Browsing the Bookshelves

Time to send of the VAT return for the quarter. I hate it. It's not that it's particularly arduous, or difficult, or even especially time consuming. It's just that I'd rather be doing just about anything else. So I get grizzley, and bad tempered, which makes everyone around me either nervous or grizzley themselves. Which makes me worse. And because I get progressively more and  more bear like throughout the process, it takes longer, and I get more frustratated and hence more bad tempered - a complete vicious circle. Any tips on how to break it?

Oh well, off for a curry. That will put the sunshine back (but not half as much as hubby agreeing - willingly agreeing - that we can go on holiday for week later in the year. Yippee!).

Interest in proofs on the part of book collectors is not new.  The estimable bookseller, Bertram Dobell, offered a set of corrected proofs of Robert Browning's Red Cotton Nightcap in a catalogue nearly 100 years ago. (1) It is true to say that collecting proofs has gone through the swings and tribulations of popularity to a greater extent than many other aspects of book collecting and for much of the 20th century seemed a Cinderella which never quite found the right slipper.  Anecdotal, rather than systematic, evidence indicates that interest in proofs has increased steadily since the 1980s. Nevertheless, there are still those who cast proofs off as ugly and unimportant.  This article will attempt to demonstrate why those people are wrong.

For collectors of modern and literary fiction firsts, the golden rule is always 'the earlier the better': the very first issue of a book is always held to be more collectable and more desirable (and often therefore more expensive) than later printings or editions.  Arguably, the cult of the first edition has its roots in very practical reasoning.  The development of the printing press and the extension of literary among the population made books a more widespread commodity: more copies were printed. In these early days of book production, the plates on the presses were made from soft metals or sometime wood which wore down with each successive printing. As a result, those books first off the press - the first printings of the first editions - were often those of the highest quality, with clearer and crisper type than subsequent printings.  The introduction of offset printing in the early years of the 20th century enabled worn plates to be replaced with little expense and relative easy. By this time, however, the desirability of a first edition was already firmly established within the minds of book collectors and antiquarian booksellers alike.

Another argument often advanced to justify the premium prices which some firsts can command, and one that is still valid today, is that first editions represent the text that is closest to the author.  The first edition is the real book, presented as the original publisher, and perhaps the author, intended. Everything else, everything later is a mere imitation and potentially a step away from the author's intention.

Taking this argument to its logical extreme, it follows that the author's original manuscript is the most desirable version of any text, attracting collectors above all other versions.  Indeed, manuscripts from highly respected and widely collected authors can command the highest prices. Jack Kerouac's famous scroll, composed in a caffeine-influenced frenzy over a three week period in the early 1950s, which eventually became the seminal Beat novel, On The Road, fetched over a £1.5 million at auction in 2001. Not many collectors can afford to spend that sort of figure on their collections however much they may wish to and even if money is no object, the opportunities to acquire such highly desirable items are few and far between. An uncorrected bound proof or advance reading copy (ARC) provides the collector with the opportunity to enhance their collect with a book which precedes the first published edition and is closer to the author certainly in time and probably in content, without the need for a bank loan or to re-mortgage a small house.  Indeed, Ian C Ellis argues that "for the collector, the bound proofs or the ARC can honestly be considered the real first edition".(2)

Publishers issue these pre-publication volumes in the hope that reviews will appear in periodicals and newspapers at the time of publication, stimulating interest and sales.  They are also sent to those who make the buying decisions for major wholesalers and book retailers who may be tempted to order in larger quantities if they find the book impressive.  Increasingly, publishers also want to gather comments on the book from well-known authors and commentators which might then by used on the book's covers, again to tempt buyers and promote sales.

Those receiving pre-publication books for review are usually warned that the final text may change and that they should check the final text before quoting directly.  In A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books, Nicholas Basbanes provides several examples of author's making substantial textual changes right up to the point of publication: "as the demand for modern literature has grown, collecting them [publishers' proofs] has become fashionable, primarily because they represent a "state" that is earlier than the first edition, and in some cases can actually be considered a "variant" form of the text. Many authors - John Updike, Anne Tyler, Philip Roth, and the late Bernard Malamud, to name just four - have revised novels right up to the final typesetting. Changes of such consequence were made in The Witches of Eastwick, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and National Book Award winner Tim O’Brien’s 1994 book, In the Lake of the Woods, that new proofs had to be printed, producing what amounted to two sets of galleys. The earlier versions were of course more desirable. Less dramatic modifications take place all the time; Henry Holt advised critics in 1986 that the names of several minor characters in Louise Erdrich’s second novel, The Beet Queen, had been changed, and to avoid using them in any review".(3)   (Although, interestingly, in Basbanes' later book, Among the Gently Mad, he claims not to collect " such peripheral objects as uncorrected proofs", lumping them with "magazine articles and signed limited editions of obscure works, rarely significant items whose only reason for being is to create a condition of manufactured rarity".) (4) As Ellis points out however in Book Finds: How to Find, Buy and Sell Used and Rare Books, "for someone seriously interested in a particular writer, these differences between the ARC and the final version of the book can provide insight into the creative process".(5)

A second factor that adds to the attraction of uncorrected bound proofs is "completeness". A collector who wishes to acquire the complete collection of the works of a particular author, for example, is missing the point if they do not concern themselves with pre-publication editions - and missing the opportunity for interesting discovery and research. Not all novels have a pre-publication edition at all. Others will have proofs, galleys, uncorrected bound proofs, and advance reading copies, perhaps extending to more than one printing.  Discovering the publication history, often by undertaking original research can add to the mystique and exhilaration of book collecting.

Scarcity also adds to the attractions of uncorrected bound proofs.  It is often difficult to pin down the size of a print run for proofs: such statistics tend to be closely guarded by publishers.  Admit to producing a large number and there is a risk of undermining market confidence in the product: wholesale bookbuyers may feel that the market has been flooded with a free product and that as a result there is little likelihood of selling a substantial number at the retail level. In short, their concern is that anyone who may wish to read the book has done so already.  Conversely, if a publisher admits to only a small print run, it may in interpreted as a lack of confidence in the book or its author.  Ken Lopez's excellent essay on collecting uncorrected proofs cites a handful of cases where the size of the print run is known. These include Robert Stone's debut, A Hall of Mirrors, with a proof print run of just 57 copies; Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-five, with a proof print run of 39, and one Philip K Dick novel where the proof print run was a short as 19 copies.  More recently, technological developments in printing have given the opportunity for publishers to produce larger numbers of proof copies without a prohibitive unit cost.  Lopez cites the example of Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park which had an initial proof print run of 1500 and "then went back to press for a second printing of another 1,000 copies - all prior to publication".  Jasper Fforde's website claims a proof print run of 3,000 for his first novel, the wonderful Eyre Affair.  Despite these examples of extended numbers, the cost of large print runs and mailing our each of the copies produced together with the risk of undermining the market for retail sales with "free" copies is likely to mean that for the most part, publishers keep proof print runs to a minimum. Crane Duplicating, thought to be first to producers of bound galleys (sometimes referred to as "Cranes") cite run lengths between 20 and 1000 copies.  Lopez concludes that the average print run for proofs or advance reading copies is likely to be in the region of 200 to 500 copies. This seems likely and certainly I am aware of no contradictory evidence.

This is an issue size similar to many of the limited editions which now often precede or accompany trade publication.  There is a difference though. Collectible limited editions tend to find their way onto the shelves of book collectors, where they will be loved, cared for and treated with respect, quite rapidly.  Uncorrected bound proofs tend to be used for the purposes for which they were intended: they are read. Add to that the fact that they are often produced at the minimum possible cost, it is easy to understand why few will survive beyond a few weeks in anything like collectible condition.  In practice then, fine or very good - indeed any - examples of uncorrected bound proofs can be harder to find than even the most limited first edition in the long term, even if they seem common shortly after publication.  They are intended to be disposable items and many treat them as such.

Most collectors will also find pre-publication editions affordable. Proofs from only a handful of authors will command prohibitive prices for the average collectors, particularly in the year or so after publication while they remain relatively easy to find.  Proofs usually rise in value only if and when the reputation of the author, or the importance of the novel, has been proved over time. By this time, a combination of demand and attrition can mean that prices become eye-watering.(6)  Many proofs will only increase in value slowly, steadily and undramatically. Many will not increase in value at all.  Yet the fact that a few will increase in value to a staggering degree attracts the speculator to pre-publication editions as well as the collector.  The initial stakes are usually quite low so even the most cautious can afford to take a punt from time to time. And even if they don't win financially, they still have a collectable and interesting item to enjoy.

A note on terminology

Uncorrected bound proofs, soft back pre-publication copies were at one time typically bound in plain card wrappers with perhaps just the title and author printed on the cover.  Advance reading copies (ARCs) were more typically glossy publications resembling the final publication much more closely, often reproducing the artwork and design that the publisher intended to use. They may also carry information, usually on the cover or preliminary pages, on publication and the publisher's planned marketing activity. Recent developments in printing and publication have served to blur these distinctions and it is now common to see glossy, illustrated covers and publication and publicity details on books which call themselves uncorrected bound proofs.  Often these modern "uncorrected bound proofs" will carry blurbs and promotional quotes, suggesting an earlier pre-publication edition exists. Even so, the typical process remains galleys, uncorrected bound proof, advance reading copy and then publication (although only a minority of novels will go through each of these steps.

I happened to be cataloguing a collection of William Hazlitt's essays earlier today. This caught my eye in particular:

"I cannot understand the rage manifested by the greater part of the world for reading New Books.  If the public had read all those that had gone before, I can conceive how they should not wish to read the same work twice over; but when I consider the countless volumes that lie unopened, unregarded, unread and unthought-of, I cannot enter into the pathetic complaints that I hear made that Sir Walter writes no more-that the press is idle-that Lord Bryon is dead. If I have not read a book before, it is, to all intents and purposes, new to me, whether it was printed yesterday or three hundred years ago."

(from the opening section of William's Hazlitt's essay On Reading New Books)

The same debate, the same sentiments, are still echoed today. Thank you, Mr Hazlitt, for reminding us that some things never change.

I seem to have broken the habit of "blogging" this month. Posts have been few and far between.  Part of it has been the glorious weather, constantly tempting me away from my PC and into the garden. Today it rained, which perhaps explains why I'm here at all.

In part though it's also been because of the swelter of great books.  A proof copy of Kathryn Fox's Malicious Intent arrived on 15th July. I made the mistake of starting it then and there. Thirty six hours later the weeds in the garden were taller and the dust on the shelves a day and a  half older, but the book was finished.  I'll do a proper review nearer publication time - in September I think - but I'll put a marker down now: I couldn't put the book down.

And as soon as I'd finished that one, I got stuck into My Sister's Keeper by Judi Picoult, which is this month choice for our book club.

And, of course, I have finally started the reading in preparation for the OU course I'm doing next year. I'm enjoying re-reading Ian Watt's The Rise of the Novel, which I don't think I've read since doing my A'levels, and that was scary number of years ago!

...can a nasty summer cold last? After nursing hubby through coughing and splutterings and lavishing him with care and attention, he rewarded me by giving me his cold!  That'st one gift I could have done without - but does it really have to last the whole week?  A couple of days and, ok, I'll take my turn, but by day five I'm really tired of the whole thing. Tired of the sore nose, the congestions, the sore joints, the headache, the sore throat, the cough, just everything.  There's so much I want to be getting on with but every time I try I either loose my balance or run into a wall of tiredness.  It's so frustrating.

Please, can someone get around to inventing a cure for the common cold? Pretty please...

On the upside, I am thoroughly enjoying having an excuse to curl up on the sofa with a good book in the middle of the afternoon...My Sister's Keeper this week.

It got worse...much worse. I ended up spending 45 minutes to get to somewhere I didn't need to be in the first place. And then another 45 minutes to get home...I just want today to end without further mishap...please!

Gremlins seem to have hit our systems this morning - and when all one's stock of over 10,000 books is inventoried electronicly, that's a real problem.  In short, because our network is not performing properly, I can't put my hands on a single specific book. 

The location of each and every book is stored in a database so that we can quickly and easily locate a book whenever anyone places an order or asks a question about a particular books.  On Saturday, we spent several hours building shelves and moving some 400 or 500 hundred books into our new remote storage. The new location for each book was religiously entered into the database as we went along.  Although the new locations are visible when we browse the database, they do not show up when the database is queried. It's mad, and very, very bad. Here's hoping that the whole nation doesn't decide to buy books from today, because we havn't got a hope in hell of finding them until the problems are sorted out.  Oh, the joys of bookselling!  Why didn't I have a calling to be a gardener - at least one's not likely to loose a garden!

This book review also appears on our book sales site a Ingo by Helen Dunmore.

Taking as its backdrop the deep romance of the Cornish coast, Ingo  -  the first volume of a planned trilogy for children - is a tale of enchantment and reality in equal measure, qualities which are reflected in the struggle between the worlds of land and sea.  The young heroine's circumstances are very modern and very realistic: her father has apparently abandoned his family, leaving his wife to struggle to keep the family and finances afloat.

But Sappy and her elder brother Conor know better.  They don't believe the official explanation that he was lost at sea nor the whispers of neighbours that he has run off with another woman. 

Dunmore builds upon a traditional Cornish tale of a young man seduced by a mermaid.  Sappy's longing for her father is infused with the tales her father told her of the mermaid of Zennor who fell for a human man but couldn't live with him on land.  She would swim up the stream to hear him sing and then, one day, the young man swam out to sea with her to join the people of the Mer in their underwater forever.  As Sappy and Conor take their search for their father to the edge of reality first Conor, and then Sappy, are enticed into the bewitching and mysterious world of the Mer by the enigmatic merman, Faro, and his mermaid sister.

The sea and Ingo - the underwater world of the Mer - are powerful and ever-present: menacing for those who don’t understand or respect it, enchanting to those few who, like Sappy and Conor, know of its existence.  Ingo is full of adventure and danger, steadily but surely rising to a magnificent and magical underwater battle which tests Conor and Sappy mentally and physically. 

Ingo builds on themes that will be resonant to many children today.  Sappy's desire to go back to a time when childhood was innocent is something all can relate to and her difficulty in accepting her mother's new boyfriend will also strike a cord with many.  The meat of the book is however in the struggle between to worlds, between two types of living, neither of which Sappy really understands.

The plot is fast-paced and involving - a real page-turner.  But there is enough of substance created by Dunmore's balance of reality and fantasy to provoke reflection among even the least imaginative of us.  Parents will enjoy reading Ingo with their children as much as the youngest will enjoy keeping its magical world to themselves.

This is the first of Helen Dunmore's books I've read since A Spell of Winter, which won the very first Orange Prize for Fiction in 1996. I'm glad I did.  Don't read this if you don't have room for another favourite book on your bookshelves because this one will demand a place.

Ingo by Helen Dunmore will be published in hardback on 5th September 2005 by HarperCollins. ISBN 0007204876

Sometimes, buying books on line can feel a little bit like a lottery. How is the buyer meant to distinguish between a reliable seller, with an accurate description, good delivery terms and a fair returns policy and the ignorant, fly-by-night or disingenious seller.  Well, we'd like to help. Here's a wee directory of some of the most reputable on line booksellers in the UK. It's not exhaustive of course, but it is based on our experience.

An-Eye-For-Books specialises in quality, hard to find and out-of-print fiction and non-fiction, published in the US and the United Kingdom: paperback, trade paperback and hardcover.  Stock includes second-hand and out-of-print genre fiction, children's Books of all types, historical romance / fiction especially Dorothy Dunnett, archaeology, world religions & philosophy, and the occult.

Plurabelle Books specialises in academic titles in all scientific disciplines.  Michael Cahn (Dr phil habil) has been selling books for almost 6 years and is pleased to receive inquiries in German, Italian and French.   He employs three members of staff and the store room is situated on an old stonemason’s yard, just across from Cambridge University Press. Visitors are welcome, but being a mail order outlet, the stock is not ordered by subject.

A Book for All Reasons offers second-hand, collectable and out-of-print books and our main author interest is in popular fiction from the first half of the 20th century, notably Georgette Heyer & Dornford Yates.  Also good stock of historical, maritime and war fiction. Non-fiction specialities include World War II (WW2), the Royal Naval Patrol Service and Coastal Forces, and books about Suffolk, Norfolk & The Broads.

The Old Bookshelf is a family-run business maintaining a general stock of around 16,000 titles with an interesting selection of Scottish material, alongside new and out of print publications related to the West of Scotland (including military) particularly Kintyre. We also advertise a small number of Antiquarian books and have had opportunity to market some scarce modern firsts in recent years.

Courtyard Books, based in Glastonbury, specialises in high quality 'remaindered' esoteric books from publishers in the Mind, Body and Spirit domain.  Courtyard Books' stock includes spirituality, world religion, healing, new age and underground culture, ecology, alternative fiction and children's titles.  Courtyard Books also has a strong section on Gloucester & Gloucestershire.

Stella and Rose's Books is a family-owned business with two bookshops, one in the famous book town of Hay On Wye and the other in the environs of the historic Tintern Abbey. Their combined stock of over 50,000 titles is all online and includes some 22,000 children's books. Other specialist subjects are UK topography, railways and natural history, Observers books, music and cats.

Stephen Foster offers a strong general stock with a leaning towards the Arts, including Books on Art,  Architecture, Decorative and Applied Arts, History, Literature, Travel, Archaeology and Ancient History. Also Childrens' books, Illustrated,  Fine Bindings and First Editions. There is also a good range of antiquarian and out of print titles.

Brown Studies - The Friendly Book Seller Brenda and Mike Brown have been buying, selling and finding used books since 1990. A stock of over 25,000 books covers every subject known to mankind. Special interests are in gardening, herbs, ecology, construction, DIY, donkeys, Miss Read and John S Goodall. Brown Studies also has a range of texts used by students.

C L Hawley specialises in literary criticism, literary theory, literary biography and literary texts. In addition they stock academic history, children's fiction, poetry and local history, especially Yorkshire.  Also a good general stock in the arts and humanities.

Hessay Books is a family-run business based in a small village on the edge of the historic city of York. We have been selling books on the internet since 1998 and carry a large general stock, in addition to our specialist areas of modern literature, travel and history.

Marijana Dworski Books  specialises in academic and scholarly books as well as good travel writing and guides, including Baedekers and Murrays on the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, Russia, Siberia and Central Asia.

O'Donoghue Books  offer an extensive range of books on Philosophy, Sociology, Politics, Psychology, Ireland, Irish, Education, Business, Feminism, History, 1st Editions, Travel, Auto /Biography & books on architecture.

Orangeberry books has a general stock covering most subjects from Antiques and Collecting to Travel and Topography. Their main specialties are science and technology, literature and poetry.

Philip Lund Theological Bookseller offers books in the areas of Theology Church History, Biblical Studies, Liturgy, Patristics, and World Religions.

Yesteryear Books is friendly, down-to-earth, independent Internet book dealers specialising in out-of-print, hard-to-find, used and rare books.

Green Meadow Books, based near Penzance in the beautiful county of Cornwall, specialises in children's & illustrated books. Particular areas of speciality are Enid Blyton (over 2500 in stock) and Malcolm Saville.

Aucott & Thomas carries a constantly changing stock of around 3,700 books in all categories - although you may find a preponderance of books about the English countryside, folk music, fishing, horse riding, childrens books (especially 1950's and 60's pony stories) and crime fiction.

Peakirk Books, established in 1997, is a small family run business operating both a physical and virtual used book shop. A strong general stock comprising some 25,000 books is complemented by specialist lists on Children's and juvenile Fiction, illustrated books, and the poetry of John Clare.

Zouch Books is an independent online seller of used, out of print and hard to find books. Their name comes from the historic town of Ashby de la Zouch in Leicestershire in the English East Midlands, where they are based.  Principally an internet business, they also attend book fairs and events throughout the calendar.

Robertson Books are specialists in rare and collectable children’s fiction from the 20th century with interests in the works of Enid Blyton, Elinor Brent-Dyer, Monica Edwards, Antonia Fores, Arthur Ransome, KM Peyton, Richmal Crompton, Capt. WE Johns and Malcolm Saville.

Uncle Phil's Books is run by Phil and Susie James and based in Coventry.  Their on-line stock is around 10,000.

Alba Books are based in Moray and specialise in books on Scotland, Science, Medicine and Pyschology.

Magpie Books, now based in the Upper Calder Valley after many years in London's East End

Darkwood Online Book Sanctuary

Bagot Books, a virtual shop only, selling via mail order, is based in the village of Ashtead in Surry and carries a stock of around 5,000 books.

The Virtual Bookshelf offers used, second hand, rare & collectible books together with new books in specialist areas. it has an emphasis on literary novels, modern fiction firsts & signed editions.  The Virtual Bookshelf  also offers specialist lists on medieval English history, horses & all things equine, military history, the history of London & has a growing focus on Shropshire topography, local history.   Also carries a strong stock of books on the history, development and cultivation of sweet peas.

These, and more reputable sellers, can all be found on ibooknet.
 

By coincidence, some else has had a rant about cheap books today which may go some way to providing an explanation for my dilemma on cheap books and profit (see here).  Having ordered a handful of 50p books, they asked for a quote for shipping. The quote came back at around £35.  For that price, I could send an entire pallet of paperbacks, that's around 1500, have way across the country. If that is a fair price for sending 9 paperbacks by Royal Mail a distance of some 100 miles, the books must be bound in lead! 

Still, doesn't quite explain the penny sellers on Amazon, where shipping costs are fixed (and at a reasonable level).  Curiousier and curiousier.

I bought three John Sutherland books today. Each cost me the princely sum of a penny. Yep, three books for 3p.  All purchased via the marketplace on Amazon.co.uk.  I buy lots of books, all the time. It's sort of a requirement for being a second hand bookseller. But these three were for me, so I was prepared to a risk on condition and delivery times (something I would never do if I was buying for a customer).  I'll have to wait to see what they actually look like when they arrive, assuming they do. Each was described as being in very good condition.

But what really gets me is how the sellers can possibly be making a profit by selling the book for a penny.  Amazon charge sellers 17.5 per cent of the list price plus 86p per item for book sales.  If sellers are registered as professional merchants, the commission is same but the flat per sale fee waived and replaced by a monthly subscription charge of £28.50.  For VAT registered business, who can reclaim the VAT, the costs will come down to £25 per month subscription plus 15 per cent of the list price per sale.

For evey book sale, Amazon charge the buyer £2.75 for delivery, £2.32 of which is passed onto the marketplace seller. So if a VAT registered, pro-merchant seller sells a book for a penny, they will receive £2.33 in total.  Out of that, an allowance has to be made for a portion of the monthly fee.  Even if books are acquired for free, there are still the costs of cataloguing, cleaning and storing the books, picking them when an order comes in, the time involved in packing, the costs of packaging and the postage costs (which also include the costs of getting the packages to the post office or paying for mail collection).  Even for the lightest of paperbacks, postage itself will be at least 80 pence, the cost of an jiffy envelope (which many sellers use, but really isn't adequate protection for a book in transit) around 20 pence.  That leaves around £1.30 to pay for the monthly subscription, cataloguing, cleaning, storage, picking, packing time and delivery to Royal Mail.  How do these guys make a profit? I wish I knew the secret.