Update 2 from the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar
Maria Hutchison, AbeBooks.com’s account manager for rare and antiquarian booksellers, brings us her second report from the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar…..another insight into what it takes to be a rare bookseller.
——————-
Today was another full day of books. We started the day with Dan DeSimone, a curator for the Library of Congress and past bookseller, discussing the importance of libraries as markets for books. Libraries are a rich source for selling books as well as a very valuable place to buy books. It was reinforced that as a bookseller it is extremely important to get to know your local librarians and library societies and understand what their collection plans are. Unlike individuals, libraries have annual budgets for acquiring books, getting to know what your library needs or wants is essential and sometimes it’s a matter of knowing what your library doesn’t have, where are the gaps and can you share an entirely new subject with them that you are an expert on.
We spent a large part of today in a workshop, continuing with the book description work as well as learning how to accurately price the books. We refined the descriptions and presented these in small groups and were critiqued by faculty. Describing a book is really an art, and as I said yesterday, it’s not as easy as it may look. Refining an accurate description and price takes time and research. There are numerous reference books, price guides and web sites that booksellers use to develop an accurate description and determine a price but often you just have to rely on past experience, earlier books you’ve sold or just gut instinct.
A long-time AbeBooks seller, Chris Volk of bookfever.com delivered a great presentation this afternoon, The World of Buying and Selling on the Internet. Chris delivered a lecture that clearly illustrated the benefits and challenges of selling books online and how to figure out just what books to sell on an online marketplace.
New booksellers face the challenge of prioritizing what books to list online, what will sell, who will buy it, how much should I sell it for, the questions are endless.
“Just as there is a book for everyone on the internet, those browsing the internet literally include ‘everyone’ - increasingly from all over the world, including those who are novices to buying books on the internet, readers just looking for a decent copy, collectors willing to pay almost anything for a scarce bookr or alternatively looking for a bargain…..” Chris Volk
We finished off our day with an in-depth two-hour presentation on the art of book-binding and book repair, presented by Angela Scott. Just like real estate is all about location, the price of an antiquarian or collectible book is all about condition. Any damage or wear will begin to reduce the price of a book.
Seeing the labour, time and patience that goes into the hand building of a book has given me a new appreciation for what can only be considered an art form. A resource for booksellers to learn more about bookbinding and book repair is the Center for the Book Arts in New York.
Cheers,
Maria
