Over the years, has I have gotten older; I continue to prayerfully read his stories. I never tire of the poetics in the small gestures and details or the lofty contrivances…
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Is your shop profiled here? Send us a blurb or two and some photos or a video, we’d love to give you some free exposure.
Some tips and suggestions from the Pros and how to operate a successful shop.
Some links to our fellow bookstore owners blog posts, web sites and any book related newsworthy items.
Some stories & shared knowledge on opening a bookstore. Learn all the ins and outs of getting your bookstore open.
Some good books both to help you operate more effectively and some just to enjoy, always with bookselling in mind.
Bookstore Speak:
Words of the Trade
By Louis Gereaux
All booksellers of used books will have at one time or another come across the word dog-eared. What does that word mean anyway, and where did it come from? Dog eared pages are less common in today’s fast turn around of used books. Many used book are almost new. It might be that more readers are using the bookmarks we stick in our books for sale, who knows? But the term dog eared means a turned down corner of a book page. The term originated in the trade because these turned down pages look like the ears of dogs which do not stick up.
This antiquated term – dog-eared is no longer used that much in online book descriptions as a result of mass listings, but it should be there. If for no other reason, there have to be books on the market which have turned down page corners. As opposed to the term binding tight – this is a term that has survived and thrived in online bookselling. Why switch the order of the words when one means to say the book has a tight binding? That is the original book selling term though, and binding tight is a phrase used to make a strong positive impression on the potential buyer. It says this is a book which will not fall apart when you receive it – the worst fear of most used book purchasers site unseen. Read the full story »
Must-haves in Your Stock (I)
By HeeJin Lee
As an aspiring bookshop owner, I’ve been spending my free time fantasizing of the books I’d like to have in my stock. I’ve been inspired by Shakespeare and Company by …
[Editor's Note: Here is an email from one of our readers concerning selling books on Amazon and how lower cost items can be very difficult to make a margin on. We completely agree and now ...
Selling online
One of the challenges of selling online is the lack of people contact. It’s something I really notice. One of the things I do to combat this is to volunteer at an Op Shop …
Having recently returned from our annual Christmas camping trip, I decided the time has come to make my plans for this year.
To start treating this hobby as a profitable business.
To stop procrastinating and start doing.
I …
Corrugated Mailing Boxes
I want to talk to you for a minute about shipping books. I owned a used bookshop for 4 years and learned a thing or two about shipping books, both from the sender’s …
Thanks to a snowstorm and a fairly quiet day at the store, I was able to sneak into my office to begin sorting out the holiday piles. As I crunched numbers, I looked …
As you may have seen in my previous post, I live in Perth Western Australia. A very far away place to be.
The internet has provided a more even playing field in the world of internet …
