Holiday Sales

Well, it's been a surprisingly busy holiday, with the largest number of orders coming in on Thanksgiving day. It makes a nice ending to the slower than usual sales rate for November. Here's hoping that the orders continue to be strong for Cyber Monday.

condition report

Weather conditions: 39 degrees and dark way too early

Bookseller condition: sulking

(PBA auction house in San Francisco is having an auction of children's book on Dec 11 and I'm stuck on the wrong blasted coast)

2008 National Book Award - Young Adult

The ABA awards were announced on November 20th and the juvenile award went to What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell.

Taylor's Antique Mall Update

I thought I'd post an updated picture of my little book corner in the basement of Taylor's Antique Mall in Ellicott City.

I wanted a small space, where the books could be browsed, so the shelves are not arranged in any particular order and the books are a mixture of children's and adult titles, with some ephemera and childrens' magazines (Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill etc) tucked in the bin in the corner.

To keep the space easy to browse, I'm going to fill the remaining shelf space, but I probably will not add any more shelving. I may add a bit more lighting though and some more holiday decorations!

Helen Dore Boylston-Biblio Checklist

• Sister: The War Diary of a Nurse. NY: Washburn, 1927 . 202pgs, 20cm.
  

• Sue Barton, Student Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1936. Illustrated by Forrest W. Orr. 244pgs, frontis, plates. 22cm.
  

• Sue Barton, Senior Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1937. Illustrated by Major Felten. xi, 220pgs, frontis, plates, 22cm.
  

• Sue Barton, Visiting Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1938. Illustrated by Major Felten. frontis, plates, 22cm.
  

• Sue Barton, Rural Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1939. Illustrated by Forrest W. Orr. 254pgs, 22cm.
  

• Sue Barton, Superintendent of Nurses. Boston: Little, Brown, 1940. Illustrated by Forrest W. Orr. 239pgs, frontis, plates, 21 cm.
  

and then in a break from Sue there was:

• Carol Goes Backstage. Boston: Little, Brown, 1941. Illustrated by Frederick E. Wallace. frontis, plates, 21 cm.
  

• Carol Plays Summer Stock. Boston: Little, Brown, 1942. Illustrated by Major Felten. frontis, plates, 20 cm.

• Carol on Broadway. Boston: Little, Brown, 1944. Illustrated by Major Felten. frontis, plates, 20cm.

• Carol on Tour. Boston: Little, Brown, 1946. Illustrated by Major Felten. frontis, plates, 20cm.

• Carol Goes On the Stage. London: John Lane, 1947. Illustrated by Frederick E. Wallace. 190pgs, frontis, plates, 19cm. This is the English edition of Carol Goes Backstage.
  

then back to Sue Barton with:

• Sue Barton, Neighborhood Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1949. Frontis by Major Felton. 236pgs, col frontis, 20cm.
  

and the final Sue Barton book:

• Sue Barton, Staff Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1952. Illustrated by Major Felten. 204pgs, 20cm.

• Clara Barton: Founder of American Red Cross. NY: Random House, 1955. Illustrated by Paula Hutchison. 182pgs, 22cm.

author's final title:

• Travels With Zenobia: Paris to Albania by Model T Ford (with Rose Wilder Lane). William Holtz (editor). Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1983. 117pgs, 22cm. ISBN: 0826203906.

I would include Boylston's Sue Barton and Carol books on my even as x-libris book list. (With my usual dust jacket caveat.)

oh bleh....

Well, I'm still working on the 2009 catalog, the first snail mail catalog in over a decade and I'm remembering very quickly the reasons why I was so very glad to give up issuing catalogs in the first place.

Picking a theme and the books to go into the catalog is not a problem. The problems are with the actual formatting of the catalog. Decisions like whether the catalog will be full page or booklet size, items separated into sections and what those sections should be, what items are to be illustrated and whether the illustrations will be with the listing or in an insert. These are the decisions that just drive me crazy (crazier anyway).

I also think that when you make a living selling the bound and printed word, there is an extra pressure to not produce a crappy looking catalog. So it is always a balancing act between time and cost involved in producing and proofing a catalog and the need to get the blasted thing finished and mailed so it can pay for itself and move QUICKLY from an expense and into profit.

Catalog 2009 Childrens Illustrated and Award Winners

Well it's official; there is a blue moon coming, hell has frozen over and I've started compiling my first snail mail catalog in over 10 years.

I'm working on having the catalog ready January 2009 and if you would like to be put on the mailing list please send me an e-mail at: info@windyhillbooks.com.