Chapter 500 Touchdown!

No bookish posts today.

Here’s why:

We all know I’m no Martha Stewart (though I’d really like to be). Way back in July, Tom and Huck were with me at the local craft store, and, while I was shopping, they each selected some fabric from the clearance table. Tom chose a skateboard-themed fabric (2 yards for $3) and Huck chose a football-themed fabric (1 yard for $2). They wanted me, their mother, to sew pillow cases for their beds.

I don’t sew very often, and I only know how to use a sewing machine to sew straight lines.

“I don’t know, guys,” I said. “Maybe Aunt Sarah can do this for you.” (Aunt Sarah is my aunt and she is an amazing designer and seamstress who had her own clothing shop for many years. She is a professional, and everything she sews looks fantastic.)

Huck then said, “I love it when you make me homemade things.”

And my heart melted.

I bought the fabric, with that wishful and probably arrogant motherly thinking that they would each think of me every time they rested their heads on the pillows. I was determined to sew their pillowcases myself.

Just as soon as I went to Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

Just as soon as our family took our summer vacation.

Just as soon as I quoted that big book to a library.

Just as soon as school started for Tom and Huck.

Just as soon as the Santa Monica Book Fair, the Central Valley Antiquarian Book Fair, and the Golden Gate Park Book Fair were finished.

Finally, I decided I had better just do it. And, there it is, pictured above. It only took me about an hour to cut, press, pin, and sew.

I need to apply this attitude — just do it regardless of other priorities — to the Dante catalogue.

Just as soon as I sew a skateboard pillowcase for Tom tomorrow.

Chapter 493 Things to Remember

I am finally re-shelving my books this week, the ones I brought to the Golden Gate Park Book Fair two weeks ago. Between last week’s work on the top secret Dante project and Halloween and sporting activities for Tom and Huck, I didn’t have time to shelve books. They’ve been sitting in boxes all over my house and it’s driving me to distraction. I’ve got to put them away so I can stop looking at a bunch of boxes crowding up my living room and hallway.

Once the re-shelving is done, I have a slew of other work waiting. Here’s my list of some of the things that must be done before I forget to do them:

1) Order more business cards. I ran out of cards at the Golden Gate Park Book Fair.

2) Order envelopes for mailing the Dante catalogue, so it’s ready to mail when it gets back from the printer.

3) Print the Dante catalogue — this involves dealing with the graphic designer ONE more time before actually sending to the printer. I do have a printer lined up, though.

4) Catalogue all new acquisitions — given that I sold and bought books at three book fairs in six weeks’ time, that means I have quite a few things to catalogue.

5) Make nice, uniformly printed description cards for books that go in glass case at book fairs. I have the descriptions all written, but really need to print them on sturdier paper. I want my booth to look nice at February’s San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print, and Paper Fair.

6) Update website with many more books to sell. (I’ll be doing this soon, as I have a lot of newly catalogued books to offer but have never added them to the website. Why? I have no idea. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.)

7) Begin what is likely to be time-consuming but ultimately profitable research on a few items for the San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print, and Paper Fair.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention — sell books!

Chapter 463 Goals, Or, Trying to Work Smarter

A recent conversation with a bookseller with much more experience than I got me a little bit panicked. “Where do you see yourself in five years? Where do you see the book business?” he asked me.

“Uhhh. I don’t know, actually.”

Given some of the unexpected and never anticipated things that come up while being a mother to young kids and a caregiver to others, I can’t usually even say what I’ll be doing next week, let alone five years from now. We talked about the importance of a business plan, and after our discussion, I felt like I still have a long way to go as a bookseller. How would I accomplish what I want to achieve with the limited work time I have?

Now that I’ve been in business for a little over two years, it’s time for me to look at what I’ve done. I have a business license, a resale certificate, a website, and a blog. I’ve done four book fairs each year, and each year I have taken a one week long course to continue my education at places like the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar, the UCLA Rare Book School, and the University of Virginia Rare Book School. I’ve done what I can to meet and develop relationships with other booksellers, with customers, and with libraries. I’ve done all of this on a relatively part-time basis. Given family demands, some weeks I have time to work a lot. Other weeks I have almost no time at all.

While I am pleased with what I have accomplished while devoting the bulk of my time to raising kids and caring for family, I’d be lying if I said it is never hectic. That said, I have no desire to do less. I love working on my book business, even though at times I have to work more slowly than I would like. My family’s needs are a constant for the next several years, so my available time for work will probably stay about the same. What I need to do to accomplish my goals is to work smarter. Here’s my plan to date:

1) I will get up one hour before my family. I will be dressed and ready for the day by time they get up. That way, as soon as Thoughtful Husband leaves for work and Tom and Huck leave for school, I will have only a few household chores to do and I will be ready to sit down and work earlier than in the past. It should give me one extra hour a day to work. This may sound like an obvious thing to do, but I am more of a night person than a morning person, so it will be a challenge for me. I had better stock up on lots and lots of caffeinated Earl Grey tea.

2) I will devote at least two days during the week to working on the book business while the kids are at school, from say 9am until about 2:45 pm. During the hours I work on those days, I will NOT answer my phone, check my email, or waste time on Facebook. I will try really hard not to start preparing dinner early or to thrown in just one more load of laundry. The other two days of the week will be devoted first to things like grocery shopping and laundry and then to work. The remaining day will be to help my elderly mother-in-law if needed. Again, this will be a challenge for me. Some weeks I have more available time than others because of things like school field trips and my mother-in-law’s needs. Some weeks I have less time, but I will try like heck to stick to this schedule. It means I need to make a good domestic schedule fo rmy household duties, too.

3) I will occasionally take blogging breaks when life gets too busy. This is the most difficult one, because I like to write and I love to post consistently during the work week. That said, I make no direct income from blogging (though I do sell books as a result of people who have read my blog). Even so, if I took blogging breaks during busy times, I think I could be more present to my family and I think that when I do write I could write better content that is more focused. We’ll see. I’m not totally willing to commit to this one. I may try it for the month of September and see what happens. Regular readers, I will always let you know I will be taking a blogging break so you don’t have to waste your time checking to see why I haven’t posted. What do you think?

4) I will finally write a business plan, something I should have done at the beginning of my business. A business plan will help me to determine priorities. What’s more important with the limited amount of time I have to work on my business — Selling books at book fairs? Finishing the catalogue I’ve worked on for two years? Blogging every day? Improving my website? Hunting for books to sell? Ideally, I’d do all of these things simultaneously, and sometimes I can, but many times the time I am able to work forces me to choose. Defining my priorities will help make it easier for me to choose which ones to act on first when my time is limited or unexpectedly curtailed.

I realize that this is not how most of the professionals in the business got to the top. They likely did all things well all at the same time. Much as I’d like it to be so, that is just not possible for me right now. I’ll have to do it “my way” as Frank Sinatra once sang.

And when all else fails, I am going to remember this adage:

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 461 A New Year

Tom and Huck start school Monday. I can’t believe how time has flown: Tom is in 6th grade this year and Huck is in 3rd. When I started this blog, they were in 4th and 1st grades. I cannot believe how fast the time has flown.

They walk out the door this morning with those typical end-of-summer ambivalent feelings of anticipation and excitement. They love their new school shoes and freshly sharpened pencils and blank notebooks, and they look forward to seeing their friends. Both seem happy about the teachers to whom they’ve been assigned this year, too. But both boys are less than excited about returning to regular homework and the rigid daily school schedule that means early mornings and earlier bedtimes for both of them.

Like them, I’m ambivalent. I’ve enjoyed summer with its lazy mornings, fun day-trips, and friendly visits. But I also welcome the return to routine that the school year brings. Because I was a student and then a teacher and now a parent of students, my life has revolved around the academic school year calendar for almost as long as I can remember. The beginning of a new school year is more of a new year for me than the one that begins on January 1. As such, it’s a time to review past actions and to set (or revisit) some goals. I’ll write about that tomorrow, but first it’s time to sit back and reflect with a little help from this:

The mug is a souvenir from Rare Book School. It says “Hail and Farewell”, which commemorates Terry Belanger’s retirement as Founding Director of Rare Book School (don’t worry; he’ll still be teaching) and the entrance of Michael Suarez, S.J. as the next Director. The tea, Imperial Earl Grey, is a particular favorite of mine, and I love the beautiful tin. The coaster upon which my Rare Book School mug will sit is a souvenir from a visit to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. Both the mug and the coaster are reminders of my excellent trip to Virginia this summer and of the obligation to use my education well. The tea is a reminder to take a little break in the morning before getting down to work now that the kids are off to school.

Hope the end of your summer is enjoyable.

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 376 Bookseller Faux Pas, Read All About It

Yes, that’s right. I’ve committed another bookseller faux pas. (I didn’t think there were that many left that I hadn’t already committed, but it turns out that there are new mistakes to be made every day.)

I consider myself to be a fairly organized individual. With a husband, two kids, and a mother-in-law, and everyone’s schedules and activities, I have to be organized. I always assumed that my organizational skill spilled over into my book business, but today I discovered that I may have been too hasty in arriving at that conclusion.

When I buy books, I catalogue them in my computer. In the event that I buy many books at once, I have a special bookcase for the as-yet uncatalogued items. They remain there until they are priced and catalogued.

Sounds pretty organized so far, right?

When cataloguing a book, I even enter into the computer record where the book is shelved. That way, when someone orders the book, I can easily look on the computer to see where I have shelved it. Additionally, I only have about 12 bookcases in my houses, so there are only so many places a book can be. It’s shouldn’t be too hard to find a book even if it’s location isn’t noted in the computer.

It seems like a logical system to me.

But just a couple of days ago, my system was tested and found to be sorely lacking.

A customer ordered a book from my website. Happy to receive an order, I immediately emailed the customer telling him thanks for the order and that his book would ship first thing the next day. I then went to the bookshelf to retrieve the book only to find it missing from the shelf where my computer indicated it should be. I spent a considerable amount of time checking all of my shelves, but could not locate the missing book. I checked my computer again — there no record that I had sold the book, and I didn’t recall selling the book and shipping it.

What could have happened?

When I travel to book fairs, I take my books and my book cases with me. That means that when I return home, the books don’t always get put back exactly as they were before I left for the fair. I re-shelve everything after a fair, but sometimes, in order to make room for new acquisitions, shelves get re-arranged. I don’t usually go back to my computer to note the re-arrangement, because it’s only a few books that get moved each time. Perhaps I moved the book to a different shelf and hadn’t noted it?

I checked every shelf. Again.

Still no book.

Luddite that I am, I keep paper records as well as computer records of all my invoices. I took out my 2008 Books Sold binder and frantically flipped through the pages, looking at each and every 2008 invoice, including the hand-written ones from book fairs. I enter the hand-written book fair invoices into the computer after I return home from book fairs.

At last, I found it. Way back in September at the Santa Monica Book Fair, I had sold the book in question to another dealer (along with about 5 other books). Somehow, that particular invoice never got entered into my computer after the fair (though the other invoices from the fair did make it into the computer–I think the paper must have stuck to another piece of paper and I didn’t notice).

Imagine my embarrassment when I had to contact the person who ordered the book. Mind you, I’d already sent him an email saying I’d be shipping it. Trying to ignore my shame, I let him know immediately that I had already sold the book in question and failed to remove it from inventory and that I had refunded his money. Generous customer that he is, he thanked me politely. I was disappointed to have lost the sale and couldn’t believe I could be so disorganized as to actually lose track of a book — remember, I have a very small inventory of about 1,500 books.

I am mortified that this happened. It’s a good lesson to be careful about how you keep track of your books once they are on a shelf and about how to make sure any hand-written book fair invoices make it into the computer.

Live and learn.

Chapter 345 How to Cut Costs and Improve Business in Tough Times

Busy again today. Here’s one of the final articles I wrote for BookThink last year.

Battening Down the Hatches: How to Cut Costs and Improve Business in Tough Times

I recently had to make a critical decision about my antiquarian bookselling business. The decision was critical because the consequences of the decision could mean the opportunity to grow my business or the misfortune of putting it in a vulnerable position.

About a month ago, I came across a small office space in the downtown/shopping district of my city. It was the perfect size for a business of one — 425 square feet. The location, near a couple of restaurants, antique shops, the main library, and another bookshop seemed perfect. Even more perfect was the inexpensive rent. Because the space was small, it was difficult to rent, so the asking price for the one-year lease seemed more than reasonable.

I went home to think it over. That’s right. Home. I currently work out of my home, and I do not have a room dedicated solely to my books. The books are to be found in bookcases throughout my house. My “office” is in a corner of my dining room, and my dining room table serves as a worktable during the day and is cleared off so my family can use it as a dinner table at night. Renting the office space on a street full of shops might provide me the opportunity for people to sell me books, for me to sell books to more people than I currently reach, and for the rest of the trade to consider my business a credible one.

While I was taking a few days to consider whether my business currently produces enough money for me to consistently pay the rent on the office each month and buy new stock and participate in book fairs regularly, the American economy imploded. In addition to thinking about whether my own business could sustain the commitment to a monthly rent bill, now I had to think about whether I would still have customers who want to spend money on fine and rare books. Fine and rare books are wonderful, but they are a luxury item, and if one must choose between food and shelter or fine and rare books, only the truest of bibliophiles will choose the books. I wondered whether the economy would be bad for as long as the “professionals” were predicting.

If I moved my business out of my home to an office and my sales slumped, I would still owe monthly rent. Working at home, I can have a bad month or two or take a month off, because my overhead is very, very low. Additionally, if my sales are good, but not great, I would be able to pay the rent but unable to purchase new inventory. A bookseller who can’t add new inventory on a regular basis stagnates and goes out of business. I don’t want to be that bookseller.

I couldn’t decide. Was the serendipitous find of this space an opportunity to grow my business or would it, like many other shops for many other sellers, be the siren song that lured me to business bankruptcy?

After talking it over with a couple of other booksellers I trust, I turned down the opportunity to rent a space at this time. I may pursue it in the future, but I decided that now just wasn’t the right time. In light of the performance of the stock market and the rest of the economy the past few weeks, I think my decision was justified.

I also began to think about ways that booksellers can cut costs and save money if the antiquarian book business goes into a slump along with the rest of the economy. Here are a few ideas with a hat tip to several other booksellers I talked to:

1) When exhibiting at book fairs, split a booth space with another bookseller. Your fees for the space and display cases will usually be halved.

2) Save shipping costs by purchasing materials such as boxes and bubble wrap in bulk. The vendor from whom I buy boxes has sales twice a year, and I try to purchase enough boxes to get a bulk rate and to purchase only during the sale times.

3) Consider recycling packaging materials, like those Styrofoam “peanuts” you sometimes get when you order a book. Some dealers also recycle boxes, but I haven’t found a consensus among other dealers as to whether or not customers appreciate this or find it unprofessional. If you do recycle a box, remember that while recycling is admirable, so is professionalism. Don’t ship a book in a food box (yes, someone has shipped a book this way to me. Food crumbs and books just don’t mix well), and if you re-use a box, make sure it is still sturdy enough to take a beating from the journey of shipping and clean enough to clearly mark the customer’s address.

3) Be on the lookout for book bargains. As other dealers and people who just want to trade in their old books for cash feel pinched by the economy, prices may drop a bit. Be sure you have the cash on hand to buy when you find a bargain. One reason I didn’t rent the office space I loved was so that my working capital was not tied up in a monthly rent bill. Now I will be free to purchase a good find should one come my way.

4) If you have an open shop, be sure you’re turning off the lights, stereo, computers at night.

5) Consider using email newsletters and coupons for marketing purposes rather than print advertising. Also consider making print catalogues downloadable PDFs so you don’t have to spend so much on postage.

6) Remind your customers that books as objects have value. A fine book in a subject in which a person has an interest may actually cost less than another luxury item, like a piece of jewelry or a work of art. A fine book may even cost less and have a better aesthetic than expensive electronic gadgets like Amazon’s e-reader, the Kindle. Make sure your customers know that books are a worthwhile alternative to such purchases.

7) Consider a loyalty program for repeat customers – perhaps a coupon for 10% off the next purchase or a gift card or even a hand-written thank-you note.

Make sure you become known for maintaining excellent customer service and enthusiasm for your business, even in the light of economic bad news. Investing in building a good reputation is not expensive, and word-of-mouth can sometimes bring the best customers.

9) Develop and maintain relationships with other booksellers. Very often the best ideas I receive come from the other people in the trade who have more experience than I do. Don’t be afraid to ask a colleague to share ideas.

10) Maintain confidence in your business. Right now I’m glad that my most recent financial investment was used to start my own antiquarian book business rather put into the stock market. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be a successful bookseller, but at this point, I feel like I have more control over my own destiny.

Hope these ideas help. I’d love to hear more ideas if you have them.

Chapter 331 2009 Business Goals

Thanks for being patient. I’m finally getting around to setting my business goals for 2009. Without further adieu and in no particular order, they are:

1) Time and Patience
Even if the time of day is not consistent, I will make some time each week day for working on the book business. I had a lot of problems working on the book business on a daily basis in the second half of 2008. Some of the reason for this was beyond my control, but I know that if I want to make progress, I must make the time to achieve it. On the other hand, when events outside of my control dictate that I can’t work on selling books regularly, I need to work on patience and the knowledge that I will eventually get time for the books as life circumstances change. (Please, mothers of older children, tell me this is the case!!)

2) Catalogue
The Dante catalogue must either be 1) delayed indefinitely (not really an option I like), 2) completed as soon as possible, or 3) must be handed over to someone with desktop publishing skills. I really want to finish it. The reason it is still unfinished goes back to #1, Time, or lack thereof, to really sit uninterrupted and learn what I need in order to incorporate graphics and layout the catalogue. I am not so much annoyed that I haven’t finished it as I am sorry I told people I was working on it. I get asked often when the catalogue will be available, and I am a bit embarrassed that I don’t have a completion date. Still, the important thing to me is to get the catalogue right and to get it looking the way I envision it. I underestimated the time it would take me to learn to do this and have newfound respect for booksellers who issue regular print catalogues with color graphics.

3) Book Fairs
I’m hoping to exhibit at at least three fairs this year: the Gold Rush Book Fair in May, the Central Valley Antiquarian Book Fair in September, and the Santa Monica Book Fair, also in September. I can’t exhibit at the San Francisco Antiquarian Book Fair this year, as it’s only open to ABAA members this time around, and I haven’t been in business long enough to join the ABAA. I do, however, have the opportunity to work for my mentor, Mr. Z. during this February fair. I will stay in the booth and sell some of his books so he can go out and shop for more! It’s great fun to sell Mr. Z’s books, as they are all amazing and it’s a great opportunity for me to meet other booksellers. With over 200 of them at this fair, I am hoping to get to know at least a few booksellers from outside California. I promise a full report when the time comes. I also intend to go to and maybe even exhibit at the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair in October. Whether or not I can actually do so will depend on domestic demands at the time.

4) Blog
I enjoy blogging and looking back on earlier posts to see how I’ve progressed (or not). I plan to keep blogging most week days, and I look forward to continuing to meet other booksellers, book collectors, librarians, and just plain bookish folk as a result of writing this blog. It has been a great networking tool and has ultimately netted me several sales as well.

5) Writing
I won’t be writing for BookThink this year, sorry to say. In a sense, I am happy to have the free time to devote to the books, on which I need to spend more time. I was, however, just today asked to regularly contribute to another online publication for the bookish. I’m still thinking it over, but looks like I will give it a try. (Can you tell I’m having trouble deciding whether writing or bookselling should be the priority here? I love both activities.)

6) Sales
My 2008 sales were three times my 2007 sales. I am hoping to make my 2009 sales triple my 2008 sales, but given the current economic climate and my slow listing of books online, not sure if I can make this happen. Since time constraints don’t really allow me to increase quantity of books sold by a large magnitude, I am hoping to make it happen by increasing the quality (and therefore price point) of most of the books I sell. The most important thing here is to make sure that I can make a good profit (I aim for — but don’t always achieve — around three times cost) from books I purchase for resale.

7) Website
I need to add lots more books to my website. After planning for and exhibiting at book fairs, scouting books, directly quoting specific items to customers, and writing my blog posts each day, I haven’t made the time to upload more books. I recognize I need to do this, but will only move on to this goal when the first print catalogue is finished. For now, website improvement is desired but is on hold.

Education
I plan to continue my bookseller’s education by attending the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia this summer. I’ve been awarded a scholarship and I’m still looking into which class I’d like to take.

9) Networking
I expect to continue to network with other book collectors, booksellers, and librarians and to meet some new ones through book fairs, courses like those at Rare Book School, and blogging and writing projects.

10) Acquisitions
I’m always on the lookout for adding to my inventory, but I’m refining it, definitely trying to acquire fine and antiquarian books only. Anything can be anywhere. Never forget that.

Let me know if you think there’s something I’m overlooking or if you think my goals are overly-ambitious for someone who is also a mother of two.

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 329 Progress Report on 2008 Business Goals

Back in January of 2008, I set some business goals for the year. In no particular order, I’ll list each goal I originally posted in January, 2009 and beneath it in bold print I’ll list my progress (or lack thereof) next to it. Tomorrow, I’ll list the goals for 2009. Hope those of you new to the bookselling business find this helpful and those of you who are more experienced will have a good laugh at this beginning antiquarian bookseller!

1) Exhibit at at least three book fairs (San Francisco in February, Grass Valley in May, and Sacramento in September).

I exceeded this goal, exhibiting at four book fairs in 2008. I exhibited and sold books at the San Francisco, Grass Valley, Central Valley, and Santa Monica Antiquarian Book Fairs.

2) Get a real accounting system in place to keep better track of my records and to make tax reporting easier. Farewell, ledger book and pencil (well, maybe).

I did get Quicken, used it for a couple of months and gave up. Luckily, my BookHound program runs detailed sales and tax reports, and I keep track of other expenses the old-fashioned way. Still using paper and pencil, much to the accountant’s chagrin.

3) Learn a few technological tricks to improve the look of both my blog and my website. It’s hard to get specific on this one, as I know what I want, but don’t know the terminology or method for how to achieve it.

Still need to do this. I added very little inventory to my website in 2008, something I definitely want to change in 2009. I have too many uncatalogued books that I need to list there. I did manage to blog most days of the working week most of the year, and though that does not directly translate to books sold, I am happy I wrote nearly every day. I also sold several of the books I posted about on my blog to readers who inquired about them after reading my posts.

4) Catalogue more books. I have more books uncatalogued than catalogued. I’m starting with a goal of cataloguing a measly five per week (a big improvement over my more recent zero per week), but expecting to be able to develop enough of a routine to do ten per week. Stop laughing, you fast-typing, research-happy, terminology-happy book describers who list at least ten books per day! We’ve all got to start somewhere, and this is where I start. If I make it unmanageable, I’ll never do it. Starting with just five books — that’s one per day — seems doable to me.

Unfortunately, on many days, not even one book was catalogued. Some books were catalogued and then sold directly at book fairs, never appearing on my website. I certainly need to improve in the area of cataloguing, but in order to do so, I need to find consistent amounts of “free” (ha!) time. I did, however, acquire many more books and improved the quality of my inventory. Now if only I could get it catalogued so I could sell it, lol!

5) Increase sales from 2007. Get more books into the right hands!

My sales in 2008 were three times higher than sales in 2007, my first year of business. Of course, I do recognize that when one starts at the bottom, there is no where else to go but up, so tripling sales is not really as great as it first sounded to me. I’m guessing it will be more difficult (but not impossible) to do three times 2008 sales in 2009.

6) Put out the word that I both sell and buy books. A steady stream of new inventory seems to be crucial.

I did ok in this area, acquiring fewer books than in the past, but acquiring books of greater rarity and finer quality than before. I have improved the quality of my stock. I was also lucky to have a very good house call this year which yielded many good finds. That house call came from my letting people know that I do house calls. The lady who cuts my hair gave my phone number to the people selling the books and they called me. Lesson: Always put out the word that I both sell and buy books.

7) Cull out the overcrowded shelves and sell or donate a few books that really don’t fit what I’m trying to do with my business.

I did this last January and need to do it every year, maybe even twice a year.

List somewhere on the internet besides my own website — the Bibliophile List, the Rare Book List, ABE, TomFolio, Americana Exchange, etc.

I am sorry to say I did not begin listing books on any other sites aside from my own website. This was due to a combination of factors. First, I just don’t get many books catalogued and uploaded. Secondly, most of my work time this year was divided between book fairs, writing for this blog and for BookThink, and preparing direct quotes to existing customers. Oh, and more time was spent on hunting for books and researching them. I either need more hours in the day or an employee. Since I can afford neither of these, I focused on making most of my sales at book fairs, which proved to be a good strategy this year. Still, I very much want to increase my internet presence. Hoping to work on that in 2009.

9) Continue my bookseller’s education. Attend either or both the University of Virginia Rare Book School and the UCLA California Rare Book School.

I was fortunate enough to attend the UCLA California Rare Book School, a fantastic experience I highly recommend. I enrolled in the course The Book in the West, a class taught by California State Librarian and bibliographer Gary Kurutz. I also have a scholarship to use for the University of Virginia Rare Book School in summer 2009. I am acutely aware of the fact that one can never learn all there is to know about books.

10) Finish that Dante catalogue! (Really!)

Oh, the shame of it! Still not finished. Not because it is all that difficult — the catalogue is only just a bit over 50 items, all of which are described and priced. I just haven’t got the time to lay it all out, and because I desire to use images of all of the books, I want to wait until I make the time to do so. It’s very important to me that the catalogue have a visual appeal. Since I don’t necessarily need to sell the books right now (though that’d be nice), I have been taking my sweet time in finishing the catalogue. Still, I know I need to complete it, print, and mail it to be taken seriously as an antiquarian bookseller. Note to self and to other new booksellers: Maybe it’s not an advisable idea to take on a print catalogue with graphic elements unless you know how to put one together. Probably should have waited another year or two until I had a solid internet presence and had regular book fairs under my belt. It was just too difficult to do all three of these things at once and manage my domestic duties.

11) Come up with a daily (or few days a week, since I also have to manage a family and household) work routine in an attempt to use my time more efficiently.

Is this a joke? I think I actually used my work time less effectively this year. I have some real thinking and planning to do in this area for 2009. I’ll elaborate more when I post my 2009 goals.

12) Keep in touch with the booksellers I already know, and also meet some new booksellers.

Attending the California Rare Book School and exhibiting at four book fairs allowed me to meet quite a few other booksellers and librarians. I both bought books from and sold books to those booksellers. Some of the best items I bought this year came my way from other booksellers and I had my first sales to libraries this year. Both the purchases and the sales came as a result of getting “out there” and meeting people in person.

2009 goals to be posted tomorrow! Thanks for reading and following my progress.

See you in the stacks!

Chapter 299 November, 2008 Business Priorities and Goals

Notes to Self:

+ Finish that Dante catalogue!!!!
+ Quit finding and buying books that I feel I must add to said catalogue, which keeps getting longer and longer and longer.
+ Quit re-writing said catalogue and just put it “out there”. Get over the stage fright of my print debut to the rest of the antiquarian book world. I am shy in person, but I never knew until now that I am also shy in print.
+ Be grateful that a fellow bookseller far from here can bid as my agent (that sounds so glamorous to me) at a book auction he plans to attend.
+ Try to squeeze in time to attend my favorite library sale this weekend.
+ I’ve been finding many good books at lower than expected prices lately. I’ve bought all of them I can afford. Now I need to file the receipts and price code each one. Then I need to catalogue each one. Then I need to sell them, because my house is rapidly being depleted of book storage space.
+ Write my monthly article for BookThink.
+ If I don’t realistically have time for an open shop and I don’t especially like just listing books online, explore other, more creative ways to sell books locally. Perhaps flea markets or a stall at an antiques mall? (I’d love to hear your ideas, readers.)

I forgot (a sad commentary on the state of my business organization at the moment) to write any October goals, so I didn’t complete any in particular. I did buy a lot of books, conduct one house call, research graphic designers for my catalogue (way too expensive for my budget), and write an article for BookThink.

See you in the stacks!

UPDATE: I actually did write October Business Goals. I just forgot about them. (An even sadder commentary on the state of my business organization at the moment.)

Chapter 297 In Which I Make a Mistake, Or, Chapter 294

I just realized that I never wrote a post titled Chapter 294. Look at my sidebar. The post titles jump right from Chapter 293 to Chapter 295. I never was very good at counting.

I also know that many of my blog posts contain typos or (shudder) grammatical errors. The grammatical errors are doubly shameful, because I was once an English teacher.

Please bear with me when I make mistakes. I know they can be distracting, and I try not to make them. That said, my blog is an activity I do in my extra (ha!) time. I sit down and write in a rather stream-of-consciousness style, sometimes while preparing meals and many times with children underfoot or shouting things like, “Mom! Why is the bathtub overflowing?” I rarely edit what I write, and when I do edit, the post receives a cursory glance at most.

Think of it this way: every time you see an error on this blog, a child is being helped with homework (or some other crisis), a family meal is being put on the table, or it’s very late and I am just plain tired and that causes me to make mistakes I wouldn’t make if not distracted.

So, my apologies for foolish errors. Under the circumstances, I do my best to avoid them.

See you in the stacks!