Global Book Town, and Ken’s Book Rack

I am one of those newer booksellers who came into the market in the last ten years. My story starts back in 1995 or ‘6 when I was broker than broke, not working very much, and had started picking up little collectible pieces at garage sales that I could put in to the two consignment stores in town that would take stuff from me in an attempt to help cover some of my living expenses. I started to get fairly good at this and within a year was often paying most of my rent off of my sales. I noticed that both stores had consignment books and I started thinking about putting books somewhere to make a few more bucks.

The smaller consignment store had one of their book consignors pull out and so I approached them about my putting in a shelf of paperbacks in the available space and spent over half a year buying some assorted stock at garage sales while waiting for him to finally give me the OK. He finally gave me the word – he had sold his store to his biggest consignor of antiques and collectibles – so I went to work on the new owner. Unfortunately, the new owner decided to stock his own pocket books and I was left sitting on a pile of books with nowhere to put them.

I looked around and finally talked with the people who were running the local flea market and arranged for them to take my books on consignment, set up my first 5 foot wide 6 foot high bookshelf and quickly expanded to about 20 feet of shelving. It was making me a little bit of money but then all of the other permanent stalls in the market realized they could make a few bucks selling paperbacks at 25 or 50 cents and that market went a bit soft as I was asking the normal used bookstore half cover price.

In November of ’98 the larger antique and collectibles store had their main bookseller pull out leaving them with just one smaller antiquarian book dealer and I approached them about having my books in their store. They let 3 of us move in to an area about 16 feet square and I immediately expanded into hard covers and all sorts of other books that I thought were interesting. I soon discovered that even a very good or fine first edition hardcover just wouldn’t sell at even half cover in Vernon, which was quite depressing. The antiquarian seller and one of the other new sellers both told me that they were managing to sell books thru the internet and in October of ’99 I downloaded Homebase and started putting books in. By the end of March 2000, I had passed the hundred book level and took the plunge, listing on ABE. I soon expanded all the way up to about 400 books by the end of May and coasted from there to November.

In mid November, I hired my son to do data entry as he had been having challenges finding work that he could actually make a living at and my books online quickly expanded, reaching about 1000 books by the end of the year and just about 4200 by the end of May ’01 when my son accepted an invitation and plane ticket from a lady he had been chatting with online and escaped to Hawaii, never to return. At that point, I hired two college students and an older lady to do data entry for me and ended up with about 8400 books online by the end of ’01. The college students eventually left and my g/f moved to town and took up doing the majority of my data entry for me as an employee, and I now have about 18,000 books online.

Working on becoming a real book dealer, even though I only sell through the internet, has been a real learning process. I have made every mistake possible from mistaking book clubs as possible first editions to listing hundred dollar books for $5 or $10. I actively follow a number of online or email discussion groups about books where I often learn just how much I really don’t know. Many of the people who have been in the business for far longer than I have bemoan the loss of the time when the marketplace wasn’t swamped with all sorts of newcomers like myself. However, a lot of the old-timers have gone out of their way time and time again to help those of us who are relatively new in the business.

As time goes on, the actual selling venues for books continue to change and grow in many ways. There are large corporate style listing services and smaller co-op style sites and all sorts of other places selling books.

About a year ago, a number of people who were selling online decided to try a slightly different co-operative venture in bookselling by opening up a place for independent booksellers to show a unified front to book buyers while maintaining more of the flavor of independent stores, and Global Book Town was the end result.

It is still in its formative stages but has grown quite a bit from the dozen stores it had when it first opened a site on the net last December. It now lists over 50 independent stores offering books for sale through their own private sites where customers can browse or search within a single bookstore’s books or look through a category list to see who specializes in certain book types. Being involved in getting this new site off the ground was another learning experience for me and, luckily, a very capable person has shown up and taken over as webmaster during the summer to do most of the work.

The marketplace has definitely changed just in the three years I have been selling online. I am sure that it will continue to change as time goes on. By: Ken Dunn bookrack@shaw.ca

Bibliology, and other smaller book databases

If the following comments sound pessimistic, they are not intended to be. The book trade will survive the present difficulties but I believe a certain measure of realism is in order.

Some three years ago there were about half a dozen book sites on the net. They all operated on the basis of a monthly subscription and dealers were in direct contact with their customers. The exception to this rule was Interloc/Alibris who listed uploaded inventories in their own name and charged the booksellers a commission on any sales. The bookseller never came into contact with the end customer.

At this point, two of my favourite sites, Bibliocity and Bibliofind were taken over by two of the major players, causing a chain reaction.

Among others, Sue and I, working as Collectable Books, were concerned that the sites where booksellers were in contact with their customers were disappearing. With our son, Andy, we started planning the structure and design of the book site that became http://www.bibliology.com and http://www.bibliology.com/classic. As it turned out, we were not the only ones, since other small, independent sites began emerging around the same time. Nobody could have foreseen the global political and economic changes that were to hit the world during the ensuing two years. Sadly, today we all know 9/11, Worldcom, Enron, Iraq and all the rest, only too well.

During the past eighteen months, many American booksellers have stopped attending European bookfairs. Similarly, European Community booksellers are apparently battening down the hatches, telling UK dealers about the poverty created by the Euro. Inseparable from the above causes, it is rumoured that some of the major London booksellers have cut down on buying because they are not selling as much as they used to. Whatever the true reason, the fact remains that the circulation of money in the used and antiquarian book trade has slowed to a relative trickle.

Of course, bookfairs and book auctions are but two of the easily visible parts of the book trade. Internet book sales are more difficult to feel and quantify but every independent online bookseller feels the downturn in the number and quality of books sold on the net. All of a sudden, in the book trade, as well as in the global business world, the name of the game has become ‘survival’.

If the book-buying public is worried about job security, interest rates, the value of the investment portfolio, the pension plan, the cost of raising children, etc, adding another wonderful book to the collection has become but one part of a postponed wish-list.

The pages of Bookfinder Insider, have been full of problems caused by monthly dues to book sites. Bibliology, unfortunately, has also lost a few members who say that in the present circumstances they simply cannot afford the subscription costs.

Some have suggested that instead of charging a regular subscription fee, Bibliology should turn itself into a commission-based site. This, of course, would fly in the face of one of the declared principles behind its setup: “Bibliology does not interfere in the relationship between booksellers and their customers. Books are listed on the basis of a monthly subscription, with the benefit of a secure ordering system. There are no further charges or commissions.” We continue to believe in this fundamental principle.

Bibliology has always responded to suggestions. When site visitors and subscribers felt uncomfortable with Bibliology’s black background we created a Light version which today is the Default format. We also continue with some added-value services. We offer free cataloguing software to members. Visitors to the site can register their ‘Wants’ – as lists or as individual titles – which are then matched against new uploads. Members can have a personalised Home Page at no additional cost. Some have chosen to use the Bibliology Search panel in their existing web sites, benefiting from the site’s sophisticated search parameters and secure ordering system. Literary Genius Limited, Bibliology’s parent company, can register domain names for Bibliology members for a very modest charge. Visitors to the site can view a growing calendar of book-related Events as well as Links to many useful book-related sites.

At last, “Accessibility” has become a universal requirement for internet sites requiring equal rights of access for everyone, irrespective of any disability a user may have. Literary Genius has just completed a project to ensure that all its websites (Bibliology included) comply fully with US Federal standards of accessibility. Why US instead of UK standards? The simple answer is that at present US standards are the most demanding.

Have a look at the range of services and facilities offered by other independent sites. These may easily justify the payment of a subscription.

Would a commission on sales cost less? Maybe, in the short term, but in the long run, as the independent book sites gain market share, we feel the subscription method will be better value for the bookseller and, indirectly, for the customer. We all know that the same book listed on commission-based sites is often 5% to 20% dearer than on subscription only sites.

At latest count there are about thirty book sites on the net, with more planned, offering an ever-growing range of choices to the bookseller.

– List your books in the name of the book site, have no contact with the end customer, and pay a commission to the site on orders received.

– List your books on the basis of a monthly subscription + a commission on the value of the sales, with direct contact between bookseller and the customer but where the book site may have quoted an unrealistic currency conversion rate and cost of postage.

– List your books on the basis of a monthly subscription, with direct contact between bookseller and the customer but where the book site may have quoted an unrealistic currency conversion rate and cost of postage.

– List your books on the basis of a monthly subscription, with direct contact between bookseller and the customer, without any interference from the book site.

Some of the above book sites are searched by the major sites-of-sites while others prefer to rely on their own “customer through the door” client base. TodayBookfinder searches 40 book sites (including some new-book dealers) while AddAll searches 15 used-book sites.

We feel this range of choices is vital to a healthy book-trade. One needs the diversity! We all know what can happen to a small town when a single mall opens up on the perimeter, but the final decision must be yours!

I suggest we all have a think about how we would like the second hand book market to look in 3, 5 or 10 years’ time. Should we consider if it is worth taking a leap of faith and supporting one, two or more independent sites? The instant rewards may be quite depressing but the alternative may be to become a stockholder for one of the majors. Or, perhaps we should err on the side of caution and list on one or more of each.

Tom Biro Director Bibliology Limited tom@bibliology.com

#databases

Pitspopany Press

By: Yaacov Peterseil, Editor In Chief

Pitspopany Press opened its doors in 1993 as a niche publisher of books for Jewish children. The problem at that time, and one that still exists today, was that for a publisher of Jewish books children to be successful he had to cater to one of the three major Jewish denominations: Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform.

The dream of publishing quality children’s books in a variety of subjects, and for an entire spectrum of the Jewish market, and beyond, became a reality when Pitspopany began publishing books on Special Education and health related problems. PRINCESS ALOPECIA won the Gold Triangle Award from The American Academy of Dermatologists, and THE SAFE PLACE and UNJUST CAUSE, about children with severe learning problems in and out of school sold in excess of 10,000 copies each within a one-year period.

www.pitspopany.com . If you wish to contact their New York office: Tel: 1 800 232 2931 Fax: 212 472 6253 Email: pitspop@netvision.net.il

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#publishers