Announcements

Glendale, CA International Book, Print and Paper Fair

May 18 & 19, 2002

American Book Fairs, Inc. will hold the Glendale International Book, Print and Paper Fair on May 18 & 19, 2002, at the Glendale Civic Auditorium, 1401 No. Verdugo Rd., Glendale, California. The hours are Saturday 10 AM – 6 PM, Sunday 11 AM – 4 PM.

110 fine local, national and international dealers will exhibit and sell collectible, antiquarian and rare books, maps and prints.

For more information: Phone: 1-480-860-2400, Fax: 1-888-4801-8070, URL: http://www.americanbookfairs.com.

BE SURE TO STOP BY THE IOBA TABLE AND SAY “HELLO”!

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COLORADO SPRINGS ANNUAL BOOK SEMINAR – 2002

The Out-of-Print & Antiquarian Book Market Seminar–an intensive one week program for booksellers and collectors at all levels of experience–will be held again this year at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO. Now in its 24th year, the seminar has graduated more than 2,000 participants, many of whom have become prominent figures in the antiquarian book world. The seminar opens on Sunday, August 4, 2002 and concludes on Friday, August 9, 2002.

The curriculum has been constantly updated to reflect the important changes that have taken place in the antiquarian and out-of-print book world in the past decade. An all-star faculty with a combined experience of many years in all phases of bookselling will preside over sessions covering such topics as pricing and description of antiquarian books and manuscripts, the auction process, internet bookselling, book scouting, ethics of the book trade, book repairs and restoration, operating a used book store, book fairs, the economics of the book trade, and more. Enrollment is limited.

For more information, please contact Kathy Lindeman, Coordinator, at (719)473-6634, or visit the seminar’s web site at: http://www.bookseminars.com where on-line applications can be filed.

N.B. ABAA Woodburn Scholarships for CO Seminar

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DAVID GREGOR’S BOOKSELLING WORKSHOP, MAY 19, 2002, PHOENIX, AZ

The third road appearance of Book Seminars International’s presentation of David Gregor’s Strategic Bookselling Workshop and Book Collecting for Fun & Profit programs will take place May 18th & 19th at the Crowne Plaza Phoenix Downtown, located at 100 North First Street.

If you want to learn how to improve your book business and increase profits, then you’ll want to join us for our one-of-a-kind book collecting and bookselling programs. Our events in Boston brought over 50 booksellers and collectors together in a spirited exchange of fresh perspectives, and we would like to share the same dynamic material with you. Quite a few attendees in my seminars who have also taken the week-long program in Colorado and they all tell me that the two programs cover very different material and compliment one another.

The Strategic Bookselling Workshop (Sunday May 19, 9am-5pm) is for new and experienced booksellers, brick & mortar and Internet only, who want to increase their sales by learning the 12 truths of profit building, developing a niche, refining a profitable customer base, transitioning your business and much more.

If you (or an employee) need to more accurately describe editions and stock condition, understand the collectible book market, learn how to research books and more accurately assess values, Book Collecting for Fun & Profit will help you in those skill areas. A one-year subscription to Firsts Magazine is included with the collecting program.

The cost for each program is $195. Programs are limited to pre-paid attendees. No walk-ups will be admitted.

To learn more about these programs, visit http://www.gregorbooks.com, email them at: seminars@gregorbooks.com, or call them at 206.937.6223.

For 2002, Book Seminars International will also be delivering programs in Atlanta, Denver, Santa Monica, and Seattle.

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BOOKTRAKKER: NEW REVISION COMING

By Andy Gutterman URL: http://www.booktrakker.com/default.htm

A new version of BookTrakker is on its way. The largest change is compatibility with any user in any country, along with some small, added features: User editing of Edition, Printing and Publisher, allowing additions and deletions to the lists; Recursive Hit Lists, where you can use the results of a Hit List to create a new list; plus the addition of a couple of Actions on Hit lists to enable changing the Book/DJ fields globally and to Append data to the end of selected fields.

Some obvious bugs have been fixed, and a few other cosmetic changes were made, such as menu and mouse driven editing features.

A major overhaul is planned after this updated version is released, which should be by early June, if not sooner.

To apply for an ABAA-sponsored scholarship to the Out-of-Print & Antiquarian Book Market Seminar at Colorado Springs, Colorado (dates: Aug. 4-9):

1. Write a one-page letter about your interest in books and why you in particular should be awarded such.

2. Send it to: The Woodburn Fund, c/o ABAA, 20 West 44th St., 4th Fl., NY, NY 10036

3. The deadline for the letter is July 1, 2002

IOBA Visits the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

By Maria Bustillos, Julie Fauble and Greg Williams

On April 27th and 28th, UCLA hosted the 7th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. As in previous years, the event featured scores of authors (noteworthy and otherwise), signing their works and just strolling around UCLA’s beautiful campus.

Attendees could drop in on dozens of lectures, workshops and readings. The festival also featured hundreds of booths, with exhibitors from every aspect of the book industry, new and used bookstores, large and small publishers, well-known and obscure authors, comic books and literary magazines.

Virtually any enterprise associated with the printed word had a presence at the Festival, and the IOBA was no exception.

The IOBA shared a booth with Popula, and spent a busy weekend passing out flyers, answering questions, recruiting new members and spreading the word to the thousands of people who passed by. Below are the recollections and reminiscences of three IOBA members who volunteered their time and energy to help get the word out.

The Festival of Books was such an overwhelmingly positive experience that the IOBA has already scheduled a second outreach event. The IOBA will be exhibiting May 18th and 19th at the Glendale International Book, Print and Paper Fair, (url: http://www.americanbookfairs.com/glendalem02.html ).

All members are invited to come out, help the IOBA spread the word to our colleagues in the profession, and meet your fellow IOBA members in person. It’s bound to be a great time, and we’re looking forward to seeing you there.

MARIA BUSTILLOS (Popula)

We met and chatted with many, many booksellers and interesting (and sometimes bizarre!) collectors. We were offered soup. We met our IOBA colleagues and entirely heroic and worthy fellow volunteers Mary Watanabe and Greg Williams (who looks like one of those really handsome young movie stars, Jason Lee maybe). We had our hands kissed, and later we were all hugged by this other and far weirder guy. We gave out tons of IOBA literature, and signed up new members. We saw George Plimpton.

And, (sit down if not seated already)…

We met the incomparable Regards, Jeff.

I am Not Kidding. Having given little thought to the possibility of meeting inhabitants of heaven until sometime later, I had formed no idea of the physiognomy of my hero. Suffice it to say that Regards, Jeff, in the flesh, had much the same effect on your humble servant as David Bowie did in 1974.

My shrieks of sheer unbounded rapture and amazement woke not only the dead, but nearly everyone in the Valley as well. Mary Watanabe had to give me a time out, and later somewhat dryly remarked that I had made the place sound like a Chuck E. Cheese’s (sorry, Mary.) JULIE FAUBLE (Century Books)

I can’t believe the size of the event — tons of booths and people. Our booth is sort of out in the hinterlands, but the streams of people going by are constant.

It’s a little bit chilly Saturday, with a small threat of rain. I’m frankly appalled. This is L.A. after all, where the sun is supposed to shine nonstop. Besides which, I forgot to pack an appropriate sweater.

The weather deters no one from the event, and the people come by in waves. Mary Watanabe is early on the scene, and we arm her with flyers (one designed for dealers, another for consumers called the “Book Buyers Bill of Rights”). Almost no one gets by her without taking one.

It takes us a little while to get our patter down, but eventually it starts to flow. We begin by asking people if they buy books on the Internet. A few look at us with horror in their eyes, as if we’d just asked if they eat babies raw. They skitter away from us as quickly as they can. A few answer with a quiet “not yet” and a wary look in their eyes. They’re obviously just waiting for an excuse to be tempted, and we try our best to oblige. We sing the praises of the Internet and assure them that if they go to IOBA member dealers, they’ll have wonderful book-buying experiences. Most, however, answer that they buy online now and then, mentioning Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and a few brave souls answer with a hearty “all the time.” We cheer these folks for their good sense and then quickly tell them all about IOBA, why they should buy from IOBA dealers and mention some of the many ways in which they can deal with sellers directly.

A handful of people tell us they sell online, too, and we make certain they know about IOBA and direct them to check out our description definitions and other online resources.

Sunday morning, I remembered to bring my business cards. Armed with those and a handful of IOBA brochures, I made some rounds through the booths. My first stop was Roger Gozdecki at The Book Shop. Yowch! What a way to start the day! Roger politely raked me over the coals with some excellent questions, such as “Why should an ABAA member join the IOBA?”

Why indeed? Here¹s the answer I gave him (minus all the errs, ums, stutters and stumblings):

ABAA members have a vested interest in IOBA’s mission of education for dealers and creating a safer, more stable online marketplace for consumers, which creates a better marketplace for all dealers. All of us have experienced fallout from the influx of dealers who either don’t know or don’t care about professional standards of description or customer service. Bad experiences scare customers out of the marketplace, and even those who buy again are wary, creating more work for the rest of us, in order to overcome their concerns.

For the dealers who don’t know better, we can educate them. We can help them be better sellers and in the process make the marketplace better for everyone. We can’t do much about the dealers who don’t care, but we can give consumers the tools to recognize the bad apples, so they can patronize the dealers who will give them the best book-buying experience.

That was the most interesting bit of the conversation, or at least the interesting bit that I remember well enough to repeat. Suffice it to say, I survived my grilling, and we parted on a congenial note.

After that I visited a few more booths, chatted up a couple more people, looked at lots of books (bought one — an admirable show of restraint, IMO) and wished that I could just attend as a regular consumer and spend as many hours as I wanted wandering about. But no such luck! It was back to the booth and the hordes of people, all eager for more information about buying online (some responded a little too enthusiastically – Maria acquired some interesting admirers!. It was exhausting, but a great experience.

GREG WILLIAMS (Greg Williams, Bookseller)

I walked to the Festival from my humble Westwood abode, leaving our cat to entertain herself with her paranoid hallucinations and psychotic episodes (our cat is a disturbed individual). It was a cooler, overcast day, the kind about which most Angelenos gripe incessantly, but for which my North Dakota relatives would give their frostbitten right arms.

I decided to enter campus from the South, so I could stroll through as much of the Festival grounds as possible on my way to the IOBA booth (a fateful decision, as it turned out…).

Entering campus, the Parking Services folks were out in force, performing their daily miracle of directing hundreds of cars into the campus’s 14 or so available parking spaces. I passed the Student Store where people were already lining up for former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden’s appearance several hours hence.

I entered the festival grounds proper and traipsed my way through the Dance Building courtyard, up the Janss steps into the famous Royce Hall quad (trust me, you’ve seen it in dozens of movies, TV shows and commercials). Even at this early hour, the Festival was hopping, throngs of people already laden with armfuls of biblio-swag, and lining up to get their books signed by a wide spectrum of authors and personalities (within the space of 5 minutes, I passed booths featuring Ray Bradbury, Michael Connelly and Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek).

I crossed over to Schoenberg Plaza, a section where most of the children-oriented booths were located. I shuddered a bit, as the sight of the kids’ area brought up long-repressed memories; one year, Festival organizers had invited the Oscar Mayer weinermobile, and the friendly frankfurter folks had handed out free plastic hot dog-shaped whistles to all the tots in attendance. The resulting, constant high-pitched whistling cacophony was the soundtrack to my nightmares for many months afterwards. Thankfully, however, this year there would be nothing more offensive than Barney singing his innocuous purple-dinosaur claptrap.

I had enjoyed my little stroll, but when I finally arrived at the IOBA booth, I learned I had paid a high price indeed; I had missed Regards, Jeff’s descent from Olympus by mere moments. Maria Bustillos was still overcome with the glory of His presence, and Julie Fauble was only now starting to ventilate normally. Alternatively reverent and hysteric, they recounted the visitation, struggling to describe the glory of the divine using our woefully inadequate mortal vocabulary.

A sense of calm finally prevailed, and formal introductions were made. I’d corresponded with Maria and Julie previously, and was very happy to finally meet them in person. I was also quite pleased to meet Mary Watanabe of Affordable Books & Collectibles, another IOBA member who had volunteered to help staff the booth.

We all quickly fell into a comfortable and enjoyable chattiness, swapping stories and comparing opinions on everything under the sun. I quickly picked up on the hooks Julie, Mary and Maria were employing to lure people to our booth, and in no time, I was out in the thick of it, intercepting folks as they passed by, and herding ’em into the tent.

We had a really eclectic mix of people interested in the IOBA. Soon after I arrived, a professor from the UCLA English Department stopped by and started to chat. As it turned out he, taught a class at UCLA on the history of the book, which covered everything from the development of the bookbinders’ craft, to the history of the publishing companies to modern-day bookselling practices. He was particularly interested in used booksellers (both online and B&M), and was extremely keen on checking out the IOBA.

As the day progressed, we entertained and enlightened numerous other people. We encountered several booksellers who were glad to learn about us, and were quite excited about joining the organization. There were also many people who seemed excited to meet us for other, although less wholesome reasons; one gentleman extracted several hugs from the ladies present, and even got me to engage in a lingering embrace (the tease…I’m sure he’ll never call). We also got to meet a couple of our colleagues and friends from the Bibliophile list, including Ken Fermoyle (bookseller and writer), who stopped by for a nice chat, and was gracious enough to pose for a photo.

As I talked to more and more people, it really struck me that even amongst a crowd of people who had gathered to celebrate their love and appreciation of books, a very large number of them had *never* purchased a book (new or used) online. Even amongst the minority who had, many bought primarily through Amazon or B&N, and hadn’t ever worked directly with the bookseller on the other end of the transaction.

As I heard the same responses over and over, I realized that there’s a *huge* untapped customer-base out there, people who love books, people who love to read, but who just need a *little* bit of nudging before they’ll jump into the world of online book buying. It was a real eye-opener for me, and I’m more thankful than ever to be a part of the IOBA, an organization that is actively trying to reach out to these people, to educate, assure and cultivate these potential customers.

It was a very pleasant afternoon, and the time passed very quickly. We passed out numerous flyers and talked to a lot of people, and by the time I departed, I felt really good about our efforts to get the word out about the IOBA. Most of all, however, I was very happy to have met Maria, Julie and Mary in person, and I hope that at future IOBA events, I’ll have the opportunity to meet even more of my fellow members.

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Lee Miller, author of “Roanoke”

Email: leemillerbooks@twcny.rr.com By Shirley Bryant

I became interested in the Lost Colony when I was living on Roanoke Island working on a completely separate project about the history of the Secotan Indian people. Especially during the winter when the island is deserted except for locals, there used to be a great, lonely, almost bleak feel that made the tragedies that occurred there that much more vivid. I liked that – it’s harder to get that feel there lately with so much development. I realized that most of the people who had worked on the problem were British historians/scholars of British history and not Indian experts – yet Roanoke became an Indian story once the colonists left the island and entered the territory of various nations. My expertise is the Indian southeast, so I wanted to tackle the problem to see if I could understand it differently by looking at it from a new angle. What I discovered was shocking! Which is that there was not one mystery, but two and that to claim to solve the mystery of the Lost Colony, fully three questions had to be answered: 1) Why were the colonists lost? 2) Why were they neverfound? 3) Where were they?

Question number one was never answered by historians, other than to brush the question away with illogical arguments that were too easily refuted.Yet the evidence was there…the colonists (116 men, women, and children) were in trouble from the moment they left England. What had gone wrong? We also know that Jamestown search parties were sent looking for them years later and found them. Jamestown officials and officials in England knew exactly where they were – yet no rescue was undertaken and instead there was a cover-up.Yet despite this evidence, for over sixty years, historians have preferred to tell us that the Powhatan nation of the Chesapeake Bay killed the colonists. It simply didn’t happen. So why have 85% of the original documents – the evidence, the clues – been discarded? Maybe that’s another mystery.

The third and final question took a bit of ethnohistorical detective work and really brings out a very complex picture of the Indian southeast – an area that generally gets skipped over in most history books or, at best, is portrayed in a flat, simplistic manner. But this was a vibrant, multi-layered region with very strong mercantile nations within it with their own systems of power and politics and agendas that were every bit as much a reckoning force as England.

I’ve since received a whole lot of fan mail from lawyers – and even a comment from someone in the FBI – that Roanoke is a great piece of detective work and were it presented as a case at the bar…would probably win. The praise has been great. But the Lost Colony has never before been approached like the detective story it is: it is America’s oldest mystery! It is a missing persons case on a colossal scale and primary evidence (primary documentation) cannot be ignored. From this point forward, solutions can no longer be offered that do not answer all three questions or ‘make sense’ only by throwing out most of the data.

I believe that you wrote another book called ” From The Heart” which was a companion book to the Kevin Costner CBS documentary “500 Nations”. How did you get involved in that project? Can you tell us about that book?

I was an Indian consultant and had been consulting for the Library of Congress in Washington and was hired by Kevin’s director for 500 Nations, Jack Leustig, to be the Head of Research for the show.I was, but I also helped shape and write it, and title the show. At first, the idea was to release two companion books. Mine was to be called ‘500 Nations, the Voices’ and the second was going to deal with our script minus the historical quotes. However, the publisher decided that both books should have quotes and history and so the project evolved quite differently.

My part of the two resulting companion books was my “From the Heart”, which deals a powerful punch by looking at Indian heroes, those who gave their lives in the face of genocide so that others might live.A very inspiring book, and one I wrote for Indian kids especially to let them know that people in the past cared enough about them to give the ultimate gift so that they might live and be strong in their traditions.That’s why I called it “From the Heart”.Its greatest strength is that SO MANY nations are covered – about 350 – giving voice, in many cases, to nations long without one, and long regarded as extinct. I wanted them to come to life and to let people know that there were Indian nations in every spot of hallowed ground in this country. The second book, “500 Nations”, edited by Alvin Josephy, is a text drawn from 900 pages of our script for 500 Nations. It was a hefty project, researching and writing, which took us four years to complete.

Have you written other books besides these two and, if so, have they always involved history and/or Native Americans, in one form or another? Have you written about native peoples from other countries? And, have you had other types of written works published?

After writing “500 Nations”, I published my first book, “From the Heart”. Next, I wrote a special for Fox TV about Egypt and published my second book, “Roanoke”, which took three years to research and write. My third book will be released this fall by Arcade (a publishing house I really like), and I am currently at work on a fourth.No, my books are not all about Indian subjects, my third is not at all, but deals with South America and eventually I would like to write fiction.

Have you always been interested in Native Americans and history? In other words, what interests, education, or happenings turned you in the direction of writing about this area?

Have you always written non-fiction books? Are you at all interested in fiction, whether writing it or reading it?

Yes, I have always written non-fiction. I am a voracious reader and read a strange assortment of the classics, mysteries, and some current fiction and non-fiction. As for writing it, I would love to and keep ‘threatening’ my publisher that when the next non-fiction is finished… then we’ll see.

Do you have a Native American heritage, yourself? If so, what tribe, and are you active in tribal affairs or life?

I am active with an adopted nation, but it’s difficult to do much beyond writing these days and I have an even larger commitment to environmental affairs. I’m creating a nature preserve, and working on reforestation projects, which keeps me too busy!

How did you first decide to become an author? How difficult was it to get your first book published? Did you have an agent for that first book?

I decided to become an author after my stint on Roanoke Island. I wanted very much to write what I knew about the Secotan, and not simply as a dry piece of scholarship. I decided I should try writing a historical novel, which I did. I knew nothing about writing then, and it was rejected but, as I laughingly say, the rejection was so encouraging that it motivated me instead of causing me to give up. I knew then that I wanted to keep writing.It is extremely difficult for first-time writers to get published. My expertise led to my work on 500 Nations. The director, Jack Leustig, gave me a wonderful gift by giving me a chance. They said, “Yes, but CAN you write?” And I said, ” Let me try, I’ll show you. “It’s hard to get that first opportunity. Jack’s kindness was my break and my writing carried me through. “From the Heart” was published in the U.K. by Random House and in 1997 when I began work on “Roanoke”, I flew to London and met with my editor. I pitched the idea and he said, “Brilliant! Write it” (or something to that effect), I did and they published it, which is why it came out in the U.K. first.

I understand that you have become good friends with Andras Bereznay, historical mapmaker, who you are interviewing for us for this newsletter.Tell us a bit about how you and Andras became acquainted, and if you think the two of you will cooperate on future endeavors.

Andras had worked on maps for Random House UK previously and they recommended him for “Roanoke”.We had to email quite a bit to talk about how we wanted the maps to look and Andras is one of those people whose personality can’t help bursting through even on the most mundane subjects -so while we’re discussing how far west to extend a swamp, he’s regaling me with ludicrous anecdotes about beating the Communist system in Hungary or people’s behaviors.He’s a great study of character, as well as a brilliant historical cartographer, so it’s been an enjoyable experience and anything but dull! Yes, I do think he will make maps for my books in the future. I much prefer his work to any others in his field who I know about.

I understand that one of your favorite reading areas is books on trees? Now, how do you get from Native Americans to trees? :>) Have you ever written a book about trees? Tell us about this interest, please!

I don’t read books on trees–I’m an experimental planter. I’ve been working with our own woods, which are quite diseased from heavy logging by the previous owner. I’ve been looking at traditional Indian forestry methods and applying them here to combat the many problems we see. It is, without a doubt, the single most fulfilling ‘hobby’ I’ve ever had and if I had my way, I’d be doing this full-time. I suppose most people feel like this about their hobbies.The proceeds from all of my books, however, go into land -ultimately to buy and preserve land from development and to reintroduce endangered species on it. This includes endangered trees as well as animals. I also have a small nursery, which I plan to expand over the next several years into something quite a bit larger and eventually into a full tree farm.

Aside from being a voracious reader, what are some of your other interests and activities?

I think I answered this above: trees and animals and land preservation. I’d like to get my wildlife rehabilitator’s license before very much more time goes by. I also have a foundation called the Native Learning Foundation whose purpose is to create culture emersion summer camps and schools for Indian kids. I work on all of these projects simultaneously…though the trees have been taking most of what little spare time I seem to have. I deem the environment critical and yes, I do plan a book about it.

Any advice for aspiring authors?

When I wanted to become an author, I got two pieces of advice.One was the ever optimistic – if you work hard enough, you can do it! And the other was the more jaded – make sure you have a great day job because it’s too hard to get published. I suppose that advice somewhere in between unbounded optimism and crippling pessimism is the right note because the truth is, it is very, very difficult to get published and once that has happened, there are whole new slews of worries which make it a very precarious career. We could use more patrons of the arts, as it can be a long, slow process.It is much like the Olympics – requiring long, hard hours, day after day, of putting nearly everything aside in a single-minded purpose to achieve, the knowledge that even having done all that, victory may not be realized. If that drive is still there (for the Olympic skater who wins the medal got there by falling hard many, many times), then write! To get published, get your name out, pursue a skill that gives you an ‘in’, and meet people. Have the optimism to push ahead and, like the athlete, be ready for the defeat. And then pick yourself back up.

Lee, please tell us anything you wish about you, and thanks so much for allowing us to interview you!

You’re welcome. My thanks go to you, too.