From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints

[lludwig]

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

 Most new bookdealers burn out within three years...

[Satnrose]

[bookthink]

Good advice on BOMC high spots.

A small correction. The BOMC sometimes either received books from the trade publisher - Gone With the Wind being the most notorious instance - or used the same printer, but more often they jobbed things out on their own, being careful to match or in some cases exceed the quality of the trade copies. The first independently published BOMC book was Helen Ashton's Doctor Serocold in 1930.

[lludwig]

michael_r_weinstein - So you are/were b_o_o_k! That hint was from Jul 15, 2003. Almost all of the ones of Satnrose's and a several others are from the last century or turn of the century! Some things are timeless.

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

The selling of a book is a series of linked events.

[Satnrose]

[michael_r_weinstein_bookseller]

Yeah that was my first ID which has an interesting (and embarrasing) story behind it!

I created that ID while working at Heritage (for my Dad) because we realized their were buying opportunites on the net. Actually first book I ever bought of Ebay was Rand's Fountainhead inscribed to her former agent. The reason its such an interesting book was because her agent had peddled the Manuscript for 6 months and was unable to find anyone to accept it and so Rand fired her. Shortly after peddling the book herself, she was able to to get it pubished. The inscription read " To xxxxx xxxxxx / For a past that had been very nice / Ayn Rand" which is obviously a 'in your face' (not too) subtle insult, It was also dated 2 weeks prior to publication meaning this was one her prepublication copies she get as the author. So you get the image of Rand taking one of her few copies of her book thats about to be published and deviously inscribing it to show her old agent 'see i could get it published'. It would be hard to think of a better association copy though there are probably a couple.

Back to the point...

Anyway I quickly gravitated to the book boards once I was spending time scouring listings but didn't want to use the Heritage name and so created that ID for the boards.Right off the bat I started answering question, which cause the earth to open up and the fires of hell to erupt, well maybe not that but at least it caused the 'board experts' to have a conniption fit. Who was I to be answering question having never sold anything here. At the time there were very few old school pros on the board with the generally most vocal being more ebay experts than books, though they didn't see it that way. Forget that my answer were obviously knowledgeable and correct, but the audacity to not be some ebay seller meant I knew nothing about books. I had to have fights and private discussions telling some of the more reasonable who i really was and where I worked, but none the less it was a constant battle. The main reason I don't use a posting id here is exactly because of that experience. 

Now to the embarrasing part...

If you look you can see that ID has some negs that were rightfully deserved. I had went off on my own and at a point ran into a rough spot and had sold half a dozen books but never shipped them. I never resold the books o anything and had every intention of getting them to their buyers but it took well over a year before I could. None the less I conact all those buyers and offered them the book or their money back and in every case they wanted the book and were very forgiving because they could tell by the fact I had kept the books and not double sold them, that my intentions were true. One person was no longer a registered user and I was never able to contact them and I still think I have that book somewhere in a box at home.

Anyway the ID was ruined and I created this one to start from scratch since I expected to never have such a problem again, which I haven't (knock on wood :p)

[lludwig]

michael_r_weinstein… - That is a very interesting story about Rand's Fountainhead inscribed to her former agent. I love hearing about things like that. Thanks for telling it.

As far as the other, I do recall the initial flap and then what happened. I just didn't connect your old ID to you when I was looking at the hints recently. Totally forgot the connection. I do have a few more hints from you from back then. Would you like me to use your current ID instead of the old ID? (if I remember to switch it that is!)

What I didn't get and tend to skip over is there were a lot of posters back then with either 0 feedback or low FB. Many more at that time then now. I understand why some use a posting ID and that is their choice. However, I do like to look at what people are selling, but if their answers or what they have to say on the BS board is good information I am not going to quibble about their level of expertise or who they are. I'm just happy if someone can help me out.

On the original book chat board, there was an extremely knowledgeable person there for a number of years. She could be a bit 'harsh' in some of her answers at time esp. with people who wouldn't accept that she knew what she was talking about and kept asking for more opinions as if the answer would change. Anyway, she disappeared for quite a while and when she returned we were happy to see her. However, on person who was mean to almost everyone on the board checked her FB and discovered that she had a string of negs and brought it to the attention to the board - a totally unnessary move on his part. I seem to recall that she said she had been in the hospital and that she had made good on those sales. The sad thing is that she never came back after that.

And now I must say so long for now. The California son should be walking in the door any minute now.

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

Have an emergency plan in place.

Find a buddy who can either take over your business or achieve closure temporarily or permanently. Make sure your family or friends know what to do with your books if you get hit by a truck.

[Satnrose]

[michael_r_weinstein_bookseller]

Yeah if you could use my current id that would be cool as you can see i'm not hiding from that old id or anything but using my current makes more sense.

[lludwig]

michael_r_weinstein… Ok, will do.

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

Know the release dates of upcoming movies which are based on books.

Schedule your auctions [listings] of such books to cash in on the pre-release publicity of the movie.

[Satnrose]

Addendum:

There are several internet sites which list the dates of when upcoming movies are being released.

This hint works for books which are made into a TV "movie of the week."

[Lludwig]

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

A movie can make or break a book....

Forrest Gump was a nothing book until the movie came out. Strip Tease was collectible once upon a time.

Pierre Boulle would be next to unknown to today if not one, but two of his books were made into great movies....

[Satnrose]

[michael_r_weinstein_bookseller]

On this note of movie books....

Be very careful with books that are hot in the moment because of movies because they have a very short life cycle and will often lose value as fast as they gained it. Jurrasic Park before the movie was a $25 book and during the peak was $125 and 2 years later was $25 (all pre internet). So don't get caught buying up a bunch of copies at what will later be retail value. Aslo movies have little effect on the top of the market so books over a few hundred dollars wll rarely get a lot of bump from a movie but everything below usually wil. Say they make a movie of an early Hemingway novel, the true first will not change much, where things like Eastons will go through the roof (relatively), so where you will do best is in deluxe editions (specially illustrated or bound) more often than in first editions.

[lludwig]

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

Always buy Navy cruise books.

A "cruise book" is like a college yearbook for individual Navy ships that covers a tour of duty for the ship. There are pictures of all the different units with rows of photos of the individual sailors, and snapshots of ports-of-call and girlfriends and sometimes a history and itinerary. Pacific tours do best.

There are equivalent yearbooks for Army posts, but they don't do as well. Marines do better. Coast Guard not well at all.

This is a different animal than a "regimental history".

[Satnrose]

[michael_r_weinstein_bookseller]

The term that is used for what is commonly known as 'uncut' is a 'deckled edge' which derives from the paper making term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deckle

When a book is printed multiple pages are printed on a single piece of paper which is then folded. This is where the terms Folio, quarto, octavo, etc.. come from. A folio being folded only once will never have unopened pages because the one fold will be at the spine but the pages can still be deckled, but once you fold the paper again to make a quarto you will now have a fold along the top edge, 2 for every 4 leaves. Most often this top edge will be trimmed to make a smooth top edge to prevent dust from getting between the pages (in older books the will dye or gild the top edge to create a better seal, the purpose of T.E.G top edge gilt is as much functional as decorative), but sometimes they are left for the book owner to deal with.

So a trimmed or deckled edge has to do with the paper itself where opened or unopened has to do with the folds.

[lludwig]

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

GILT PAGE EDGES:

That is a process that is worthy of a post. We gild books here at this plant. Sometimes only the top (head) of the book. Sometimes all three edges and occasionally all three edges and the rounded corners, too (Bible jobs primarily). This is done before the book is hard covered (cased in). The book block is first trimmed slightly oversize (about 1/16" on each edge that is to receive gilding). The book block is clamped tightly, then passed through sanding belts that have very fine grade sandpaper that smoothes the edge(s) to near perfection. The clamped block then passes through heated, pressure wheels with foil between the block and wheels. The foil transfers from a clear vinyl base to the book.

Seldom is actual gold used now, almost all is synthetic in various colors and reflective grades from dull, dusky look to brilliant mirrored finish. Then the book blocks are handled with white gloves, hand fed into a custom binder and cased in (hardcovered) for deluxe books. Head only gilded books are still handled very carefully and hand fed into standard binders. The foil is very touchy and can be marred easily.

[Mever, a bookbinder]

[gretchenfetchinsllc]

On the eve of the most important holiday in the American Calendar, one which celebrates racial harmony and community spirit rather than pagan sacrificial rituals, I resurrect one of Satnrose' favorite holiday posts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf3mgmEdfwg

"As God is my witness, ..."

[lludwig]

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

The most valuable Xmas newspaper is The Troy Sentinel (NY) of Dec. 23, 1823, containing the first publication of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" now more commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas"

The most valuable Xmas magazine is Beeton's Christmas Annual. 28th Season London: 1887. Contains the first appearance of SHERLOCK HOLMES in "A Study in Scarlet"

[Satnrose]

[ptdreamers]

Thank you for sharing this marvelous classic!  It seems to become funnier each time I see it.  

[lludwig]

From the Collected Works of Bookseller Hints . . .

Most of the "photoplay" editions [which usually are reprints of the original book] were published by Grosset & Dunlap.

Some of them are quite valuable:

KING KONG

DRACULA

FRANKENSTEIN

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

THE WIZARD OF OZ

BEN HUR

One more thing about Grosset & Dunlap: the copyright date is rarely the year that the G&D edition was published. The "1911" photoplay edition of PETER PAN was actually printed around the time the movie was produced in 1924.

Two more G&D w/DJ that can be valuable:

Maltese Falcon

Farewell to Arms

[Satnrose & Hollowayd]

[michael_r_weinstein_bookseller]

I just want to extrapolate on the G&Ds...

I would take it a step farther and say any period copy of a really famous title in jacket is a good book. Doesn't matter if its a BCE, modern library, G&D or just a later printing. Photo-plays have an extra edge in that they have cross over appeal into movies which have a much broader appeal than books do so the numberof possible customers goes up quite a bit. Some books that are almost unsellable in standard trade edition are still sellable in the photoplay because of this broader appeal. There are not many photo-play titles I wouldn't pick up in DJ for $10 no matter how obscure the title.

Speaking of 'good books'...

The book business is very first edition sentric, but the truth is that the number of people who want and can afford many of the books they would like is relatively small. I'll take a $10 book i can sell in a week over a $100 book i may never sell (well thats not totally true because I like obscure books, but one has to be careful not to tie up too much capital). It use to be an adage that you want to sell your best stock slowly for top $ so you slowly develop an inventory over time (my dad taught me that) but I am not sure thats true anymore. There are so few bookshops now many good books are offered to a much broader spectrum of dealers than in the past due to so few middle end shops, and I am finding its easier to buy good books than to sell them (for full retail). The internet has made the $100-$2000 range of books much more competitive because in the past you might need to go to 100 bookshops to find any copy but now you can go online and see 10. Because of this quality books that might have sold to the first potential buyer sit around longer, where some book club of dune or a hard cover of Catcher will sell to the first person who wants it because of the price point.

Obviously this will vary based on your personal situation, but if you are finding yourself less able to buy because of cash flow, try taking a couple higher end titles you have had a while and auctioning them at 60-70% of retail. There is the slow dime and the fast nickle, but there is also the fast 7 cents, though its generally best to use this approach with books that have a litle panache. This is what i personally use Ebay for, to move items of quality at better than wholesale prices quickly becasue $300 this month is a lot better than $450 in two years if you dont have deep pockets.

Well this drifted from where I started, but may have ended more useful than it started anyway lol