Selling "Coffee Table" Books...

Large sized...or "Coffee Table" books are not quick sellers...

They tend to be specialized books with lots of pictures...and the content is generally ephemeral.

But certain books are worth having... Books about very high end areas like Martha's Vinyard, or Jackson Hole or Aspen will have a following... Perhaps well off people want these books for their "coffee tables" at condos in the area...

People are not shy about buying large cookbooks... There are several deluxe editions out there that are sort of collectors items...they have a following.

Books on Fung Shei and Japanese Gardens are good bets.

Art Books are a good area IF you know that to buy...

Generally out of print books about blockbuster exhibitions are worthy additions.

Also, art exhibition books for some lesser known artists are often the only resource for that artist's work for years to come...

I would definitely consider picking up "exhibition books" for lesser known artists just on "spec" that they may be more popular in the future... Imagine if you had some early Andy Warhol exhibition materials...!

Generally you don't want the best and most well know artists...they are too popular...and the printings will be huge. I'd rather look into second tier artists...who are still established in their genre...and whose work will be studied in the future.

Some important historically significant, but second tier artists will only have "solo exhibits" at key museums every ten or twenty years... These exhibition catalogs could be money in the bank for the bookseller.

I have stacks of oversized books in my inventory...and they do sell... I order special boxes (12X12 inches) to mail them in. They also usually take a 14 inch mylar DJ cover... Although having a big 16 inch might be needed for huge atlas sized books.

People will "cherry pick" your inventory just as in other kinds of books... It's amazingly how the customers can focus in on the very best books...

They know what they want...and they go for it.

Children's Book Collecting Blog....

Here's a link to a blog about collecting children's books from a person who catalogs childrens' books at a Utah university....

Charing Cross Booksellers: Then and Now.

I have an old directory of booksellers in England from circa 1969....

Back then Charing Cross Road was still fairly the bookseller center of London...with several shops on adjoining roads like Cecil Court for example...

I'll be listing all the old sellers here soon...

And yes, that does include Marks & Co! Which was the bookstore in the movie 84 Charing Cross Road.... Probably the best "book movie" ever made...

I will include addresses and specialties where noted...

Of Course there are still bookstores on Charing Cross Road...but they are the big mega stores...for the most part....

That said, Cecil Court still has a few old style bookseller shops....and you can see their photos at the Cecil Court Web Site...! Yes, they do have a web site...

Click here to see it...

The problem with glued bindings on old trade paperbacks.

Older trade paperbacks usually have glued bindings... The signatures are basically glued to the cover...and that's it.

Over time some glues will dry out and the binding will crack...leaving loose pages or even a total seperation of the cover from the pages.....

Often a book will look fine...to the bookseller....but once the buyers tries to open the book and read it...the pages quickly loosen...and you get an angry or concerned email about the bad book you sold them...

Perhaps booksellers should test these old bindings not just for their cosmetic appearance at the time of shipping...but also for their ability to function... when the book is actually used and read?

I will often place a cloth tape re-enforcement between the FFEP and the cover if it looks like the cover is about to seperate....

Or if it has already seperated...I always re-glue...and that is an even better solution.... Apply the glue...stabilize the book... and let dry over night.... Should be "like new" in the morning...perhaps even a bit "too tight."

Unfortunately some books look OK to send...and you hate to "alter" the appearance with tape ....so you take a chance that the buyer will assume responsibiity for any "future" damage....

Well some do...and some don't.

Older trade paperbacks need special examination for these dried out bindings...just to be safe.

New Arrivals...

A book on "Medical Entomology." A technical book on forestry. A book about digging for treasure! That should be a good one. Battle Cry the first novel of Leon Uris...? A 1970's book on cooking in Nice and Provence. And a nice hunting book: Hunting Trophy Black Bear.

These small press hunting books have a significant following. Sold Goats and Goat Hunting to Colorado for $195 recently and I was the cheapest available globally...the book was out of Safari Press. Worth looking for.... I never pass on small press hunting books...the odder the animal hunted the more expensive the book...