Chapter 269 Refreshed, Or, October 2008 Business Priorities

I was tired at the end of last week. Rare Book School combined with two book fairs combined with the whirlwind change of schedule that is the first month of school for Tom and Huck all conspired to make me more than a little fatigued.

After neglecting bookselling duties at the end of last week and over the weekend, I feel a bit more refreshed and ready to tackle the tasks at hand. A bookman’s holiday is just what I needed. I stayed home and celebrated some birthdays and read some books in between Tom and Huck’s soccer games. It was better than a vacation; it was heaven. Here’s what’s on deck for the coming month of October:

* Input sales and business contacts into BookHound from the Santa Monica Book Fair. (I know; I am dreadfully behind).

* Ditto for the Central Valley Antiquarian Book Fair.

*Catalogue new acquisitions from book fairs. There is nearly a whole box full of them.

* Find a desktop publishing person to get this Dante catalogue ready for a printer. The catalogue is all written; it’s the layout that’s holding me back. Well, that and four more new acquisitions that fit the catalogue perfectly. After messing with layout for the past three months, I am going to hand that part off to someone else if the cost isn’t too prohibitive. I figure it will cost me more in time and sanity to keep messing with it and never achieve the state of satisfaction I hope to have. I probably should have figured that out months ago, but, being a rookie, I just kept trying. I now realize that it is probably more productive for me to spend time on buying books, researching them, pricing them, and writing the catalogue than it is to learn computer science/desktop publishing. Still, I really would like to add the layout skills to my bookseller’s arsenal someday. However, if I don’t complete the catalogue and get it in the mail, I won’t be a bookseller much longer. So, finding a person to assist with layout seems the best investment of my time and money at this point.

* Blog posts to come this week on my _0th birthday, one year of blogging, and nearly two years in the antiquarian book trade. Other posts on fall reading lists and fall cleaning lists. And new acquisitions.

I’m off to enjoy another cup of Earl Grey tea and a scone and to get down to work. Have a great Monday!

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 235 August Business Priorities

I have a few priorities for August, but not too many as I will be away for a week (taking a book class) and the kids return to school at the end of the month. That means it’s busy around here. Here’s what I plan to do:

+ Attend my favorite Library Sale on Saturday. (I thought this would overlap with my book class, but it doesn’t, so I am hoping to get there.)
+ Take the course The Book in The West at California Rare Book School, held on the UCLA campus.
+ Since returning from my RV trip, I have finished the new layout of the Dante catalogue. I need to proofread and make necessary changes and to write an introduction. Then I need to find a printer who can print copies of the catalogue. Let’s get this catalogue finished!!!
+ Write an article for BookThink.

That’s it for this month. Let’s see how far I got by the end of the month!

Chapter 226 What About the Books?

Are you wondering when, if ever, I will get back to blogging about my escapades in the antiquarian book business? How much can any one person say about her vacation?

Wondering whatever happened to the oft-discussed, never-seen Dante catalogue?

Wondering if I’ve been to any library sales lately?

Wondering if I have any upcoming book fairs for which I need to prepare?

Wondering when I’ll be going to a Rare Book School class at UCLA this summer?

I’ve got a lot of competing demands on my time right now. Hang onto your curiosity for just one more day, I beg you.

Chapter 194 On Deck This Week

It’s shaping up to be a busy week with a lot of activities. Huck finished his final Little League baseball game Sunday. School ends and summer begins for both boys on Thursday — no more long after-school homework sessions in my office (read: my dining room table) when I could work on books instead. I may have a housecall this week or next, where I will get to check out books in an estate and make an offer if I find them to be worthwhile. (Note to self: write a future post about housecalls). Tuesday, I’m having lunch with a new friend and reader of this blog who made the trek to the Gold Rush Book Fair and who wants to become a bookseller. Next Monday I will visit the shop of a bookseller I met at the recent Gold Rush Book Fair.

But what this really means, is that my long-term project, the Dante catalogue, is really and truly close to complete (at least the writing is — the digital layout is a whole other story, but there’s no way it can take as long as researching and writing one’s first print catalogue — can it?

At the end of the week, we are headed here for a few days of camping:


Don’t know where this is? Think of the book Granite Crags of California and you’ll know.


I’m not much of a camper, but it’s beautiful here and we camp here every year for a few days. It reminds me that as much as I admire pioneer women and their travails, I really do not have the stamina to brave the dirt, the cold nights, and the bugs and bears for more than three days. As you already know, I was made to read and write about pioneer women and to sing their praises to a new generation.

Speaking of pioneer women, our Little Ride on the Prairie, the pilgrimage to the home of pioneer queen Laura Ingalls Wilder, is coming up in a few short weeks. We’ll be driving through California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana and Idaho. If any of you dear readers have bookshops in any of these states or know of any good shops, please let me know. We absolutely plan to make book hunting a part of our trip. Americana Exchange just published an article about bookshops in Utah, so that ought to come in handy, but any other suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 183 My Ace in the Hole

I received a comment from BiblioHistoria after yesterday’s post about my family’s demands on my time and the time I spend on my book business:

What months are the summer months vacation in USA? Is that usually June and July, with school starting up again in August?

Here in Canada summer covers July and August and school starts again in September. I’m just curious.

Because unless you have paid for camps for your boys, you won’t get much book work done during the summer.

Remember your blog started last year in September AFTER the summer vacation ended and the boys were back in school.

Tom and Huck have summer vacation from early June until mid-August. Both boys participate on a swim team during the summer (far less demanding than our school-year sports schedule) and both will take a couple of fun classes, such as “Making Movies Using iMovie” for Tom. These classes run for a week or so for an hour or two per meeting. Mostly, Tom and Huck are home with me. I want to relax our schedules during the summer, because this is the one time of year I can spend time with them without always rushing to be somewhere. We have time to read a book, go to the zoo, visit a museum, or just play.

I am lucky — we have lots of neighbors on our street, and there are plenty of kids with whom Tom and Huck can play. All of the parents take turns letting the kids play at each other’s houses. This is wonderful (except on the days when there are 10 kids playing in my house).

Still, I do hear refrains of “Mom, I’m bored. What should I do?” during the long days of summer. I like the kids try to come up with their own games, build their own forts out of old sheets, create obstacle courses on the lawn, etc. This type of play is, after all, a form of learning. In order to help me combat the “Mom, I’m bored” crowd, I found this at last weekend’s library sale:

It’s my ace in the hole and has excellent ideas for all kinds of contraptions kids can make themselves — spool tanks, small parachutes, whittling, slingshots, etc. Not every kid likes these kind of projects, but mine do, especially if their friends are working on it with them.

I don’t know for sure exactly how many hours of book work will be done during the summer. I can say that without sports practice and without daily homework, I will be considerably freed up. My current plan is to work before the boys wake up — from 6 until 8 a.m. each day. I should be able to fit in another hour or two during the day when they are playing. I can’t promise that this is exactly how I’ll do it, because this is my first year working on this business. I do know for sure, that I will (and already do) consistently spend time on my business, even if it’s only a little time each day.

Chapter 178 May 2008 Business Priorities

I’m going to my favorite library sale this weekend. The sale is held the second full weekend of each month. I regret to say that I have been unable to attend this sale since December. I was out of town in January, at the San Francisco Book Fair in February, at opening day of Little League in March, and at my brother’s wedding in April. It feels good to get back after such a long time away. I hope some undiscovered finds wait for me on the shelves.

As part of my plan for this year, I’ve been listing my business priorities month by month. Now that it’s May, it’s time to review what I accomplished in April and set goals for this month.

First, the status on April’s goals:

APRIL 2008 PRIORITIES
+Dante catalogue. In progress. Have imaged and catalogued more than half of the books and learned to use the program I need to layout the catalogue. Should be done in another month.(N.B., I said should be done . . .)
+Contribute an article to BookThink. Done.
+Contribute an article to Bookshop Blog. Done.
+Keep blogging here. Done.

MAY 2008 PRIORITIES
+ Finish the Dante catalogue.
+ Library Sale
+ Prepare for and sell books at the Gold Rush Book Fair, May 17. Email me at chris @ bookhuntersholiday.com if you’d like a free pass to the fair.
+ Put all books back on the shelves after the Gold Rush Book Fair (sigh — I dislike that part).
+ I will be attending UCLA Rare Book School in August. I need to make travel plans and book my hotel.
+ I will be exhibiting at the Santa Monica Book Fair in September. I need to book a hotel for that, too.
+ Find out the dates for the Sacramento/Central Valley Antiquarian Book Fair, which is also usually held in September.
+ Keep blogging here. I am taking a break from writing for BookThink this month so that I can focus on my catalogue and the book fair.
+ Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. The most important goal — sell books!

Chapter 150 Back to the Books

Tom and Huck return to school today, after a week off for Easter vacation. The house is peaceful enough for actual book work again. I’m off to my local historical society to hunt for some more books today. It’s been too long since I’ve gotten out to scout, and I’ve missed the last two of my favorite library sales. I don’t often find lots of books at the historical society, but I find enough to make occasional visits worthwhile. Besides, I love its quiet basement location in an historic old courthouse. Did I mention that there’s a great bakery down the street, too?

Now that March is ending, it’s time to plan for April. First, here’s my list of priorities for March, with the status in bold next to the goal.

MARCH 2008 PRIORITIES

+ Learn more about Rare Book School Courses at UCLA DONE. Applied for “Books of the Far West” course.
+ Do something, anything, related to completing the Dante catalogue. Bought two more books. Did nothing else.
+ Set up 2008 accounting on computer. Done. This was a big project, and took most of my work hours during March. Now all is in order and I will enter expenses as they arise rather than saving them up for 14 months and then trying to enter them on the computer. (Sure I will.)
+ List one book a day. Did not list any new books. Did have a few sales, though.
+ Contribute an article to BookThink. Done.
+ Contribute an article to Bookshop Blog. Not done. Sorry again, Bruce.
+ Keep blogging here. Done.

Here are the priorities for April:

APRIL 2008 PRIORITIES
+Dante catalogue.
+Contribute an article to BookThink.
+Contribute an article to Bookshop Blog.
+Keep blogging here.

You can see that with the exceptions of some writing commitments I’ve made to others and to myself, I am making that catalogue the only priority this month, probably at the expense of a few other sales I could spend time to get. But that’s ok. I’ve got to finish this catalogue. It’s finally time.

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 131 March 2008 Business Priorities

It’s time to set goals for March. Actually, seeing as how this evening is March 3, it is past time. Running late. Unfortunately, given family obligations and work obligations, running late was the theme for February. I’m going to try to avoid falling behind in March.

Below are the priorities for February with the current status in bold:

+ Finish preparing for the San Francisco Book and Paper Fair. DONE!
+ Exhibit at the San Francisco Book and Paper Fair. DONE!
+ Return all books to their rightful shelves after the fair. (Since my books are spread out all over the house, this usually takes some time. I always want to put them back so I can find one I’m looking for later.) DONE!
+ Switch accounting from ledger book to computer. HALFWAY DONE — TAX PAPERWORK FOR 2007 GIVEN TO ACCOUNTANT. NEED TO SET UP 2008 ON COMPUTER.
+ After the book fair and the accounting, work on the Dante catalogue until it is finished!!!! Specifically, I want to finish writing descriptions for the remainder of the books in the catalogue this month — about 25 books to go. PATHETICALLY, DID NOT EVEN START THIS ONE!
+ Catalogue/list one book per day (except for the days of the book fair). DID WELL WITH THIS UNTIL THE BOOK FAIR AND SOLD ENOUGH BOOKS AT THE FAIR TO COUNT AS LISTING ONE A DAY FOR THE REST OF FEBRUARY.
+ Learn more about the Rare Book School courses at UCLA. MOVE TO MARCH
+ Contribute an article to BookThink. DONE.
+ Contribute an article to Bookshop Blog. NOT DONE. SORRY, BRUCE.
+ Keep blogging here. DONE

MARCH 2008 PRIORITIES

+ Learn more about Rare Book School Courses at UCLA
+ Do something, anything, related to completing the Dante catalogue.
+ Set up 2008 accounting on computer.
+ List one book a day.
+ Contribute an article to BookThink.
+ Contribute an article to Bookshop Blog.
+ Keep blogging here.

Since there’s no book fair this month, I expect to get more done. On the other hand, the kids are home from school for 10 days later this month for Easter Break.

If you wonder how much time is spent on family on an average weekday, here was today’s schedule. It’s pretty average. Despite my fervent desire to do more, books got only a few hours today:

6:45 Get up and get kids up. Make sure they get dressed, teeth brushed, shoes tied.
8:00 Kids to school.
8-10 Check email, eat breakfast, tidy up house, feed dog, fill bird feeders, get myself dressed.
10-11:30 Run errands. Today it was the pet store, the grocery store, and the shoe store.
11:30-12:45 Work on books/ write a blog post.
12:45 Kids out of school early today. Take them to lunch.
2:00 Take Tom to the allergist
3:00 Return home. Supervise Tom and Huck’s homework. Prepare dinner.
4:00 Work on books while kids play.
5:00 Leave to take my little brother and his fiancee to the airport
6:00 Take Tom to basketball practice.
7:30 Dinner
8:30 Kids to bed.
9:00 Finish working on books if needed or read or ask Thoughtful Husband about his day.

It adds up to about three hours a day, usually in small increments. I’d like to give more time to books, but I can’t always do that. I do have the occasional day where the kids don’t have an after-school practice or homework, but not very often. The Dante catalogue is such a big project that I don’t even try to work on it unless I have an uninterrupted block of three or more hours to do so. The trouble is that, while I do have time, that uninterrupted three hour block is tough to come by. Since January, I’ve been trying to re-organize my time to do errands and such only on certain days with a little improvement. However, last month I spent those days with three or more hours of work time preparing for a book fair. This month, I have no fairs for which to prepare. I will definitely put the time into completing the catalogue. (I write that not so much to inform you as to hold myself accountable. I’ll let you know how it works out in April.)

Dear reader, I’m not trying to complain about my schedule. The only thing I like better than being a bookseller is being a wife and mother. The key is finding out the appropriate amount of time for each and accepting that that amount of time is the limit. And now, my time’s up — off to drive my little brother to the airport.

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 110 February 2008 Business Priorities

Back in January, I wrote a list of goals I wanted to accomplish. I accomplished most, but not all of them. I’m sure you can guess that I did not switch my accounting “system” (if I can use so lofty a word for such a mess) from ledger book and pencil to computer. You can probably also guess that I did not list one book on my website every day. I did, however, catalogue one or more books per day, but these were mostly to take to the book fair — five days away and counting — so I am satisfied with that. I spent so much time preparing new stock for the fair that I did no work on my Dante catalogue, and that’s a disappointment, but I want to sell books at the fair, so the fair became a higher priority.

Without further ado, then, here are my goals for February, 2008:

+ Finish preparing for the San Francisco Book and Paper Fair.
+ Exhibit at the San Francisco Book and Paper Fair.
+ Return all books to their rightful shelves after the fair. (Since my books are spread out all over the house, this usually takes some time. I always want to put them back so I can find one I’m looking for later.)
+ Switch accounting from ledger book to computer.
+ After the book fair and the accounting, work on the Dante catalogue until it is finished!!!! Specifically, I want to finish writing descriptions for the remainder of the books in the catalogue this month — about 25 books to go.
+ Catalogue/list one book per day (except for the days of the book fair).
+ Learn more about the Rare Book School courses at UCLA.
+ Contribute an article to BookThink.
+ Contribute an article to Bookshop Blog.
+ Keep blogging here.

That’s a lot of goals for a short month. We’ll see what I can actually get done, and, I will report on it here, including any items not completed.

Below are the binders I use to keep paper receipts for books purchased and books sold. I file them in here in date order. I know I didn’t need to decorate them with scrapbook paper, but — it’s the housewife in me — if I can make the binders look nice, it makes me feel better about dealing with the boring paperwork, lol. Creating these binders was one of my January goals.

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 106 Reasons Why Work With Books Didn’t Happen Today

1) I rested yesterday, trying to cure a bad cold (and trying to watch Jane Austen movies), and didn’t do any chores.

2) I spent the morning catching up on chores — empty dishwasher, three loads of laundry, vaccuum, clean bathrooms, fold laundry, bathe dog.

3) I planned our meals for the week, made a grocery list, and went shopping.

4) I spent 90 minutes (NINETY MINUTES!!!) this afernoon helping my sons with school homework (I was a teacher. I value homework, but, really, 90 minutes for a fourth grader who has already been in school from eight until three seems rather excessive!!).

5) I took Tom to basketball practice and Huck to Cub Scouts.

6) I finished up planning details for a bridal shower I’m throwing this weekend (my youngest brother is getting married in a couple of months).

The good news is that I did do a small bit of preliminary internet research for that book I’m thinking of offering for sale at the book fair and I thought about a business plan while driving around doing errands. Does thinking count as work?

The other good news is that I am now caught up on household chores. Tomorrow while Tom and Huck are at school I will be able to work on books and books only!

I wonder how much homework pioneer children had?

Tomorrow: Back to all things bookish!