Tag Archives: Catamount Books

Meditations and Maunderings

Taking Out The Trash

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I recycle my un-saleable books at our local recycling center, still affectionately known to locals as The Dump. One time I was there throwing out boxes of old, ratty, mass market paperbacks, heaving them into the paper recycling bin. An older lady waited until I had finished my chore, then proceeded to climb right into the bin and start to heave most of them back out. I asked her what she thought she was doing. She said she was getting them for one of the local non-profits who had a free book-exchange shelf. I knew darn well that I would end up rejecting those books all over again from hopeful sellers. At one point I even started tearing them up to discourage the dump-picking. Looking back, I don’t know who was crazier, her for picking books out of a dumpster, or me for being so anal about keeping those books from coming back to my store.

Another time I got a call from a guy who swore he had a van full of nothing but ‘primo’ books in great condition – very valuable. He said he needed money to pay his bills.

After an hour’s drive, this guy wheeled into the parking lot in a van so loaded the bumper scraped the road when he made the turn. He had over forty cartons of books, which he proceeded to unload onto the front porch. It took me over four hours to sort through the stuff, hoping in vain to find something decent, but most of the boxes were full of damp, mildewed books, mouse droppings, mold and dirt. I bought about thirty books and that only because I felt sorry for him. He was trying to sell stuff out of those boxes to my customers for several hours before I made him load up and leave. Another lesson learned.

As an aside to this story, I have found through much experience that people who bring books in using big old trash bags are usually bringing just that – trash. I have found that the time and labor involved in going through the bags is usually not worth it. However, neatly packed and stacked books in shopping bagss are usually much better. But the best thing I love to see coming into my store are nice clean books in clean, neatly packed boxes.

Meditations and Maunderings

Inspiration and Motivation

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I like reading personal and business motivational books. They help me to keep some focus and balance in my life. Within each book I read or CD I listen to, I always find at least one inspirational part that fills me with energy and ideas. To stay afloat in the business world today, and particularly in the bookselling world, you have to constantly be on the lookout for possible trends and new ideas that will help you stay competitive and sometimes even profitable. All of the following books are a little dated but I still recommend them as worthwhile reads.

My idea for this article was inspired by story #100 from a book of collected stories called The 100 Simple Secrets Of Successful People, by David Niven, Ph.D. The book consists of two-page stories demonstrating “the traits, beliefs and practices of successful people”. Each article is backed up by some sort of relevant research study. The short stories make it especially good bathroom reading, which is how I found the time to read this particular book. The following is the excerpt from story #100 that got my attention:

Only You Can Say If This Is a World You Can Succeed In:

What is the main difference between people who have confidence they will succeed and people who don’t? Is it that they live in essentially different worlds – the confident in an easier place where everyone supports their efforts at success and the less confident in a harsher world where it is harder to succeed? No.

The difference is not the world itself. The difference is how they view the world.

The confident construct a reality out of the world around them, a reality in which success is possible because they pay special attention to those who have succeeded and have carefully studied the path to success. Those who lack confidence, meanwhile, pay more attention to those who have failed and the obstacles that exist to thwart their efforts.

It is much like two people walking next to each other on a busy city street, one looking up and the other looking down. The reality of the city is the same, but the view is very different.

Some writers tell you not to put all your eggs in one basket, advising diversification over specialization. Barbara Winter’s Making A Living Without A Job does a good job of addressing the concept of diversification using “Multiple Profit Centers”.

These profit centers start as small experimental operations. Some stay small while others can really take off and grow like crazy, and still others just sort of wither away and die. The good thing is that (hopefully) only one piece of your income goes sour without bankrupting you. The down side is that you get to juggle many different things at the same time. Winter does a good job of explaining her method for self-employment.

Robert G. Allen is another of my favorite authors. He is interesting because he advocates in his earlier book Creating Wealth how to get rich in real estate by “putting all your eggs in one basket, then watching and nurturing that basket very carefully”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But in a later book, Multiple Streams Of Income, he gives some great advice and good examples of how to produce a good living with diverse sources of income. The first half of the book is basically a rewrite of his “get rich in real estate” principles but the second half deals with network marketing, “infopreneuring”, licensing of intellectual property and using the internet. Hint: The second half is the interesting half!

Both of these writers bring home the fact that in today’s world you have to be alert to new trends and ideas, and be willing to try new things. To stay the same will lead to failure. Barbara Winter and Robert G. Allen have a great attitude toward entrepreneurship and self-employment.

My mom sums up this entrepreneurial attitude with her own earthy native-Vermonter saying: “If you throw enough crap against the wall, some of it is bound to stick”.

Keep picking it up and throwing it, my friend. You never know what, where and how much of it will stick!

Meditations and Maunderings

Tidbit for Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012

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Pricing some books this morning and fell prey to the occupational hazard of browsing instead of pricing. A riddle from “Folklore On The American Land” ($5.00 at the store):

‘What is the difference between a deer fleeing from its pursuers and a decrepit witch? One is a hunted stag, the other a stunted hag.’

I love books. Every day is like Christmas – you never know what you are going to find!

Meditations and Maunderings

A Day at the Auction

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Needing a change of pace, I decided to go to an auction last Saturday. The ad featured children’s books, old magazines and old paper with some of local interest. So I was hooked.

Normally I do not go to auctions to buy books or ephemera. For the most part, the materials sell for what I think are astronomical prices. I call them retail-plus items.

Sometimes I get lucky and attend an auction where there is a small crowd because of multiple auctions going on in the area. If I’m really lucky there are so many books that many of them are sold in box lots. At one auction several years ago I waited all day until the crowd started to leave and the auctioneer started selling by the table! Luckily, it was close by, because I ended up with two truckloads of stuff – about half of it books.

There are some pitfalls to buying in bulk. Sometimes there is a lot of “chaff” to be sifted through to find some good stuff. I minimize this by getting there early enough to go through the stuff at least twice before the auction starts. But the auctioneer always seems to bring out stuff I had never seen. Just one of the magical things that happen at an auction.

Back to Saturday’s auction. It seems that over in New York state the auctioneers don’t waste a lot of money on signs. I drove right by this one. Look for something that looks like a huge tag sale or small flea market. I spotted the sign right after that. But that was okay. Saturday turned out to be a really nice day to tour around.

I looked around a little then got my bidding number. Books were in short supply here. But there was a huge amount of furniture, mostly Cushman. If I were looking to stock up my new apartment or first home, I would go to auctions. Bureaus and chests of drawers made out of solid wood went for between $100-200. Sets of chairs for around the same.

Go to these auctions with specific wants in mind, unless you want to buy a lot of stuff you don’t need. I don’t worry about style, either. I have never been able to fathom the attitude of some people who will turn their nose up at some beautiful wood furniture in favor of going to the furniture store and paying double or triple for some piece of crap made out of particle board and vinyl “oak veneer”. Just to have a certain theme or style. Let your jealous friends laugh at your quaint old stuff while you can smile at all the money you saved. You will also have a unique decorating style that’s all your own.

There was a beautiful Cushman dining room table I lusted after. Sometimes big stuff can be had really inexpensively, but not today. I suppose the $300 price was cheap enough, but not for me this time. Since there was little in the way of books, I should have left right then, and tag-saled my way home. But I didn’t. That darned big table, dont’cha know.

So I settled in a chair in the shade at the back of the crowd. I like the back because you can see all the other bidders you will bid against. If an item comes up and you want a final look at it, run up and look at it again before bidding. Don’t be shy – it’s your money!

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One amusing sideshow I happened to catch was when a batch of bagged coins came up for bid. A couple next to me had been buying most of them. After a while the man got up and went behind the auctioneer to look at some other stuff, leaving his wife to do the bidding. Another bag of coins came up while he was back there, and she started to bid. The price got higher and higher. Then I noticed arms waving way out behind the auctioneer. It was the wandering husband. He was frantically making a “cut-off” motion with his hand across his throat for her to stop bidding! She did, and the coins went to someone else. They both looked relieved, although probably for different reasons.

Small items are usually brought right to you after purchase, but larger items are put off to the side. If you do buy large items like furniture, KEEP AN EYE ON IT! I learned this at another auction where I was high bidder, then didn’t keep a close watch on the losing bidder as he went over and looked at the piece I had bought. When I went to load it up, there was a large, deep scratch across the front. WATCH YOUR STUFF!

Well, that table finally came up, and like I said before, went for $300. To someone else. That was it for me, so I went to the cashier and turned in my number and left. When I did, I also made sure I had a copy of the sales receipt stating “no sales” on it, so no one could use my number after I left and charge it up to me. Too paranoid, you think? Not doing that could have been like losing a debit card with the passcode written on the back.

The trip back home was spent stopping at tag sales and dodging dinosaurs.

Two plastic lawn chairs, three books, six videos, a plasma light, and a set of free rain gutters later, I finally made it home. Not including gas, I spent a grand total of $17, including coffee.

Pretty cheap and fun entertainment for a Saturday.

Buying & Collecting Books

Let’s Go To The Book Fair!

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Why attend an Antiquarian book fair? What is a book fair?

A book fair is a place where various booksellers gather in one location and display some of their very best and most interesting materials. Why do booksellers bring their best? Because book fairs usually last for only a day or two, and booksellers have to pack and move books to the book fair, unpack and shelve the books, then pack up and move the books back to their shop where they are unpacked and shelved yet again. So, in order to get the most “bang” for their efforts, booksellers tend to bring books that are of a better quality or may be a little more scarce, and usually carry a higher price tag than more common books.

You will find a wide variety of books in a relatively small space at a book fair. Even a small fair will have thirty or more booksellers exhibiting their treasures. A collector can connect with dozens of booksellers from all over, looking over the merchandise and inquiring about any titles they might be looking for. The books range from very old to almost new, in a wide range of conditions and prices. People even collect books for their bindings, some of which are a work of art in themselves.

Even if you are not a collector (yet), go to a book fair if you can. There is usually a small admission charge, but it is well worth the minimal expense. Look for books by a favorite author, or books you read as a child or youth. How about dust jacket cover artwork? Look at the various types of book bindings to be found, particularly on some of the old leather-bound books you will see. Talk to the booksellers and other customers. Most booksellers have a favorite author, famous person, subject or genre. I know of one bookseller whose favorite author is Jane Austen, and another who loves anything about the history of the Roosevelt family, particularly Teddy Roosevelt. Some booksellers specialize in rare books, others in fine bindings. You will see booths full of poetry, science fiction or vintage children’s books. At some book fairs, such as those sponsored by the Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association, you will see dealers of art, postcards, maps, pamphlets and other ephemera such as vintage advertising art, magazines and comic books.

Meditations and Maunderings

How To Deface Your Books (and make them worthless).

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This article is part advice and part confession. I believe that at one time or another I have managed to perform at least several acts of desecration upon a book. Thankfully, they have not involved the use of human waste products. On the other hand, I am pretty sure that I have destroyed a book in a way that few others will have done.  More on that later.

Right at the top of my list of how to deface and devaluate a book is highlighting, underlining and annotation. Especially if done using a highlighter or pen. I used to do this as a student but found myself highlighting/underlining half the book. I eventually figured out that this was actually detrimental to my learning. You tend to ignore the parts that aren’t highlighted, which may actually turn out to be an important section you forgot to mark. Or, if you actually do the unthinkable and try to re-read the text again, you will miss new information because your eyes will be drawn to the highlighting instead of to something new. I feel that highlighting, underlining and annotation are signs of intellectual laziness. Don’t do it – don’t give in to lazy.

For myself, I eventually found that I learned better by writing notes in my own way in a separate notebook or on a separate sheet of paper stored in a loose-leaf binder. This technique requires you to actually think about the material and condense it into something that can be reviewed in much less time than it takes to re-read all of that highlighted text. This also works well in a lecture setting, and forces you to actually listen to and not just hear the lecture.

I put the title/author at the top of the page and when I find something interesting that I want to remember, I write the page number at the left, or use some other kind of outline scheme. Play around until you find the layout that works for you. Copy the section of interest, or even better, condense it into your own words. You will be amazed at how much more material you can retain in your brain. Plus, you get to have a nice clean book that you can read again, or you can pass it on to others for their enjoyment. Or, in the case of textbooks, sell them for cash. I always laughed at the kids who would buy a pre-highlighted textbook. How did they know whether the former owner aced the class? Maybe some dummy highlighted all the wrong stuff? It’s much safer and easier in the long run to just do your own work.

Another thing I used to do to my books was put my name in them or even worse, write it on the edge of the pages. I was more inclined to do this with textbooks than in my other books. I would like to say I stopped this practice long before I became a bookseller, but it would not be true.  In my earlier days as a bookseller, about ten years ago, I had an open shop for about three years. I had some old hardcover westerns that were ex-library and in pretty rough shape, so I decided that they should never be allowed to grace my shelves again. So, I marked really low prices in pen inside the covers, so no one could bring them in to sell to me again.  Not knowing that some of them, even in the rough condition they were in, still had some value. I believe I sold them by the box. Ten years later, I still come across some of those books that I had sold so cheap. Sometimes I buy them back. And mentally kick myself or cringe every time I see a book that I defaced like this.

Now, all my pricing gets written using a light touch on the pencil. I also use a softer lead; one with an ‘S’ after the number. I avoid the hard leads with an ‘H’ after the number; you will engrave the price permanently into the paper trying to make it legible.

Another way to mistreat a book is to fold down the corner of a page as a bookmark. Again, this is another bad habit I used to indulge in. Does wisdom really come with age?

Yet another mistreatment. When reading your paperback, fold it back so that the covers meet. that way you can read it and keep one hand free. On of my customers, God rest his soul, used to get mad at me when I would not take his destroyed books in trade. The books would be in nearly new condition when they went out the door, but looked like they had been through the washer and dryer – totally trashed.

Last but no least, that other story.

When I was in college I struggled my way through differential calculus and managed to slide by with a D-, not good enough to get credit for the course. Paid all that money just to fail the course. I kept that stupid textbook for years, even after I later re-took the course at another school and passed. I eventually gave the book away but came across it several years later at the local library book sale (it had my name written on the edge of the pages). I found that I still harbored resentment toward that book. So I bought it. I then took it out to a local gravel pit and shot big holes in it with a .357 Magnum. I felt good. And maybe just a tiny little bit guilty.

Caring For Your Books

REMOVING STICKERS & LABELS

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To remove a sticker/label, some patience is required. I recommend that you first practice on some less valuable books such as common mass market paperbacks. I have tried several different commercial “label removers”, but have found that plain old cigarette-lighter fluid is by far the best. It is much faster and not as messy as the others. However, some of the older antiquarian ex-library books may have a spine label that is water-based and have to be steamed off. You can try lighter fluid on any label, but if it shows no sign of loosening it probably has a water-based glue.

Removing a sticker/label from plain paper or cloth requires even more patience and care. Take it from me; it is easy to get impatient and tear away the surface of the paper along with the label, or to slice a cloth-covered board.

Drip some lighter fluid around and on top of the label and let it soak in for a minute. You may have to do this several times in order to soften up the adhesive, as the lighter fluid evaporates rather quickly. I try to use a minimum of fluid, but don’t worry if the dust jacket or book starts looking damp from the lighter fluid. It evaporates quickly and leaves no stain. If you have any doubts, first try the fluid on a small corner on the inside back flap, but I have never had a problem with ink bleeding or running while using lighter fluid.

Scrape gently at the edge of the label using a pocketknife blade and start teasing the label up. A duller blade is actually better for control; a sharp blade tends to scrape the coating off the dust jacket or can even slice it. Hold the blade at a medium angle, neither too high or too low. Too high an angle can cause scrapes; too low can cause cuts to occur.

Once you have it started, gently and slowly slide the blade under the label. You may have to drip some more lighter fluid under the lifted area. This makes the process a lot faster.

Don’t worry about scraping the adhesive completely off along with the label. After the label is off, dampen the corner of a dry cloth and wipe off any sticky residue. You may have to wipe several times using a fresh spot on the cloth. Test by running a finger over the spot, feeling for any residual stickiness.

Stickers and labels taken from plain paper and cloth covers and dust jackets usually do not leave much residue. But if they do, be very careful with any additional cleaning. My experience has been that too much cleaning will cause more damage and will look worse than if it had been left alone.

Caring For Your Books

CLEANING YOUR BOOKS

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I have been a bookseller for over ten years, and buy a lot of books at tag sales and library book sales. Many of these books have have soiled dust jackets and/or covers. After much practice, I have my technique boiled down to the bare minimum of effort that gives the best result.

Dirty dust jackets. In my early days as a bookseller, I used to use a cleaner such as ’409′ or one of the other gentle cleaners. But even these ‘gentle’ cleaners have chemicals in them that may harm the book and its dust jacket over time.

I now have two things I use to clean books and dust jackets. Water and Ronsonol lighter fluid. BUT, I do not use water on any hardcover book with cloth-covered boards or on a plain paper dust jacket (more common in the early to mid-20th century) . They just absorb the water. Also, the cloth covering some books published in the early 1900′s have some kind of filler that turns to a sticky glue when dampened. Wipe these types of books off with a clean, dry soft cloth.

To be able to clean a dust jacket, it has to be the kind with a shiny coating. Hardcover books and paperbacks with shiny covers may be cleaned the same way as a shiny dust jacket.

I have found that it is easiest to clean the outside of a dust jacket when it is still on the book. When cleaning the inside, remove it and lay on a flat surface to help prevent wrinkles and tears.

Do not use water on a dull, plain paper dust jacket or on the inside of any dust jacket – the surfaces are not coated with any water-resistant finish. If it is dusty or soiled, it is better to clean it gently with a clean, dry soft cloth and leave it at that.

For the coated (shiny) dust jacket, just dampen a soft cloth with plain water and gently wipe off the soiling. Immediately, wipe dry with a different soft absorbent cloth.

If there is some soiling that will not come off with water, try dampening a corner of a different cloth with lighter fluid and rub gently.

If you still have a soiled book and/or dust jacket, and the book is valuable to you in some way, a professional bookbinder or paper conservator may be able to restore it. Be careful when making this decision. Depending upon the book in question, it’s market value can be affected for better or worse. Usually, such books are better off when left in their original condition.

Buying & Collecting Books

BUYING BOOKS ONLINE

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This article is intended for a buyer who is looking for the more common reading material. Acquiring collectible, antiquarian, scarce or rare books require a deeper level of buyer knowledge and experience than is presented here, and will be discussed in future articles.

There are a lot of online booksellers. They range from full-time professionals providing very personalized service to fast-buck artists who only care about making a quick profit. My intent is to provide some guidance for you when purchasing books online.

Buying a book from an online seller can be very a very rewarding experience. It can also turn into a nightmare of finger-pointing and blame over the condition of a book, or how much it should have cost including shipping/handling.

Online, you buy books on faith that depends upon the accuracy of the description. However, descriptions are subjective. That is, ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. Sometimes the seller’s description of what he considers a collectible ‘nearly new’ book will appear to you to be more like a ‘reading copy’ that has been through a washing machine and then run over several times by a car. Sometimes hidden shipping/handling charges can pop up if terms and conditions of sale have not been carefully read and understood.

If you buy a lot of books online, you will run into these scenarios from time to time. I will explain how I minimize problems when I buy books online.

First, I tend to look at several different sites. The larger sites have more of a selection; more copies generally translate into lower prices. The larger sites usually require their sellers to provide some level of buyer protection as well.

Smaller sellers can give more personal service, i.e., live phone conversations. See if the bookseller belongs to a professional association, such as VABA, the Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association. Associations have rules and guidelines that members follow, so they can give a buyer more confidence about buying from a small store.

Look at the site’s list of book description guidelines. These differ from site to site in varying degrees, but they are all variations of what I consider to be the “gold standard” guidelines for book condition grading, the AB (Antiquarian Bookman, Bookman’s Weekly) guidelines. Here is a link to the Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association version of guidelines for book grading: VABA Book Grading Guidelines

One of the most important things to remember when looking at seller descriptions and website condition guidelines; think of them as absolute. If a book is described as ‘Fine’, it should look like a brand new book, regardless of its age.

Read descriptions carefully. Be wary of qualifiers such as “Damp stain on bottom edge, pages 10-15 missing, but otherwise Very Good.” Are you kidding me? This is not a ‘Very Good’ book. Even a ‘Poor’, or ‘Reading’ copy has to have all the pages present. Some sellers will describe a list of defects for what is actually a ‘Fair’ copy, but still present it as ‘Very Good’ or ‘Fine’. However, as in most things, there are going to be exceptions. Unless it is extremely old (before 1800 or so), extremely rare, or has valuable parts such as hand-colored illustrations, etc., this book should probably be thrown away. Buying books in these categories, either online or in person, will be addressed in future articles.

Ex-library books are almost in a category of their own. No matter what condition it is in, an ex-library (ex-lib or X-lib) book should automatically be dropped one or two grades, regardless of the seller’s description. The seller’s price should also be a reflection of this condition.

Look for description/presence of a dust jacket. Starting in the early twentieth century, nearly all books were issued with dust jackets. Even some of the more recent pictorial hardcover books originally had a dust jacket, even though they may not have one when you come across it.

When you find a book or two that you think meets your needs for description and price, look at the ratings of the seller. The larger sites with multiple sellers (such as Amazon or eBay) generally have a rating system in place. Look at the overall rating and sales volume of the sellers, and definitely take the time to read some of the rating comments of each seller. Read both the good and the bad. You will develop a feeling for how this seller conducts business, and whether or not you might want to buy a book from them.

Below are three different examples describing book condition. Two descriptions are for the same title; the third is from a similar book in the series.

Listing #1: ‘Collectible – Like New* First Hardcover* Dust Jacket – Like New’
Rated 97% positive with 235 total ratings.

“Almost Like New hard cover (Ace/Putnam, Publisher (1993) First Printing in Very Good condition. Mylar DJ Cover. Unread ex-Library Book.”

Listing #2: ‘Collectible – Very Good * Dust Jacket – Very Good’
Rated 98% positive over past 12 months, with 470 total ratings.

“Ace/Putnam, 1993, Full Number Line, 1st Edition This hard cover novel is in very good condition. The dust jacket is in very good condition. The cover boards are clean and bright. The pages are tightly bound. The pages are clean, white, and unmarked.”

Listing #3: ‘Collectible, Very Good, VG dust jacket’
Rated 100% positive over past 12 months, with 480 total ratings.

“1989 ACE/PUTNAM HB/DJ VG+ BOOK IN A VG DJ BOOK SQ TIGHT CLEAN AND BRIGHT SPINE WRINKLES DJ 1/4 IN TEAR BOTTOM FT EDGE LIGHT RUBS NOT XLIBR NO WRITING NO ODOR/MOLD NO BK CLUB NO PR CLIP NO REM MARK NO BENT PG CORNERS.

Which seller would you buy from? Number one is a no-go. A book is either like new or it is not. ‘Almost’ just doesn’t cut it. ‘Unread X-library’ collectible? Puhleaze!

My preference would be tied for numbers two and three. Number two is short, positive and to the point but lists no defects. Number three is very detailed but seems to dwell a little too much on the negatives.. but I would probably still order the book from number three. Pay a little more if you have to, if you find a seller you really like the looks of. You will have fewer problems in the long run.

As I said before, read the description carefully. This applies to both the book description and shipping/handling terms. Sometimes extra shipping & handling charges are mentioned for large or heavy books. I try to keep it as simple as possible for customers and include basic shipping for media mail in the cost of my online books. I also ask a buyer to contact me before buying when they need extras such as expedited delivery or international shipping. It is always better to get all your questions answered before paying. I would rather prevent a problem than solve one any day.

GOOD LUCK!!