The Book Oasis

The Book Oasis Blog

Saturday, October 30th

Supper With Historic Authors

I belong to a newsgroup of booksellers. Now and then, one of us will stump the group with a question, or break the ice with a real question. Not long ago, the quest was, If you could share a meal with historic figures, who would they be. Here was my answer:

William Shakespeare--It would also be interesting to find out if there's any
truth to the Bacon theory.

Christopher Morley--Author and journalist whose works I truly love!

H.L. Mencken (Besides being literary, Mencken could be relied upon to liven
the conversation with his caustic barbs!)

Winston Churchill--a noted politician who was also a prolific author. Not
many can juggle both careers, much less make a significant mark in history.

William Shirer (I've read his book, The Nightmare Years, at least ten times, and his
insights on both Gandhi and the Middle East would be at odds with Churchill,
who was an imperialist at heart. Also, when I was a very small child, I
lived in eastern Massachusetts, only a few miles from Shirer's home in
Lenox. He used to ride his bicycle down the main street past my house. My
memories of him are of an older man with a beard and a pipe in his mouth,
bent down over the handlebars. More than anything I would have liked to have
shared that memory with him, but he passed away before I could do so).

There are many others whom I could name: Richard Halliburton, an early American
travel writer whose works I have collected for years; Jack London; Alexandre Dumas;
Johannes Gutenberg, without whose invention none of us would be where we are
today (nor would civilization, for that matter!); Antonio Salieri -- who's gotten a bum rap
for years, but was the teacher of Beethoven, and so many others; J.R.R. Tolkien, scholar,
translator, and fantasist extraordinaire (I think he'd be pleased, for the most part, with
the the recent film trilogy--it would be fun to show that video after the coffee hour,
and see his reaction).

Larry Burdick on 10.30.04 @ 02:45 PM PST [link]

Friday, October 29th

The Wearing of Different Hats

One of the greatest ironies of the used/rare book business is that to be a bookman, you have to wear many different hats; you have to be able to do so much, often simultaneously. Besides being knowledgeable about books you also have to understand the rudiments of marketing, be adept at bargaining, have reasonable carpentry skills, and be adept at all sorts of communications. I will never forget the time a woman came in and said (this is verbatim--no joke!) "I want the book about the...you know...the woman who was on the show...and talked about the people who weren't there." It was only much later that I realized she was talking about Sylvia Browne! Sure, I'd like everyone to know the exact title, author, and edition they want, but it's rarely the case. So, I have to keep my ears open and my mind sharp.

Computer skills are very much a part of the business, now, of course, but to me that's the crowning irony. Books, the oldest form of communication of ideas, are now dependent upon one of the newest ones! And in increasing numbers. Online shopping continues to grow, and everyday there must be a steadily increasing number of books added to the Oasis database, because more and more are going out into the world to international customers. Just the other day my First American Edition (1886) of Anna Karenina was sold to a customer in New York. Without the computer, it would still be sitting in my Rare Cabinet. A commonplace order, but only if you don't stop to consider the miracle of it all. But, my own fingers keep dancing on the keys.

Larry Burdick on 10.29.04 @ 07:13 PM PST [link]

Thursday, October 21st

The Shelflife of Books

Someone asked me recently, "What makes a book a used book?" At first I thought it was a trick question, but he explained that he was wondering if there was some 'rite of passage' that a book had to undergo before it qualified for entry into a used bookstore. It was a good question, because I had to think a while before I answered.

The simple answer is, No. There are plenty of people who will pick up a paperback in the grocery store, read it, and then turn it into me for credit on the purchase of another book. Lots of books are like that. More often than not, they've got the original sticker on them, which is proof enough that they're used. But then there are the rarities, the books that are truly unique, and they have been through a sort of initiation. They are tomes which have sat upon shelves for years, perhaps decades, passed into a new family, and graced a library for 2-3 generations before falling into my hands. By that time that time the book is either battered or treasured, but it has attained a special status: uniqueness.

By unique I mean books which you yourself would never think of, or think of reading. I'm constantly running into things like this. Simply by glancing at the piles of new stock I see books which you would never find in my personal library: "The Modern Identity Changer - How to Create a New Identity for Privacy and Personal Freedom"; "Have Faith in Massachusetts", by Calvin Coolidge; "Snap Notes of an Eastern Trip: From the Diary of Fannie de C. Miller" (1892); "Perelman's Pocket Encyclopedia of Cigars"; "Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War"; and on and on. Books have survived the ages, and of their family of hundreds or thousands, only a few remain. This, I think, is what makes the used book special. Cast aside by the publisher, the title remains in demand by a special few. That is what qualifies a book for a used/rare store.

I believe it was Arturo Perez-Reverte, author of "The Club Dumas", who said that all books have their own destinies. And in that respect, books are like people. I mean, we all think we're somebody special, right?

Larry Burdick on 10.21.04 @ 06:26 PM PST [link]

Saturday, October 9th

Bricks Mortar / Bricks & Clicks

In the book world today, there are two kinds of stores: Bricks & Mortar and Bricks & Clicks; or, in layman's terms, actual stores and virtual ones.

Having an actual ("open", as we say in the book world) store is a lot of work. Those of you who've read my previous blog know something of the work-load involved. Multitasking is a requirement, and cleaning up after customers is a big job itself. The other work which goes with a shop is guaging what you primary customers want, and making sure that you keep that stuff in stock.

The online store (bricks & clicks) is a different affair entirely. Your "store" is a website, with multiple listings on different book-oriented websites. Every day you download your email, check over your orders and inquiries, and process the sales you have. You run the business out of your home to save on rental fees, and park your car outside because your garage is filled with books and shelves; doing so saves money because you don't want to rent storage space--if you do that, you might as well have an open store.

The trick to a virtual store, though, is maintaining your stock. Since you don't have an open shop where people can drop off stock, you spend a lot of time on the road chasing books. While this can be exciting, it's also a large amount of work. One man of my acquaintance who operates strictly online (after operating a bookshop for about 15 years) told me that he spends roughly 1/3 of his waking time on the road! If that sounds sad, wait until you hear the next part.

More and more independent bookstores are closing. The reasons are varied (higher cost of rent, diminishing customers, lack of service by distributors, etc.), but the result is that more bookstores are moving online. The next time you do an online search for a book, take a good look at the number of people who are listing their books on the web. Every day, it seems, there are more sellers competing for your sale. This has two net effects: 1) It lowers the overall price of books--as more sellers get into the market, their numbers drive down the prices. 2) The work-hours of booksellers increase as they strive to get more books listed; this increases their fatigue and their mistakes. Of course, that's the national average these days, isn't it? Longer hours, less sleep, for the same amount of money.

Not that virtual stores are all bad. Another bookseller I know quit her open store three years ago to operate strictly online, and now finishes all her work before noon, leaving the rest of the day free!

Personally, I think I'd prefer to remain an open store. I enjoy seeing children read Winnie-the-Pooh for the first time; I like recommending new authors to customers, I still get a kick out of explaining to tech-oriented kids that the basis for The Matrix can be found in Socratic wisdom! Hard to do that online!

Larry Burdick on 10.09.04 @ 06:31 PM PST [link]