On ebay and other sites

There are many professional booksellers that maintain an active presence on ebay both for the selling and the buying of inventory. If you believe ebay's hype theirs is the only marketplace that matters on the internet.

Although I do occasionally sell, and even more rarely buy on ebay, and I've also experimented with there very pricey ebay stores option, for the most part I've, (forgive the pun) opted out of ebay. The reason is not so much based on their fee structure or even the fact that I seriously resent the zeal in which they try to shove the use of Paypal down dealer's throats; it is due to the fact that I'm a compulsive auction watcher, if I have an item listed or I'm planning on bidding on an item, I'm constantly checking the listing and sulking if I feel the treasure I'm selling is not being appreciated. Believe me sulking in a woman my age is not an attractive thing.

More succinctly, even without compulsive auction watching or any other form of procrastination, no small book selling operation will be able to do equal justice to all online markets, the decision of where the majority of effort should be focused is a personal choice and a bit of a moving target.

Promoting your own website, Amazon, Alibris, Abebooks or other database sites, ebay or some of the smaller auction sites, offline catalogs, presence in a brick and mortar location, blog promotion, acquiring inventory, there are myriad areas demanding attention and the amount of attention needed will not only vary with the type of operation but also with the time of year. At its best being an independent book seller is as much of a balancing act as a high wire artist performing without benefit of a net; awesome when everything is going smoothly but always one small miscalculation away from disaster.

Celebrating Words and Moms

My sister sent me a copy of this video by comedian Anita Renfroe titled Total Momsense, which totally made my day.

2007 National Book Festival

I took a bit of a busman's holiday today and went to the the National Book Festival on the mall in Washington D.C. Bought some books, listened to a bit of the talks, stood in a few of the very long signing lines....

Before it got too crowded.

Mercer Mayer designed the banner for this years festival.

Jennifer L. Holm promoting her new book called "Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf".

Patricia MacLachlan signing her new book "Edward's Eyes".

Me with my loot!

condition report

Weather Conditions: 65 degrees and muggy
Bookseller Condition: groggy

...not enough coffee in the world to make me alert today

Truly Rare

There have always been booksellers that argue that the term "rare" as it relates to books or documents should be used only in this realm~

From the Washington Post:

Rare Magna Carta to be sold at Sotheby's in NYC

Reuters
Tuesday, September 25, 2007; 12:20 AM

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rare 710-year-old copy of the Magna Carta valued at up to $30 million is due to be sold by The Perot Foundation at Sotheby's in New York in December, the auction house said on Tuesday.

The Magna Carta established rights of the English people and curbed the power of the king. The U.S. Constitution includes ideas and phrases taken almost directly from the charter, which rebellious barons forced their oppressive King John to sign in 1215.

Sotheby's said the Magna Carta was ratified and reissued with each monarch who succeeded John. It was enacted as law in 1297 by the British parliament when it was reissued by King Edward I. The copy to be sold is from 1297.

Sotheby's said there are fewer than 20 copies of the Magna Carta and that this copy, which has been on display at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington D.C., is one of only two held outside of Britain. The other copy, also from 1297, is owned by the Australian government.

David Redden, Sotheby's vice chairman, said the document "symbolizes mankind's eternal quest for freedom; it is a talisman of liberty."

Sotheby's said The Perot Foundation, created by billionaire former U.S. presidential candidate Ross Perot to make philanthropic grants, would use the money for its charities. The Foundation bought the Magna Carta in 1984.

Sad day today...

From the New York Times:

Madeleine L’Engle, Writer of Children’s Classics, Is Dead at 88

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Published: September 8, 2007

Madeleine L’Engle, who in writing more than 60 books, including childhood fables, religious meditations and science fiction, weaved emotional tapestries transcending genre and generation, died Thursday in Connecticut. She was 88

George M. Gutierrez


Full article available at: New York Times

2007 Baltimore Antiquarian Book Fair

Every year, roughly in conjunction with Labor Day, there is a massive 4 day antique show held at the Baltimore Convention Center. Along with the hundreds of antique dealers there were 60 or so Antiquarian Booksellers who showed their treasures.

I only managed to sneak a one day visit to the show this year, more to visit the dealers I know than to buy books (the buying budget is a tad tight at the moment). I was there early on Saturday and while it did not seem crowded, it did appear that both the antique and book collectors were buying.

Some of my favorite book people who had booths:



Michael J. Osbourne specializes in books on City Planning and Urban design. His booth was hopping the whole time I was there!










Drusilla of Drusilla' Books specializes in children's books and always has a wonderful booth with customers that come each year just to see her books. She also has a great shop on Howard Street in Baltimore.














At Drusilla's booth I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Steven Loew the owner of Gadfly Book and Paper Conservation. I only hope someday to have something so rare and wonderful as to need his expert services.















Dan and Jan Riker of Basset Books are used and out of print booksellers also from Columbia, Md. In fact they live less than a mile from me!












Greg Williams of Walk A Crooked Mile Books in Philadelphia was there again this year. Greg also specializes in children's books and I've sold books to him off and on since the late 90's and still have not got to Philadelphia to see his store.













Me- gravitating to my natural habitat; which is anywhere that there are books and COFFEE!