The Art of Pricing

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While technology is transforming much of the book world there is one practice that remains virtually untouched for many booksellers, the act and method of pricing inventory. Yes, many booksellers now place printed descriptions with the price inside their books but if you look close enough you will still see a price written somewhere in the book. Barcodes have more to do with one's drinking life than as a form of inventory control for many of us.

"On the first white page in pencil" is our mantra when asked where our books are priced. Others price their books on the rear endpaper, I know of one bookseller that priced his books on the front pastedown and there are a few that don't even price their books until you choose them.

Then, in addition to the price, many booksellers add various codes and other hieroglyphs to their books to track cost, consignments and and other data vital to the internal workings of the bookselling mind.

With the mother of all book fairs fast approaching my colleague Garrett Scott has devised a brilliant and handy cheat-sheet to display in his booth to assist would be buyers in locating the price within his books.

Now that's a good use of technology!

A Few by Aubrey Beardsley

Aubrey Beardsley was one of the leading illustrators of his time. His work is a high-spot of the Art Nouveau movement. He was the art editor for the first 4 editions of the Yellow Book and was a friend of Oscar Wilde's. He illustrated the first English edition of Wilde's play Salome.
He died at age 25.

The images below were included in the seminal 1966 exhibition of Beardsley's work at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Frontispiece to The Wonderful History of Vergilius the Sorcerer, 1893

Debris d'un Poete

Bookplate designed for Herbert J. Pollitt. This image is currently featured on Book Patrol's sidebar

Incipit Vita Nova

More Beardsley at The Victorian Web

Author 2.0

It seems like the days of an author simply writing their way to bookshelves across America are coming to end.

In his essay in the New York Times, See the Web Site, Buy the Book, J. Courtney Sullivan tracks the evolution of author Web sites and the "sizable industry" that has sprung up to meet the demand.

HarperStudio, the new tech-savvy publisher who "believe traditional publishing models are broken and are experimenting with new ones," recently held a Social Networking pow wow for their authors. Here is a pdf of the presentation.

Here's a look at role of the author in pre-internet days as compared to their role in these days of the wired, wired west.


Pre-Internet

Write a Book
Find a Publisher
Go on a Book Tour


Now

Write a Book
Publisher?
Website
Blog
Facebook
MySpace
YouTube
Twitter
Book Social Networking sites
Book trailer
Podcast

So much for the solitary life!

More Lovejoys

A reader of my previous post, Books and Sex, on the intriguing neon sign in the window of Lovejoys alerted me to a review of the book/sex shop that appeared on Spotted by Locals. The review entitled Lovejoys - Don’t let the “adult shop” sign fool you was written Vasco Rodriques.

Here's part of his take on the place:

If there is a London shop that misses more visitors because of a neon sign, that has to be Lovejoy’s. Whether you like it or not, some people still shy from getting into a shop that advertises Licensed Sex Shop, even though their windows show zero adult material.

This is, in essence, a book shop with a sex shop in its basement. It has a decent range of rare golden oldies, musicals and film noir on DVD, as well as hundreds of discounted new and second hand books.

Their food and war sections are the most complete I have ever seen...

Obama Retakes Oath and Breaks Another Barrier

Photo by Pete Souza, White House / MCT

Errata -When President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 Teddy Roosevelt took a rushed oath of office without a Bible present. There's also no concrete evidence that presidents John Adams through John Tyler used a Bible at all for the oath. For more on oaths, bibles and presidents see Noreen Malone's piece at Slate.

Here is Chief Justice John Roberts and Barack Obama in Round 2 of the swearing in ceremony. Both had minor stumbles during Round 1 at the inauguration so a re-do was called for in the White House Map Room.

In my recent post on the The Bibles of the Inauguration I asked the question:

"Now that we finally broke the race barrier how much longer until we break the religion barrier and have an inauguration without someone's hand on a bible."

Well, amazingly, it took all of one day or 31 hours to be exact for it to happen. Barack Obama has become the first president to take the Constitutional oath of office without using a Bible!

Now we can sit back and watch the conspiracy theorists and the religious right go to work. Middle name Hussein, no Bible....

CBS News Video - Katie Couric reports - "Obama Sworn in Again"

Books and Sex

This photo comes to us courtesy of Nigel Beale's ever expanding archive of bookstore photos.

Now, I am all for toying around with new concepts and initiatives that help the independent bookstore stay relevant and succeed but this combination stopped me in my tracks. I contacted Beale to try and find out more about this intriguing photo. He told me that he took it a few years ago on a visit to London and the bookshops on Charing Cross Road but couldn't remember the name or any other details about the shop.

Next step was to contact my colleague Nigel Burwood, the creator of the popular Bookride blog, and proprietor of Any Amount of Books, which is also located on Charing Cross Road.

Though unfamiliar with the image one of his staffers was able to provide this:

"It's Lovejoys, almost next to the Spice of Life, it's been there for 25 years at least. Rubbish bookshop mostly DVDs now. I've never been downstairs and its quite possible no-one ever has."

Of course, then I couldn't stop thinking of all the possible tag lines:

Lovejoys : Bargain Books and Cheap Sex

Lovejoys : Old Books and Women

Lovejoys : Where Between the Covers meets Between the Sheets

Lovejoys : Fine Books and Women

Lovejoys : A Place For Your Mind and Body

Lovejoys : Used Books and Women

Lovejoys : Books Bought, Women Sold

then I had to stop.

Batman and Kidd

Noted book designer Chip Kidd is also an avid comic book fan. In his recently released book Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan Kidd exposes us to the work of Jiro Kuwata. In the mid-1960's, during the heyday of Batman's television run in America Kuwata was commissioned to bring Batman and Robin to the Japanese manga crowd. Amazingly, the 400 page book represents only half of Kuwata's output during the one year he worked on the project.

The book was published in October by Pantheon in a limited hardcover edition and in trade paperback

Here is a video tour of Kidd's world produced by the magazine Dwell

Inside The Batcave


Interview with Kidd about the project at Wired.com
Interview with Kidd and co-author Saul Ferris at About.com

The Bibles of the Inauguration

Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times

Obama went with the Lincoln Bible. It is the 1853 Oxford University Press edition and has a red velvet cover with golden trim. It measures about 6" long, 4" wide and less than 2" thick.

AP Photo/Mark Wilson

Biden went with the monster family bible that has been part of the Biden family since 1893. It is at least 5 inches thick with metal clasps and a Celtic cross.


From Obama's Inaugural Address:

"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.

Now that we finally broke the race barrier how much longer until we break the religion barrier and have an inauguration without someone's hand on a bible.

Kindle Cake

"I've been jonesing for a Kindle for weeks now, and since I can't get the real thing just yet, I thought I would make a Kindle cake to show my love." says LilPeaPod about her creation.

LilPeaPod baked this beauty last March. You can see photos of her putting it all together at geeksugar.

I wonder if this cake qualifies for the Edible Book Festival or does it warrant the creation of an Edible E-Book Festival?

Previously on Book Patrol:
Deep Fried Books
Books to Eat and Books about Eating

Thanks to the OUP blog for the lead

Is Seattle Hungry?

Here's the list of the Seattle Public Library's top circulated books for 2008.

1. "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press).

2. "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead). .

3. "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations ... One School at a Time" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Viking).

4. "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" by Elizabeth Gilbert (Viking).

5. "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a Year of Food Life" by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins).

6. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle (Philomel Books).

This list accompanied Mary Ann Gwinn's piece in the Seattle Times,
Library use jumps in Seattle area; economy likely reason

How It Works

click image to enlarge

Though it looks like a New York City subway map it is actually a visual rendering of the current trends in technology and publishing put together by the folks at the Spanish blog Soybits. If you look at where it begins in the upper left hand corner you'll see that it all starts with Jeff Bezos.


Then there is this video that hit airwaves earlier this week from the the digital marketing team at Macmillan. It has received tons of viral attention and seems to be popping up everywhere in the book blogosphere. It is called "From the Typewriter to the Bookstore: A Publishing Story" and provides a humorous look at the life of a book from it's inception to its reception.





Thanks to TeleRead for the lead on the Soybits map

Kindle in a Catalog

Here's what a catalog entry for the Kindle might look like in the not too distant future.

KINDLE ELECTRONIC READER. Amazon, 2009. First production after the third recall, the rarest of all issues. 8vo. Original silver plastic casing, moderately scratched and soiled, well rubbed at extremities.Lacking the power adapter and jacket (as issued?). Screen cracked but holding. USB cable present. Batteries dead. Some evidence of old moisture stains on keyboard (probably Starbucks coffee) and noticeable acidic odor. Slightly warped as usual from being left on hot dashboard. Tipped-in adhesive sticker on verso with faded name "Updike, J." may be the Beat Generation poet from Massachusetts and early 21st century radical political blogger (per Wikipedia). Slightly foxed but still desirable. Price: 100globalnotes.

The description was created by Mark Godburn of The Bookmark in North Canaan, CT.

Book Bank

Savings Book. Designed by Jörg Gätjens, 2003. 8.5h x 5.75w x 2"d. Maple with with a cloth binding

If your looking for a place to "cleverly conceal your savings or anything important,"of course this is assuming one has anything left to save these days, then the Savings Book is for you. It has a slot for coins and one for bills and slides open for easy access to your cash.

The Savings Book is available exclusively at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) store. Originally priced at $90 the book bank is now on sale for $39.95

You know things are bad when the banks are on sale.


Thanks to swissmiss for the lead.

Beirut : World Book Capital City for 2009

Since 2001 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has picked one city each year as the World Book Capital City.

UNESCO works with three major branches of the global book industry, the International Publishers Association (IPA), the International Booksellers Federation (IBF) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), to determine the winners.

This year the winner is Beirut, Lebanon.

UNESCO has already chosen the World Book Capital for 2010. The winner is Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.

Here is an excerpt from a letter from Zoran Jankovic, the mayor of Ljubljana, that accompanied the city's winning submission:

In pursuing the general public interest...I seek to recognize the noble motivations of writers and authors ...as well as the the motivations of all players in the publishing, bookselling, book promotion and library sectors to create preconditions for improving access to books and stimulating reading in all generations, providing them with more space for their work and development

Previous World Book City winners:

Madrid (2001)
Alexandria (2002)
New Delhi (2003)
Antwerp (2004)
Montreal (2005)
Turin (2006)
Bogotá (2007) and
Amsterdam (2008)

Image -Esquire Bookshop in Beirut via Robert Bound's video news report, The Bookseller of Beirut, at Monocle

Related:
Recent story in the Lebanon's The Daily Star Landmark Beirut bookstore giving way to high-rise

Skype Storytime

Photograph by Cheryl Gerber for The New York Times

This intriguing image accompanied Jennifer Conlin's piece, "Living Apart for the Paycheck," in last Sunday's New York Times. Though the article focuses on how the sour economy is literally splitting families up so they can make ends meet it introduces some potential book-related applications for the Skype technology which allows users transmit their voice and image over the Internet.

The image shows Gautam Ghosh, an assistant professor at the University of Pennyslvania, reading to his kids who, along his wife, are living in New Zealand. That's a 9,000 mile gap and a 16 hour time difference!

Though I have never used Skype and am not too familiar with what the technology can and cannot do it does seem like it presents some great biblio opportunities.

If, as the article says, more and more families will be faced with time apart from each other as they try to make ends meet in these difficult times than perhaps libraries should be looking into developing skype enabled reading rooms.

or how about a skype-type program in the prisons which would allow inmates to read to their children while they are serving their time. Remember, the kids are innocent.

Then there are the potential opportunities for authors. Offer skype sessions to book clubs, schools or even conduct one on one conversations with readers. Ebay, which owns Skype, also owns PayPal, it doesn't seem to much of a leap to enable commerce opportunities.

If a book club is reading your book why not offer a 1/2 hour Q&A via skype. Figure out how much you want for your time and if the book club can come up with it then you got a deal. They can pay via Paypal and away you go. It provides an additional revenue stream for the author while providing a peak experience for the reader.

Poets and authors can give readings on skype with links to buy the book at their local bookstore. For small groups author's can work with their local bookstore to provide personally inscribed copies of their work; similar to the LongPen strategy but without the robotics.

Or imagine having your favorite poet read a poem at your birthday party or your wedding or a book artist using skype to promote their work to potential customers or librarians.

It will be interesting to see how this technology develops.

Nuns Reading

Group of nuns sailing aboard the SS Manhattan in 1940. Photograph by Thomas D. Mcavoy

The 5th installment in Book Patrol's new series Life of Google, featuring images from the vast archives of Life magazine that now appear on Google.

Nun using card catalogue in the New York Public Library, 1944. Photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt

Nuns waiting in line in polling station in Milan, Italy. 1948. Photograph by Yale Joel

A nun reading the diary of Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton. Emmitsburg, MD. 1959. Photograph by Hank Walker

Nuns reading about Pope Pius XII's death in Rome. 1958. Photograph by Mark Kauffman

The Guinness Book of World Records for Books and Libraries

Ever wonder which library has the most expensive budget or what the names of the first three books to contain photographs are?

or what about:

-The name of the first book to have page numbers
-The title of the largest and smallest and most expensive books ever published
-or the tallest bookstore and library buildings in the world

Well, wonder no more. The second of edition of Library World Records by Godfrey Oswald has just been published by McFarland. This updated and expanded edition contains more than 380 entries providing answers to hundreds of new questions about libraries, periodicals, books, and reference databases.

Here's the table of contents:

Acknowledgments xvi
Preface to the Second Edition 1
Introduction 3
How to Use the Book 5

World Records for National Libraries 7
World Records for Public and Subscription Libraries 23
World Records for University and Academic Libraries 42
World Records for Specialty Libraries and Archives 87
Miscellaneous World Records for Libraries 105
World Records for Books, Periodicals and Bookstores 132
World Records for Library Buildings 210
World Records for Library Catalogs, Databases and Technology 243
World Records for Library and Information Science Organizations 283

Saint Jerome, the Librarian’s Patron Saint 301
Bibliography 303
Index 305

Book Details:
ISBN 978-0-7864-3852-5
144 photos, bibliography, index
343pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2009
Available here