Getting Side-tracked...

I don't know how other people do it.  I have a regular schedule (well, it's a self-made, internalized schedule, so not FORMALIZED) and I try to keep to it each working day but... it's hard to stay motivated.

The thing is, sitting here, alone in front of my desk, it's SO easy to get side-tracked from what I am supposed to be doing....

Supposed to be doing consists of:

Answering emails
pulling ordered books off the shelf, invoicing and mailing
taking pictures of books
data entry
research
writing articles (which I SHOULD be doing much more often than I am)
writing reviews
data entry (did I say that twice...yeah, well I meant to. No data entry means NO sales, NO money, etc....)

Today, I:

took pictures of a stack of books
pulled books, invoiced and packed them for mailing
did some data entry
checked facebook about ten times
found a pile of very old National Geographic Magazines & started leafing through...
brushed the cat (she's a long hair and NEEDS brushing on an almost hourly basis -- I never wanted a long haired cat... I have allergies and long haired cats don't help, but you know how that goes)
put books in boxes to get them up off the floor
moved boxes of books around to make space
emptied three boxes of books which came back from the book fair (this is a good thing)
checked my emails about 50 times
read a couple of blog posts
sat and wondered what profound thing I could write about for my blog
stared at the wall for a while
wondered how the baseball game tonight is going to turn out
thought about getting the suitcases out of the closet for the boys for the trip this weekend


Oh, there's more.

Much more.

I seem to be very easily side-tracked this week from getting WORK done.

I can't complain because I actually DID get books listed on line, but when it comes to sitting still and just doing data entry for hours on end.... well, let's just say I don't have a real aptitude for sitting still long.

And with all the new techno gadgets out there, I can't imagine how other people can keep up with everything. I have a hard enough time coming up with something half-way interesting to put on my blog every day (almost). How in the world can  people find time (or inspiration) to add Facebook quips, twitter tweets, blog entries (more than one a day! yikes!), newsgroup posts,  and on and on and on.... every day!

It boggles the mind.

Which is, I guess, why I don't do those things.

I Can't keep up.

  I got side-tracked into reading the National Geographic Magazine article from 1919 on : The Progressive World Struggle of the Jews for Civil Equality.... (and that instead of the 550 page book that I HAVE to finish reading before Monday because my deadline approaches....and as I'm not too enamored of the book, I keep finding ways to NOT read it, which is BAD...)


So much for profound thoughts for today... sigh


Since I've got nothing important to say about what I did today, here are some pictures of books I added to the database instead:

Toby the Rock Hound by Jane Dwyer Walrath

Illustrated by the wonderful Jolly Roger Bradfield.

though it's from 1979, there are only two copies listed online currently.

The Story of a Little Mouse Trapped in a Book

Written and illustrated by Monique Felix -- again, not too many copies online

this a book without words... all pictures, no words. 

Trumpet Blues: The Life of Harry James

Signed by the author (Paul J. Levinson) who was a long time friend of Harry James...

(or so he says). This is one of the new class of non-fiction titles I'm adding to diversify more.

Heavy Weather

by P. G. Wodehouse

 I'm a P.G. Wodehouse fan -- 

I found this up in Grass Valley this weekend. It's a reprint edition, BUT...

turns out, that it was printed two months after the first US edition (By Little Brown & Co) and there are actually LESS copies of this edition available than the 1st US edition. Crazy, huh?

Oh, I do wish it had a dust jacket though.

Checking in....

Just a few quick notes (as it's already time to go pick up the rug rats again...)

The Gold Rush Book Fair was a MUCH better fair this year than last. I'll do a write up of it (hopefully this week) after I've had time to think it through.  I had a great time. The banquet was lovely as usual (and oh, the strawberry shortcake that I shouldn't have eaten, but did....and ate too much! yum!).


The fair itself was well attended and customers came with some intent to buy. Dealers had varying success, but I was most pleasantly surprised by my final tally of the day.

The big news was how the DEALERS were feeling - and coping - or not coping - with the changes in the economy.  I talked to other dealers who were in the exact same pickle I find myself in. And these are high end dealers.... makes me think about this business as a whole at the moment. (again, that should be a blog entry all on its own).

I forgot to take pictures of my booth, but I got a few shots of the banquet drinks time and of the fair itself.

Bill Ewald of Argus Books and Anne Hutchison of Bud Plant & Hutchison Books

A mixed group, including Ken Sanders

More dealers and my poor photography skills mixed again...

Bill Maxwell of Maxwell's Bookmark was the honored guest of the book fair. Here he is with his wonderful wife Wendy and Bud Plant of Bud Plant and Hutchison Books checking out a treasure.

I found a few books to add to  my stock over the weekend. Sold some stuff -- had a nice time and got a really good chance to TALK to other dealers who are feeling the pain the same way I am.

Oh, and I have to thank one of the regular readers on this blog for a couple of comments he added to my post about Ebaying books.  I went back and added a couple of photos to two listings so far. Now I have to go back, update the rest and continue to add more stock to the bay.  Will let  you know how it goes as it progresses.  So far, no sales there yet, but I've got my fingers crossed.  Thanks for the tips!

And the NEW thing I'm trying out...

I've been badgered by several book dealers during the last year to try and sell stuff on Ebay. The reasoning goes like this. We have good books. We need to make money. Ebay has LOTS of customers. Therefore we sell on Ebay.

Now, I've done Ebay.  But that was YEARS ago (way back in 1996-97 when selling books was a GOOD prospect). Around about 1999 I pretty much stopped doing anything but occasionally buying on Ebay because the prices you could get dropped like a huge boulder.

The other thing about Ebay (at least for me) is that it is a cumbersome system upon which to list items. It takes WAY more time than it does for me to list 7 or 8 other places (via Booktrakker it's a breeze) and it's as screwy an entity as there ever was.

BUT -- these dealers seem to be making money. Some real money (which is something I could really use right about now).  SO as of three days ago, I started listing on the Bay again.

I think I have five books listed.  It took longer per book than I really wanted. I still have some kinks to work out, but they're up and available for purchase.  Now I hold my breath and wait.  (Oh, and one of the things these dealers included in their listing was the MAKE ME AN OFFER button... which they said can sometimes really work... though there were times when customers were completely unrealistic...)

So I added that button too.

We'll see.

Hopefully I'll remember to keep you updated as to how it goes.  Making some sales would be very nice 'cause they sure aren't happening much anywhere else (yes, we've hit the book selling slump that goes from April until mid October, but darn it, I still have bills to pay).



If I've got this right, I'll have a link to my page with books for sale on EBAY here:  Steph's EBAY Store

check it out for me and let me know if it needs something.

D-Day minus 1

Tomorrow is set-up day at the Gold Rush Book Fair. I'll be on the road first (it's two and a half hours away, so that's not too bad a drive). I'll also get in a wee bit of book scouting time as well (cross my fingers).  I'm glad the weather has finally improved. It's not the usual 90+ that we normally get at this time of the year, but 80's will be much better to drive and work in than the 60's with wildly gusting winds we've had until yesterday.

I took a couple of pictures of my packing / stacks / stuff ready to go... now I just have to get them into the computer.


For this fair I seem to be taking a very eclectic group of older books (well, for me, they really are older). I'm trying to pull together quaint / illustrated / fun covers - dust jacketed stuff from the 1960's and before ... with an emphasis on the 1930's or so.

We'll see how that works out.  For my SF, it's not so great as I just don't HAVE much from before 1960 (though I'm trying to add more). For Childrens books, I've got a good mix.   And then there's the wild (IE: strange) assortment of non-fiction items.

So ... whether or not I'm happy with the stuff I'm taking, well, it's just too darned bad. It's boxed. It's ready to go AND I'm almost feeling back to normal so I can move, lift, transport and talk to people without too much trouble -- a real boon for someone going to a book fair.

I'll try and update during the weekend, but that might not be possible... if not, I'll get something put up next week after its all done.  

Wish me luck!

See you at the fair.

Seven Days Already?

I finally got a chance to check my blog today to see when I posted last.... May 4th (ps: Happy May 4th Birthday to Carrol Sewell).

Rats!

I was hoping to do better than that.

At any rate, it certainly doesn't feel like seven days have passed.  And... I keep having ideas about stuff to post, but don't seem to have access to the computer and time to do so when I remember what it is I want to post.

Today's Tuesday.... two and one half day's til I leave for Grass Valley and the Gold Rush Book Fair.  I've got most of the boxes packed. I still have a table full of books that are listed, but not covered with Demcos yet (if you're not familiar with them, they are covers for dust jackets). I'm still trying to decide if I take my own bookcases and fight with them, or borrow someone else's. Hopefully I'll decide before the time window closes. Today and Yesterday was clean up finishing of the books that I want to take but don't have serious time to finish... so add them (provisionally) to the database and later get the rest of the listing done for online.

STRANGE THINGS -- well, different than my usual things are going with me.  Fiction, non-fiction, old, older... odd sized, etc.


Right now, I'm trying to figure a way to make ALL the books face forward in my booth. Probably not do-able, but I'd really LIKE to have them that way.... I'll keep thinking on it and maybe something will come to me. (Or if not, if something pops into YOUR brain, send me an email).

And now I'm off to do errands before school is out and the baseball games start. At least its not raining today. I'm still waiting for HOT weather though.

Once this fair is over, I've got TONS of blog posts I want to do.

And .. if luck holds, I'll finally be able to GET to them.

16 books added to the database... I think that's this year's record

Yeah -- BUT...

Of those 16 books, more than half of them were copies of books I've entered into the database at some point in the past.... so it's basically just duplicating and fixing edition / condition info.... which is not exactly like entering 16 brand new, never-before-listed books.

Either way, I'll take it!

Besides, about half an hour of that time was taken up with getting photos of the books.

Here are a few of them just in case you were wondering....

The majority of the books were Children's picture books.

This happens to be a first edition - with a dust jacket.

Another First Edition with a dust jacket... ps: ANY Palmer Brown books are difficult to find ... with dust jackets and in First Edition.... very difficult.

This month I've found a bunch of cat books.

And then there's this one.. the little girl finds a rabbit and starts to "PLAY" with it by forcing it to wear doll clothes... yup... Where was PETA in the 1960's, huh?

This book is a First Edition thus (with appropriate notations).. the thing is, most listings on line have got their copyright information all screwed around. 

And finally (well for the pictures in this blog), a First Edition thus... another Big Golden Book -- the listings on this one on line are messed up too. People don't know what they've got, nor do they seem to be able to do a cursory amount of research..

Here's hoping tomorrow will be a productive day as well.

Sigh...

So yesterday was one of those days....

Took Son Number Two back to Knight's Ferry to do more research for his fourth grade California project. He was in a stinky mood to begin with and he's feeling pressure about this report... the problem is, instead of ASKING for help, he has decided to yell at everyone about it instead. 

And yesterday was a WINDY day, which means everyone was all discombobulated from the beginning (you know that old bit about positive and negative ions ... and the wind messing with them?  well, IT DID yesterday).

Everyone in the house was out-of-sorts.

We got back from our field trip in a somewhat state of truce about the report to find that the microwave was not interested in working. It made an awful noise, started to smell of burning, and when you pulled whatever you tried to put in it out -- well, it was stone cold. That didn't help the mood around the house much.

Oh, and speaking of machines conking out.... last week I tried to make some rolls in my bread machine (wedding gift) and it started to growl strangely and make that rotten burning smell as well.

The tally so far in the last five months... Steph  a bit fat zero.... machines biting the dust.... three. The stand mixer in December, the bread machine, AND the microwave.   Sigh.

Today  was, once again, clean up from the weekend mess day.  So again I've got NO books entered into the database (yet.... I keep thinking I'll be able to do some after I pick the boys up from school, but so far...well, I have high hopes.)

I finally got seven boxes of books packed for the Book Fair next week. Things are finally starting to get done for that. I have lots more to get done, but I've finally made a better start than packing one lousy box.

Tomorrow Will be a better day.

And hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to get to the blog with this answers to those burning questions about which books have which prices and why!