If you are really busy, you don't have time to add to the blog regularly -
If you aren't doing much, you don't have much to write about
Chris
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
An omen? Trixie Belden
I have been a member of the biblio list (http://www.bibliophilegroup.com for more information) for almost as long as I have been selling books - and still recommend it highly to other sellers and to book collectors. The New Year started off with thread on first sale of 2009 and last sale of 2008, and no two booksellers had any
However, this time of year, we are always looking for hints about what the coming year might bring: you can't turn on the television without hearing pundits pontificating on the events of 2008, especially the financial collapse, and when we can expect a recovery. So in that spirit, I took a moment to think about our sales and what they might prognosticate....
The final book of 2008 was easy: it was one of the Trixie Belden series. It is a truism in book collecting to focus on what you know and like, but it is also true in bookselling. I remember reading the Trixie Belden books when I was a kid. In fact, I even remember buying them myself, at the five and dime in downtown Dedham! They cost 50c back then, and had the typical glossy Whitman cellophane covers. Years later, my daughters went through the whole series, including the last five which didn't even come out until the 80's; - those were being sold cheaply at Pic 'N Save (and I wish now I had the foresight to buy ALL the stock, not just one copy of each title for them to read.)
Fast forward to the bookselling years and Shep and I are in a tiny thrift store in Northern California and there isn't much in the way of books - and then I spot a Trixie paperback - one of the later, harder to find numbers - and a little niche is born....
Each year, we buy and sell more of the Trixie books. And each year, I learn a little more about the fine points of identifying the various printings. I am in the midst of redoing and expanding the brochure I wrote, and need to update our website also. Meanwhile, the Trixie Belden books were brought back into print by Random House in 2003, and each year a few more titles were issued, and a new generation of Trixie lovers was created. However, by 2006, after 15 books, it appears that these were being allowed once again to go out of print, although I am not sure why. Since I have seen copies of these newer books with a number line showing later printings, it appears that they were at least somewhat successful!
However, this time of year, we are always looking for hints about what the coming year might bring: you can't turn on the television without hearing pundits pontificating on the events of 2008, especially the financial collapse, and when we can expect a recovery. So in that spirit, I took a moment to think about our sales and what they might prognosticate....
The final book of 2008 was easy: it was one of the Trixie Belden series. It is a truism in book collecting to focus on what you know and like, but it is also true in bookselling. I remember reading the Trixie Belden books when I was a kid. In fact, I even remember buying them myself, at the five and dime in downtown Dedham! They cost 50c back then, and had the typical glossy Whitman cellophane covers. Years later, my daughters went through the whole series, including the last five which didn't even come out until the 80's; - those were being sold cheaply at Pic 'N Save (and I wish now I had the foresight to buy ALL the stock, not just one copy of each title for them to read.)
Fast forward to the bookselling years and Shep and I are in a tiny thrift store in Northern California and there isn't much in the way of books - and then I spot a Trixie paperback - one of the later, harder to find numbers - and a little niche is born....
Each year, we buy and sell more of the Trixie books. And each year, I learn a little more about the fine points of identifying the various printings. I am in the midst of redoing and expanding the brochure I wrote, and need to update our website also. Meanwhile, the Trixie Belden books were brought back into print by Random House in 2003, and each year a few more titles were issued, and a new generation of Trixie lovers was created. However, by 2006, after 15 books, it appears that these were being allowed once again to go out of print, although I am not sure why. Since I have seen copies of these newer books with a number line showing later printings, it appears that they were at least somewhat successful!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
What better way to start a new year?
I admit it - I've put off starting a blog for years and years now! But today is January 1 and this way I will get at least one new thing done this year...
Just a simple blog: mostly books I read and really want to share, the twin obsessions of book selling and book collecting, the minutiea of identifying first editions - and then there is the plus in the title : for places and people we discover on our travels, maybe even a bit about food and wine (even an occasional recipe) or walking/bike-riding - in general, the pleasures of living and working as an independent bookseller in rural Amador County in northern California.
Just a simple blog: mostly books I read and really want to share, the twin obsessions of book selling and book collecting, the minutiea of identifying first editions - and then there is the plus in the title : for places and people we discover on our travels, maybe even a bit about food and wine (even an occasional recipe) or walking/bike-riding - in general, the pleasures of living and working as an independent bookseller in rural Amador County in northern California.
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