The first chapter in Book Patrol's new biblio drama:"Are you really a bookseller?"In a new Business Week online article Jeff Bezos talk all about the advantages of their new fufillment program and then uses an unnamed marketplace bookseller as an example of the potential fruits of the service.I have no problem with Amazon offering their fulfillment services to businesses that sell their goods on Amazon and for many it is a wise and easy choice to make but for a legitimate used, rare and out of print bookseller it could be a potentially fatal mistake.First ask yourself these two questions:1....
The Trade Discount
One of the stickiest issues facing today's bookseller is the trade discount.How much? Who gets it? Which sales channels are eligibleHistorically, the trade worked on a 20% discount to members in the tradeBeware of the CWS - Collector Who Sells
The Haggle Room
"Is the $100 a set price or is there haggle room" - an excerpt from a message we received from someone on EbayWhat is it about the book business that makes it such a fertile place for potential customers to feel they can shamelessly inquire about a 'better' price for an item?Time and again, whether in the shop, through an online sales channel or at a book fair we are faced with this disease of the trade. Is it due to the "used" tag that accompanies most bookshops? Sort of a flea market mentality inherent in the concept of "used"?As...
Bly Stays Home
Photo by Kyndall Harkness, Minneapolis Star & TribuneKudos to the University of Minnesota for coming up with the money to acquire the archive of Robert Bly, arguably Minnesota's greatest literary figure since John Berryman.For $775,000 they get:1. 80,000 pages of handwritten manuscripts2. his journal spanning nearly 50 years3. notebooks of his "morning poems";4. drafts of translations;5. hundreds of audio and videotapes,6. correspondence and first dibs on all future outputIt is a refreshing change to have an author's archive stay in his hometown. So much of a writer's output relates to their sense of place and something is lost each time...
Book Thief Hall of Shame
Another book thief caught - another book thief goes unpunishedNorman Buckley, a librarian at Manchester Central Library in England was convicted of stealing more than 450 books in a little over a year and then selling some of them online. The judge stated that Buckley "threatened the city's literary heritage" then handed down a 15 month suspended sentence meaning he doesn't serve any jail time. One would think the judge might have a higher regard for the city's literary heritage.A librarian caught stealing books - Oouch!Read full article