rolling bookstore/booksellers thread (1 Viewer)

[jordan]

so, i thought maybe it would be a good idea to start a thread that was a central location to talk about cool bookstores, bookstore/bookseller experiences, people to watch out for, people we like dealing with, etc. it has been done before in various places, but it seems like, especially for a new person, having a central discussion thread would be beneficial.

i'll get things started... today i took rubyred to meet peter howard at serendipity. it actually went pretty well, all things considered. i talked to him about breaking into the book business, and he told me that becoming a bookseller would cost me all my friends. we spent about 3 hours in his store, and i found some cool things there at prices i didn't expect.

 

[David]

Got some very cool William Saroyan stuff and Peter Howard's store in Berkeley.

But that was a LONG time ago when I was working on my dissertation, so circa 1981.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

As I've mentioned elsewhere, Jeff Maser is a very reputable seller. His prices are very fair, and he send the on-line ordered books with an invoice, but you can probably find some of his things on ebay for less, depending on how the auction goes. Then again, that's true of most booksellers (and I don't mean that in a bad way).

 

[Rekrab]

When I sell on eBay, I generally get 1/3 to half of what the going price is on ABE. Many of thise ABE prices are wishful thinking. EBay tells you what people will actually pay for a book.

Booksellers are a bit nuts as a class. An example is that many of them, I've noticed, have nothing but loathing and utter direspect for book scouts. These are the people that find out of print and rare books very cheap and sell them to book dealers cheap, for a small profit. Why dealers hate these people who bring them good stuff, I can't imagine, but they do. And then there's that bullshit about hidden rooms where the best rare books are kept, and only the worthy can enter and buy from those rooms. What the hell? Money is money. Why must you make the grade to buy something? A bit nuts.

 

[planahea]

Wise Men Fish Here

I spent 39 years as a publishers' representative visiting the American book trade in all but the rocky mountain and west coast territories. The finest bookstore I ever visited was The Gotham Book Mart in Manhattan, NYC. Alas, it is no more and what a great loss for American publishing and book selling.

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/wise-men-bid-here-gotham-mart-auction-set/54877/

I sold books to the store on hundreds of occasions and was always impressed with its five floors of books. All were open to the public. No hidden rooms at the Gotham, although the storage areas in the basement were off limits to customers. I loved going down into those dank dimly lit areas with their narrow aisles to do title inventories with the buyers. Everything was counted by hand as the place had absolutely no inventory control. You just had to love it!

The store was the home of the James Joyce Society. It was my privilege to know and visit with Frances Steloff the founder of this unique bookstore many times over the years. Imagine this woman in 1920 starting up the bookstore by herself. She would reminisce about the days when Dorothy Parker and the members of The Algonquin Round Table would buy their books from her. The many black and white literary personality photographs hung crooked on the flaking store walls were priceless.

With the advent of national book distributors/wholesalers and the phenomenal growth of national chain bookstores, book selling and publishing in America changed dramatically. It made it impossible for this personal bookstore and many others like it to survive.

The above title was the slogan of the bookstore. I wonder what happened to that wonderful old painted metal sign with the slogan and its cut out figures that swung above the entrance for 87 years.

Anyhow, that's my input what's yours?

 

[mjp]

With the advent of national book distributors/wholesalers and the phenomenal growth of national chain bookstores, book selling and publishing in America changed dramatically. It made it impossible for this personal bookstore and many others like it to survive.

I think you have to add the internet very near the top of the list of things that caused the abrupt crash and burn of indie book stores. Hell hath no fury like Amazon.com.

The Gotham Book Mart was an awe-inspiring place. I spent a few rainy days there back in 1980, 81. Never made it back though, because I knew if I walked in the door, the whole day would be shot.

 

[roni]

the 'Shop around the Corner', NY.