Anyone living in or around Vancouver BC has the chance to meet a number of our charming staff this Sunday (Sept. 30) at the Word on the Street Festival.
AbeBooks will have two booths set up at the event. One for our website and the other for our Story Laboratory program where we teach kids to make their own book.
The festival is persevering though a continuing civic strike which was threatening this year’s event.
Popularity: 18% [?]
By a small margin of 5 votes, Avid Reader Book Club members have chosen The Strength of the Sun by Catherine Chidgey as the next novel to read. (The book was first published in New Zealand as Golden Deeds.)
Order your copy soon so that you can start reading with the Book Club on Monday, October 8. There are plenty of copies available so why not invite friends to read the book with you? You could even use our discussion questions and hold your own Book Club meetings!
About the book:
When Colette receives a letter from The Friends of Patrick Mercer about a man lying unconscious in a hospital on the other side of the world, she has no idea who the man might be. Why is she being written to? Patrick Mercer lies hospitalized in England, attempting to reconstruct his life through memory, dreams, and the inspiration of his treasured illuminated manuscripts. And half a world away, Colette is adjusting to new classes, a new apartment, a new job, all while the mysterious “Patrick” letters that keep arriving. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
Popularity: 10% [?]
I got an email from one of our buyers asking about how to take care of your collection, so I thought I would post the few websites I was going to send to them on the blog here for everyone.
First you can stop at our rare book room where we have some commonly asked questions.
There is also some information at the Library of Congress website
The Tippecoanoe County Public Library has some more tips…
and About.com has collected a series of articles about care for books and photographs.
The most important thing to remember is don’t attempt to fix badly damaged rare books yourself. Seek the advice of a rare book specialist, as they have the training and experience to ensure the safety of your treasures
Popularity: 11% [?]
Five of the top 10 bestselling novels in Japan have been written by a new breed of mobile phone writer. Traditional novelists and critics pan the stories for lack of depth and development, but the kids just love em!
It reminds me a lot of this story from a few months back about a novel in Finland written entirely in SMS slag.
Makes me shudder that this might be a glimpse into the future.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Here is Cathy Waters’ third and final posting of the week - this time she explains why the book business is the best business in the world
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When I started my first bookstore, it was my first foray into the retail world. Honestly, my first job was as a short-order cook at a fast-food joint and when I finished school, I entered the business world. I was doing consulting work for the British Columbia government and on my lunch hour, I would go to the library. I was always reading books about businesses and how to start your own business. I had it in the back of mind to open a craft supply store so was looking for any book that may assist me in that endeavour. I came across a book on how to open a second-hand bookstore. I thought, “hmmm, this could be interesting.”
I took the book out of the library and read it cover to cover over the weekend. All I could think about was, ‘I can do this!’ The big challenge was getting Keith, my husband, on-side. I had to be sneaky. I told Keith I just read the most interesting business book and he should read it too. After he read it, he had that gleam in his eye I have come to know well. I had to pretend I wasn’t too interested, but when he said ‘We could do this’, I knew we were going to have some fun.
We got a map of Victoria and a pack of new highlighters. One colour was for libraries, one for new bookstores and one for second-hand bookstores. At the time, there were more than 30 second-hand bookstores in town. We wanted to find out where all of these businesses were in the city, so we could then identify where there was a need for our bookstore. Once the general location was settled, we got down to some serious book-buying. We put an ad in the paper, but our most effective method of book acquisition was by hitting the garage sales. Our kids were young, so each weekend, we would split up and take a car, a child and $100 each. We would then meet up later in the day when we ran out of money. It was a lot of fun opening our first bookstore.
Aside from a love of reading, I didn’t know that much about bookselling when I started. I took more and more books out of the library. I read anything I could get my hands on about book collecting and the value of books. Read articles about great collections and libraries. As well as all of the reading I was doing, I talked to my customers. I’ve never really been shy - I strike up conversations with perfect strangers while in lines. I asked my customers about what they liked to read and why. If a customer is a collector, I asked them why they collected, what they collected, how they collected. Through their knowledge, I became better at buying the books my customers wanted. More importantly, I became a better bookseller.
I have been able to share information my customers have provided with other customers. If a customer comes in asking for a particular author, and I don’t have any of their books in, I can make recommendations for another author they might like. One of the truly gratifying things about being a bookseller is helping my customers find the books they’re looking for. Or introducing them to a new author and have them come back looking for more books by the same author. I love it when customers come in to my bookstore with their list of books they’re looking for.
Right after I bought The Grafton Bookshop, I had a lady ask if she could look at the books in our first editions cabinet. I said, sure, go ahead. She opened the cabinet and reverently took out two books from the cabinet. She was crouched down with the books in her lap and she lovingly ran her hands over the covers. As she gingerly opened the cover of the book, she heaved a sigh. I had to help another customer, so I lost track of her for a little bit. I looked up later and she still had the two books hugged to her chest and she was wandering around the store browsing the other sections of the store. When she was ready, she came up to the cash desk and told me how much she loved the author and how his books had been such an impact on her. She had read all of his books in soft cover and never imagined she would ever see his earlier editions in hard cover, let alone first editions. She bought both of the books and she justified the purchases as a Christmas present to herself.
This is what I love about this business. I can hear the cynic commenting about the fact I made a sale and that I’m making money. The business side of me is right there with the cynic, but the booklover in me just loves the fact that I’ve brought a booklover together with the book they’ve been looking for.
Oh, in case you were wondering, the author was Robertson Davies.
Cathy
Popularity: 27% [?]
The so-called Devil’s Bible is returning to Prague after more than three centuries in Sweden following a bit of looting, the Daily Telegraph.
Sentenced to be walled up and die a slow death for some unutterable sin, a monk promised to write out the world’s biggest Bible in return for his freedom. With just one night to produce it, he enlisted the help of the Devil.
Any port in a storm I guess?
Popularity: 10% [?]
The other day I stopped by a local store before heading home. Lo and behold what caught my eye? A copy of Are You Hungry Tonight? Elvis’ Favourite Recipes! My Hound Dog senses must have sniffed it out. At $2.50, and being an Elvis fan, I just had to buy it. (Now Don’t Be Cruel - Let me clarify, I’m NOT the velvet-print Elvis variety of fan and I do believe he died 30 years ago.And even if I did think he were still alive, I believe he’d be smart enough to have ditched the jewelled jumpsuits long ago!) The book is the perfect kitschy sort of thing you pick up “just because”. Besides, it gives directions on how to make those infamous fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches.Â
And surprise, surprise. Upon further investigation, Are You Hungry Tonight? isn’t the only Elvis themed cookbook. Check out these rockin’ recipe repositories:
The Presley Family and Friends Cookbook
The Presley Family Cookbook (by Vester Presley)
All Cooked Up (by Donna Presley Early)
For me, I think the one cookbook is enough. However, I said that about having one cat and I now have two, and  if I do see one of the others at a good price, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t Help Falling in Love and would make my way to the checkout, book in hand.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Today, Cathy Waters recalls how the founders of AbeBooks used the media to spread the word.
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One of the interesting things about starting a new Internet company, in a time before Google, Facebook and iTunes, was how to promote the website. I don’t mean promoting the website as in banging your own drum, but how to get buyers to come to the site so our booksellers could sell books.
It was an interesting dilemma because we didn’t have a lot of money to advertise. We put ads in book magazines when we could and even took out a three-line advertisement in the classifieds of the New York Times. Not a cheap proposition.
We brainstormed and determined that as we did not have a lot of money, we had to promote AbeBooks through word-of-mouth and by getting written up in the press. As much as we didn’t want to bang our own drum, that kind of publicity is what drove customers to our website. The interesting thing about AbeBooks, was that it was a great story. Two couples build this terrific website from scratch without investment. It’s the great American dream (although we’re Canadian). I remember when the Globe & Mail (one of Canada’s major newspapers) wrote an article on us. We were thrilled when we saw it come out on the front page of the business section. Pretty heady stuff! The local press in Victoria was always favourable to us. We live in a city where hi-tech is one of the largest employers, and the press loves touting the successes of our local companies that are competing, and making it, in the global marketplace. In a way, the principals of these hi-tech companies become minor celebrities.
When I purchased my store, The Grafton Bookshop three years ago, I hired a wonderful lady to handle marketing and promotion. The goal was to let the public know the store had changed hands, but that the store would continue to be the charming English-style bookshop that everyone loved. She contacted one of the business writers at our local paper, Victoria Times-Colonist. The reporter interviewed me and they sent a photographer around. I was expecting a small mention in the weekly business column. Imagine my shock when I picked up the paper the next morning to see my face splashed on the front page of the newspaper (albeit, below the fold, but still!). That kind of press brought so many people to my store.
When AbeBooks had its 10th anniversary last year, I was more than happy to help with the promotion of the big event. Again, there was a good story. It was about my coming full circle, from owning a bookstore, to creating AbeBooks, to going back to my roots as a bookseller. That kind of publicity has brought more people to my store, not just local people, but people from all over the world.
It’s very strange having my store as a tourist destination. I’ll be in my store and as people walk by, I have heard them comment about AbeBooks and that the lady who owns that store started AbeBooks.com. I didn’t really start Abe, it was a group effort. Even now, a year and a half after the birthday celebrations, I have tourists coming into the store and they tell me they read about my bookstore and they wanted to come in and thank me for starting AbeBooks. Again, it wasn’t just me. I am glad we started Abe. I believe in and support the staff’s continuing efforts to help book buyers find the books they’re looking for and to help booksellers sell their books.
I can’t really describe how odd it is to be recognized for what we did. Complete strangers (although, not for long) have asked me “Do you know what you’ve done?†Well, I like to think it was a good thing.
Cathy
Popularity: 38% [?]
If you can read this you might enjoy the library.
Popularity: 14% [?]
Today, we have our first guest post from Cathy Waters - one of the AbeBooks’ founders
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A lot of people ask me what I’ve done since we sold our interest in AbeBooks. Well, Keith, my husband, and I decided we would take a year off, do some travelling, then decide what we wanted to do for the rest of our lives. We got some travelling done, but with three older teenagers at home, it was a little stressful. Do you remember being a teenager and having your parents gone for a weekend? Well, try that for a few weeks at a time. You can understand our predicament.
I didn’t quite make it to a year. I think the one think having AbeBooks taught me was that I’m pretty much a workaholic. Sad, but true. I got bored. I started looking for a business to buy. I checked out Internet cafes, candy shops, and craft shops. When I found there was a bookstore for sale, I stepped waaaay back. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get into the book business again. I thought long and hard about it and almost bought the store, sight unseen. Keith, my voice of reason, told me I couldn’t do that. I knew the owner and knew it would be a quality shop, then I went to see the store. I fell in love and absolutely had to have it. I even kept the name of the store because, to me, it personified the look and feel of the store. The Grafton Bookshop. The name reminds me of an old English bookshop and that’s exactly what the store is.
The main floor of the store is around 900 square feet with 12 foot ceilings and dark oak floor to ceiling bookcases with ladders on rollers around the shop. There are fantastic antique cabinets with lovely leather books in them. There are several antique lamps situated around the store and a very quirky “monkey” lamp on the glass display cabinet. The monkey lamp always reminds me of Robinson Crusoe. We even have a pith helmet on the wall. Whenever someone asks us where our travel section is, we point them in the direction of the pith helmet.
The lower floor of the store is our nerve centre. This is where we take the new books that have come in to the store. We clean them, make minor repairs, ‘Brodart’ the dust jackets and price and inventory them. It is also our main shipping hub (a corner, really). We ship our books all around the world and we get such a thrill with where our books find new homes.
Keith decided being retired fit him to a tee. This is what I’ve chosen to do for the rest of my life. My name is Cathy and I am a bookseller, by profession and by passion.
Cathy
Popularity: 27% [?]
Next week we will have several guest postings from Cathy Waters - one of the four original founders of AbeBooks.com. Today, Cathy has come full circle and once again runs a used bookstore just like she did when AbeBooks was created. She owns Grafton Books - a wonderful antiquarian bookshop in Victoria that’s a couple of miles away from our office.
Although Cathy and her husband Keith have not been officially involved with AbeBooks since 2003, we remain in touch. The founders still attend the AbeBooks’ Christmas party, Cathy is frequently interviewed by the media about being a dotcom entrepreneur and she visits our office. Oh, and Grafton Books is an AbeBooks seller too.
No-one here at AbeBooks has forgotten that Cathy and Keith Waters and Rick and Vivian Pura built an incredible foundation, and we simply wouldn’t be here today without them. They started AbeBooks while holding down other jobs and built, from scratch, a company that changed the way used books are bought and sold.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Here on the West Coast of Canada we have a bit of extra pride in BC-born singer, Michael Buble. We’ve got even more reason to be proud with Buble’s announcement yesterday that partial proceeds from ticket sales for his 2008 concert tour will be donated to the Canwest Raise-a-Reader literacy initiative.
Although his latest album is titled “Call Me Irresponsible”, Buble has demonstrated he’s anything but.
Popularity: 16% [?]
AbeBooks is, as the expression goes, many things to many people. It is the place to: find the latest paperback, discover a lost classic, add a rare find to your collection, or purchase a unique gift for the person in your life who has everything (because no one has every book.) For me, this week, AbeBooks is the place I turned to to prevent a mini family meltdown. My 14-year old step-daughter, excited new sibling that she was, put her lovely pop-up Beatrix Potter collection into her new baby sister’s room. These sweetly illustrated stories sat on the top shelf for several months, being read occasionally by myself or Dad to put the babe to sleep. But, as we know, babies grow and grow, and can finally reach the top shelf…and I’m sure you’ve guessed the rest of this story. One night while finishing the spaghetti sauce in the kitchen I heard a paper-ripping noise coming from the not-so-wee one’s room. I wasn’t too concerned; as she loves ripping paper we often leave a few magazines in there for her to decimate. Unfortunately, when I went to check on her, the temptation of the easily grasped pop-up pictures was just too much, and one of the Peter Rabbit books was completely ripped apart. Luckily, AbeBooks has several for sale, so crisis averted…at least this time.
Popularity: 9% [?]
September is New Zealand Book Month. This is a month dedicated not only to get more New Zealanders reading but reading more books by authors from New Zealand.
AbeBooks is celebrating this month with our friends from Down Under. For our next book, the Avid Reader Book Club will read a novel written by a New Zealander. But which one?! We’ve got a selection of three titles but we’re open to votes! Please see the choices on our Book Club page and follow the voting links to submit your vote.
Popularity: 14% [?]
I’m a sucker for companion books. Not books to keep me company but those that accompany TV shows. My collection of titles from the British DIY series Changing Rooms can testify to that. Â
My latest book craving has to do with my new guilty pleasure – the reality series, The Biggest Loser.  I’ve avoided the books for the past two seasons but with the series premiere a couple of weeks ago and the subsequent promotion of the titles, temptation is running high!  The “official” Biggest Loser Books include:
The funny thing is, is that I’m not looking to lose weight but I’m inspired by the transformations to healthy lifestyles and 
figure a lot of information can be adapted to maintaining one. (How’s that for justification for purchasing?!)
But where the real temptation for me lies with me are the books by trainer, Jillian Michaels. She’s the person I perspire to be! Perhaps, if I very carefully follow her detailed workout, I too will have abs of steel and legs of iron! A girl can dream, can’t she?! So maybe I won’t pick up a copy of her book Winning by Losing: Drop the Weight Change Your Life  but surely The 30-Day Shred : 4 Weeks to Cut Abs, Thin Thighs, and a Rock-Hard Butt would be a useful book to own?
Popularity: 19% [?]
