Summer 2013 (VOL. XIII, NO. 2)

Table of Contents

• From the (Guest) Editor

• Books Are Still Alive and Well

• From On-Line to Selling at Antiquarian Book Fairs

• Book Selling at Antique Malls

• Book Selling at Genre Conventions

• 2013 IOBA Scholarship Announcement

• Bungalow Books – Pueblo, Colorado

• Squid Ink Books – Tucson, Arizona

• Warwick Books, South Pasadena, California

Squid Ink Books – Tucson, Arizona

From the (Guest) Editor

The theme of this issue of The Standard is perhaps somewhat counter-intuitive for the journal of the Independent Online Booksellers Association: real world bookselling opportunities for the online dealer. IOBA President Chris Volk sets the stage as she explains how the reports of the death of the book have been greatly exaggerated. Next is a pair of articles that explore real world bookselling at book fairs and at antique malls, with contributions from several of your IOBA colleagues. And rounding out the theme, I write about selling books at genre conventions, focusing on my experiences at science fiction conventions.

In the previous issue (Winter 2013), editor Howard Prouty observed that ”The Standard serves to represent our organization’s values, goals and concerns….” The remaining articles in today’s issue are a great example of this. Jonathan Smalter, chair of the IOBA Scholarship Committee, introduces us to the 2013 IOBA scholarship winners. These scholarships, one to the Colorado Antiquarian Books Seminar and a second open scholarship, are one of the major benefits offered by our organization. The winners unquestionably represent the values and goals of IOBA. Finally, as an organization of online sellers it is a challenge to get to know our colleagues. So to help with that we present member profiles from Mike Tuck of Bungalow Books, Suzanne Mantell of Warwick Books, and Bob Maddox of Squid Ink Books.

I’d like to emphasize that two of the articles in this issue were directly based on the contributions of several IOBA booksellers. By sharing their individual experiences, they helped create something of value to us all. I expect there will be similar opportunities on other topics in the future, so watch for requests for contributions in the IOBA Discuss list. And as always, we encourage anyone who would like to contribute a full article to contact Howard Prouty at editor@ioba.org.

IOBA as an organization exists for its members, but it only succeeds if the members contribute. The Standard is the voice of IOBA, and I’m sure each of you has something of interest and value to share.  So speak up!

Tim Doyle Bayside Books of Maryland 6285 Oakland Mills Rd Sykesville, MD 21784

Books Are Still Alive and Well

In recent years, the online bookseller forums have been buzzing with the message that books are dead (or dying at least), that e-books will make printed books obsolete, and that no one is reading anyhow! Before giving in to the doomsayers, try a change in perspective – look up from your computer screen and check out some events in the real world.

This spring we attended two book festivals – the long running Los Angeles Times Book Festival on the University of Southern California campus in April (founded in 1996) and the Tucson Book Festival on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson. Both festivals are free and feature hundreds of events, mostly related to books in some way. These include hundreds of authors appearing in panels, talks and readings … and signing their books. But what makes these festivals so special are the attendees, with over 100,000 in Tucson (only in its fourth year, but attendance has gone up each year) and 150,000 in Los Angeles. When the LA festival moved from UCLA to USC a few years ago, attendance went down a bit, but this year it was back up again. Unlike traditional book fairs, the attendees at these festivals are young – not just thousands of families with their children, but lots and lots of young adults coming to listen to or meet their favorite authors. There was a woman with her 13 year old daughter in Tucson who wanted to thank Diana Gabaldon for the books they both enjoyed reading so much, and the group of teenagers in Los Angeles who wanted to say hello to Victor Villasenor. The lines for Judy Blume, R. L Stine, Cornelia Funke, and Lemony Snicket had hundreds of kids in them. These are wonderful vibrant events, free and full of variety. Even the often-long lines have a positive side to them, as they give you a chance to chat with other booklovers (and booksellers).

Traveling and visiting bookstores can also be rewarding. In the week we spent on the road after Tucson, the two bookstores where we found the most books to buy were both in small towns – one a very small town. Both had new owners, with one in her first weekend as the owner. Both stores had been owned by old-fashioned sellers who believed in packing in as many books as possible, and never getting rid of any. We didn’t have enough time to really check everything out, as books were double-shelved and piled on the floor. But we had fun chatting with the new owners and found enough interesting stuff to make the stops worthwhile.

In between Tucson and Los Angeles, we exhibited at the Sacramento Spring Book Fair. The manager of this fair advertises on television and the local NPR station. As a result, we always have a few people in our booth who are attending their first book fair ever. They often did not even realize that book fairs existed!

Our spring events ended with the Nebula Awards weekend in San Jose. This is a venue mostly for writers, but some events were open to the public, including an evening of reading and questions and answers by two Grand Masters: Gene Wolfe, who was just receiving this honor, and Connie Willis. There was a Kindle at this event – Gene used one for his reading (although as a first-time user, he needed some quick instructions) – but there were also hundreds of real books being signed.

But for just plain fun – and optimism about the future of reading and books – go to a children’s bookstore when an author is appearing. We went to just such an event this spring with Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen, and it was priceless. The authors were very funny, but the children upstaged them with their spontaneous comments from the floor! The adults had as much fun as the children – and the excitement that revolves around book events like this can go a long way to offsetting the doldrums of summer.