Spring 2007 (Vol. VIII, No. 2)

Table of Contents

• from the Editor

• From the President

• Interview with Paul Mills of AuctionExplorerBooks

• Book-Buying in Middle America, or, A New York Dealer’s Visits to Three Middle American Cities

• Ephemeral Assays: Jumpin’ Jehovah

• Book review: Bookstore: The Life and Times of Jeannette Watson and Books & Co

• Anyone for the Forsythe Saga?

• Cathy Graham and Serena Wyckoff of Copperfish Books, LLC

• Pros and Cons of AbeBooks.com for Buyers and Sellers

• Paul Mills of Clarke’s Africana & Rare Books

• Tami W. Zawistowski of Resource Books, LLC

• addendum

From the Editor

Most of us love books for much more than their commercial value, but how did we go from appreciating them to selling them? In many cases, collectors simply decided to specialize, weed, or trade up, and reselling is a logical way to make room and raise funds.

In my case, mother ran a weekend barn sale in rural upstate New York in the 1980s. The rest of us avoided this in one way or another, most notably my dad who didn’t like strangers on the property all that much and retreated to his huge sloping garden. Antiques were easily had back then, and Mom had an especially good eye. I did a lot of wood chopping at the back corner of this rambling barn, which now looked out on waving fields of hay rather than hops, and would slink up into the rafters of an adjoining room on occasion to eavesdrop on the transactions. Once a troupe of uninhibited theatrical types tried on lots of vintage clothing, which was great fun for everyone involved.

Anyway, it fell on me to price her books, and the whole process was something of a mystery. There were no booksellers around, no local libraries carried large sets that reported on prices realized at auction (not that these would have helped with this kind of stock), and no instant expertise courtesy of the internet.

One day a rare treasure came in though, and I pictured it financing future college educations. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, signed, and probably a first edition. I was crestfallen several years later to learn that it was a cheap reprint with a facsimile signature, and in particularly bad condition to boot. The other funny thing I know now is that even the best signed Whitman won’t pay for all that much college. It has a loving place on my shelf though, as a reminder of the first bibliohieroglyph I ever cracked, valuation-wise, and the shaky ladder between the love of books and making a living off same.

So, how did you get started, in one long paragraph or less? We will run some of these tales in a future issue. And on that subject, this is the fourth number of the Standard under my editorship, and I could use some help with content. If you look under Addenda/Solicitations at the rear pages of our online journal, the begging is more detailed there. You know you’re getting old when you bend down for something and think if there’s anything else you need to do while you’re down there, as the joke goes, so as long as I am begging about submissions, please consider joining IOBA if you don’t belong already.

In IOBA news, we have a new slate of officers and board members girding their loins for exciting progress. Thanks to outgoing President David Friedman of Bibliotique, and best wishes to new President Michael Watson of 20 Ants. Michael gets top spot in our membership directory as part of his extensive compensation package (don’t tell him he was at the top anyway because of the “20”). And check out the powerful new “Search Journal Archives” feature, which will find any word in all past issues of the Standard.

President Watson leads things off with an introduction. This is followed by an interview with one of the guides leading AuctionExplorerBooks out of South Africa; and a Joe Perlman expedition to the interior. The Reference Desk holds an ephemeral assay on high flying fliers and an artsy-smartsy bookselling book review. The Tool Box clanks with advice on how to improve your online sales; and the first (AbeBooks) in an important series of search service Pros and Cons from Chris Volk. The IOBA Bookseller Profiles feature fun in the sun, a serious case of building envy, and more Africana. Addenda ends.

The next issue of the IOBA Standard will be so great that it will be celebrated by fireworks, though it will probably take everyone about four days to organize that.

From the President

Change, Challenge, and Response

I had an article nearly finished for this edition of the Standard, and took the article to my “day job” today to finish the last ten percent. Today turned into an exercise in how to make smooth transitions between crises and the article went unfinished. After dragging myself back home I reflected on the day and found that it illustrated some things that I was struggling to explain in my article. Following one of my numerous credos—“never be afraid to throw it away and start again”—I did exactly that and wrote a new article based on my day. At first glance it may not seem related to bookselling or the IOBA, but, if you’ll indulge my rambling, the meaning may be clear to you by the last word.

My favorite author is Dr. Seuss, and just as his Cat In The Hat introduced you to Thing One and Thing Two, I’ll do the same.

Thing One: I have a day job. Like many of your day jobs, mine has nothing to do with bookselling. While acclimated to bookselling by temperament, previous ownership of an open shop, an illogical affinity for the general public, and simple desire, my financial situation doesn’t allow full-time participation. Life dealt me some cards, some I chose, but it all adds up to the hand that I hold and it doesn’t allow me to have an open shop for the foreseeable future. If you get a daytime missive from me it’s because I’m leaned over the keyboard and a plastic tray of Lean Cuisine’s finest during my lunch break at the job that pays the bills.

Like being a full-time owner of a bookstore, my situation is tenuous. I’m a contractor who manages IT projects for one of the largest hospital systems in the US, but being a contractor I’m always “on the bubble” of being bumped out of my current situation if my work is done, or I’m not needed, or any number of other reasons.

Thing Two: My day job was one long series of crises today. Just when it seemed like things were getting under control, a car hit a utility pole a block away and cut off power to our office where all IT operations occur. On emergency power only, with no lights in a generally windowless building, and late in the afternoon, it was rational for me to just give up and go home. I was certainly willing to do so, since my day had consumed most of my energy and good will.

At that point my pager produced its hysterical beep and suggested that I bring my laptop computer to the café down the street. I did so and met my boss and his boss, not to partake of the specialty of the house, but to continue the workday. We logged into the house’s free wireless Internet service, hopped from there to our own network via a secure connection, and continued the day’s efforts. Undisturbed, we produced a rough draft of a plan we’d been working on. It was easily the most productive 1 ½ hours of our day.

So what on earth does any of this have to do with bookselling or the Independent Online Booksellers Association?

Thing One: The odds are good that I’m like you, given that most online booksellers have a primary job unrelated to bookselling and are part-time booksellers. As the incoming president I represent not just the majority of IOBA members, but the majority of online booksellers. I have experience that enables me to understand the needs of the high and low ends of the trade, but I’m working in the same manner as the majority and that majority is the group that drives and directs the trade.

I see my presidential task as a project management task, specifically to support the full spectrum of online sellers while strengthening the part-time majority that may feel threatened by changes to the trade.

Thing Two: I’m familiar with change on short notice. When circumstances turn for the worse I’m as adept as anyone at wringing my hands and emitting whining noises, but that doesn’t make anything better. When electric power went away there was still a way to change how I worked and made progress. When the IOBA is faced with change and crisis there is still a way to navigate through it and find an appropriate direction. 2007 is a year that will bring questions and decisions.

The IOBA faces change. How might we offer more tangible benefits? How can we increase membership? What kind of organization are we today? More importantly, what kind of organization should we be today and what kind should we be in five years? The long-range answer will give us a definite direction for our short-term decisions.

I appreciate the opportunity to work beside a capable, energized board of directors and appreciate the responsibility of improving our members’ collective lot. Let’s get busy.

Best regards,

Michael Watson president@ioba.org

Michael Watson operates 20 Ants out of Indianapolis, IN and can be contacted at http://www.20ants.com.