BookWriter Professional: An Interview with Thomas A. Sawyer

MP: Tom, what’s different about BookWriter Professional? Why would a bookseller be interested in this program?

TS: A number of reasons, but if I had to choose one aspect it would be the program’s prime directive of “empowering” a bookseller. Having the tools needed to get the job done and making them easily accessible and intuitive to operate makes it much easier for a bookseller to be productive. It also helps them to make good business decisions. They might even have a little fun and discover that computerized bookselling doesn’t have to be drudgery.

MP: Are you saying you’ve found a “magic bullet” solution?

TS: No, but BookWriter does offer an attractive alternative. Every bookseller does things a little differently. Many use multiple programs to get their daily tasks done. That poses a problem for a software developer.

There are two traditional approaches to program design: (1) compel the user to follow specific procedures, or (2) put a variety of capabilities in place, create a generic environment and let them figure it out for themselves (Microsoft Excel is a good example of this).

In my opinion, neither of these approaches has been particularly successful to date. The first approach is too limiting and the second approach requires the user to become conversant with the environment to use it effectively. The learning curve is usually steep. A surprising amount of time can be wasted just trying to make simple things work as expected.

MP: How does BookWriter solve the problem?

TS: Booksellers have specialized needs and I doubt any program will ever completely solve it. There’s no question improvements have been made, but humans and computers still only interact well in the movies at this stage of their evolution. But I believe BookWriter makes significant strides towards improving that. It provides a broad scope of possibilities within a structured framework.

BookWriter is constructed rather like a well-organized briefcase. Instead of a big empty space where everything gets dumped randomly, or a partitioned container with sections and lids and separators and covers you must open and close repeatedly to get at things, all of BookWriter’s pockets and compartments are visible and accessible at once — and they interrelate intuitively. It is well-organized from the start, which makes it easier for the user to also be well-organized. Best of all, everyone knows intuitively how to use a well-organized briefcase. It has a short learning curve.

Within each area there are usually a lot of options. There is generally a core functionality at work, but there be many ways in which the bookseller can apply it to their business needs.

MP: Can you give a specific example of how this philosophy applies to BookWriter?

TS: For instance: BookWriter’s invoicing capabilities are well defined, but the manner in which information is entered is largely freeform. You are not compelled to follow a strict set of accounting procedures — though you can certainly do that if you so choose. The program allows you to tell it which accounting fields are required and which are not (none are required by default). You can instantly pull up a group of invoices that are related in some way and generate useful reports through a very powerful reporting system. You can create customized layouts that suit your needs instead of selecting from a list of canned choices that may or may not be suitable for your business. You can produce invoices, quotes, packing slips, etc., all from the same basic information, in real time. You can even service multiple businesses within the same accounting framework, just by selecting a different identity.

These are just some of the functional considerations that went into it. Again, you are not compelled to settle for someone else’s idea of what they think you should be doing. Instead, you can organize things to suit what you need to get done. It’s not a perfect solution, but it is powerful.

MP: It sounds like versatility and individuality have been elevated over conformity and procedure. Aren’t you concerned this will cause problems? Or that people won’t understand what to do or how to do it?

TS: No, because no one knows better than the bookseller how their own business is run. The landscape is changing rapidly and versatility is becoming increasingly important across all venues. Adaptation is essential to survival, but booksellers are highly-individualistic and tend to stick with a method once they’ve settled on it. And, no two sellers do things in quite the same way. Bookselling is no longer a black and white business.

For example, some dealers sell both their own and other dealer’s books. Some offer books in their own web site, through multiple listing services, by auction, in their own store, in bulk lots — in any combination or even all of them simultaneously. Some deal only in collectible books, some in remainders, some sell both new and used, some sell ephemera and antiques and collectibles — the list goes on and on.

Keeping all this under tight control can be a huge job. Hence, managing it in one comprehensive environment is an essential capability if a seller is to be productive and competitive. That’s part of the reason BookWriter has taken so long to produce. The user interface has by far been the biggest effort, going through multiple iterations of simplification. At this point, it should be possible for a novice to use it as easily as a seasoned veteran — or at least, that’s my goal.

MP: Tom, you said on your web site that BookWriter professional has turned into the biggest coding project you’ve attempted in a long time, and you grossly underestimated the time that would be required to do a good job. Any further comments on that?

TS: It’s true. I originally envisioned a finished product and saw a clear way to get from here to there. What I didn’t count on was the enormous amount of time required to deal with data quality issues and simplify and polish the user interface. I would say 75% of my time has been spent on that alone.

MP: Do you think people who have known of the project and have been following your progress will realize that the BwPro of then is vastly different to the BwPro that is shortly to be launched?

TS: Some will, others won’t. More important to me is the fact that the booksellers who placed advance orders have been extraordinarily supportive and patient. I’m grateful for that. They have been very good to me. Now I hope I can be good to them.

MP: Would you give an outline of the innovations and suggestions that booksellers have requested, over and above what was originally planned, that have been built in and helped to greatly extend the launch date?

TS: New features were really only a part of the problem. A lot of trial-and-error experimentation was involved in getting things right. I can’t really give an outline because it wasn’t a predictable cause-and-effect scenario, but here’s an example:

While coding the Homebase Import utility many data quality issues arose that had to be addressed. For instance, ABE’s treatment of keywords is such that they treat each individual word “as” a keyword. Consequently, even articles like “a” “an” and “the” are treated as keywords. That’s silly, but that’s what they’ve done. Worse, the keyword terms lose their phraseological integrity when exported from Homebase. Subsequently dumping disassociated words into one long sentence is a poor solution. In addition, Homebase databases are usually full of duplicate records and these have to be pre-purged to avoid problems after the fact.

Presumably these steps were taken by ABE as a result of expediency or the desire to limit use of records outside of their system. Whatever the reason, they create huge problems for the bookseller. One can argue these are all comparatively minor aspects in the broader scheme of things, but they are unquestionably serious obstacles to producing book data that is both coherent and universally compatible in all sales venues. Achieving that compatibility in the least number of steps is very difficult. So, an entirely new means of adapting data and handling the import had to be implemented. Just doing the user interface and testing for this alone took two weeks.

MP: Can you give any insights into the ease and facility of associating images with inventory? I.e. how many images per title are available to show salient details etc.?

TS: Up to 10 images can be directly associated with each Inventory or Wants record. These can be added manually, or they can be selected through a scanning process whereby the program associates images with records by file name, or they can be captured from the web and associated based on ISBN or other retrieval criteria.

MP: From what countries have you had buyers?

TS: So far the US, Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Japan.

MP: Will the ISBN Extractor tool validate ISBN’s issued in other countries and bring up the relevant data?

TS: ISBN extraction is based on the same Modulo-11 math that all ISBN’s are built upon, so as far as I know there are no country-specific issues in this regard. The program is also set up to handle the forthcoming expanded-length ISBN’s.

MP: Maybe down the track would it be feasible to bolt on, say, the post (zip) codes of Australia?

TS: Yes. BookWriter is linked to the USPS (United States Postal Service) database, presently. The plan is to eventually put all country codes in place and to electronically link them to any/all facilities provided by each country for instant address validations. The underlying database is built into the program and also contains both latitude/longitude information, allowing you to instantly bring up a map of any location. You can also pre-configure the desired service, such as Yahoo Maps, MapQuest, etc so you can use your favorite.

MP: I’ve long had the idea that it would be handy to have the facility of having a ‘want’ listed in the database and, quite some time later, on adding the title to inventory, have the want flagged automatically. Is that possible yet?

TS: It is indeed. There are several ways the program will do this, either manually or automatically. There is a dedicated Matching feature that will find matching Inventory for a new Want, and/or find matching Want(s) for new Inventory. You can also run a comparative analysis against the entire database.

MP: Have you had any experience with voice-recognition software being used to load data into BwPro?

TS: Yes, and it is astonishing how much better the software is now than just a couple of years ago. I believe the error rates are now sufficiently low that this is now a feasible and productive solution. If you had asked me 18 months ago whether or not you should consider using voice recognition software, I would have said No.

MP: Would 64 bit rather 32 bit have any consequences?

TS: Not really, except it will be more efficient. BookWriter has very few operating system dependencies and it uses its own DLL library. The executable is around 4 MB and the entire download is less than 10 MB. I have reduced Microsoft “baggage” to the bare minimum.

MP: I understand there is a non-bookselling aspect to BookWriter. Can you elaborate?

TS: Yes, BookWriter provides multiple database support. It contains field-configuration capabilities and specific applications can be selected on a per-database basis. More will be published about this shortly, as the UIEE specification is also being updated in tandem.

MP: For those who use BwWeb, will there be any changes brought about by the improved/extended scope of BwPro?

TS: Yes indeed. There is a lot of emphasis on managing your own independent web site and BookWriter Web is an intrinsic component in that. I’m still doing integration so that’s all I’ll say about it for now, but I think people are going to be very pleased with the results — at least, I hope they will be.

MP: During the two plus years of work and as the comprehensive ability of the program became apparent to those in the industry, were any outside efforts made to head you off at the pass?

TS: Not exactly. Let’s say that there were those who were happy to hear of what I was doing, and a very few who were not. Overall, the support has been phenomenal and I’m very encouraged by it all. When you’re operating on the edge, that kind of support is a powerful motivator to finish the project. There were times when things looked pretty bleak. Now, I’d have to say we’re back on track and gathering steam.

MP: Will booksellers have the opportunity to test-drive the program?

TS: Yes, a free download will be made available as soon as the Beta version is ready to go.

MP: What’s your release schedule at this point?

TS: The Beta version is scheduled to go out on/about the end of July. The entire month of August will be devoted to finalizing the Beta, and formal rollout will take place the first week of September.

MP: After all this effort and stress is your wife still talking to you?

TS: Yes, she is my anchor and my life partner. We’ve been through a lot together and all of this has served to strengthen us, though I admit we’ll both be glad to see the project completed. Having additional hands to help out is making a huge difference.

MP: Tom, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Where can dealers get more information?

TS: You’re welcome, thank you for giving me the opportunity.

Mike Pengelly is a bookseller in Australia. Additional information about BookWriter Professional software is available at http://www.bookwritersoftware.com/bwpro/bwpro.htm

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Slipcases and Clamshell Boxes

At some point in time many book collectors will obtain an item that is unique, beautiful, perhaps somewhat fragile, and that requires long-term protection beyond the usual mylar dustjacket protector or mylar sleeving.

In such cases the best solution may be a custom slipcase or clamshell box (also known as a “drop-spine box”). A slipcase encloses a book on all sides except the spine, while a clamshell box normally envelops the book completely. In general, clamshell boxes are more elaborate, and therefore pricier, than slipcases. Both slipcases and clamshell boxes can be custom built to provide a perfect fit for a specific book or magazine.

There are two general market segments in the slipcase “industry”: mass-produced “factory” slipcases that are provided with new books and custom, one-of-a-kind cases and boxes that are built usually long after the book is new. This article focuses on the latter market.

When seeking out someone to produce a slipcase or clamshell box, there are several factors to consider:

1. The prior experience of the craftsman. He or she should be able to produce or document examples of previous projects.

2. The box should be built using only archival grade materials. There is no point in having a box built if the materials will actually contribute to the long-term degradation of the housed item. All materials (board, cloth, paper, glues, etc.) should be ph-neutral and/or acid-free.

3. The willingness of the craftsman to discuss various options. Covering materials, colors, and aesthetics should all be open to negotiation. Of course the price will vary depending on the options selected.

4. The need for accurate measurements. The best practice is for the craftsman to have the item “in hand.” If the item is simply too fragile to ship then extremely accurate measurements must be provided. Even then, the craftsman is likely to “fudge” a little, making the box slightly larger than normal in order to ensure that the book or magazine will actually fit into the completed casing.

5. Considering the time involved there is an old adage: “Quality, Price, Speed – pick any two.” This is especially true for a custom, handcrafted item. Don’t wait until two weeks before Aunt Martha’s birthday to order that custom slipcase for her signed copy of Gone With the Wind. Be sure to give the craftsman the necessary time to properly complete your project – you’ll be much more pleased with the result.

There are various materials that can be used to present the book or magazine to its best advantage. Covering materials for the box can be art paper, cloth, leather (real or imitation), or various combinations of these. Additional items such as photos, logos, association items, etc. can all be incorporated into the final design. A custom case should add to the beauty and presentation of the item while helping to protect and secure its precious contents.

A custom slip-case or clam-shell will usually be fit very closely to the book. This is necessary to provide support and protection for the item being stored. A slip-case should be just loose enough to allow the book to slide out into the hand when the case is tipped open-side down. Some craftsmen build cut-outs into the main opening to aid in gripping the book. Personally, I don’t care for these due to the aesthetics and also because the cut-outs usually aren’t big enough to really allow a good grip on the book. I prefer to provide a ‘thumb-hole’ at the back of the slip-case instead. The book can be pushed gently out from the back of the slip-case, or it acts as a vacuum release if the slip-case is tipped as described above. With the thumb-hole, a slip-case can actually be slightly deeper than the book width, if desired. In this manner, the book is almost completely covered and supported.

Another consideration is in order for books with yapped covers: covers of soft cloth, paper, or full leather which overlap the main portion of the book – quite common in bibles. I like to build in a bottom block that will provide support to the main portion of the book (sometimes called the text block) and will relieve stress on the yapped edges. The support block is centered in the bottom of the slip-case with two narrow tracks, one on each side, for the edges of the covers.

Depending on the covering material(s) various care procedures are in order. If the covering is an art paper just the normal precautions for book care are in order – keep it out of direct sunlight, dust occasionally with a dry cloth, and keep temperature and humidity in standard ranges. If the covering material is cloth you may wish to treat it with a stain-proof chemical – check with the craftsman before applying such treatment – with the same further care procedures as stated for art paper covers. With a leather covering the best treatment is to just dust it on a regular basis and really control the temperature and humidity of the storage area. If it truly becomes necessary to clean, or apply leather treatments, the book should be removed from the case until all surface traces of the treatment are gone. Check the ph factor of any treatments before applying.

A custom slip-case or clam-shell will provide long-term protection for the book, or magazine, while also creating a unique collectible or heirloom treasure.

To see photos and examples of various types of slipcases and clamshell boxes, just go to http://www.wyomerc.com/slipcases.htm

‘Gentleman Jim’ Arner has been a purveyor of used/rare books, on-line, since 1999. Specialties include The Old West, Wyoming, Cowboy Poetry, History of Firearms, and Ladies of Negotiable Affections – to be found at www.bookranch.com. Bi-weekly updates of new listings are posted under the guise of exploits of the BookRanch Bookaroos – the boys of the Wheel-Bar-O. He has also been known to inflict Cowboy Poetry upon innocent by-standers.

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Why a Successful Book Collecting Magazine Is Good for Your Business

One evening in late April, after a full day at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, I stepped into one of those famous newsstands in Manhattan-600 square feet jammed with thousands of different magazines on floor-to-ceiling racks.

You can find almost any kind of magazine in these places. This particular shop, on Madison Avenue, had an entire display devoted to watch collecting, with five magazines and a few once-a-year special publications. The shop also stocked two magazines for pen collectors, several each for stamp and coin collectors, a couple of antiques titles, and even a magazine for Yu-Gi-Oh card collectors. (If you don’t know any children between 8 and 14 years old, you may not be familiar with this insanely complicated Japanese card game that holds the elementary and junior high set in its thrall.)

But I digress.

My point is this: Among the thousands of magazines being published, you won’t find even one about book collecting on any regular magazine newsstand. Yu-Gi-Oh-yes. Watches-more than you can read.Coins-how often do you want it? Weekly, monthly, bi-monthly?

Book collecting? Fuggedaboudit.

That’s a large part of the reason that I started Fine Books & Collections magazine three years ago (as OP magazine-see The Standard, vol. IV, no. 1 and vol IV, no. 3). I collect various kinds of books but I’m generally interested in book history, fine presses, other book collectors, and what’s going on in the auction rooms. I wanted to know more about books and book collecting, and there simply wasn’t a publication that covered books in a broad way. I subscribed to some of the specialty publications, and there are quite a few-for miniature book collectors, collectors of diaries, Scottish books, modern first editions-but nothing with broad appeal and wide distribution.

Ours is a small operation, connected by the Internet. I edit the magazine from Eureka, California and my business partner, a magazine publisher, works out of offices in Durham, North Carolina. The publication is designed in Manhattan and printed in New Hampshire. This arrangement allows us to cover book news and events on both coasts.

Many people think that putting a magazine together entails printing stories people send in. In fact, less than a fifth of the stories we run in the magazine were sent to us. We commission the vast majority: I hire writers or researchers to do stories on particular topics. The typical feature will go through six drafts, will be fact-checked by two people, and copyedited by four or five. It’s an intense and time-consuming process.

Nick Basbanes, a veteran newspaper reporter and the author of A Gentle Madness and many other fine books on book collecting, recently commented on the rigorousness of our editing process. “I am astonished at the depth of your fact-checking,” he wrote. Why are we so nitpicky? Because I know that book collectors and dealers rely on us for accurate information.

At a point in time when many people are predicting the end of print, it might seem strange to start a new magazine. However, I think there’s never been a better time to be a book collector and that means there’s never been more of a need for a book collecting magazine. It’s true that price competition and the increase in hobbyist sellers has hurt the bottom line of many professional booksellers.

On the other hand, the power of the Internet is giving collectors the tools to build collections like never before. No collecting field supports as many e-commerce web sites as book collecting and online book auctions are vibrant and healthy. The transition to web-based commerce has been difficult for dealers but the opportunities available to collectors will be good for the trade in the long run.

Yet the hobby has a very low profile in the public eye, perhaps lower than at any point in the last century. This state of affairs is partially due to the Internet, which has fragmented the rare book world. We can now easily buy books on another continent, and as a result a lot of us no longer shop at the used bookstore around the corner. As more and more commerce goes online, the person-to-person interactions that are so important to building relationships and for educating both collectors and dealers are diminishing.

Where can new collectors turn for information about collecting? Where can dealers learn about books beyond their areas of expertise? Those learning experiences used to come from open shops. Every year there are fewer of those and people travel less: Why scout in person when you can surf the ‘Net late at night from home in your p.j.s?

This is where a magazine fits in. One of our goals is to help knit the book world together by bringing our readers the voices of the many men and women who love books. You may not have an opportunity to talk with the head of the New York Public Library, but we can and did. We also talked to Google, booksellers, academics, book historians, the head of the National Library of Scotland, auctioneers, executives at Abebooks and Alibris, and collectors. And that’s just in the most recent issue. Where the Internet tends to separate, Fine Books & Collections can help bring the antiquarian book world together, to introduce our readers to the range of current opinion and research on books and the hobby we enjoy so much.

In the last 12 months, we’ve gone from black and white to full color and from 36 pages to 60 for our July/August 2005 issue. While we’ve increased circulation three-fold in that time, it isn’t nearly enough to sustain a viable, general interest magazine for book collectors-the sort of magazine that can hold its own against the glossy watch magazines on newsstands in Manhattan. We believe that a magazine that appeals to the broad spectrum of book collectors and dealers will be good for book collecting and will attract new collectors into the hobby. My business partner and I have made a significant investment in this venture because we think it is worth it from a business standpoint. We are also both long-time book collectors who want the hobby to thrive and for new collectors to take it up.

I know there are some skeptics reading this, so I’m ready to put my money where my mouth is. We know from past experience that most people who try Fine Books & Collections like, and many of you will, too. We invite you to join us, and we’ll send the readers of the IOBA Standard a free first issue, with no obligation. Just follow this link: http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/freeissue

If you like the magazine, you’ll also get our best subscription price, just $19.95 for your first year. This offer is not available on our web site – you must use the link above. Consider a gift subscription for your best customers: they’ll remember your generosity with every issue.

Scott Brown is the editor of Fine Books & Collections magazine. He collects books by R. K. Narayan and Gary Soto.

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