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Welcome Edith,
Thank you so much for taking on this task, with your busy life. I love the Bookologist newsletter and it always makes my day complete when I get it in my email. I have learned so much from Craig's writings. I will look forward each month to your newsletter and just a note to let you know how much you are appreciated.
Thanks again from a small eBay bookseller's heart,
Gail
Thank you Gail. I love the book selling profession and I love being of some small help to people so I look forward to this opportunity. No matter what my schedule, I will work very hard to make Bookologist useful. I relish your comments and welcome any article ideas (especially if you want to write it yourself).
Edith
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As a woman who is an online bookseller, I would prefer a column named "The Good BookSELLER" to one named "The Good BookMAN" ... not a big deal, but it did catch my eye.
You are politically correct and we apologize to anyone who feels slighted by the term but rather than limiting the column to the males of the book-hunting/selling species, it is rather an "homage" to the now defunct AB Bookman, the trade journal that provided much help to the industry during its run.
Edith
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Hello, Edith -
My question concerns a sort of backward approach to bookselling. I am wondering if there is a place I can peruse people's WANTS before I go out estate saling.
As a dealer in non-book collectibles (and a 15-year veteran of retail bookselling), I go several times a week to estate sales and auctions, where I am overwhelmed by the vast and surely valuable array of books. For instance, yesterday was half-price day at a sale for the estate of a Retired Army Colonel and US Postmaster with a huge interest (apparently) in American History. His study was filled with copies (some signed) of books by and about everything from the revolutionary war to present politics. Some were stuffed with personal correspondence with the authors.
Obviously there were hefty price tags to deal with, and my instinct to bring a wheelbarrow and cart the whole lot home had to be assuaged. What I really needed was to arrive at such a sale armed with some clue of what would be of interest in the reseller's market.
Can you direct me to some help in this area??
Thanks very much,
Cheryl
The answer is:
You are absolutely correct when you state that you are "overwhelmed by the vast and surely valuable array of books." I know it doesn't help much to know that you're not alone, but I've spoken with David Steiner and we are working on trying to provide some sort of answer to this problem. As you can imagine, a list of what people want is even more divergent from that of collections, so I beg your patience.
What we forsee is a section within our site that can provide our readers with a way to better arm themselves before going out on the hunt.
In the meantime, there are areas on our site where you can post your "wanted" books. One such area is our classifieds section:
http://www.bookologist.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/index.pl
You'll find a "Books Wanted" category in the main index.
Another place you can informally post your wants is in the "Looking For" forum on AuctionBytes:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=33
I commend you on your restraint, there are many booksellers who'd just about hock the family jewels to drag that wheelbarrow home.
Edith
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Hello and congratulations! Good luck with the Bookologist newsletter. I always enjoy when it arrives in my Inbox.
I had a question on your packaging article. Actually, the reason I subscribed to the Bookologist in the first place was because of an excellent article I read by Craig Stark on packing of books, which recommended using corrugated flute. I was quite impressed with the economy, ease of use, environmental aspects, simplicity, etc. However, I see that you did not mention this material at all in your article, but recommended bubblewrap.
Is there some reason that you either don't recommend it, or prefer bubblewrap?
Again, best of luck with the newsletter. It really is one of my favorites, and I quite look forward to future issues.
Sincerely,
Bonnie
Hi Bonnie,
We'll be doing more in-depth articles about packing materials, methods, and sources in one of our upcoming issues. Your question regarding corrugated flute is a good one. I personally love the savings flute provides, but when shipping large books great distances, the bubble wrap withstood the rigors much better.
I think the bottom line when choosing materials for packing is what is best for the book in hand.
Edith
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