Bookseller Digest UK

AbeBooks Event: Chetham's Library

On 22nd September, around 40 AbeBooks booksellers headed over to Chetham's Library in central Manchester to attend the most recent AbeBooks special event in the UK. Two superb presentations of some of the impressive items the library holds were given by librarians Michael Powell and Fergus Wilde.

A few of items that were displayed are listed below:

Invoices of booksellers, 1655-85
Paradise Lost: A poem written in ten books - John Milton (1667)
Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses - Robert Hooke (1665)
Opera - Prosper of Aquitane (1539) Book owned by Henry VIII
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica - Isaac Newton (First edition 1687)

Following discussion and perusal of a mere snapshot of the catalogue at Chetham's Library, Udo and I led a meeting focused on the listings on AbeBooks.

 We discussed together in the group both what a good book description is from the eyes of a buyer or collector and how descriptions can be optimised to take advantage of what the AbeBooks system has to offer and how it works.

Top tips for optimising your listings and their descriptions were:

1. Tell your customer what the book is about
2. Send book information in separate fields
3. Add trustworthy copy to your description, describe the condition well
4. Attach photos – you will sell more!
5. Do your listings stand out in any way? Compare them to the other listings surrounding them.
6. Avoid confusing abbreviations

If you wish to receive any further information about the event and what was discussed, please let us know. Many, many thanks to Chetham's Library and particularly Michael and Fergus who shared their vast knowledge of the library and its contents to a truly captivated audience!

Booksellers Association: Independent Booksellers Forum

If you are a member of the Booksellers Association you may already know that there is an Independent Booksellers Forum scheduled for Monday 21st September at the University of Warwick. The programme for this year's forum will cover ways in which booksellers can save money, make money, improve business, and learn from each other.

AbeBooks are very pleased to be attending this event to offer advice and support for booksellers who are interested in expanding their business and selling more books over the Internet.

If you are a BA member who is interested in attending, please contact Naomi Gane for further information. To read more about the Booksellers Association you can visit their website by going to www.booksellers.org.uk

Special Event: Chetham's Library

Update 26/08/09 - There are unfortunately no more spaces left to participate in the library tour - we have seen a very large interest in this event and therefore hope to create a similar one in the future! Should you wish your to be placed on a list of reserves who may be contacted if any bookings are cancelled, please let us know using the contact form.

AbeBooks will be in the UK again in September for a special guided tour of Chetham's Library in Manchester followed by a presentation.

Places are unfortunately limited and there are only a few remaining so please let us know quickly if you wish to attend.

Chetham's Library was founded in 1653 and is the oldest public library in the English-speaking world. The Library houses a wonderful collection of items, including medieval manuscripts and an extensive collection of 16th and 17th century printed works. As a bookseller on AbeBooks, Chetham's Library is already familiar with online bookselling and lists some exhibition catalogues and a small number of duplicate items on AbeBooks, making it the perfect site to host an AbeBooks event.

Click here to see Chetham Library's inventory on AbeBooks.

After the tour we will take a short break before continuing with a presentation from AbeBooks on how you can optimise your listings to increase your sales on AbeBooks. We encourage you to bring your questions so that the meeting is as interactive and educational as possible!

Event Details
Location: Chetham's Library
Date: Tuesday 22nd September 2009
Time: 2pm
Map & Directions: Chetham's Library, Long Millgate, Manchester, M3 1SB

If you would like to attend this unique event, please confirm your attendance as soon as possible and, if applicable, how many guests you will bring. There are only a limited number of places available so please contact us if you would like to participate.

Meetings and Book Fairs in Europe

In addition to attending book fairs in London and the UK AbeBooks meeting in April, there were a number of events arranged and book fairs attended across Europe.

Germany - A meeting was arranged for booksellers at the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. Booksellers who attended had the opportunity to see a reconstruction of Gutenberg's workshop and to use a printing press from that era. Many thanks to Professor Schneider from the University of Mainz who additionally gave a lecture on the origins of the book industry in the 19th century.

France - AbeBooks staff met with booksellers in Paris for a guided tour of the National Library (Bibliothèque nationale de France). 

Spain - Two meetings took place for booksellers; one in Madrid and the other in Barcelona. 

Italy - the first Italian AbeBooks bookseller meeting took place in Turin.

On top of these meetings, we were present at the Olympia Book Fair, the London Book Fair, the Turin Book Fair, the Marché de la Bibilophilie and the Salón del Libro Antiguo in Paris.

  

Olympia Antiquarian Book Fair 2009

On arriving at the Olympia Book Fair on Friday 6th June, we were greeted by a long queue of people waiting to enter. There were 151 exhibitors participating from across the globe and Udo Göllmann and I had the pleasure of speaking to a selection of them.

Though there was a steady stream of visitors, booksellers were fairly reserved about their sales. All in all, the pinch of the recession seems to be being felt, but not too strongly. Books are still being bought and sold, and there really were some beautiful creations on sale. 

We hope that the fair was a success for all of the booksellers there. Should you wish to read more about the Olympia Book Fair, you can visit the website here.

Olympia Antiquarian Book Fair 2009

The 52nd Antiquarian Book Fair will take place at Olympia on Hammersmith Road, London from 4th to 6th June 2009. If you are in London for one or more of these days, we would strongly recommend paying a visit to the fair. This year, the fair has spread downstairs at Olympia and over 160 specialist bookdealers will arrive from across the world to present some of their most impressive items.

The fair's opening hours are as follows: Thursday 4th June, 4pm to 9pm; Friday 5th June, 11am to 7pm; Saturday 6th June, 11am to 5.30pm

For more information, you can visit the Olympia Book Fair website.

UK Bookseller Meeting - April 2009

In late April, the first AbeBooks Bookseller Meeting of 2009 took place at the Grange Strathmore Hotel in London. Thank you very much to those booksellers who attended and brought their feedback and questions. Hannes Blum, the CEO of AbeBooks, took part in the meeting and hosted a roundtable discussion to answer booksellers' queries directly. 

To begin with, a presentation was given covering how AbeBooks promotes your books to buyers, uploading pictures and new and future projects. If you were not able to attend the meeting, the presentation can be reviewed here: 

Download Presentation 20-04-2009

Below, you can find a short summary of some of the questions addressed in the meeting:

• What are wants and how do buyers use them?

Buyers use wants when they cannot find a book they are searching for on the website. Every day we compare books that have been recently uploaded to all of the Wants that buyers have saved. If a match is made, then the buyer is emailed the details of the book on AbeBooks and sellers are emailed with details of the item that has been matched.

• How can I update my storefront?

You can personalise your Storefront by selecting the option [Your Storefront] in the Members Menu. You can also find the URL (website address) of your Storefront at this location which can be given to your customers so that they can locate and buy your books very easily.

• How can I see my bookseller rating?

You can view your bookseller rating through your Members Menu. The star rating that appears alongside your listings on the website is formed from your average completion rate over the last six months.

• How can I categorise my books?

There are various ways to add categories to your books depending on how you normally send your listings to AbeBooks. You can sign on to your bookseller account and categorise your books one by one or you can download a list of the categories and add them in a new field to your existing book file. Please remember that when you make changes to your book file structure you will need to let our Customer Service Team know so that your account settings can be changed.

AbeBooks in the UK - April 2009

In addition to attending the London Book Fair on 22nd and 23rd April, AbeBooks will host a meeting and presentation in London on Monday 20th April. The details of the meeting can be found below and all member booksellers are invited to attend.

Location: Grange Strathmore Hotel
41 Queens Gate Gardens, London. SW7 5NB
Room: The Library Room
Date: Monday 20th April 2009
Time: Starting at 2.30pm
Map & Directions: Grange Strathmore Hotel

As well as broaching your questions and discussing current topics of interest, we will be demonstrating how you can increase your book sales through the addition of pictures to your book listings. After a step by step guide to the process of uploading images, we will show you how pictures are used for promotional purposes on the site and how they can direct buyers to your titles and help you to sell more.

If you would like to attend, simply submit our Online Contact Form, specifying the number of guests you will be bringing and any questions that you would like to submit in advance for discussion on the day. Please include the heading "LBF Meeting - April 2009".

If you are unable to attend the event but would like to meet up at the London Book Fair, please Contact Us providing a suitable time to meet on either Tuesday 21st or Wednesday 22nd April.

ABA - PBFA Edinburgh Book Fair 2009

Around 65 booksellers came to The Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh to attend this year's book fair, with the majority of ABA booksellers on the lower level and the PBFA booksellers based on the first floor. The fair seemed to receive healthy attendance from the general public with regular purchases being made and many people leaving with bags and packages.

I was there to speak with booksellers about their experiences of listing on AbeBooks and to answer any questions regarding their accounts. From these interesting discussions, I have collated the most useful and prominent topics:

• Postage Rates - how can I change the default rates to reflect my prices and times? 

AbeBooks default shipping rates are not based on current rates and we strongly recommend that booksellers update their account with details of the delivery service they offer. Remember also to add countries such as Ireland and the Netherlands which are not automatically provided. If these are not added, buyers from these countries will have to pay the International shipping fee.

• Pictures - would adding pictures increase my sales? 

By uploading book images your books are more likely to be featured in buyer promotions and bulletins and by being able to see the book a buyer is more likely to make a purchase. Many booksellers feel that taking and uploading pictures would take considerable time. We suggest taking a small selection of your titles and following our step-by-step guide to upload images.

• Bookseller Star Rating  - we would like to remind you that if you have 3 or less orders over 6 months, your star rating will appear automatically at 4 stars. For those orders for which you have requested extra shipping charges: if the buyer refuses the extra charges and you continue to reject the order this will not count against your rating. To find out which orders count and which are excluded, please see our Bookseller Help page on this topic...

Edinburgh Book Fair - March 2009

The 5th joint PBFA - ABA Edinburgh Book Fair will be held on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th March 2009 in Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms on George Street.

I hope to be there on both days to take in the atmosphere, marvel at some impressive titles and speak to booksellers who wish to discuss any aspect of their AbeBooks account. If you would like to address a particular issue with me or arrange a time for me to pass by your stand, please contact us and I will be happy to respond to you.

Wishing all booksellers a successful fair, whether you will be there as an exhibitor, a buyer or an inquisitive browser!