2002 Colorado Book Seminar

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Earlier this summer, I read the email on our IOBA talklist about the Woodburn Scholarship offered by ABAA for attending the Bookselling Seminar in Colorado Springs, Colorado in August, encouraging those interested to apply. As a “newbie” in the business, I drooled over the seminar advertisement in Firsts Magazine, and bemoaned my lack of funds to attend. So, on a lark, I went to the site and found that submitting a one-page letter was the only application requirement. I sent my letter in before the deadline and waited. When July 4th came and went without word, I assumed I had not been selected. Then I got a call just three weeks before the seminar informing me that I had been awarded one of the scholarships!

With some anxiety, yet eager and curious, I set off from the dormitory on the grounds of the Seminar (much like my first day at college many years ago), to sign in for the Out-Of-Print and Antiquarian Bookselling Seminar. I was immediately reassured by both finding the right place (eventually) and by being greeted warmly by the coordinator, Kathy Lindeman, with whom I had exchanged several emails. Kathy is the Special Events Coordinator for The Colorado College, and provided a smooth running program from start to finish. I am unable to describe adequately how well thought out and executed the logistics of each event were. Suffice to say, we had to do nothing but get there and focus on what we were to learn for the sessions.

Sunday evening, the Seminar was opened with a welcome, brief introductions of the faculty, a keynote speech by Dr. Richard Weatherford, the Chairman of Alibris, and a reception. We started each day at 8:30 a.m., and Monday began with more detailed faculty introductions and brief “How I Became a Bookseller” stories from each member. They came from all different directions and with different interests. Without doubt, the most valuable asset of the Seminar is their faculty of experienced booksellers who love what they do and are giving back to the community of booksellers a bit of what was shared with them as they came up in the trade, mostly through less formal means.

Our faculty of eight (nine, if you include Richard Weatherford who was there and participated all week) were the Director, Michael Ginsberg, a past ABAA president and in the business since 1956 specializing in Americana, American Church History, Government Documents, Western Americana, Serials, and Scholarly Periodicals; Edwin V. Glaser, also a past president of ABAA, and an internationally- known specialist in rare and important books in Science, Technology and Medicine; Joseph Rubinfine, a specialist in buying and selling American Historical Manuscripts who has worked in the field since 1967 and has produced 147 manuscript and 15 book catalogs; Jennifer Larson, who started with Howe’s in San Francisco, then was proprietor of Yerba Buena Books specializing in Californiana and is currently doing business, with her husband, as Jeffrey H. Marks Rare Books, dealing primarily in Modern First Editions; James R. Canary, Book Conservator and Repair Specialist, Head of Special Collections Conservation at the Indiana University Libraries; Lois J. Harvey, who began bookselling in 1972 and specializes in Bookstore Consultation, Open Shop Used Book Store Operation, Book Fairs, and Book Searches; Lois is a charter member and past president of the Rocky Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Association and has been coordinator of the Rocky Mountain Book Fair since 1995 – she was the only faculty member belonging to IOBA; Mary Francis Ciletti, who is a native of Colorado Springs and who started in the book trade working at a Colorado Springs Bookstore in 1980; she established her own store, Hooked on Books, dealing in new and used books; andJohn D. Townsend, a mail-order specialist of 20th Century authors of Nature, Natural History, Historical and Nautical Fiction, and Americana; he started his own book business in 1992 after spending 25 years in the corporate world of finance and real estate.

In addition to the faculty, helping out were Kathy and Don Stevens of Colorado Springs and our own Sue Gallagher of Denver (yes, the only other IOBA member present). Quite rarified company for such a new kid on the block!

I could go on for pages about the sessions, each member of the faculty, and the opportunities for networking with the established sellers, as well as those who may become the next generation of booksellers, but I don’t have that kind of time nor do I suspect my audience would be fascinated by it. So here is the short version.

The days were absolutely packed with valuable, practical information and real life experiences on topics such as operation of the bricks and mortar store, financing, mail order and internet selling, reference books used in the trade, bibliographic descriptions (understanding them and writing them), making catalogues, pricing, simple repairs, appraisals, technology, auctions, scouting, taxes and accounting, fairs and trade shows, quoting, forgeries, search services, web page design, the history of books and printing, and much, much more.

Many subjects could only be dealt with superficially, but the handouts and references provided were invaluable and something I expect to be able to use for the rest of my career. Though not inexpensive to attend, I came away certain that the knowledge gained, contacts made and reference material supplied were worth one hundredfold the price of admission.

Our week of submergence in Bookselling School ended too soon on Friday afternoon with luncheon, a brief and final note from Ed Glazer on ethics (yes, I did plug IOBA) and the awarding of our certificates. And yes, I am a softy, and was choking back my tears as I said goodbye to each faculty member in the receiving line but at least I held it together ultimately. As each of the 55 students went their own way, I realized I had had one of those extraordinarily rare times that I would probably look back on with satisfaction for the rest of my life. And yet again, yes, I know for sure now that I really do want to be a bookseller.

Julie Wormhoudt Curious Cat Books

Michael Guessford – Oak Knoll Press

Site: http://www.oakknoll.com

Contact Info: 310 Delaware Street, New Castle, DE 19720

Phone: 302/328-7232

FAX: 302/328-7274

Email: oakknoll@oakknoll.com

When was Oak Knoll Press started?

Oak Knoll started out in 1976 in New Castle, DE. We moved again, as we grew, and then in 1999 we moved to our current building, which was our town’s Opera House built in 1879.

Were all three of you involved in the start-up?

The business actually started with just Bob (Robert D. Fleck).

John von Hoelle was owner of Dyne-American Publications, which he sold in 1995 and retired. He was asked by Bob to take over his publishing division in 1996.

Michael Guessford has an extensive background in newspaper, media and retail marketing.

What actually was needed to start Oak Knoll?

Bob started the business with his extensive personal collection, which became our first catalog.

What gave you the idea of starting this publishing company, i.e., was it a niche that wasn’t being filled previously? 

A life long love of books and book collecting, and we wanted to specialize in books about books.

Had you (or any of your principals) been involved in publishing or the book world previously?

No.

Are or were any of you booksellers and, if so, new, used, or both?

Yes. Both new and used.

And do you continue to operate also as booksellers apart from Oak Knoll Press books?

Yes. Oak Knoll Books is the Antiquarian book selling part of the business. Oak Knoll Press is the publishing part of the business.

How did you decide what particular types of books to specialize in, and what are all your specialties?

Oak Knoll Books and Oak Knoll Press are specialists in books about books.

We sell, publish and distribute books in the fields of:

Bibliography, Book Collecting, Book Arts, Books about Children’s Books, Book History, Bookplates, Book Trade, Forgery, Censorship, Libraries, Publishing, Bookbinding, Book Design, Illustration and Graphic Arts, Marbling, Color Printing, Printing and Printing History, Papermaking and Paper Specimens, Topography and Typeface Specimens, Private Press Books and Fine Printing.

Can you give us some information on establishing and running a publishing house, i.e., is there a huge initial expenditure on equipment?

The expense is not in equipment; it is in capital required for production. No equipment needs to be purchased other than basic computers. All printing and binding is out sourced.

How hard is it for a publisher in the start-up period to attract the right personnel?

This is one of your most important assets.

How do you decide how many copies of any particular book to print initially?

Estimate sales for the first 18 months (based on intuition and 30 years of experience).

Do you keep publicly available records on how many copies of a 1st printing were done (this question coming from a bookseller who knows how difficult it is to get that information from many publishers)?

Yes.

How do you attract authors of books of the type you’d like to publish?

We advertise in our catalogs, web site, trade shows and conventions.

In a related vein, how much of publishing is automated now?

Very little. Some functions in the printing and binding are automated. Usually there is an inquiry about a manuscript. If this inquiry is within our publishing focus, we will ask for an outline (as stated on our web site). If accepted, the manuscript is first submitted in hard copy form (printed form). Corrections are done on the hard copy and sent back to the author for corrections, if needed. MS is sent to the typographer. And a dust jacket is designed on the computer. Then everything is sent to the printer.

I’m assuming unless you’re issuing a special limited edition of great quality on special paper in a small initial run that actual printing presses are not used anymore?

Printing presses are always used for our books. Our books are library quality and produced to last for centuries of archival use. Hard covers are Smyth sewn.

Are computers somehow hooked to actual printing presses, or are books printed now on high capability computer printers?

Yes, we use C to P technology.

Are special, very high quality books still handled by hand during the printing and binding processes?

None of our books are done by hand.

What can you tell us about your plans and/or dreams for the future for Oak Knoll Press?

We expect to become the leading publisher of books about books. We now co-publish our books with The Library of Congress, The British Library and 30 other prominent scholarly publishers around the world.

Where would you like to be, business-wise, in five years?

Still in business printing books.

In ten years?

The same.

Tell us about Book Fest IX that is planned for this coming October, please.

One of the largest fine press fairs in North America will be holding its ninth international celebration of the Book Arts at Oak Knoll Fest IX on Saturday, October 5 and Sunday, October 6, 2002. The fest offers an unique adventure for fine book lovers, collectors, and those wanting to learn more about the book arts to intermingle with fine press book traditionalists from Russia, France, Germany, England, Wales, Canada and the United States. Set in the historic, colonial town of Old New Castle, Delaware (on the Delaware River), this two-day event connects fine presses and their books with collectors, librarians, and booksellers.

Oak Knoll Fest Fine Press Exhibition will have 40 private press printing masters coming from Russia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada and United States displaying and selling their fine press books. Miniature book private presses will also be displaying books.

Nicolas and Frances McDowall (husband and wife) of The Old Stile Press will be sharing their 23 years of fine press experience on Saturday, October 5, 2002 at 10:00 AM at St. Immanuel Hall in New Castle, DE. Nicolas (book designer, sometimes author, and printer of the company) will be speaking on the subjects of “Why do we publish the kind of books we do” and “Where do we get our ideas.” Frances (papermaker, promoter and ‘everything else’) will offer thoughts on “Papermaking for printer and printmaker” and “The need to respond promptly to librarians and collectors as well as pack parcels, keep account records and travel the world to book fairs!”

The Old Stile Press designs, prints by hand, and publishes books in editions limited to between 100 and 250 copies. These books involve texts of importance, whether new or reprinted, together with suites of wood engravings, woodcuts, linocuts and other relief blocks made by the artist-printmakers in collaboration with The Old Stile Press.

Nicolas and Frances both have said, “High technical standards are paramount, whether we use older printing methods or take advantage of new technologies and materials to achieve the results we desire. The operation has always been (and will remain) ‘hands-on’ for the two of us and entirely bounded by our capabilities, enthusiasms and energies at any given moment.”

To find out more about The Old Stile Press, go to http://www.oldstilepress.com.

Priscilla Juvelis of Priscilla Juvelis, Inc. (seller of rare and fine books including first editions, women’s authors, and 20th Century Book Arts) will be speaking to us on Sunday, October 6, 2002 at 10:00 AM at St. Immanuel Hall in New Castle, DE. Priscilla will be speaking on the “Contemporary Book Arts and their Historical Antecedents” – which will cover the development of the book arts from the beginning through to the present, using examples from various book arts including designer binding, calligraphy, artist books and private press books.

Priscilla Juvelis, Inc., a private dealer established in 1980, specializes in the sale of rare books and autographs to institutions and private collectors. Formerly associated with the late John F. Fleming of New York, Priscilla Juvelis is an active member of the international rare book community. A member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America and International League of Antiquarian Booksellers since 1983, she served the ABAA as President (1998-2000), after serving as Vice President and Secretary and as a member of the Board of Governors from 1988-2002. She has served as President of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers. She is a lifetime member of the Manuscript Society and served as a Trustee of that organization for three years. She is a member of the Grolier Club and the International Association of Bibliophiles. To find out more about Priscilla Juvelis, Inc., go to http://www.juvelisbooks.com.

Oak Knoll Books will also hold its once-a-year, two-day 20% OFF SALE on all antiquarian and new titles during the fair, including Oak Knoll Press titles. Oak Knoll Books is one of the foremost specialists in antiquarian and new books about books, the history of the book, and the book arts. Oak Knoll Press annually publishes 40 titles in these fields.

If you love fine, collectible books produced by masters of printing and the book arts, do not miss this rare chance to meet the fine press printers in person and see their books. Plan to visit this year’s fair to show your support for those carrying on the revered traditions of fine bookmaking and browse the thousands of titles offered for sale. Join other book lovers, collectors, and renowned private presses in learning about and preserving interest in the arts of fine printing and book collecting.

For more details, directions, and travel information, contact: Oak Knoll Books, 310 Delaware Street, New Castle DE 19720 USA. Phone (302) 328-7232 / Fax (302) 328-7274 / Email oakknoll@oakknoll.com

Has the internet had an effect on your business and, if so, in what manner?

Yes. It is a growing resource for sales and marketing.

How about some information about all of you involved with Oak Knoll Press?

Robert D. Fleck, publisher, 55, graduate of University of Virginia. He received his masters at the University of Delaware. He is past President of ABAA and incoming President of ILAB. He is married with four children and lives in New Castle, DE.

John Lewis von Hoelle, Director of Publishing, 62, masters at the University of Cambridge, UK. Member of the American Publishers Association and AFIO.

He is married with five children and lives in Wilmington, DE.

Michael Guessford, Marketing Director, 46, graduate of Wilmington College (DE).

Twenty-five years experience in marketing and publicity. He is married with one child and lives in Newark, DE.

Any advice for any of our readers who might be interested in getting into the publishing business?

Have a lot of cash!

Thank you so much for allowing us to interview you!

#booksellers #brickandmortar #publishers

Jack Allen, author of “Change of Heart”, “An Innocent Among them”

Current Publisher: Burping Frog Publishing, Detroit, Michigan

Published Works:

1. “Change of Heart”, ISBN: 0-9703053-0-3, Published: June, 2001, Trade paperback, 314 pages, $14.00. Genre: Spy Thriller/Mystery.Available From: Burping Frog Publishing (734-525-1643), Greenleaf Book Group
   

(1-800-932-5420), Ingram Book Company (1-800-937-8000), and Baker & Taylor

(1-800-775-1100)

1. “An Innocent Among Them”, ISBN: 0-9703053-1-1, to be released Spring, 2003.Genre: Spy Thriller/Mystery

How did you get started writing professionally? About what subject? What interested you about that subject? Did/does the subject tie into something in your personal or professional (pre-writing) life? And, have you always written, as while you were growing up and long before trying to get published that first time?

I’ve been writing since I was a kid, emulating the comic books I read, mainly Spiderman, and creating superheroes of my own. As I got older I outgrew comic books and discovered spy novels, especially Ken Follett’s books, such as “Triple”, “Eye of the Needle”, “Key To Rebecca”, and “Lie Down With Lions”. His writing had a huge influence on my own writing. Just as I did with the comic books, I emulated his style until I developed a style of my own. The characters I created are a little more complex, but Josh McGowan, the hero of my first book, has a lot of qualities of those superheroes I admired as a kid.

What type of worker are you when you write, i.e., do you write at certain times, or for a certain amount of hours daily, in long stretches straight through, as the spirit moves you, or???

Putting the words on paper is not as easy as it was a couple of years ago. I used to try to write at least a page a day, maybe 500-1000 words, and I was able to crank out the first books. Now I have been so busy promoting my first book, and editing the second book that it’s difficult to find time to add pages to the next book. Writing a book used to take about a year. Now it takes two years or more. It can be frustrating, but I try to be diligent and just put words on paper, even if I can only manage a paragraph or two. I start at page one, chapter one and keep going without looking back until I have a book. No one sees it until it’s finished. If I stop to revise what I’ve already written then the flow will stop and it will never get finished.

Did you ever take any school or adult education courses in writing? If so, what, and did they help you? If you are a technical writer, have you taken courses in that area?

Writing courses were a part of my curriculum throughout high school and college. I even took a couple of screenwriting courses at Wayne State University in Detroit when I wanted to go into filmmaking. Writing a screenplay was a challenge, but the end result was rather unsatisfying. There are far too many things that can’t be put in a screenplay, whereas writing a book gives the author time and space to explore the characters and settings. I had a teacher in high school who was a tremendous influence on me as a writer. He pushed his students and encouraged us to let out the stories that were held within us. I owe him a great deal.

Do you conceive of an entire story or subject line to be covered in your head before starting to write, or do you get just an idea and sit down, outline it and flesh it out, or???

A story might come from a vague idea, or even be adapted from an event I read about in the news. I write the idea down, whether it’s a few pages of notes or just a few lines, and store it with all the other story concepts. As I come up with more ideas, like maybe a scene or a line of dialogue, I add it to my notes. All of the characters and all of the scenes for my next fifteen or so books live in my head at the same time. Every now and then a new idea for one of those stories comes up. For example, a solution for a scene I¹ve had trouble figuring out might bubble to the surface and I have to write it down before I forget it, even if it wakes me up at three in the morning. Most of the time it’s just legwork, brainstorming to figure out how a scene is going to work or what the characters are going to do.

Tell us how you first got published, and whether it was difficult that first time. Did you have an agent for that first published piece? Was it a book, an article, a paper, or what?

My first published piece was a short story for a magazine. A friend of mine gave me a copy of the magazine just to read and I thought it might be suitable for one or two short stories I had lying around. I changed it around a little bit to make it first person and sent it in, and they bought it. I was surprised, and very pleased to be paid. I have sent stories to other publications, but only collected a folder full of rejections. Since I’ve been promoting my book and trying to get the next book ready for release, I’ve had to put off writing short stories.

How do you feel about editors?? Does it disturb you or comfort you to have someone checking your work pre-publication?

Editors can be very helpful. However, opinions are negotiable. There are no hard and fast rules in writing, although there are many techniques that can make a written piece more enjoyable and easier to read. A lot of these techniques can be learned by practice, by experience, through instruction, and by observing how others write. Of course, a good editor can help make an author’s work better and more professional, but just because someone sets themselves up in business and calls themselves an editor, what really makes them more qualified to suggest changes to a person’s work than anyone else? I guess it bothers me to have someone looking over my shoulder when they might not completely understand where the writing comes from or where I’m trying to make it go.

How are you (or your publisher or agent) publicizing your current work?

It has been a tremendous challenge to publicize my book with a very limited budget. A lot of what we’ve been doing has been a lot of fun, and a lot of work. We have some very sharp fliers that we mail to bookstores and reviewers and others in the book business. As a small, first time author with a small publisher in the Detroit area, sometimes the only way we can spread the word about my book is one person at a time. We’ve received over twenty great reviews, and I’m still waiting for that really bad one. The response from readers and reviewers has been overwhelming. They all tell me they can’t wait for the next book to come out.

Have you ever been on a tour with one of your books? If so, what is that like? Did you find that it helped increase sales of your book?

Most of the touring to promote my first book has consisted of trips to book stores around Detroit and in northern Michigan throughout the year. We’ve also made trips to Georgia and Sarnia in Canada, with a couple of tradeshows coming up this fall. I looked at the way a rock band promotes itself. They make their living by playing in nightclubs and bars, where they can show off what they do and hopefully sell a few CDs. I try to take the same approach with bookstores. The more appearances I can make, the more exposure I gain. Sometimes it comes down to selling one book at a time, making one fan at a time. The bookstore owners I have met have gone out of their way to support me, and I am happy to make a long drive in order to support them. What is really special is when you find a bookstore owner who loves your book; then you have made a good friend.

Can you tell us a bit about a book that you might be working on now or plan to start soon? If you do have another in the works, are you writing a series, on the same subject as your last work, or on something totally different?

I’m getting ready to release “An Innocent Among Them”, which is a follow up to my first book, “Change of Heart”. Both are about Josh McGowan, a Navy Intelligence operative. The first three books of the series are finished and I’m in the middle of writing the fourth. So many people have told me they can’t wait to read my next book that I’m very anxious to put it out and see what happens.

Could you please give us a synopsis of your current book and, if a series, what the whole series is about?

The books I’m working on are parts of a series about Josh McGowan. He’s with Navy Intelligence and chases bad guys to different parts of the world. Josh has a strong sense of honor and wants to make things right, sometimes against his orders. In a recent review, Bob Spear of the Heartland Reviews (www.heartlandreviews.com) put it this way:

‘ … a protagonist who is constantly trying to examine what makes himself tick, while committing the actions that will accomplish the mission, usually in a loud and messy manner.’

Tell us a bit about how you go about doing research for your work?

A lot of my research work is done the old fashioned way, from reference books. For a guy who doesn’t have the budget to travel to Moscow or Tokyo or Tel Aviv, I have to rely on information from atlases and guidebooks to tell me what I need to know to bring a setting to life. My information about the changes in Moscow since the fall of the Soviet Union came from an article in National Geographic magazine. A lot of my ideas for stories come from magazines like Newsweek or Time. And programs on cable television provide a wealth of information for anyone who can use it.

Any advice to aspiring writers on finding an agent or contacting publishers?

I think the important thing to remember is not to take rejection personally. A lot of times a rejection may not have anything to do with the quality of the writing. It may be nothing more than the agent already has too many submissions, or it is not the kind of material they are suited to represent. There are a lot of agents in the world, and the hardest part is finding that one person who will fall in love with your book and work to get it published. As for contacting publishers, most won’t consider a manuscript that is not represented by an agent, so that’s just one more step that someone’s book has to go through. There are, though, some small publishers who will accept submissions without an agent. These agents and publishers can be found in several publications in book stores, libraries and online. Once someone gets started in this process, they might quickly discover that writing the book was the easy part.

Are you a reader? If so, what types of things do you enjoy reading? Do you ever buy your own reading material online (had to ask that one!)?

Spy novels are still my favorite books to read, and I recently finished one of Ken Follett’s new books, “Code To Zero”. I still love to read science fiction once in a while, especially anything by Larry Niven, and I’ve read a lot of Ed McBain’s hard-boiled detective books. For a long time I’ve wanted to build my dream car, something like a Mustang with a strong motor that can also handle like a race car, so I’ve been reading books on building high performance engines. As for buying my own books or any other books online, I haven’t done that yet. I believing in supporting the small business owner rather than the big chains, and there are a lot of online bookstore owners, like Laura Eszes of TwinWorlds.com, who has been very helpful to me.

What other types of things do you enjoy doing, besides writing? Any hobbies? Pets? Sports? Traveling? Gardening? Music or art, etc.?

I recently got married and I enjoy spending time with my wife, like sitting on the porch, listening to the rain. I also love fast cars and would like to spend more time working on projects, like my sports car, or a hot rod. That would also take more money.

Please tell us anything else about yourself you’d like us to know, either personal or professional, and thank you very much for allowing us to interview you!

Thank you for granting me the interview. I guess one thing I’d like to pass along is that I am a student of the martial arts, in particular Kung Fu San Soo. It’s not as widely known as some of the other martial arts, but those out there who practice it are very loyal to its roots with Jimmy

H. Woo.

#authors