always let your customers know the status of their order upon its receipt and shipment. Also, consider using tracking for all orders over a certain price. The cost is often nominal ($2.30 through USPS), when you consider the value of both the book and the satisfied customer. For high value purchases, use Signature Confirmation, as this is the only way you can defend against credit card charges back from customers who claim not to have received their book(s). It is also a good idea to update the status of your order on the site you received the order from. Many, many customers e-mail the listing service directly with questions about their orders, and the customer service reps at these services can be a big help to you in answering these types of questions, but only if you’ve kept them in the loop too! 10. Follow-up is king. Nearly all listing services allow you to contact customers with information regarding their order. After you’ve shipped an item to the customer, send them an e-mail a day or two after you expect that they’ll receive their package, asking them if they’ve received it and are satisfied, and reminding them that you are there to help should they have any questions about their order. This is also a great time to remind them that you have similar items in stock or to offer them a coupon towards future purchases. Please note that you should not take this as a license to send subsequent sales e-mails to the customer, unless they have requested that you do so. Not only is this impolite, but it is likely a violation of the federal CAN-SPAM Act or similar legislation, depending on the country you live in. However, sending a single follow-up to them regarding receipt of their order should be an acceptable practice in most cases. In no situation should you ever add the customer to a mailing list without their express consent. 11. Turn problems into opportunities. Despite one’s best efforts, there will be cases where the customer feels they did not receive the product or service expected, and is disappointed. Take this as an opportunity to turn a disgruntled customer into a loyal customer. I’ve heard and experienced many cases where a bookseller is able to reach beyond their stated terms of sale to set things right with the customer, and later found that person to be among their best and most loyal repeat customers. When it comes to dealing with returns, complaints, and the resolution of disagreements with customers, here are some very important Dos and Don’ts. -Do be polite, professional, and courteous in your responses, no matter how difficult the customer may be in their correspondence. -Do respond quickly to all customer inquiries after their purchase. -Don’t quibble with the customer over policies and procedures. -Do readily agree to accept the return with a full refund, provided it is returned in the same condition as sent (unless it is a case of a package damaged in the mail). -Do provide the refund as quickly as possible after you receive the returned merchandise. -Don’t try to charge a restocking fee for returns. -Do agree to pay the customer’s return shipping costs, unless it’s a case of the customer simply changing their mind. -Don’t try to shift the blame onto someone else when something goes wrong, such as the Postal Service, the site they purchased the book on, etc. The customer does not care why something happened (or didn’t happen); they only want to know how you’re going to make it right. -Do offer the disappointed customer a “consolation gift,” such as a coupon or agreeing to waive shipping on their next purchase from you. -Do help the customer find another copy of the book they want, if it is a case where they inadvertently ordered from you expecting a different edition, binding, etc. 12. Enjoy yourself! It is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer size of the internet, competition, and new technology. While some of these tips are things many of you already practice, and some may give you new ideas for your business, the single most important thing is that you enjoy what you do. And, believe it or not, this could likely increase your business far more than any of the other tips in this quick guide. Your passion for what you do will be apparent to your customers, and that kind of enthusiasm will help you form long-lasting business relationships. After all, the love of books is what brings us all together in this industry, whether we’re booksellers, customers, or the people behind the scenes running the listing services or making the software you use. So, as a final roll call, here are the points I’ve highlighted as some of the most important areas for consideration if you want to improve your online sales. Your online business is your data—so invest in it. Make sure you have adequate software for managing your inventory. Keep your inventory accurate and up to date. Be sure that your most recent books are always visible, and that your sold books are not. A picture is worth a thousand words. Include photos of your books, at least for your nicer items. Give the people what they want. Include language in your description that makes sense to people outside of the bookselling and book collecting industry. Include ISBNs wherever possible. The ISBN is an important part of the bibliographical description of a book. Make sure to include it in all your listings. You mean business—make sure the customer knows this. Let your customers see you as the professional that you are. People out there want to pay you for your books! Make sure you accept credit card payments for purchases. Don’t judge a book by its cover. But the customers will. The books they receive should be accurately described, clean, presentable, and well packaged. Keep customers in the loop on everything! They should be informed at each step of the purchase process. Follow-up is king. After shipment, follow up with the customer to ensure that they were satisfied with their purchase Turn problems into opportunities. When things go wrong, focus on making them right, and you may win a lifelong customer. Enjoy yourself! Brendan Sherar is the President and CEO of the book search service Biblio.com out of Asheville, NC, and can be contacted at http://www.biblio.com

Back in old Europe, many years ago, Andrea and Joachim Koch started collecting books, well before this fascinating hobby took on a much more significant role in our lives. The house was always filled with books, for everyday reading as well as rare items brought back from travels in different countries. Coins were scraped together for those titles more expensive than reasonable to buy. Grandpa’s nineteenth century treasures built the initial collection and made us curious to find out more about a subject that’s been fascinating to the family and has now turned into our business. After moving to Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1990s, the historic environment down South continued to foster our love for preserving the values and treasures of times gone by. It didn’t take long for Books Tell You Why to be conceived. Originally a Christmas present for ourselves, the once smallest bookstore in the world expanded rapidly. Books do tell you why, which is for us the raison d’être for reading and collecting them. Meanwhile, our customers come from all fifty states, and every third book or so is being shipped internationally. Despite dealing with a very traditional product, our infrastructure is anything but. Computer systems accessing a multitude of websites, images for book listings, electronic ordering, tracking and shipping confirmation for all shipments, networking to allow secure access to staff working from remote locations, the highest level of secure payment processing, etc. Wim Wijnen juggles this marriage between traditional and high-tech, making sure that our books can be easily found online, and that our computers, databases, and systems keep supporting our growing operations. Book buying needs to be easy. Andrea, being responsible for our Customer Operations, works us extremely hard to gain the confidence of our customers, who receive the book they want in the condition they expect at the time it was promised. Few things are more rewarding than to get a Saturday afternoon call and be able to fill an order for a scarce first edition that has to be on the other side of the country on Monday morning to be presented as a gift. Our favorite customer is the discerning collector—discerning in the books they seek as well as the level of service they expect and appreciate. The next generation, Christopher and Katharina, are beginning to contribute significantly to the daily operations in the order processing and shipping departments, and they put the final touches on a great product on its way to a satisfied collector. And yes, Joachim is still hunting those same books we were fascinated by as kids in a different language in a different part of the world, such as Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, Eloise, or From Russia with Love. These days, however, we are not satisfied with just having any copy. We chase first editions in exceptional condition, to satisfy the collector in us as well as our customers. Focus areas of Books Tell You Why include many contemporary works, signed first editions, Easton Press and Franklin Library, biographies, authors such as Saul Bellow, Dan Brown, Jimmy Carter, Ian Fleming, Anne Rice, Philip Roth, John Steinbeck, J. R. R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, and other great authors who tell you why through their books. Joachim Koch operates Books Tell You Why and can be contacted at http://www.bookstellyouwhy.com. #brickandmortar