Book Expo America 2007: “It’s About People and Books”

BEA. To go, or not to go, that was the question. With my new baby, Perfect Pines Books and Gifts still in its infancy, I had to ask myself first if I could afford to go. That question had an easy answer, but only if I wanted to be completely honest with myself. “No.” So, I admitted that I couldn’t really afford the expense of attending Book Expo America in New York and ended the internal dialog. And then THEY started talking. You know them. Most people refer to them as the angel and devil duo, and they are often depicted perched on opposite shoulders. I would have settled for just two voices arguing for or against attending, but instead I got to put up with the fan, the reader, the journalist, the novelist, the cartoonist, the satirist, the biographer, the self-help guru, the adventurer, the traveler, the book and book bag collector and a host of other bookish and not-so-bookish types that weren’t satisfied with the usual suspects—time and money—being the only voices to chime in on my decision.

In the end, the deciding vote was cast by a genre I should be more familiar with—Fantasy. I was going to go, and somehow it was all going to work out. I figured the rest of the cast would have fun with that resolution as it developed. With no wizards, faeries, or similar other-worldly types to intervene on my behalf, I turned to a few characters in my life that tend to lean toward the heroic when faced with a damsel in distress. Fantasy became reality and my happily ever after, at least for the immediate future, was secure. I was going to BEA. My Prince Charming would hold down the fort . . . er . . . castle and take care of the prince and princess, and in lieu of a horse-drawn carriage, I’d be transported to the big city in a horseless carriage accompanied by my father, who would be too tickled if I referred to him as The King.

I had some plans to make, but in keeping with the fairy tale adventure, much of the work had already been done for me. Kudos go to the ABA, which chose a top notch hotel for their members, and who were so friendly and helpful throughout BEA. The Brooklyn Marriot was a treat. The rooms were clean, full of amenities, and the entire staff was friendly, helpful and quick to offer assistance. The shuttle service between the Marriot and the Javits Center was very efficient and user-friendly. No need to navigate, just board bus #5 and ride. We were able to flip through catalogs, review the daily schedule, or finish off our morning coffee while our drivers did all the hard work of navigating through Gotham. We used the shuttle bus, exclusively, to make the trek to BEA and back each day. These accommodations, combined with ABA’s bag check service and the Book Sense Lounge, ensured that we felt quite spoiled during our time at Book Expo America. The bag check was a much appreciated benefit that allowed us to drop off our books, catalogs, and so many other goodies so that we could enjoy the Expo without lugging a heavy bag around—a much welcomed convenience. Adding to our enjoyment of the Expo was the Book Sense Lounge and staff, who provided much needed refreshments and a friendly place to take a short break. (I finally did figure out that food, drink, and rest were necessary, even at BEA, and the Book Sense people apparently knew this before I did. They even had that most important of all food items, chocolate!  🙂

Day one of BEA was almost happily ever after. All that was lacking was air conditioning. The heat in the Javits convention center was a bit stifling, and felt nearly as hot as it was outside—somewhere in the 90s—but most seemed to take it in stride. Hats off to the many authors who still reached out to press palms with their devoted, if somewhat soggy, fans. We whined a bit, and fanned ourselves with promotional cards, as we waited in long lines to meet our favorite authors and to collect their coveted signatures and wonderful books, but when it was finally our turn, the wait was more than worth it. The day was filled with memories and our bags soon overflowed with treasures. No worry—it seemed that there were more bags at almost every booth. I couldn’t help but be a bit overwhelmed as I found myself face to face with authors whose work I have long admired. Although the long queues meant that greetings had to be exchanged quickly, there was no mistaking the excitement that so many of us felt as we anticipated our turn to thank our favorite authors, or to get the opportunity to preview the debut novel of a talented writer, yet unknown, who may soon be a prize-winning or bestselling author.

I spent most of day one, and day two for that matter, completely star-struck and awed. Maybe the heat had something to do with it, but I felt a bit of a “buzz,” a natural high. Of course, hunger and dehydration could have contributed. When Dad called me on my cell phone to tell me that he had pizza waiting in the food court, I wondered how anyone could take the time out to eat! Even waiting in line provided opportunities to meet other booksellers, collectors, librarians, fans, and even a few authors! What a helpful group of folks. On one occasion, a married bookselling duo with two adorable daughters gave me a printed copy of the autographing schedule when I lamented, out loud, that I had forgotten to bring mine to the convention center. Others allowed me to sneak out of line to grab a catalog from a nearby booth I hadn’t yet visited, or to zip over to the Petite Chef booth to accept a smoothie being offered. On the bus trip to Javits, another bookseller surprised me with a copy of a book that suggests great reads for book clubs—a much appreciated gift for a bookseller with a new shop. I returned those favors with little offerings of my own whenever possible, but the overall feeling that these many small kindnesses added up to isn’t something that can be easily returned or repaid. Almost without exception, everyone was polite, enthusiastic, and quick to offer assistance, suggestions and tips, not only for navigating my first BEA, but also for my new book shop. I learned so much from so many!

There were so many highlights of our time at BEA. Being presented with signed, advance copies of the 40th Anniversary Edition of S.E. Hinton’s, The Outsiders, James Patterson’s next novel, You’ve Been Warned, Judy Blume’s new book, Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One, and Jan Brett’s beautiful new title, The Three Snow Bears (which will make a wonderful gift, by the way), were among the many generous presents that were lavished on attendees. In so many ways, this gathering is like Christmas for book lovers of all ages. So many authors, so many books, and so little time! Even with Dad and I both waiting our turns in the various lines, there were so many authors we didn’t get to meet. Each line that we chose meant several we would have to miss, and it was so hard to choose. No matter which line I found myself in, however, there was one constant. The authors were all so incredibly kind and gracious. I asked many authors if I could take their picture for my book shop, and almost without exception, they not only allowed the picture, but often took a second to pose for me (lines/time allowing) and many even asked if I would like to be in the picture. It was so awesome to be standing next to these talented authors and illustrators whose work I so admire, and to meet up and coming authors. I realized, as I chatted with authors whose work was, as yet, unfamiliar to me, that I could play a part in bringing their work to others. In fact, I had already decided on a few books that I knew I wanted to share with my customers before I had even eaten that cold piece of pizza on day one! It was, at once, an empowering and humbling epiphany that brought with it an overwhelming sense of excitement and was tempered, a bit, by an equally impressive sense of responsibility. Publisher’s Weekly, in their “Show Daily, Day 2,” quoted Roger Cooper of Vanguard Press as saying, “It’s about people and books. It may be about too many books, but it’s still about books.” I am usually quick to say that one can never have too many books, but if you have to haul them back with you, indeed you can have too many. But the point of Mr. Cooper’s comment is, for many of us in the book business, the point of it all. “It’s about people and books.” Mr. Cooper wisely puts the people first, and those of us who work in this business are wise to be mindful of that. I had the feeling, at BEA, that the authors—even those who had already achieved a degree of fame and financial comfort—hadn’t forgotten to put people first.

People, books and for some of us, BEA was about food, too. Dad and I found that we didn’t have to go far to find GREAT food and service. In fact, a memorable dining experience was within walking distance from our hotel in Brooklyn. We might have missed out, but along with our morning coffee at ABA on day two was an ARC of a soon to be released cookbook featuring cheesecake recipes from Junior’s—a restaurant and bakery right there in Brooklyn. What a way to top off a wonderful day! Dad and I shared two meals, lobster tails and chicken parmesan, and found both to be absolutely delicious. I am surprised that I even had room for the main course after enjoying relishes, cornbread and rolls, and my salad. But somehow, I found room. We did, however, end up getting our desserts to go. Dad opted for the strawberry cheesecake which was piled high with gigantic strawberries, and on our waiter’s suggestion, I chose the carrot cake cheesecake. I had taken his advice on which entrée to choose, and he hadn’t let me down. It took Dad almost three days to finish his substantial slice of cheesecake. I’ll blame BEA for my appetite, but I polished off half of my cheesecake that evening back at the hotel, and enjoyed the rest with coffee for breakfast on day 3. If you love good food, great service, and cheesecake, you have to stop at Junior’s! If you can’t wait ‘til your next visit to New York, may I suggest a wonderful new cookbook coming out in October? You can pick up your copy ofJunior’s Cheesecake Cookbook; 50 To-Die-For Recipes for New York-Style Cheesecake, by Alan Rosen and Beth Allen, at Perfect Pines Books and Gifts, in Hale, Michigan.

The afternoon of day two at BEA found me playing a game of mental tug of war. Although meeting authors and getting to preview their new books was so much fun, and such a treat, I knew that the bookseller in me needed to be visiting those booths and talking with those representatives from so many publishing houses and companies. I knew that my baby, my book shop, would benefit from their knowledge and that I needed to make some valuable connections with the people and companies that could help my small business to survive, and hopefully, eventually, thrive. It’s about people, and books, but we can’t work for people, or with books, if we don’t make at least some money. (I think this is where the food part comes in. Ya gotta eat!) In addition to realizing that my business needed to make some money, I also knew that I couldn’t stock every new title, and I would have to make some tough decisions when I placed my orders in the coming year. I needed some guidance in that process, and the people who could help with that weren’t in the autographing lines. They were in the booths with their books. The night before, at a lovely reception sponsored by Harper Collins, which featured presidential memorabilia (and wonderful treats, by the way), I met Roslyn, who gently reminded me that I was here on business. I needed to get out of the lines and get into those booths. So I did. The reader in me moped, but in the end, I was glad that I pulled myself away and set out to see what books, products, and services would benefit my beloved book shop. My Dad likes to say that we don’t know what we don’t know—I don’t know where he came up with such a saying—but anyway, my visits with various exhibitors and representatives showed me that there was still much that I didn’t know I didn’t know.

This was my first BEA, and I wasn’t exactly sure how “things” were done. As it turned out, I didn’t need to know it all, or to be savvy. I mustered up the courage to walk into the Harcourt booth and say, “HELP!” Okay, so it wasn’t quite that dramatic, but I did squeeze around a few ladies packing their various book bags with galleys, and walked right up to a rep from Harcourt and said, “I have a new, independent shop which has been open, quietly, for the past six months, but now our grand opening is on the 22nd of this month, and I need to know which of your titles I absolutely HAVE to have in my shop. We’re small, and I’ve got to be choosy.” I don’t think I took a breath while I presented my case. Imagine my relief when she smiled, and proceeded to make it all so easy. She “walked me through” their new children’s catalog, their frontlist titles, and asked me the kinds of questions that made it easier for her to help me make selections for my customers. As she previewed their new offerings with me, she handed me a few galleys and books as we went along. I started to feel that one of my many hats as an independent bookseller, that of the buyer was going to be a bit easier to wear. A few minutes later, she introduced me to her counterpart at Harcourt who would introduce me to their frontlist titles for adults, and in the process teach me about print runs, and share other bits of information that would enable me to make informed choices about what to offer in our particular shop.

From the Harcourt booth, I ventured out to many more booths and talked with many more reps and exhibitors, and I can say without hesitation that it was time well-spent. As I listened and learned, I didn’t feel quite as badly about not being in line 12 or 22 at 3:00 when another of my many favorite authors would be signing. (Besides, my copy of Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Mega-Beasts, signed by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart, was now tucked safely in my Puff the Magic Dragon book bag!) I felt like Charlie, toting around the golden ticket. There was that moment, however, when I stared down at my tickets for Alan Alda’s and John Lithgow’s autographing lines that I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to stand in those lines. Fortunately, Dad and I had both wanted to meet these gentlemen, and we each had tickets, so Dad would still have the privilege. Unfortunately, Dad hadn’t yet figured out how to get his digital camera to focus, so I have to trust that the men in his photos are indeed Mr. Alda and Mr. Lithgow. (Some things we accept on faith.) These were opportunities missed, but I decided that if I paid attention to the business side of my book shop, there would be many more opportunities to meet authors. If I didn’t pay attention, the visual that usually gets me back on track is one of me being dragged off to debtor’s prison kicking and screaming and trying to grab a few books on my way out the door. (Dad keeps reminding me that they don’t send people to prison for being in debt these days. Whew!)

Turns out, I didn’t need to be so worried about missing the chance to meet authors. Day two found Dad and me exploring the Book Sense Lounge, and discovering that we had opportunities to meet authors right there! The chocolate, lemonade and snacks were great, but meeting authors such as Markus Zusak, author of the Prinz Award winning novel, The Book Thief; the dynamic duo of Robin Preiss Glasser and Jane O’Connor, illustrator and author, respectively, of the Fancy Nancy books; and Joe Hill, an author who is fast becoming a favorite among my customers, in a more relaxed setting than the traditional autographing lines permitted, was a gift. What a treat to meet them, take pictures, and ask about what’s coming next for their many devoted fans. I was pleased to hear that many of these popular authors are working on their next book. Great news for my customers, their fans, who, I was always mindful of, would be waiting back in Hale, Michigan to hear all about BEA and to help me read all of the wonderful new books offered to us by publishers, authors and sales reps and to somehow choose which of the many, many great offerings to include in our shop in the coming year. They were going to enjoy hearing about how Joe Hill, who, after signing ARCs of his new book, 20th Century Ghosts, spent some time with a small group of Spanish speaking attendees who had apparently asked if they could take a short video with their digital camera. I wasn’t at all surprised that Mr. Hill had taken this extra time, nor was I surprised when Markus Zusak simply moved over to a nearby table so that he could continue to autograph books for fans when his time slot was over and a few of us were still waiting in line. Gracious is the word that continually comes to mind when I think of the authors and illustrators that I met at BEA. Karen Kingsbury gave yet another example of how it’s about people AND books as she greeted each person in her autographing line on OUR side of the table and took the time to take a photo with each fan that would appear on her website.\

Day three of BEA dawned with a sense of rush and a need to hurry. There was still so much I hadn’t done, and so many booths I hadn’t yet stopped by. There were catalogs to collect, sidelines to preview, and yes, still a few authors on my list that I had to meet, or books I simply had to read. I was there on business, as Roslyn had reminded me. Today I needed to focus on sidelines. The books were selling well, but I had to admit that not everyone was a reader, and even those who loved books sometimes wanted a small gift—such as a stuffed animal or a puzzle—to go along with their gift of a great book. I found several companies whose offerings would do well in my shop, some I had already known about, and some that I might have never have discovered if I hadn’t attended BEA. Perhaps this is one of the many reasons to attend. A short article on the BEA website, not too long ago, said something about how we come to BEA to find the perfect book that we didn’t know we wanted. In my case, I found many perfect books that my customers didn’t yet know that they HAD to read, and plenty of wonderful gift items that they didn’t yet know they would HAVE to give. But they would soon. It’s about people and books. It’s about matching each person to that perfect book, and providing people with lots of options for making their own matches. There’s no formula for that—no diagram or flow chart that helps us to do this. There’s a magic to it, and I am convinced that the more time we spend with people, and books, the easier and more magical the process becomes.

There are a few tools that can help us—bestseller lists, reviews, synopses, ARCs, galleys and such—not to mention the valuable help of so many wonderful booksellers, many of whom have been making magic longer than I have been alive, but when it comes right down to it, booksellers are often the bridge between the people and the books. It’s meaningful work, if you can find it—or if it finds you—and if you don’t necessarily need much in the way of money to get by on. There is some truth to the many anecdotes tossed around about the continual state of poverty that many booksellers manage to adjust to. I suppose I have my own anecdotes. You may have noticed me in the line to meet Holly Black, author of The Spiderwick Chronicles. I was the one munching on the Frosted Mini Wheats that I had brought all the way to New York with me so that I wouldn’t have to pay food court prices for something to eat. Anyway, the payoff for those of us who choose this business likely isn’t measured in dollars and cents. As for the bills, the utilities, the lines of credit, and so many other varieties of “wolves,” they are going to continue to knock at the door, and to threaten with their huffing and puffing. They don’t understand that it’s about people . . . and books. For now, I am keeping them happy and keeping my doors open. Nobody said it was going to be easy. But then, no one said it was going to be magical, either, and yet it is. Perhaps Lori Benton, who was quoted in “Show Daily, Day 2,” said it best when she stated (in reference to the inadequate air conditioning), “I guess if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the book business!” By day three of BEA, I was ready to cheer, “Bring it on!” I’m still cheering louder than the wolves can growl. It will take a little magic to keep it that way. Have you stopped by your favorite, local, independent book shop today? There’s a little magic in each of us, you know.

Laura Smith operates Perfect Pines Books & Gifts out of Hale, MI and can be contacted at http://www.perfectpinesbooks.com.

IOBA Standard, Summer Edition 2007, Volume 8, No. 3.

Pros and Cons of Alibris.com for Buyers and Sellers

This is the second in a series of articles taking a brief look at the pros and cons of the various multi-dealer book listing databases. The first in the series looked at AbeBooks.com and can be found in the previous issue. This article examines Alibris.com, which was the first “on-line” site developed under the name of Interloc (in pre-internet days), and the site which has undergone the most dramatic and significant changes over the years.

Interloc, which was founded in 1994 by Richard Weatherford with Tom Sawyer and Brad Councilman, was perhaps one of the most important factors in introducing booksellers—especially those with open stores—to the use of computers in their business. Initially, it was a closed business-to-business only service, which gave sellers the ability to upload information on thousands of books, to get want matches daily, and to search for books for their customers. It was also a rather expensive service, although less so than running an ad in AB Bookman’s Weekly, the only real alternative at the time. With hourly phone charges and listing fees, it was far more expensive both to run and to participate in than the public sites which later appeared on the internet in 1996—notably Bibliofind.com and AbeBooks.com. Late in 1996, Interloc also opened a public internet website, but it had already lost some ground among booksellers as the third such site (personal note: since we were Mac users as booksellers, we were never able to upload to Interloc back in those days).

In 1998, there was a drastic change: the old Interloc was bought out, or merged into, a new company called Alibris.com. Rather than simply being an “internet classified listing service” for booksellers (as they referred to Bibliofind and Abe), Alibris was going to be a bookseller itself. While booksellers could still upload their inventory to Alibris (and in fact, Alibris purchased Bibliocity.com at least in part to enhance their ability to accept more files, for example, from Mac users), the dealers’ prices were increased by a certain percentage; the individual bookseller’s name was not associated with a specific book; and there were no costs to the bookseller until a book was sold to a customer, at which point Alibris “bought” the book from the seller for a 20% discount, and the book was shipped to the Alibris warehouse. Flush with venture capital funding, Alibris bought extensively for its own inventory (including the entire stock of some booksellers), developed a warehouse in the Reno area (at one time it offered listing/warehousing/shipping services to booksellers on a consignment basis), and advertised extensively. Most significantly, it developed several partnerships with libraries and other businesses like Ingrams, Borders, and others, most of which continue to this day.

While Alibris described its new business model as similar to that of a traditional bookseller, in reality, in less than 2 years the other listing services had created new expectations among booksellers: low flat fees for listing, direct contact between buyers and sellers, the advertising benefits of having your business name associated with your inventory and more. Over the past few years, Alibris has moved back towards this “new traditional” Internet model. While Alibris remains a bookseller itself, it changed its focus from rare and out-of-print to remainders and new books. It also began charging a flat monthly fee for all but the smallest sellers, reduced its commission on retail sales from 20% to 15%, listed books on the website at the same prices that individual sellers put on them, increased seller visibility, had sellers ship directly to buyers in the US (thus reducing the costly and time-consuming shipments to the warehouse), and made direct contact between buyers and sellers possible.

FOR BUYERS: PROS

– Extensive use of coupons and discounts. These, combined with “flat” and relatively low shipping rates set by Alibris, often means that a buyer can obtain a copy of a book on Alibris for less than on the competing services.

– Reliability of sellers. ALONE of the three big “A’s” Alibris seems to be making a serious effort to exclude “sellers” who are just data uploaders or who do no more than “spider” other listings and then offer these books (which they do not actually have in stock) at inflated prices. Alibris might not be perfect in this regard, but at least they are trying.

– “Protection” of your order in the shopping cart for 12 hours. If you select a book and put it in the shopping cart, it is removed from public sale for up to 12 hours, thus giving the buyer time to look around and select other books.

– Reasonable shipping fees. Set by Alibris (and almost identical to those set by Amazon). In addition (unlike Amazon), Alibris offers reduced shipping on additional books when purchased from the same bookseller. Buyers should be aware of the fact that not all of the shipping fees are passed on to the sellers (again this is identical to Amazon). Some are retained by Alibris to help fund programs like the discount coupons.

– A large database. 60 million books are claimed on the website, and in 2006, Alibris had approximately 8,000 active sellers. While this was reported as a reduction in numbers from previous highs, it represented only active sellers. Recently Alibris has opened listings up to individuals who might just want to sell a few books (as Amazon did long ago), but it is too soon to see what effect this will have on the overall inventory.

– For buyers looking for a reasonably priced reading copy of a book, the summary results (by title) and the “quick buy” suggestions can speed up and simplify searches. However, these same features become a negative when searching for specific features, such as first edition, as discussed below in the Cons.

– For collectors, Alibris permits the listing of uncorrected proofs and advance reading copies (ARCs) after the book has been published.

– Consolidated ordering and billing services for libraries. While the prices of the books might be slightly higher, this is probably more than offset by the increased convenience and savings in handling.

– Offers want matching (called “fetch book”). However, even though Interloc pioneered want matching capabilities, Alibris’s system seems to be less effective. For example, I put in a match request and received a notification that there were no matches, but an actual search using the exact same parameters brought up 62 results.

– Reliability ratings. While Alibris tells buyers that these ratings only reflect book availability (with the highest rating meaning “almost always available”) and does not reflect quality of dealer service, the buyers are not told precisely what the ratings mean in terms of percentage of completed order. 3 dots means “often available” but this can be as low as 70% of the time.

FOR BUYERS: CONS

– Difficulties in searching. Especially for more uncommon books or for collectible books like signed or first editions. Unlike the traditional search engines, Alibris searches first its own bibliographic database of several million “most commonly searched for” books and gives as matches the books found in that database. If you do a title search for an uncommon book, you might get back a book with a similar title but not the book you are looking for. If you “narrow” your search by adding the author, then the search will find the exact book, since it now looks at the actual listings uploaded by dealers. This is designed to speed up the search results, but is often counter-intuitive. (Example: title search “Writer on Her Work” will return two “summary” results, for the first volume in this series, and the second with the subtitle “New Essays in New Territories.” If you select the second volume “New Essays” you will see 38 results, all for the trade paperback edition, no hardcovers. If you go to the advance search and put in “Writer on Her Work” and select hardcover, you will get 80 results, some of each title. Adding “first edition” to “hardcover” returns 34 results. If you further narrow the results by adding “signed” to “first edition” and “hardcover” you will get 4 results, including two copies NOT returned in any of the previous searches. This is a neat trick, and I have no idea why these two copies did not show up in either the hardcover or first edition results, but still showed up when all three refinements were selected.)

– Limited and inaccurate keywords. The “keywords” used are not those entered by booksellers but are presumably taken from Alibris’s database. (Example: if you enter “Canadian authors” in the keyword field, you will get 20 pages of title results, but if you sort these results by author, you will see that only three of Margaret Atwood’s many titles are included, but one of Australian author Thea Astley’s books is also listed.) The same problem exists in browsing a single seller’s inventory. The categories are assigned by Alibris and are often very inaccurate and incomplete.

– False results when searching for first edition and signed copies. When Alibris “parses” for first edition, phrases such as “first US” or “first UK” are not accepted as first edition identifiers. Since most of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood’s “true first” printings were Canadian editions, this means that listings by sellers who are careful to correctly identify printings from other countries will be eliminated from first edition searches (unless they use a program with a specific “first edition yes/no” type of box). However, this does not mean that all books listed as “first editions” really are. If you narrow the first 38 search results for “The Writer on Her Work: New Essays in New Territory” by clicking first edition, you will see 3 copies—1 “trade paperback” presumed first and two identified as “second printings.” Sometimes search results for first editions or signed copies on Alibris are more accurate on Bookfinder (if you use the “classic” option on Bookfinder, the Alibris results are easily found).

– Credit card is charged immediately upon placing the order, even though the book has not yet been confirmed as available.

– The only payment method is by credit card. PayPal and checks are not an available option.

– For most international buyers, books are first shipped to the Alibris warehouse and then to the customer, which can increase costs, possibility of damage from additional handling and the time of delivery.

– “Help” pages are not kept up-to-date. Information on returns still gives instructions only on returning the book to the warehouse, rather than the individual seller, and the ability to ask the bookseller directly any questions you might have is not mentioned.

– Minimum price of $1.99 means that a book listed for as little as 1 cent on Amazon or $1.00 on AbeBooks.com will have the price increased on Alibris.com to $1.99.

– Unable to set preferences for search results. Depending on the search, the results default to “by seller rating,” lowest price, or most popular, depending on the search, and have to be manually adjusted for other options each time.

FOR SELLERS: PROS

– Its network of “business partners” which gives booksellers access to many different markets—primarily, the library consolidation feature it offers, uploading to BarnesandNoble.com, Borders, Chapters, and for a small additional fee on sales, it offers sellers the option to have their books uploaded to Amazon’s marketplace.

– Extensive use of coupons, widely available internet discounts and other promotions to increase sales.

– New program which permits those who have a small number of books for sale to list them individually on the site and to incur no fees (after a sign-up fee) until the book is sold. At that time, an additional flat fee of 99 cents is charged in addition to the usual commission.

– An informative and easy to access bookseller page called the “dashboard.” Includes summary information on sales, listings, total value, average sale, etc.

– ISBN look-up features, market value comparisons, and optional automatic re-pricing (however, I will include the caveat that I personally think the comparative values shown are rather inaccurate).

– Email customer support is usually responsive and to the point.

– Moderately active forum for booksellers.

– Reduced commissions on more expensive books. Although Alibris does not have a maximum commission (for example, AbeBook.com’s is $40 regardless of the price of the book), Alibris does have a declining scale for books priced at $500 and more. This can lead to inconsistencies. For example, a book priced at $475 will have a commission of $71.25, one at $525 will be $52.50, and an $850 book will only incur a $42.50 commission. Since this includes credit card processing fees, it means that on sales of all books over $500, Alibris is less expensive than the same book would be on both AbeBooks and Amazon.

FOR SELLERS: CONS

– Search engine results on Alibris.com often do not include your copies. This is the direct opposite of AbeBooks.com. All of the factors that will improve the visibility of your books on AbeBooks will either reduce the chances of “your” copy showing up on Alibris or have no effect at all (see detailed search notes above under the comments for buyers). In addition to the problems already mentioned, listing contributing authors or illustrators in the author field will either have no effect, or can eliminate your copy; the use of keywords, catalogs or subjects are ignored; and books can not be searched by any information included in the description.

– Alibris and its partners consider the buyer as their customer rather than what they really are, which is the customer of the individual bookseller.

– Competes with sellers by offering options and benefits like free shipping, express shipping, etc. only on the books in its own inventory.

– The cost of listing and selling. In addition to a high commission of 15% (20% on some partner programs), Alibris has a flat monthly fee which is a few dollars less than AbeBooks.com, and can be higher than Amazon’s, depending on the number of books listed. Alibris also retains part of the fees charged to buyers for shipping, so when the buyer pays $3.99, the seller only receives $2.65.

– Sellers are told that they are responsible for sales taxes, but there is no provision for collecting sales tax (except in the four states where Alibris has a presence and automatically charges sales tax on all sales).

– Limited uniform shipping reimbursement set by Alibris (can occasionally be adjusted).

– Long delay in receiving payment for sold orders. Payments are made only twice a month and cover orders either marked as shipped or received in the warehouse. Most of the time, this means that there is a minimum 15 day delay that can reach up to 29 days. Four times a year there is an extra Friday in the month and this increases the delay to as long as 36 days.

– No telephone customer support.

Chris Volk operates Bookfever along with Shep Iiams out of the Sierra foothills of Amador County, CA and can be contacted at http://www.bookfever.com.

IOBA Standard, Summer Edition 2007, Volume 8, No. 3.

#Alibris #databases

Craig Horle and Laurie Wolfe of Classic Books and Ephemera

We are Craig Horle and Laurie Wolfe of Classic Books and Ephemera, which we run out of our home in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. When we began the business in 2001 we did not anticipate the store-in-the-home phenomenon common to so many booksellers. Our cozy house is now so crammed with our stock and shipping supplies that living there has become almost secondary. However we do have room for the obligatory “bookstore cat,” Greystoke. Having eclectic interests ourselves, we have not specialized to the extent that might make good business sense, but we focus mainly on 17th to mid-19th century books in French, German, and English; late 19th and early 20thcentury military prints and postcards; and manuscripts, deeds, maps, and paper ephemera of all periods.

Craig earned a B.A. and an M.A. in English and European history from Temple University in Philadelphia and a Ph.D. in English history from the University of Maryland. He taught for the University of Maryland overseas program in England in the mid-1970s for six years and worked as an archivist, first part time and later full time, at Friends House Library in London for seven years before returning to the states in October 1980, driven out of England in part by his distaste for Margaret Thatcher and in larger part by his loathing for the never-ending inclement weather. On his return to the states, he worked for almost three years as a retail manager for the philatelic firm of Earl P. L. Apfelbaum in Philadelphia (he had been a stamp collector since childhood, but seeing the business close-up led him to sell his collection, although he has recently returned to collecting). Craig returned to the world of academe first as associate editor on The Papers of William Penn Project at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and later as co-founder and chief editor of the Biographical Dictionary of Early Pennsylvania Legislators Project, responsible for producing the series Lawmaking and Legislators. The Biographical Dictionary Project was located initially at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, but since 1990 it has been at Temple University, where until recently Craig also taught European and English history as an adjunct professor.

Laurie earned a B.A. in English Literature from Earlham College in Indiana, an M.A. in American History from Temple University, an M.L.S. from Drexel University in Philadelphia, and a J.D. from Temple University School of Law. She has also (and perhaps most importantly!) attended four courses at the Rare Book School, two at the original location at Columbia University and two at the present location at the University of Virginia. Laurie worked as a rare book cataloguer at Bethel College in Kansas where the oppressive heat drove her slightly insane (which is sadly incompatible with Craig’s love of hot weather). She returned to Philadelphia to go to graduate school and later became a cataloger in the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Then with M.A. in History in hand, she joined the Biographical Dictionary Project as an editor in 1994, working full time until she entered law school, and then continued to work on the project part time. She passed the bar (something Craig did infrequently in England, as he loves real ale) her first go-round, but her interest in non-patent intellectual property law did not result in any local employment possibilities. (Ironically, Philadelphia is a great location for patent law, which requires a science degree but not, alas, a library science degree.)

We have lived together in Lansdowne for about ten years, tying the knot in August 2006. We decided to become bookdealers because: 1. Craig’s father, a well-known military figure maker, left a substantial collection of militaria, both books and prints, as well as Craig’s Classics Illustrated collection of comic books (which formed the backbone of Craig’s early scholastic career and which his father had secretly kept for him lo those many years); 2. The Biographical Dictionary Project has always relied on grants, almost exclusively from government sources, and thus has the potential to end suddenly, which meant that we needed a backup plan; 3. Craig is nearing retirement (and experiencing project burnout after 22 years and four published volumes) and would like to become a full-time bookdealer, as would Laurie; 4. Working at home is very appealing, even if the two of us can no longer fit together in most of the jammed rooms and are in mortal danger from falling books and cardboard; 5. Laurie is a true, passionate bibliophile and loves the challenge of the business and, as a much younger woman (11 years Craig’s junior) needs to keep busy as Craig declines into his dotage; and 6. Both of us (but especially Laurie) are good with computers; so we decided to establish a partnership and sell on eBay, gradually easing our way into online retailing.

We have been members of IOBA from the very beginning of our partnership. We now sell on eBay, Biblio, IOBAbooks, and Choosebooks and will be looking at other sites in the future, as well as creating our own website. As all of you know, dealing in books and ephemera, while often fun, enlightening, and educational, is also frustrating and constantly changing as online opportunities evolve. EBay giveth and eBay taketh away, enabling outreach to a world-wide market but adding fee upon fee and showing very little understanding of the differences between older books and widgets; moreover the addition of live online bidding access to live book auctions (which used to be a great source of material for bookdealers willing to travel to those auctions) reduces the ability of dealers to buy quality books at reasonable prices, as we now compete with both dealers and collectors worldwide for the same stock. As soon as Craig retires, we plan to do shows and to travel to purchase books and ephemera from non-auction sources. Another increasing problem for bookdealers is the impact of the USPS shipping changes and the rising cost of oil on our international business, as very few of the books we sell are amenable to shipping in a Priority envelope and, in any event, we prefer shipping in boxes. Only the present weakness of the dollar works in our favor.

We are proud to belong to IOBA and, through the discussions and profiles, have been astonished at the remarkable diversity of its membership. Obviously, we hope that more buyers will learn of the association and will come to appreciate the professionalism, knowledge, and quality of the members.

Craig Horle and Laurie Wolfe operate Classic Books and Ephemera out of Lansdowne, PA and can be contacted at cbandeph@netscape.net.

IOBA Standard, Summer Edition 2007, Volume 8, No. 3.