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SPRING 2013 (VOL. XII, NO. 1)

From the Editor


Less than three weeks after assuming the position of Editor, I am pleased to present the first issue of The Standard for 2013, and to rededicate it as the voice of IOBA. This is meant in a dual sense: as our “house organ,” The Standard serves to represent our organization’s values, goals and concerns; but more than that, it should also provide an outlet for individual IOBA members to share their experience and knowledge with both colleagues and interested readers.


Part of what made it possible to bring this issue together in such a short time was a significant change to our editorial structure and management. At the instigation of IOBA’s new President, Chris Volk, the Board of Directors has decided to transfer some of the technical/production responsibilities to the newly-created domain of a Managing Editor. Joyce Godsey, an experienced bookseller and the proprietor of Sicpress.com (well known to many as a premier source for book repair supplies), has been engaged as our Managing Editor, and we’re very glad to have her on board.


Although I didn’t approach the assembling of this issue with any particular theme in mind, in looking over the contributions it seems that we have one anyway. There is a common thread that unites all the articles, one to which I think almost any IOBA member can relate: the sense of discovery, which is one of the constants of the bookselling experience. The longer pieces, by Greg Gibson and Chris Volk, relate their personal journeys: Greg’s somewhat quixotic passage from unpublished poet (with intermittent employment history) to experienced specialist bookseller, and Chris’s diversionary adventure as she unleashed her “inner collector” in pursuit of the books of a favorite author. Standing in contrast to Chris’s tale of her Internet-scouring quest, Tim Doyle’s tightly-focused account of how he solved a small biblio-mystery provides a perfect example of the kind of thing that can so easily fascinate or even obsess us….and that any one of us might find at any time, inside the cover of the very next book we handle. Finally, William Knox’s tale of establishing his thriving book business in Penang, Malaysia, provides a particularly interesting example of the diverse (and sometimes peculiar) ways that we have all come to bookselling.


For the time being I find myself planted in the Editor’s chair, but I don’t regard it as either a throne or a bully pulpit. I see myself rather as sitting at a very large table, with enough room for as many others as care to join me. It is, as I said above, both the organization’s voice and your voice as individuals — although truly, the two are inseparable. The IOBA is its members. Together, let’s make The Standard everything it can be and should be.


 

From the President


Traditionally, newly elected IOBA Presidents started out the year with a message to the members. I was going to do that in this issue, but instead, I wound up writing an article on collecting which I think will be a lot more entertaining to read (I certainly enjoyed writing it!).


I will keep this brief, and try to avoid platitudes:


As a long time promoter of IOBA, I have been asked many times “why does IOBA even exist?” More to the point, why do I think it is so important that I am willing to volunteer a lot of my time to the Association?


Here are just two reasons:


Recently I received a “want match” from AbeBooks. We have all become inured to the far-too- common “may have underlining” in what passes for a book description, but this one had a phrase that caught my attention: “Damaged. . . . may contain excessive writing, cover wear, staining, mold or torn pages.” This is not what online bookselling should be! No responsible bookseller should be sending out books which “may have mold” — books which could endanger the health of anyone who handles them.


IOBA, thankfully, exists to stand up against this blatant disregard for best bookselling practices, and for the rights of customers. IOBA’s members cover the entire spectrum of online bookselling, but they are unified in their belief that buyers are entitled to an honest description of what they are purchasing sight unseen, and in their concern for the future of bookselling itself. And I’m proud to be part of an organization that supports such sellers — not just by helping them say “here is the Code of Ethics I go by,” but also through providing education, scholarships, a discussion forum, and a supportive community to which they they can turn for help when needed.


The second reason: not long ago, a bookstore owner in Ohio lost virtually his entire inventory when a pipe broke in the floor above his store. An IOBA member posted the story of this catastrophe on the IOBA Discuss list, and members from all over the world came together to contribute books and money, to help this bookseller — not an IOBA member himself, by the way — recover from his disaster. Quite simply, it made me proud to be an IOBAn, and reminded me what a great group this can be.


As IOBA continues to grow, the more effective we will be in upholding “traditional standards” even as we adapt to the constant changes of the Internet and adopt new technologies,  and the better able we will be to help one another when the need arises. I am fortunate this year in having a great team on the Board, but what really matters to IOBA are its members. Without them, IOBA is nothing. With all of us working together, we can become an organization that will be a real force in online bookselling.



Christine Volk & Shep Iiams, Booksellers

Bookfever.com P.O. Box 696, Ione CA 95640

 
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