Next week, I’m heading home to the UK for the first time in a year and a half and high streets might look a little different from my last visit. According to a very scary business story in The Times, one in 10 of all shops in Britain have closed in the past nine months and independent bookshops have been hit particularly hard.
Archive for the ‘booksellers’ Category
Bookshops suffering in the UK
Thursday, October 29th, 2009Sign up now - sell rare books & earn $100k per year
Thursday, October 15th, 2009Sale: 20% off books from Rare Book Cellar
Friday, October 9th, 2009
Rare Book Cellar, located in Pomona, New York, has discounted its books for sale on AbeBooks by 20%. A seller with AbeBooks since 2001, Rare Book Cellar offers more than 18,000 books for sale. They specialize in collectible modern first editions but have much more besides.
Their extensive inventory stretches from countless out-of-print and forgotten gems to the first edition of Moonraker by Ian Fleming and an incredible privately printed 17-volume set of the Arabian Nights from 1900. Others treasures on offer include a first edition of Atlas Shrugged, a first edition of Cup of Gold, (John Steinbeck’s debut book), a first edition of Door into the Dark by Seamus Heaney from 1969, a signed first edition of Hannibal by Thomas Harris, an advanced reader copy of Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand and much more.
Sidney, Vancouver Island’s booktown
Friday, October 9th, 2009The Oregonian newspaper has an article about Sidney, Vancouver Island’s booktown. I can’t tell you how many Sunday afternoons we have spent in those bookshops!
UK’s top 10 secondhand bookshops
Friday, October 2nd, 2009
The Guardian has the top 10 secondhand bookshops (in the UK). Some amazing booksellers on this list.
1. Any Amount of Books on Charing Cross Road, London
2. Barter Books, Alnwick Station, Northumberland
3. Bath Old Books in Bath, Somerset
4. Gresham Books, Crewkerne, Somerset
5. Scarthin Books in Cromford, Derbyshire
6. Scriveners in Buxton, Derbyshire
7. The Book Shop in Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
8. The Haunted Bookshop in Cambridge
9. Wenlock Books in Much Wenlock, Shropshire
10. Westwood Books in Sedbergh, Cumbria
I’ve driven past Gresham Books in Crewkerne so many times… and never stopped to go in. Shame on me!
A Beheading in Hay-on-Wye
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009If you have any doubts that secondhand booksellers are a completely unique bunch of people, then read this story about recent events in Hay-on-Wye - the world’s epicentre for used and rare books.
Yesterday’s Muse - 20% off sale
Friday, September 25th, 2009Our friends at the Yesterday’s Muse - a great bookshop in Webster Village, Rochester, NY - have discounted the prices of their books on AbeBooks by 20%. They offer used, rare and collectible books. Check out their first edition of The Catcher in the Rye and their signed copy of The Other Shore by Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian is also very special.
Analysing the market for secondhand goods
Friday, September 25th, 2009Marketing Week Magazine in the UK analyses the market for secondhand goods - a market that, frankly, is dominated by books. The writer doesn’t truly understand what makes the used book market tick - there is no mention about how secondhand booksellers often supply products (books) that are not available in new condition. To understand the used book business, you need to grasp how books go out-of-print and they are going out of print very quickly these days because publishers are not keen to hold on to ‘backlist’ titles for too long.
If you wanted to go deeper into the secondhand book market, you’d analyse the food chain of booksellers - $1 booksellers with huge warehouses (all online), remainder sellers (online & wholesale), charity sellers (online and bricks and mortar), general used bookstores (who are mostly online too), specialist used bookshops (nearly always online as well), purely online sellers often operating from home and sometimes with a storage facility, and high-end rare and antiquarian sellers with upmarket shops (usually online too). And I’m just skimming over the surface here.
Frida Kahlo letter sells for $3,750
Friday, September 4th, 2009
Earlier this week we had a very interesting sale for art fans - a letter from the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo for $3,750. Written in August 1947, the letter to Arturo Sidon concerns the purchase of five watercolours and states that reproduction rights are not to be included. A rather mundane letter but letters from Kahlo are particularly hard to locate.
Kahlo is famous for her use of bright colours and was heavily influenced by European realism and surrealism. Her self-portraits, often painful in their themes, are particularly sought-after. She was married to Mexican artist Diego Rivera but had a turbulent marriage. Her lovers included Leon Trotsky. Salma Hayek portrayed her in the 2002 movie, Frida.
The letter might have gone this week but you could still pick up a handwritten invitation from Kahlo to the opening of her first solo exhibit in Mexico. She famously attended the exhibit after being carried to the event on her bed because she was very ill from gangrene in her right leg. The invitation is written as a poem. It is available for $7,500 and you’d also receive an illustration by Rivera created for the first anniversary of his wife’s death - it reads “Para la Niña de mis ojos (that translates as the girl of my eyes), Fisita mia el 13 de Julio de 1955.”
When I sitting here reading about people like Frida Kahlo, I can’t help but think that I lead a very dull life.
Kennys Bookshop sale - 25% off used & rare books
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009Kennys Bookshop, one of the finest secondhand and rare booksellers, on AbeBooks is having a sale during September. This is good news for several reasons…
1) It’s a very nice discount of 25% off regular prices
2) They offer worldwide free shipping
3) They have 140,000 amazing books
4) They have the greatest selection of Irish literature on this planet.
I’d advise checking out Kennys books - they have been in business for a long, long time and were one of the first online booksellers. Buy in US dollars from this page. Buy in UK pounds from this page.
Day 6 - Boe Rushing reports from Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Well it’s over. This was definitely one of the more exciting and fun weeks I can remember. We had a wonderful dinner tonight and received our certificates. Everyone is now packing and preparing to return home.
After going at this for eight years with no guidance, direction or companionship I feel like I have finally found my people. I also now have the knowledge, tools and connections to make this thing work. I will always remember my fellow seminarians and this time we spent together and I hope to be seeing and doing business with some of you down the road.
I would like to say to all of the faculty and staff how much I appreciate what you did for us this week. Your passion for this business just poured out of you and I and I’m sure many of the others soaked it up. I hope that I am able to someday make you proud.
Now I will return home, review all of this material and come up with a concrete gameplan. Keep your eyes open because the new and improved Back in the Day Books is coming. There will most likely be an open shop, a website and one or two other ideas I have up my sleeve. I’m sad to see this week end but very excited about what lies ahead.
One more thing - Hi Holly, Daddy’s coming home.
Day 5 - Boe Rushing reports from Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar
Friday, August 7th, 2009Boe Rushing reports from the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar - it’s day five.
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Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better today happens. I’ll keep it short because it is very late. Greg Gibson, the nautical specialist, gave the most touching talk of the seminar.
After a discussion on auctions we had one. All of the proceeds go to support local libraries. I had the winning bid on a ver cool Between the Covers shirt signed by Tom (Congalton) and Dan Gregory. The last item in the auction was the highly coveted dinner for two with the faculty tonight. I had no plans on bidding but then I noticed that Ellie, from Australia, who was sitting near me was in a bidding war with someone in the front of the room. I asked her if she had someone to take and said I would go in with her. After a while we agreed we couldn’t go any higher and dropped out. Everyone congratulated the winner who stood up. It was Robin, my friend from the airport. She turned to me and motioned that I was going with her. So I had been bidding against myself without even knowing it.
I just got back from a wonderful evening with some of the top antiquarian book dealers in the country. Hopefully some of their knowledge is rubbing off on me. This has been a great week with one more day to go.
Day 4 - Boe Rushing reports from Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar
Thursday, August 6th, 2009Boe Rushing reports from the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar - it’s day four.
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Day four began with me realizing I have been living in a bubble for four days. The dorms where most of us are staying have no TVs and we’ve hardly been in our rooms anyway. It’s all books all the time. The day’s first presentation was by Dan Gregory and concerned rare book photography. If this book thing doesn’t work out for him I think he could make a living on the comedy circuit.
After our break Dan DeSimone gave an excellent talk on selling books to libraries. Over the years I have sat in front of a lot of instructors. At least half of the time I didn’t want to be there and I think the other half of the time the instructor didn’t want to be there. This week is the opposite of that. I, and I am sure many of the others, are eagerly absorbing this information. Likewise the instructors are passionate in their love of books and the trade. In my discussions with Dan, and in his talk today, I have been very impressed with his genuine desire to pass on his knowledge and I am very appreciative.
After lunch Mike Ginsberg, Kevin Johnson and Rob Rulon-Miller each spoke on evaluating and pricing books. There were some technical problems but Rob kept us entertained by describing the various things that were supposed to be displayed on the screen as he spoke. He might be able to open for Dan on the comedy tour. We also spent time going over some of the student’s book descriptions from the day before.
The afternoon ended with Kevin Johnson discussing buying and selling books on the Internet. This talk was filled with great practical tips and was a great way to end the day. But the day wasn’t over yet for myself and half of the class. After dinner we took a bus to Hooked on Books, a very nice local bookstore where Mary Francis Ciletti gave a very interesting presentation on the nuts and bolts of operating a bookstore. Being one of the few present actually considering opening a store (again) I asked lots of questions. Maybe too many. Sorry guys.
So after we all bought some books we returned to the dorms and here I am. I would encourage anyone who has a dream like me to have a succesful career dealing in antiquarian books to attend this seminar. It might just change your life.
Day 3 - Boe Rushing reports from Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Boe Rushing reports from the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar - it’s day three. (Hey, Boe - great blogging - you’re relentless)
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Most everyone here has now caught up with their sleep and adjusted to the altitude. That was a good thing because we covered a lot of material today. The first session was on bibliographic description and taught by Steven Smith, the Associate Dean for Collections and Services at Texas A&M University. His personality kept a dry subject entertaining and informative.
At 10:30, Rob, Kevin, Tom and Greg Gibson with Ten Pound Island Book Co., discussed how to Catalog a book. They all had good suggestions both on modern and much older books. After lunch Steven gave the second part of his presentation on bibliograpic description. We were all given full sheets of handmade paper to fold, cut and assemble a small book. It was a unique experience.
After a break we had a workshop on book descriptions. Each of us was given a book, along with a corresponding reference book as the faculty wandered around giving advice. Half of the class, like myself, were given modern books, while the other half were given older books to describe. Paul, sitting next to me was given a first edition Charles Dickens in its original parts. It was one of the nicer books either of us had handled. I couldn’t help myself.
Next Barry Spence gave an informative talk on preservation and preservation. About half of the class went to a local bookstore tonight for a session on operating a bookstore. The other half, myself included, had the night off. I ended up in a Nepalese restaurant downtown with four other dealers. Good times.
