Monthly Archives: April 2010

Kindle, Apple and E-books

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Amazons Kindle was release in November 2007, since then the Kindle 2 and the Kindle DX has come out. (Don’t you hate buying the new techno gadget only to see it replaced by a better model every 6 months?)

One of the features is of this device is to download thousands of titles from Amazon. Amazons most frequent downloads seems to be those that are out of copyright, thus either really cheap or free. Examples include, Anne of Green Gables, Christmas carol etc.

So now the question about more modern titles with major publishers. Will Amazon have trouble bringing in publishers?

In December of 2009 the publisher McGraw hill had an argument with Amazon. They were not happy that Amazon was allowed to set the prices of McGraw hills e books. Amazon was selling those and other publishers e books and taking a loss, hoping in return to build a loyal e-book reader following. In other words, lure people in with low prices and then gradually bring them up.

After this battle continued McGraw hill pulled all there e-books from Amazon. Apple was quickly there to let them know they could set their own price on their new device the Ipad.

In March of 2010 Amazon announced it would let publishers set their own price, but wanted the publishers to sign a three year exclusivity contract which most of the publishers balked at.

Only time will tell about this e-book pricing war that’s going on between the two biggest distributors, Apple and Amazon and the publishers they need to bring in the revenues.

What are your thoughts? Let me know.

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Rare Book Fair

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Ever been to a rare book fair? Let me tell you now they are fun and can even be profitable. Here in Denver Colorado every August is the Rocky Mountain Book and paper fair. This event contains exhibitors not only from Colorado but the rest of the United States and foreign countries proudly selling their used and rare books.

Like to collect Children’s books? Perhaps modern first editions, Military, Cooking or even Science? Chances are you will find the genre you are looking for here.

Each fair exhibitor brings great stock to browse through. One of the great advantages of this fair and many like it are the book dealers themselves. Some have operated book stores for many decades and all are happy to talk about books and are happy to answer any questions.

Here are some basic tips for attending a rare book fair.

Attend a preview night if one is available. The door cost is usually very cheap and this allows you to get the first look at the books.

Ask questions about the books or genres you’re interested in. See a dealer with lots of children’s books, but don’t see the one you want? Chances are he may have it or can get it for you.

Always go back the second day. Dealers after the first night will replenish any shelf space available.

The link below is to the official site of the Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair.
http://www.rmaba.org/

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Used book terms you may not know.

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A friend at a Longmont bookstore suggested I should write this.

Bibliophobia – A fear of books

Dampstained – A light stain on the cover or on the leaves of a book caused by moisture such as a piece of food or perspiration.

Errata – Mistakes or errors. Generally encountered in the term “errata slip,” a small sheet of paper laid into a book by a publisher who has discovered errors prior to publication.

Gilt Edges – The page edges have been trimmed smooth and gilt, or gold, has been applied. The abbreviation ge means gilt edges; aeg means all edges gilt; gt means gilt top; teg means top edge gilt.

Incunabula – Books, pamphlets, calendars, and indulgences printed before 1501.

Octavo (8vo) – A book of about five inches wide and eight inches tall to about six by nine inches. Octavo is the most common size for current hardcover books. To make octavo books, each sheet of paper is folded to make eight leaves (16 pages).

Top Edge Gilt – Usually abbreviated teg, it means that the top edges of the pages have been covered with gold leaf or gilt material.

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Class action lawsuit against Simon and Schuster

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I just received a phone call from a friend telling me the author Stephen King was being sued. I did some research this afternoon and here is what I found out.

There is a class action lawsuit. It is not against Stephen King himself, but against Simon and Schuster.

Apparently in January 2006 a text message went out saying “The next call you take may be your last…Join the Stephen King VIP Mobile
Club at www.cellthebook.com. rplySTOP2OptOut. PwdByNexton.”

From what I read so far this is being settled out of court.

Apparently this was unsolicited advertising and therefore warrants a lawsuit.

More information can be found at http://satterfieldtextsettlement.com/What do you think? Comment below.

www.abacususedbooks.com

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Book Ride

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Another blog you need to read.

For a few years I have visited daily www.bookride.com

Book ride is a blog from the owners of a used bookstore in London, England named Any amount of books.

The blog site has numerous articles ranging from experiences in traveling for the purpose of finding books, to special collection to weird and unusual tales in the book world.

Also this site has numerous links and references.

Go by and check it out, you’ll be glad you did.

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First edition missing dust jacket.

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I had a conversation with a gentleman on the phone today. He was trying to sell a book, a very nice first edition of a very popular novel. As we spoke he told me he was selling off his collection a bit at a time to purchase a boat he wanted.

As we talked about the book he said “Oh by the way, it doesn’t have the dust jacket.”

Before I continue on with this story a brief history of dust jackets is warranted.

The fist dust jackets appeared in England around 1820. They were simple cloth pieces and generally were not kept.
As the decades progressed, bindings were so beautiful that people wanted to show them off, so the dust jackets were simply tossed away.

In the early part of the 20th century the price of the book was inside the bottom flap of the jacket, much like we see today. One of the problems was, if someone purchased the book for a friend, they would clip off the price from the jacket. Jackets also got soiled or worn, and were generally tossed.

So the dust jacket having been around for almost 200 years, are not that common with older books as many would think. Most don’t even realize that, Lee, Fitzgerald, Faulkner etc all had jackets.

Now back to my story.

Missing dust jackets will be a problem that will come up from time to time for dealers, collectors and everyone in between.

To put it simply, the dust jacket is on average 75% of the books value. There are exceptions to this rule but for this book that was printed approx 40 years ago, it needed the dust jacket to get the desired amount he was talking about.

Our conversation lasted about thirty minutes and we are meeting this Friday to make the deal.

Later I will write on dust jackets that are married and famous forgeries.

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Whats my book worth?

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As a former book store owner in Denver Colorado, one of the most frequent questions I was asked was “How much is my book worth”?

In dealing with monetary value of a book there are numerous factors of which I will cover five here in this article.

Rule 1

Condition is everything. Many of times I have had people call or bring me used books that were there own, or perhaps handed down in their family or found in a dumpster. With a beaming smile they would hand me their book which usually had all or a combination of the following factors. Excessive stains, mildew, water damage, crayon markings, highlights, torn off covers, missing pages, broken bindings. The book would look like it was attacked by Godzilla.

Rule 2. Content and relevance is King. Have a great looking set of the 1984 encyclopedia Britannica lying around? Guess what, so do thousands of others. The information is outdated and at best they can serve as decoration pieces in offices or home libraries. Outdated law books, tax books more than a year old or worthless.

Rule 3. Your grandma’s books are important and have value to you but no one else. Sounds harsh I know, but let’s look at reality. A 1905 reading primer from her school days is worthless. Bottom line. I know antique stores have them priced at 20 dollars and higher, but trust me, rarely do they sell. And when they do, guess who buys it? Someone who doesn’t understand rule number 2.

Rule 4 Edition, edition and edition.

You have a 1955 Shakespeare book that’s “really old” so it’s got to be worth something correct? Let’s put this in historical perspective. Shakespeare works were first published in 1623. So from then until now, were looking at almost 400 years later with innumerable prior printings. Buy a book on first editions and their identifications.

Rule 5. Sometimes, just sometimes there are exceptions to rules 1 through 4.

If you have the original first printing of Encyclopedia Britannica or the First edition of blacks law dictionary, you’re in the money. Have a first edition Moby Dick, with the cover damaged, your still doing all right. Your grandmas school book with a love note from Winston Churchill, yet another example of rule number 5.

To research yourself you will need to know or buy books dealing with first edition identifaction, bibliographies, auction records and so forth.

Theses rules server only as a guideline as many other factors are used to determine a books value. Do your research, or ask a local book dealer in the yellow book for advice.

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Yellow pages advertising- Why it still works.

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So you’re reading this on your computer and maybe wondering if I’m still stuck in 1985. That’s ok; though my sense of clothing style probably still is, I’m going to explain why Yellow page advertising still works and how it can still increase your business. I advertise through Google and have my own website, but still a healthy portion of business comes through yellow book.

We are all caught up in the internet, its access of information through Google and yahoo. The tweets, facebook and Digg.But when I say “we” what actual percentage are we?

The Generation life search project breaks down the percentages as follows for finding information online.

Ages 18-32- 33%
Ages 33-44 24%
Ages 45-54 18%
Ages 55-63 13%
Ages 64 – 7 %

Surprising? I think if we are honest with ourselves the numbers make sense. Let’s make up a company, we will call it “Bills Hearing aids” and suppose the average age of a customer is 60. How many 60 year olds are going to tweet or ask a myspace friend for advice?

I would suspect the number is pretty low.

On the flip side if you run “Bob’s trendy clothes shop for young adults” then perhaps not that big of an ad is necessary in your local phonebook, but more aggressive online advertising is.

Bail bonds, used bookstores and many other services such as plumbing or roofing still have life in the local phone book.

Consider your business, which is the main demographic you are targeting and decide on how much advertising is needed in your local phone book from there.

The internet is here, and many people are using it. But I believe a fair amount of people are still grabbing their local phonebook.

As a small business owner, I advertise locally in three different phonebooks for used bookstores in Denver, Boulder and Ft Collins Colorado.

The results for now are still worth it. What will the future hold? I suspect later on, the phonebook may become obsolete.
For now, it’s still a money maker for my business.

John Hedges is a used book dealer in Denver Colorado. For the last five years he has helped run and advised bookstores in Boulder, Ft Collins and Denver Colorado. He still buys books and produces free articles on the book trade and small business, which can be followed through twitter, rss and other feeds, which are located on his website at
www.abacususedbooks.com

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