Ups and Downs of the Trade

My how time flies when one is playing. I finally finished up my Bachelor's degree in December, and since I have remained unemployed since then I have had a little more spare time to get involved with my favorite hobby. I've looked around at trying to start up my own web site, but alas I am not tech savvy enough and have just resigned myself to the ole stand bys and selling on other websites. The fees are ridiculous, but still a good way to stay in the biz. I still have plenty of books all boxed up but thought that I might need an infusion of new items. The problem with that is the nagging fact that I am still unemployed with a lack of cash flow. So my beautiful partner in crime suggested that I but an ad out on a couple of those free websites. Didn't really think it would work, but what did I have to lose, right. The ad specifically said I would travel up to 30 miles and take most books that anyone was willing to give away for free. Low and behold, literally within a few hours I had a response from a nice lady who said she had well over a hundred books and they were mostly boxed up - but she was closer to 90 miles away from me.

As luck would have it for me, that 90 miles put us on the coast, and since my wife was needing a water fix, it was not too hard to talk her into going with me. Naturally, as the way things go, 100 books turned out to be over 300 books - and they were not even close to being all boxed up; and most of them not worth the effort of sorting through them. Still, there is that strange sense of excitement that few people know and understand - the one where you truly believe that if you just collect enough books, maybe, just maybe one of them will be worth all of the time and effort. - Incidentally, while I was searching the web to come up with an image that might begin to show what it is like to have to box up 300 books. I found this image of books in a box, along with an inspiring story. Check it out here: http://ericsmithrocks.com/2010/05/07/boxes-of-books/ I'll bet he knows the sense of excitement that I'm talking about!

So, my dear wife was accommodating enough to not only help box up the books, but carry them to the car as well, then we headed to the coast to get her sea fix. After that I actually spent the next 3 or 4 days sorting through the boxes, setting aside the ones I thought I might want to keep, and cleaning the rest well enough to be able to donate to my local library. Through the process, I was ever so disappointed to be forced to 'recycle' a few that were too badly soiled or torn to keep. Once I got a chance to look closer at the ones I set aside, I was very excited to find that a few were very well priced on other websites. One book in particular, titled I Was a Pagan, by V.C. Kitchen in 1934 was really intriguing as the book is dedicated "To The Oxford Group" and on the front end page is a label from "The Oxford Group Commander Hotel,Cambridge, Mass". A little research showed that the Oxford Group was a major influence in the starting of a small support group called Alcoholics Anonymous. Even more exciting was seeing that this book, even as an Ex. Library copy was easily worth well over $150.00 --- and that is just a small bit of the excitement of finding the one book that makes it all worth while. Straight to the auction block that one went, at a very modest price of $125.00. Oh the joy of watching the number of views and watchers as auction day neared. On the final day I had a dedicated 4 watchers and was just sitting back waiting to watch the bidding war begin - when to my utter disappointment, the auctioned ended without a single bid! And there you have "The Ups and Downs of the Trade", still I think I'll leave Mr. Kitchen sitting right here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280837291124&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT - just in case someone else gets as excited over this book as I did.
  

Vacation Over

As nice as it was, the turkey is - almost - all gone, and the restful days are over. I hope yours was as nice as mine, but alas, it is time to get back to work. However, since I am not really up to speed yet, instead of posting something about what I am doing, I thought I would just take a little leeway and borrow some other newsworthy items from others.

First up, from the fabulous NPR news, comes an absolutely terrific story about the "Library Phantom": http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/11/29/142910393/the-library-phantom-returns. This story has been all over so you might have seen it. If not pass it around because it is definitely worth it. Not only for its story line, but as one librarian put it, "you wouldn't get this with a kindle". Showing that there are indeed people who still prefer the good old fashion libraries filled with all of those amazing books.

Another story from NPR (did I mention how great they are), comes with the title "Judy Blume: Often Banned, But Widely Loved" http://www.npr.org/2011/11/28/142859819/judy-blume-banned-often-but-widely-beloved?sc=fb&cc=fp
The first paragraph would be a wonderful epitaph for anyone who ever loved to write books. I personally am a small crusader for "banned books", so naturally I have a few of hers. I do not like the idea of censorship in any shape or form and always do my part to celebrate "Banned Books Week" with the hope that someday - we won't have to.

Finally today, the literary world recently lost ones of its greatest female Sci-Fi writers. Anne McCaffery, better known as the Dragon Lady and author of the Dragon's of Pern stories, passed on at the age of 85, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/arts/anne-mccaffrey-dragonriders-author-dies-at-85.html. With over 80 titles under her pen, her Science Fiction novels often "lampooned the genres portrayal of women" making her a fighter for women's equality, but she also wrote short story collections, romances and even at least two cookbooks. Safe journeys Anne, you will be missed on this side.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, its time for big dinners and nice family gatherings. I for one enjoy this holiday over that other one which is coming up soon - probably because I met my wife the weekend after Thanksgiving one year, and got married on Thanksgiving day the following year. So I thought I would celebrate the holiday and introduce a few new books on the topic of Thanksgiving.

First up we have Not Just For Christmas, The Complete Guide to Raising Turkeys, by Janice Houghton-Wallace; 2007 from Good Life Press; ISBN: 9781904871187. Actually this book appealed to the farmer in me, and that is why I thought I would share it with you. One review I read said "This beautifully presented and highly acclaimed book puts the turkey back where it belongs and covers its illustrious history". The book also has over 200 photographs which were commissioned just for this book.

Next up, we have a book for those members of the family that are relegated to the 'other dinner table' - come on weren't we all there at some point. - Turkeys Together, by Carol Wallace and with illustrations by Jacqueline Wallace; from Holiday House Press in 2005; ISBN: 9780823418954. Intended for children in the first and second grades, it is a cute book about an adorable 'bird-dog" that helps a Mother Turkey find her missing eggs. The review said the book was about "an unlikely trio that makes their own kind of family". Since it is a childrens book, it features large type and simple vocabulary.

Finally, since a large part of this holiday centers around the dinner table, I thought I would feature a cook book in hopes of possibly finding some new great recipes. Yet, this book, The Book of Thanksgiving Stories, Poems and Recipes for Sharing One of America's Greatest Holidays, offers a little more than just the same old tried and true dishes. By Jessica Faust and Citadel press in 2002; ISBN: 9780806523675. Reviews of this book says, "This warm, inviting collection pulls together a bounty of Thanksgiving traditions, history, recipes, decorating tips, trivia, stories, prayers, and other advice for making your celebration a memorable one".

I'm getting hungry just thinking about all the good food. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Remember to live with Gratitude everyday for all of your blessings. Especially for great food, wonderful friends, and a fantastic family. Oh yeah - Happy Anniversary Sweety, I Love You!

Wish list!

When I get my dream library, my shelves will be lined with beautiful editions that I have picked for their value and looks. Of course, money will be no problem, so I will be able to pick and choose, and then pick some more. When (not if ....) this happens one book that I would love to own is a First Edition of Stephen King's Carrie.

A few years back, for a Christmas present, my lovely wife gave me one of those books that tells you all of the do's and don'ts about book collecting. One of the things that jumped out at me right away was the author saying that it is impossible to become an expert on all of the books ever published. So his solution was to just pick one area, one genre, or even one author and then become an expert on them. This made a lot of sense to me, so right then and there, with no reliable information or background I decided I wanted to learn as much as possible about Stephen King. Honestly I could not tell you why, I have never even read ANY of his novels. I just knew he was popular and figured I might be able to get my hands on a few of his books. Boy was I in for a big surprise!

It seems Mr. King is very prolific. He currently has well over 200 works of art in his name, everything from fiction, non-fiction, comics and movies - Yeah, I picked a good one, and NO I am not an expert on anything King related. But one thing I did learn was that a few of his First Editions are very valuable, and Carrie is a nice example. First published by Doubleday in 1974 the cost of the book was 
originally priced at $5.95. Signed copies can be priced anywhere from $4,000 to $7,000 dollars and even unsigned they can still go for a cool $2,000.

One thing I did learn from one of my favorite websites; First Edition Points (http://www.fedpo.com/BookGuide.php?mode=search) is that on page 199 "P6" is printed in the gutter (the inside edge near the crease). So, if you happen to have this book sitting on your shelves, take a gander and see if you have this on pg. 199. If you do, feel free to give me the book, I would be happy to take the book and add it to my collection.

Where, Oh where ...?

The never ending crisis - Ok, maybe crisis is a bit harsh, dilemma (?) in regards to where to find books. Especially books suitable enough for re-sale. There are many, many whole sale distributors out there, but for someone like me (a poor student with no financial backing), the bulk lots are not always obtainable because they usually require minimum orders of a couple hundred dollars, plus at least 3 copies of each unit. Never mind the financial issue, storage is just about the same concern. So for me, at least for now wholesale bulk lots are not an option.

While the thought of one of these 'gaylords' (pallet of books) makes me absolutely giddy (it was hard to avoid the obvious pun there ....), I am forced to explore other options. The other online sites - no need to name them all here, you know who they are, can be fun to look through. Especially if you have a specific book in mind that you just got to have. However, these sites are not that simple if you do not have a particular book you are searching for and then by the time you pay the extra cost of shipping the chances of you reselling that book to make a decent profit, while not impossible, are slightly less likely.

Library book sales are a wonderful option. Whether you are looking to increase your personnel stock or searching for resale items. Often lots of books are donations, so all of the books are not "ex. lib" copies which are usually valued less. While some of the larger libraries have constant or ongoing sales, usually the best option to snatch up a few goodies is at the annual or occasional (depending on your local library) book sale. Problem is, there are lots of other people hoping to snatch up a few good ones as well. So it becomes a bit of a competition to snag up the best books, and I have been at a few where the competition was pretty fierce. Off setting this dangerous contact zone is the cheap prices which are usually outstanding. I love, love, love it when there are $1 a bag events, talk about picking up some books for literally pennies. Yet some downfalls (aside from the competition) include; the condition of the books are not always ideal, leisure browsing is not always possible, and again, storage of your vast payload until you have time to research, price and resell. Another problem is having to make the fast decision on the value of the book. becoming familiar with the more valuable ones is helpful, but the value of the book can often be just a hastily made guess.

One last issue with the library sales is that it is not always possible to make it around to all of them. I happen to know there is a local sale this weekend, and due to a prior commitment, I cannot attend the sale. The idea of missing this sale is just killing me - aww the possibilities of what is there, but alas I may never know. There are still a few other options for finding some cheap books, but for the sake of brevity, we will leave that discussion for another post. In the meantime, find out when and where your local library sales are and go support your library, they often are the only source of revenue for the library and is what keeps them open.

Ok then ....

Well now, after that awkward but necessary first start, (or is it my second .... third?). Lets get back to talking about books. After all, isn't that what we are all here for. Totally random, with no reason at all, except that fact that it looks good sitting on my shelf, lets look at: Horatio Alger's Frank Fowler The Cash Boy.

My particular copy is by A. L. Burt, Company, Publishers, New York, 1887. In just doing a little bit of research for this blog I was surprised to learn there are actually, at least 13 different covers. One copy I found for sale on www.abebooks.com pretty well describes my copy as well. Valued at $40.00 it was described as:

Alger's Frank Fowler Cash Boy

"Original illustrated cloth in red, black and orange on a greenish blue background with figure of the "Cash Boy" to front cover walking along road with bag on a stick over his shoulder, decorated panel to the right". The image posted is my book.

I found another website that deals exclusively in Alger's books: http://www.horatioalgerjr.com/Horatioalgerjuniorbook1266.htm  
and this site taught me that Alger actually wrote under several pseudonyms, including Arthur Hamilton, Arthur Lee Putnam, Carl Cantab, Julian Starr and Charles F. Preston. Regardless on what name he was using, Alger basically wrote Juvenile Fiction with "coming of age" stories for young boys detailing their adventures that involved "pluck and luck" and a lot of hard work later the young man perseveres.

My main goal for this blog is to help me learn about collectible books and I guess I certainly did that while researching this title. Happy of course, to see its value the only difference with my copy is that there is a "Previous Owners Bookplate" along with that owners signature and date on the front end page. But sometimes I think things like this only helps to add some character to the book. That's all for now - back to playing with books - I mean researching books .....

Back to Business

Oh, where to start? It has been too long since my last blog. A lot of things got in the way of my leisure activity, including two moves and the fact that I am now in my last semester for my Bachelor's Degree. However lately I have been having that itchy feeling where I just want to play with books.

The other thing that I have neglected is my online business of selling books. In the past, I did well enough with having my own EBay bookstore, which I also let slide and I am just now getting back into the swing of. Also, I have started selling on Amazon as well.

I have also been looking into how I can obtain larger amounts of books from other whole-sellers in order to resale, however as an unemployed student my financial resources are very limited and currently cannot afford to buy in bulk. So I am therefore exploring as many possibilities as possible. While my first love will always be in the Rare and Antique First Editions, I'm aware that if I want to build my business I will have to expand and sell a few of the more modern novels as well.

So the plan is, to use this blog to chat occasionally about what is in my personnel library as well as perhaps discuss a few of the First Editions that come to mind. Along the way I will also like to offer up a few that I might have for sale, or maybe point you to my online sales. If anywhere in there, someone else choose to jump in and point out where I might be wrong about the value or points of the editions, please do so; I do not claim to be an expert, only a student. So fell free to teach me.