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SUMMER 2003 (VOL. IV, NO. 2)

Rest Breaks, Exercises Prevent Computer Ailments

Online booksellers make great candidates for eyestrain, backaches, carpal tunnel syndrome and all manner of computer-related repetitive stress injuries (RSI). We spend hours hunched over keyboards, eyes glued to monitors, turning those stacks of unentered books into cashable assets in our online inventories.


Between us, my wife and I offer a catalog of physical ills caused by years of working on computers: various RSI problems, neck pain, sore backs and vision problems. Liz underwent surgery twice for carpal tunnel syndrome and still has frequent wrist and hand pain. (Admittedly, not all of these aches and pains came from our book-related efforts; some came from earlier days when we actually made real money using computers. But latter years spent doing book entries, processing orders, working on book websites and the like haven’t helped.)


I have suffered from aggravated neck and back injuries. My vision has deteriorated, partially from 20 years of staring at a monitor, although admittedly age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts have been more damaging.


The sad truth is that if we knew 15 or 20 years ago what we know now, these problems need not have occurred. Or if they had, they would have been less severe. Even sadder is that prevention of many computer-related ailments is neither difficult nor especially time-consuming.


Frequent rest breaks are vital, says my chiropractor, Kurt W. Rice, who is also my son-in-law, God bless him. (He has helped me more times in recent years with neck and back problems than I care to remember!)


The breaks needn’t be lengthy. Dr. Kurt recommends that we get up from our chairs every half-hour or so, stretch our backs and walk for a minute or two, maybe jog in place. Other experts offer different opinions about frequency and duration of breaks but all agree that they are vital.


Sitting and working at a computer creates more tension and stress on muscles, nerves, tendons and joints than most of us realize. Our bodies fight gravity every minute that we’re seated. Breaks alleviate this tension and stress.


To prevent the dread carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), during your break let your hands go limp at the wrist and wiggle them vigorously in what some call “the clerk & typist exercise.” I’ve found that switching hands to use the mouse or trackball is a good way to prevent the onset of CTS. I’m right-handed so it seemed strange to move the mouse to the left side of my keyboard and use my left hand to manipulate it. It quickly became habitual, however, and now I’m ambidextrous on the computer – but nowhere else. I switch back and forth regularly.

Other critical points concerning CTS are wrist support and correct desk height for your keyboard. I suspect that more wrist damage has been and is done by ignoring these two areas. Wrist pads are a must! If your keyboard is at the very edge of your desk or keyboard drawer surface, leaving your wrists dangling in the air, you’re asking – no, begging! – for carpal tunnel problems.


The same is true if your monitor and keyboard are mounted on a standard-height desk (about 30 inches). Best height for a keyboard work surface is 25 to 26 inches, give or take a bit.

Some people use voice recognition programs to cut down on their need to use a keyboard and mouse. I find that difficult; after more than 50 years of banging away at typewriter and computer keys, dictation comes hard to me. Now that voice recognition software is improving and more reliable and faster computers make it more practical, however, I’ve resolved to use it more often for many tasks. A major benefit is that you can use a microphone or headset while standing or even lying down. I plan to try dictating drafts, then to rewrite and edit as necessary from the keyboard.


I suspect using voice recognition for entering books into a database might be a problem. If anyone out there has tried it, please let me know about your experiences at kfermoyle@earthlink.net.


Vision experts warn that we should take “eye breaks” even more frequently. Every 10 or 12 minutes, look away from the monitor at objects 10 to 12 feet away. When I’m working with a word processor or any other program that allows me to increase type size easily and temporarily, I do it. Working with 14- instead of 10-point type prevents squinting and straining to see my work. It also allows me to sit up straight, not bent over the keyboard, and you can always reduce point size before printing or sending e-mail.


I mentioned my neck and back injuries earlier. The neck problems began about 19 years ago. I was riding my bicycle when a large tree limb broke off and fell on me. (Fortunately I was wearing a good helmet or the freak accident might have killed me.) That caused some damage, which increased with age and was aggravated by working on computers and long-distance cycling. The pain got so bad I could not turn my head to either side more than 12 or 15 degrees. Dr. Kurt came to the rescue, with manipulation, ultra-sound and heat packs. He recommended several simple exercises, which I try to do regularly.


My back injuries were computer-related. The first came when I installed a second drive in one of our machines. I crawled under a desk to get at the computer case. After removing all the cables, I tried to lift the box and slide it out to where I could work on it. Trouble was, I was lying with my body twisted awkwardly and didn’t bother to shift to a position that would give me more leverage.


Bad move! I felt something pop and was in instant agony. It took several weeks of Dr. Kurt’s ministrations to recover from that one. I injured the back again in October 1999 after one of the desktop publishing/word processing classes I taught then. I took a computer and 17-inch monitor out of a car trunk with a high lip that made it impossible to lift them properly. I had to bend and lift with my back—and pop, there it went again! This time, recovery took even longer.


I mention these details to make a point. The first instance was pure accident. No way could I foresee that a brittle, rotted pepper tree branch would break off and fall just as I pedaled under it. The second injury occurred because I didn’t take time to position myself properly. The third case was avoidable too; I should never have tried to lift heavy objects out of that particular car truck. Trouble is, I forget my hard-used back is more vulnerable now than it was even 20 ago, and I think many of us who have reached senior citizen status do the same.

I just caught myself in a no-no a few minutes ago. I wanted a book from a built-in shelf high and to the right of my home office workstation. I started to reach up, twisting my back at an awkward angle. Various muscles prepared to scream in protest, so I did what I should have done in the first place. I moved my chair out of the way, got a step stool I keep folded behind the door, set it firmly in place and climbed up to find the desired book. It took a few extra minutes, but it kept me from aggravating my previously- injured back.


The book, by the way was Zap! How your computer can hurt you—and what you can do about it. Written by Don Sellers (edited by Stephen E. Roth), it was published by Peachpit Press in 1994. It’s now out of print but you can find copies online. And Peachpit has a condensed version, 25 Steps to Safe Computing, also by Sellers, that may still be available for $5.95.


Either would be a good addition to your library. Check them out.


Meanwhile give yourself, and your body, a break…at least once every half-hour!



Copyright 2003 by Ken Fermoyle, kfermoyle@earthlink.net .

 

Mission Hills, CA Paperback Show Continues To Grow

While many other Book Fairs are closing or seeing less traffic, buyers, sellers, collectors and just the plain curious swarmed the 3 rooms of booths and displays at the 2003 Mission Hills Paperback Collectors Show. It was a great comeback after last year’s 9/11 residual effect on people’s travel and buying habits. One way I judge a book fair’s success is the mood of the dealers toward the end of the day, rather than just a count of paid admissions. This year most everyone was smiling, laughing and actually counting money rather than grumbling about whether they will come back the next year.


Mission Hills is actually part of the City of Los Angeles, at the very north end of the San Fernando Valley. The show is held at the Mission Inn Conference Center, about ¼ mile from my bookstore. It is an outgrowth of a group of collectors and friends with similar reading and collecting interests meeting at the home of Tom Lesser starting in 1978 or 1979. As the group grew too large for Tom’s home, he made arrangements to rent a room at the Conference Center. Tom is an attorney by profession, but has a passion for hard-boiled detective fiction. Tom’s ability to sign-up well-known mystery and science fiction writers for signings, as well as popular cover artists, is largely responsible for the success of the show.


Although Tom is what might be called the Executive Producer and general host of the show, the details and behind the scenes preparations and dealer reservations are handled by his friends, Rose Idlet and Tony Scibella of Black Ace Books, who operate an on-line business from the Los Feliz area of LA.


The camaraderie among the dealers and repeat customers is very evident and adds to the ambiance as passionate discussions on authors and genres and gleeful reports of “found treasures” since the last show are overheard as you wander the isles. This was somewhat disconcerting the first time I attended this show about 7 years ago, having only attended the International shows with museum quality offerings and hush-hush discussions between clientele and dealers. I’ve also had booths at the Glendale/Burbank Book Fairs for a number of years, which are a little more casual and actually had a few books I could afford. But the PB show was a matter of culture shock for me the first time. I went primarily to visit with my friends and IOBA members, Jerry and Shushona (Rose) Blaz of the Bookie Joint in Reseda and Marty and Alice Massoglia of Canoga Park (I’m trying to recruit them). All of them have been very helpful to me over the years in learning about collected books. I’ve gotten over my initial reaction (and prejudice) to these “weird” folks at this show. They are just counter-culture “originals” or just plain “characters” and have an abundance of knowledge. Part of the problem is that these vintage covers of almost naked women, tall and skinny on the mysteries and voluptuous on the sci-fi covers, just never appealed to some of us women.


Several dealers from out-of-state told me this was the “most fun show” in their travels. I was pleased to meet Lori Ubell from Portland, Oregon, a regular participant in the Bookfinder Insider list, and recognized many names from doing searches on various sites.


This year 56 dealers had booths. Over 70 % are from Southern California, but increasing numbers are coming from out-of-state. Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Pennsylvania and New York were represented. Dealers come in a few days ahead of time and scout the local stores. I have benefited greatly by being just down the block. The one year I set up a table at the show, Tom was gracious enough to refund my fee so that I made a little profit. For Tom this is a labor of love, rather than just a business venture. Since then I have developed an eye for the covers that seem to sell and have about 800 vintage books on-line, but since I don’t read many of these books, I can’t engage in the kinds of conversations that die-hard collectors like to have about their favorites. I do much more business with the dealers who come by in the days before or after the show seeking other kinds of inventory.



This year was especially nice because I benefited from a favor I had done for someone 5 years ago. I had totally forgotten about the situation. A collector from Seattle had flown in to attend the show. He had not rented a car because he had the mistaken notion that we actually have public transportation in this part of LA and could go around to the local bookshops. Cars and LA are synonymous for a reason. You need them to get anywhere in a reasonable time. Not being a rich book dealer yet, he hadn’t budgeted for a one-day car rental.



It was a beautiful day out, I had someone to run the store and I had been saving up my overstock to take out to Marty Massoglia’s shop to trade for books I need, so I asked him if he would like to tag along. Ten minutes with Marty is like a day-long seminar in terms of information he can give you. It is only about 10 miles away. We may have stopped at another shop, but went by the Bookie Joint on the way back. I can always use a good hug from Jerry Blaz and watch the ever present Scrabble game between his wife and Bruce Coleman, who has helped in both our stores over the years. The collector was able to find some titles he had been looking for. I dropped him back at the Mission Inn, and never expected to see him again.


He came back to the show this year as a dealer, Mark Doiron of PBO Books. He stopped by the store when I wasn’t there, found a stash of signed John D. MacDonald books, bought some, sent another dealer over to look at a Dashiel Hammett book and reminded my clerk that he was the fellow I took on the tour five years ago. I was pleased to meet him again at the show on Sunday and we made an appointment to meet at the shop afterwards to go through more of my MacDonald books. It was a very profitable encounter for both of us. Mark also made a coup by spotting a Robert Maguire signed limited edition poster of a Spillane cover and got Mickey to sign it. I’m sure it will stay in his personal collection a long time.

I approach any Book Fair or show as an educational adventure. One of the joys of being a book dealer is that you are always learning. To some it might seem incredible that the names Robert Maguire and Robert McGinnis meant nothing to me, so this experience I called Cover Art 101. (I do recognize Frazzeta covers)


Lynn Maguire was presenting her father’s art for the first time. These were matted poster size copies of his most popular covers. There were Signed Limited editions done in the giclee process. Each one takes 12-24 hours of work to perfect the image. Of course I recognized some of the covers and even have some in the store. He does mostly gallery art now, rather than commercial illustration. The posters are really beautiful and I’m sure they will sell well at shows or on the Internet. They haven’t tried that yet, though.



The only book I purchased was about one of the most prolific cover artists ever: The Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis, complied by Art Scott, who was at the show, and Dr. Wallace Maynard, who was a neighbor and friend of McGinnis for years and began a checklist of the artist’s work in 1980. Scott began collecting McGinnis cover art in the 70s. He is a scholar and mystery critic. Together, they have produced a beautiful book that even a non-collector like myself can enjoy. Full-page color reproductions of the art without the titles or promo blurs makes a big difference. Working sketches and variations make it more than just a checklist. There are chapters on recycled art: same illustration used on different titles and international editions.


A very thoughtful forward by Richard Prather gives insight into how the writer, artist and publisher work together (or not, in some instances).


If you sell paperbacks, you have seen many McGinnis covers, but they go from the hard-boiled to romance (Bertrice Small, Johanna Lindsey, etc.) to classics like Wuthering Heights and Where the Red Fern Grows. Even And the Ladies of the Club. There are some copycats out there, so I was surprised at one John D. MacDonald cover that I was sure would be a McGinnis, but it wasn’t listed.



The Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis is not a price guide, but is helpful in identifying books by author, publisher, code number and reprint information, as well as good reading. It is in its second printing and there are volume discounts for dealers. Published by Pond Press in Boston, 2001 in both hard and soft cover. Designed by Paul Langmuir.


The Paperback Show is usually in March, so if this is your area of interest, plan a trip to Los Angeles around that time next year.



By: Mary Watanabe maryw8@earthlink.net


 

IOBA Q & A Column

Q. For books that you have already bought and looked up on the internet, what is your specific criteria (prices too low, too many copies already online) for not putting them online? Or do you put everything online?

Jonathan Grobe Books


A. Why add to the glut and waste keystrokes? If it appears that I can’t get at least $10.00 for a book, then it goes out to http://www.bothing.org .

Ilene Kayne B is for Book And….

I use condition and number of copies online as my criteria. I try not to list anything with more than 10-15 copies already available (becoming more difficult as time goes by), anything with underlining or musty odor (unless exceptionally scarce) and then it is fully described in the listing. Some of the ones that are prolific on the net will go well on e-Bay (particularly non-fiction).

Donald & Cynthia Putt Parnassus on Wheels Also….

If there are more than 50 copies online, I don’t bother, unless most of them are ex-library, book club, damaged, etc. If I have to ask less than $8.00 for a book, it goes on Half.com, unless it is too old to have an ISBN.

Stan Modjesky.




Q. Is there anyway to find out if a book is from a book club, such as: Mystery Guild, or Book of the Month Club?


Lynn DeWeese-Parkinson – submitted on behalf of members of Bibliophile, a great online subscription list for book lovers.


A. There is no one way to identify book club editions, and for every “rule” there are exceptions. Here are the main rules for books published in the U.S.:

1. NO PRICE on dust jacket when the book is published by a major U.S. trade publisher, i.e., Random House, Houghton Mifflin, Dutton, etc. Exceptions: Some Book-of-the-Month-Club (BOMC) editions DO have a price on the dj. Family Bookshelf book club editions almost always have a price. (usually stated as such on the rear flap). Conversely, some small publishers and university presses sometimes do not have prices on the dj. It’s uncommon, but some trade publishers such as St. Martins, who also publish academic/scholarly books, might not have a price on the dj on these academic books.

2. Cheaper, lighter weight and/or smaller format. This is generally true of books published by the Doubleday book clubs, including science fiction and mystery, the Literary Guild, The Family Bookshelf editions, etc. Exceptions (many): Book-of-the-Month-Club Editions are often identical or almost identical to the trade editions, including stating 1st edition, etc. Older Literary Guild editions are well produced. The Junior Literary Guild (children’s books) are identical except for the price on the dj, and the ‘guild’ on the spine of the book instead of publisher’s name. Many newer book club editions are much closer to the original format, often the same size, and not obviously cheaper.

3. Lacks the publisher’s usual method of identifying first editions, whether it is stating first edition, or a number line, etc. Exceptions: Frequently BOMC states 1st edition, but has blind embossed dot on the back cover. Family Bookshelf sometimes state ‘first printing’ but these editions are cheaper and lighter in weight so you can tell even if you don’t have a dj. Usually “Family Bookshelf” is stated on rear flap of dj. Many newer mystery and other generic book club editions will have a statement or a number line, but usually no price on dj. These are the books most commonly misidentified as firsts.

4. Blind embossed dot on the lower edge of back cover near spine. NO exceptions. If a book has this dot, even if dj has price, and the books says first edition, and is in every other way identical to a first edition, it is a BOMC EDITION. This would be an infallible way of identifying book club editions, except that only one book club in the U.S. used this dot, the BOMC, and then only for part of its existence. Even the BOMC did not use this on all of its books, so the vast majority of BCE (book club editions) do not have this dot. Note: The Borzoi Hound used by Simon & Schuster, and the big colored dots on some of James Michener’s books, etc., are not the BOMC blind embossed dot.

5. No bar code for a book that would normally have one – or a generic book club bar code. The opposite is not true; many book club djs have the identical bar code, with ISBN, as the trade editions.

6. Laid-in material indicating that it is a book club selection; for some small non-fiction book clubs, which basically distribute trade editions, this is the only way to tell.

7. For large trade paperbacks published by the Quality paperback Book Club, a division of BOMC, that might appear like ARCs, i.e., no price, 1st edition stated, there will usually be a code hidden in the rear gutter.

Note: Some book club editions are the “original,” produced only by the book club, especially Guild editions, Nelson Doubleday for science fiction, etc. For some science fiction and mysteries, the book club edition might be the first hardcover edition. (Sometimes there are multiple book club editions of the same title. The Doubleday clubs used a code in the gutter towards the back of the book that can establish priority.)

A common scenario might be to describe a mystery published by Simon & Schuster as a “First Edition ” even though there is no price on the dj. The bookseller will say “it has a number line with a “1” and states first printing. “it is not a cheaply made book” “it isn’t a small size” “it has a headband” or “there is no blind dot”. None of this matters. In this case, the book met Rule #1 (no price on the dj, major US publisher), and it only needs to meet ONE rule.

A couple of last points: It is not accurate to describe all book club copies as BOMC editions. There is often a difference between BOMC books and those by other clubs. The generic terms are ‘book club’ ‘bc’, or ‘bce.’

If the only way to tell if a book is a bce is by the price or lack thereof on the dj, and you do not have a dj, then you cannot call the book a ‘first edition’ (unless you personally threw away the priced dj). Book club editions are almost always much more common than trade editions; so in the absence of evidence that the book is a trade edition, you cannot just call it a first (if, for example, you know that it was also a BOMC edition) The same applies if the corner has been clipped. Unless you personally clipped the price off, you cannot assume that a price had been there.

Special thanks to Chris Volk of Bookfever.com for this in-depth information. I might also add that it would be helpful to have reference material, such as Zempel/Verkler. FIRST EDITIONS: A GUIDE TO IDENTIFICATION, to help in determining editions.




Q. Why do some eBayers have a little box around their seller rating with a feedback rating given in a percentage of positive feedbacks? I have just noticed this in the past month or so.

Submitted by David Peterson. Misty Mountain Books.


A. eBay rolled out a feedback enhancement, which it is slowly phasing in, which gives buyers the ability to see right there on the listing page, a seller’s percentage of positives vs. negatives.

Keith Sparrow Sparrow’s Nest Books




Q. After spending two days making three very quick websites, I feel it’s time to ask what other people do. I know there is a fondness out there for FrontPage, but does anyone use anything less complicated & proprietary? I would rather just be able to open a html file and fiddle with it than what I am doing now.

J. Godsey.


A. I have great confidence in recommending NetObjects Fusion 7. It is by far the simplest and yet most thorough pieces of web software that I have come across after a long search, including Frontpage, which I also have.

Luis Porretta.

And from Jim Hart: I have used “Programmer’s File Editor” for coding for many years. It is my first choice for HTML, C, C++, Java, Basic, Visual Basic, and the various scripting languages used on the net. PFE will load files limited only by the amount of memory available. You can save text files in either Windows or Unix format. I have loaded and worked on log files exceeding 600 meg with no problem. PFE is a free program. The developer no longer supports it, and there will be no future changes, but I have had no problems with the software after many thousand hours of use on platforms from Windows 3 through Win 95 & NT. I have not used it on Win 98 nor on XP. I don’t think there should be a problem with either, but cannot swear to this. You can download the latest version of PFE from Simtel’s site: http://www.simtel.net/pub/dl/11983.shtml .

Joyce also tells us these were other highly recommended programs:




Our thanks to all contributors, especially Bibliophile from whence most of the information was culled.


Jean S. McKenna – Editor, Q&A Chairman, Education Committee

 
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