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Bookselling - It's a Business: Year and Decade in Review - By Susan Halas Susan Halas (left) and Chris Volk. By Susan Halas & Chris Volk Many independent booksellers found 2009 was a better than expected year with a stronger than expected finish. It was also marked the end of a decade when everyone and his dog became a bookseller. The rush to bookselling was not surprising given an economy that turned sour and an occupation with a very low threshold of entry. The field generated as many business models as there were vendors. Some sold on eBay: cited in a 2005 survey as the primary source of income for more than 724,000 Americans. Many focused on Amazon, which launched its Marketplace in 2000 and reported 1.7 million active third party sellers by 2009 (not all of them booksellers). Others flocked to the more traditional multi-dealers sites like Alibris, AbeBooks and biblio.com. Still others relied strongly on their own independent websites jazzed up with the new social media bells and whistles. With the influx of hordes of newcomers, those who were already established in the field had to work harder and be more creative to stay ahead. The best performers seemed to have a strong on-line presence and an increasingly sophisticated command of the tech repetoire. *Wide range of financials* The variety of business models was not surprising. What was surprising were the range of gross sales, the extremes of volume and the divergent views of the future. Reported gross revenues started near $0 and escalated though several financial benchmarks. The first breakpoint came under 20K, next stop was mid five figures, then mid sixes, and upward to more rarified climes approaching, or even exceeding $1,000,000. No matter how many dollars were earned and spent almost all of these ventures remained relatively small, independently owned entrepreneurial businesses. Year end reports ran the gamut from major declines to significant increases, particularly in the fourth quarter. "I was off by 25 percent and anyone who tells you it was different is a liar," said one highly reputable and long established ABAA member, while his colleague, also an ABAA member and almost as long established, reported, "We had a very strong fourth quarter and we're ahead year over year by at least five percent." "…The best ever." That's how one bookseller classified last year, while another said 2010 looks to be even better based on the first 10 days. Several remarked on it being a great year for buying, while more than one seller noted that they had exceeded their conservative forecasts. Some of these comments are from a poll in January 2010, when a group of online booksellers (over half of them members of IOBA, the Independent Online Booksellers Association) were surveyed on how things had turned out for the whole year. The results were strongly positive. A year which started out at least moderately affected by the overall economic recession wound up - for some sellers, at least - with substantial gains. Seventy percent of those replying to the follow-up questions reported increases in total sales which ranged, in dollars, from 10% to over 50%. Not that booksellers were immune to downturn: the January survey was a follow-up to a more narrowly focused one in March 2009. In the original poll, over 50% of the 48 independent and experienced sellers reported a significant decline in the first two months of 2009. Even by the end of the year, 30% were still reporting an overall decrease.
Bookselling - It's a Business: Year and Decade in Review - By Susan Halas Susan Halas (left) and Chris Volk. *The Race to the Bottom* While there were no consistent financial themes, dealers at all levels expressed dismay at a seemingly endless glut of cheap books flooding the market and what several termed "the race to the bottom." Incredibly low prices for common titles were universally seen as symptoms of too many books sold by too many people too recently arrived online and with too little knowledge of bookselling as a trade. Gone were the heady days of the late 1990s when it seemed that all that was needed was to list a book and it would sell. The advent of Amazon with its extensive advertising and its willingness to absorb a financial loss for many years in order to create a brand name, dramatically expanded the market for used and out-of-print books. However, the existence of this huge new pool of buyers did not go unnoticed. The past decade was notable not just for the entry into the market of many small sellers but even more so for the creation and expansion of high volume operations. These vendors used technology to process literally millions of books per year, either by selling them, often very cheaply; recycling them, or shipping them overseas in containers. At first booksellers didn't believe those selling penny books could make it on the profit from shipping, but the mega-sellers still thrive and have been joined by the for-profit social enterprises such as Better World Books. In the spirit presumably of "if you can't beat them, join them," one ABAA member has even added the slogan "recycling millions of books since 1980" to his website. BWB is the most successful and best known of social enterprises, but many other smaller similar firms attempted to replicate their success by claiming that a percentage of their profits are being given to charities in return for book donations. Both practices and the claims of these vendors have been a source of heated controversy among booksellers. *The Used Book Market* The "used" book trade is exponentially greater than the new book market - after all, it includes not just the books published in one year, but the books published over centuries. In the past, these vast numbers of books were filtered by rare and used book dealers and only those which met certain standards of condition, content, literary value and scarcity were considered worth selling by mail order - or worth shelf space in a retail store. By 2009 it seemed that these standards had been tossed out, and replaced by two simple criteria: What is the lowest selling price and sales rank on Amazon. Yet, the comments of those booksellers who reported success in 2009 also reflects the importance of knowing your inventory and what has genuine lasting value. The most frequent response to "What did you do differently in 2009?" was an emphasis on "selecting better inventory." One highly specialized seller said "it's all about the inventory" as he reported an increase in his average sales price from $1500 to a shade under $1700. Others cited the importance of adding pictures to their inventory listings. *Diversification and Specialization* Practically every dealer has a primary niche, or area of expertise be it trusty standbys such as modern firsts, scholarly nonfiction, voyages and travels, or genres like science fiction, mysteries, children's and illustrated books. Additionally many dealers handled other kinds of old paper such as photos, maps, prints, drawings, manuscripts, autographs and ephemera. Some of the higher end dealers offered very specialized services such as appraisals acceptable to the IRS for valuation purposes, informal estimates of value, and help with developing or selling an entire collection. Others for a nominal fee gave advice to institutions like libraries and museums on the worth of their duplicates and helped with finding appropriate homes for donated items of value. One bookseller did well with a "books only" by-subscription listserv www.bibliophilegroup.com. Still another found a niche in vending magical erasers and helpful information on book repair www.sicpress.com. The most frequently stated goal of those who survived 2009 was to generate an expanded client base, increase repeat business and multiple sales. The cultivation, care, feeding and breeding of the customer - be they casual reader, scholar, collector, or institution has never been more important. *Pessimists* Those with the gloomiest views felt like one long established seller, "We are the end of books as we know them." The indicators of the demise of traditional publishing and print media were everywhere, heralded by tech changes such as Amazon's Kindle, and other e-readers. Google iced the cake with free online publication of thousands of many long out of print titles.
Bookselling - It's a Business: Year and Decade in Review - By Susan Halas Susan Halas (left) and Chris Volk. *What are Books Now?* In the new scheme of things books are no longer viewed as the primary means for communicating content. Books are still seen as culturally important but more as collectible physical objects. The perceived value of books in the new era is beefed up where feasible with autographed copies, or special, illustrated or limited editions which can help insure future value and scarcity. The emphasis on the object strengthens some aspects of bookselling even as it weakens others. In short, the decade saw both a growth and consolidation of the market for used, rare and out-of-print books. It began with a heady sense of growth - "I can get rich quick doing this" - and quickly encountered the growing industrialization. Cataloging and description became nothing more than scanning the ISBN on an assembly line in warehouses filled with cheap books and low paid workers. *Optimists and the Future* Independent booksellers reacted to these threats by emphasizing their unique abilities and knowledge. At the same time they adopted many of the computer driven advances to increase their own efficiency. Even some of the sellers who looked down on the use of scanners were seen checking out prices and availability on their iPhones. One bookseller who reported a dramatic increase in sales (with December 2009 alone almost double December 2008) was using "Fulfillment by Amazon" (FBA) extensively, which enabled this solo bookseller to sell and ship many more books than she would have been able to ship otherwise. FBA is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, there are benefits to customers, including free shipping, and it relieves booksellers of the mundane packing and shipping of books, but on the other hand, it isolates sellers almost completely from their customers. Even this seller who has grasped its potential in terms of increased sales is using it primarily as a supplement to her core specialty bookselling business. The factor that separates optimistic booksellers from pessimistic ones was not the business model or the volume of sales. Instead the split appeared to be between the people who came into bookselling in the traditional way and learned the trade when actual bookstores were the norm and those who cut their teeth in the internet age. The first group tended to be pessimistic, while those who grew up on-line and were more at ease with the evolving technology seemed a more upbeat group. No matter how dealers began, there was unanimity that independent real bookstores as a physical entity doing a retail business have mostly vanished as are the jobs, training, ambience and revenues they generated. Sea Ocean Books in Seattle commented that, after more than thirteen years as an open shop, they are once again the newest bookstore in the city. While several stores opened in the years after them, none have survived. Though the number of closings seemed to slow, it was because so many stores were already gone. Still there are a few sellers, like Paul and Tonja Shelley of Books of Paradise in Paradise, California who have gone full-cycle from open store to internet only and back to a large and well-stocked open store with online sales being an important part of their business. In the place of these real stores, virtual bookstores now try to recreate a similar personality and ambiance on-line. Many better dealers hope to stand out from the crowd by employing an array of tech innovations including blogs, Skype, Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, pay for clicks via Google ad placement, tie-ins and special deals with larger marketers. The people with the best numbers consistently mentioned a desire to become their customers' bookseller of choice by keeping in touch using many forms of social media, keeping up face-to-face personal contact, by exhibiting their wares at large shows in major metro areas, with offers that drive traffic directly to their own sites, or simply by knowing more and adding more value to their wares with their specialized knowledge. Despite their differences, bookselling is still proclaimed a worthwhile and extremely long running profession. While it may be changing, the optimists feel it is not in danger of extinction any time soon. "Survival is success," commented one dealer. Many booksellers share his view: If they ate today, have more books than they had last week, and have a dry place to store them, then life is good. *Susan Netzorg Halas,* owner of Prints Pacific, Ltd. in Maui Hawaii, is an antiquarian dealer celebrating her 30th year in the trade. She is a native of Detroit, where her family ran The Cellar Book Shop (ABAA) for over fifty years. Chris Volk has been a bookseller since 1993; she and her partner Shep Iiams run Bookfever.com in Northern California. Currently she is Vice President of IOBA. She also served on the faculty of the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar and has been active in the on-line bookselling community for many years.

Bookselling - It's a Business: Year and Decade in Review

- By Susan Halas

Susan Halas (left) and Chris Volk.

By Susan Halas & Chris Volk

Many independent booksellers found 2009 was a better than expected year with a stronger than expected finish. It was also marked the end of a decade when everyone and his dog became a bookseller.

The rush to bookselling was not surprising given an economy that turned sour and an occupation with a very low threshold of entry. The field generated as many business models as there were vendors. Some sold on eBay: cited in a 2005 survey as the primary source of income for more than 724,000 Americans. Many focused on Amazon, which launched its Marketplace in 2000 and reported 1.7 million active third party sellers by 2009 (not all of them booksellers).

Others flocked to the more traditional multi-dealers sites like Alibris, AbeBooks and biblio.com. Still others relied strongly on their own independent websites jazzed up with the new social media bells and whistles. With the influx of hordes of newcomers, those who were already established in the field had to work harder and be more creative to stay ahead. The best performers seemed to have a strong on-line presence and an increasingly sophisticated command of the tech repetoire.

Wide range of financials
The variety of business models was not surprising. What was surprising were the range of gross sales, the extremes of volume and the divergent views of the future.

Reported gross revenues started near $0 and escalated though several financial benchmarks. The first breakpoint came under 20K, next stop was mid five figures, then mid sixes, and upward to more rarified climes approaching, or even exceeding $1,000,000. No matter how many dollars were earned and spent almost all of these ventures remained relatively small, independently owned entrepreneurial businesses. Year end reports ran the gamut from major declines to significant increases, particularly in the fourth quarter.

"I was off by 25 percent and anyone who tells you it was different is a liar," said one highly reputable and long established ABAA member, while his colleague, also an ABAA member and almost as long established, reported, "We had a very strong fourth quarter and we're ahead year over year by at least five percent."

"…The best ever." That's how one bookseller classified last year, while another said 2010 looks to be even better based on the first 10 days. Several remarked on it being a great year for buying, while more than one seller noted that they had exceeded their conservative forecasts.

Some of these comments are from a poll in January 2010, when a group of online booksellers (over half of them members of IOBA, the Independent Online Booksellers Association) were surveyed on how things had turned out for the whole year. The results were strongly positive. A year which started out at least moderately affected by the overall economic recession wound up - for some sellers, at least - with substantial gains. Seventy percent of those replying to the follow-up questions reported increases in total sales which ranged, in dollars, from 10% to over 50%.

Not that booksellers were immune to downturn: the January survey was a follow-up to a more narrowly focused one in March 2009. In the original poll, over 50% of the 48 independent and experienced sellers reported a significant decline in the first two months of 2009. Even by the end of the year, 30% were still reporting an overall decrease.

Bookselling - It's a Business: Year and Decade in Review

- By Susan Halas

Susan Halas (left) and Chris Volk.

The Race to the Bottom
While there were no consistent financial themes, dealers at all levels expressed dismay at a seemingly endless glut of cheap books flooding the market and what several termed "the race to the bottom." Incredibly low prices for common titles were universally seen as symptoms of too many books sold by too many people too recently arrived online and with too little knowledge of bookselling as a trade.

Gone were the heady days of the late 1990s when it seemed that all that was needed was to list a book and it would sell. The advent of Amazon with its extensive advertising and its willingness to absorb a financial loss for many years in order to create a brand name, dramatically expanded the market for used and out-of-print books.

However, the existence of this huge new pool of buyers did not go unnoticed. The past decade was notable not just for the entry into the market of many small sellers but even more so for the creation and expansion of high volume operations. These vendors used technology to process literally millions of books per year, either by selling them, often very cheaply; recycling them, or shipping them overseas in containers.

At first booksellers didn't believe those selling penny books could make it on the profit from shipping, but the mega-sellers still thrive and have been joined by the for-profit social enterprises such as Better World Books. In the spirit presumably of "if you can't beat them, join them," one ABAA member has even added the slogan "recycling millions of books since 1980" to his website.

BWB is the most successful and best known of social enterprises, but many other smaller similar firms attempted to replicate their success by claiming that a percentage of their profits are being given to charities in return for book donations. Both practices and the claims of these vendors have been a source of heated controversy among booksellers.

The Used Book Market
The "used" book trade is exponentially greater than the new book market - after all, it includes not just the books published in one year, but the books published over centuries. In the past, these vast numbers of books were filtered by rare and used book dealers and only those which met certain standards of condition, content, literary value and scarcity were considered worth selling by mail order - or worth shelf space in a retail store.

By 2009 it seemed that these standards had been tossed out, and replaced by two simple criteria: What is the lowest selling price and sales rank on Amazon. Yet, the comments of those booksellers who reported success in 2009 also reflects the importance of knowing your inventory and what has genuine lasting value. The most frequent response to "What did you do differently in 2009?" was an emphasis on "selecting better inventory." One highly specialized seller said "it's all about the inventory" as he reported an increase in his average sales price from $1500 to a shade under $1700. Others cited the importance of adding pictures to their inventory listings.

Diversification and Specialization
Practically every dealer has a primary niche, or area of expertise be it trusty standbys such as modern firsts, scholarly nonfiction, voyages and travels, or genres like science fiction, mysteries, children's and illustrated books. Additionally many dealers handled other kinds of old paper such as photos, maps, prints, drawings, manuscripts, autographs and ephemera.

Some of the higher end dealers offered very specialized services such as appraisals acceptable to the IRS for valuation purposes, informal estimates of value, and help with developing or selling an entire collection. Others for a nominal fee gave advice to institutions like libraries and museums on the worth of their duplicates and helped with finding appropriate homes for donated items of value. One bookseller did well with a "books only" by-subscription listserv www.bibliophilegroup.com. Still another found a niche in vending magical erasers and helpful information on book repair www.sicpress.com.

The most frequently stated goal of those who survived 2009 was to generate an expanded client base, increase repeat business and multiple sales. The cultivation, care, feeding and breeding of the customer - be they casual reader, scholar, collector, or institution has never been more important.

Pessimists
Those with the gloomiest views felt like one long established seller, "We are the end of books as we know them." The indicators of the demise of traditional publishing and print media were everywhere, heralded by tech changes such as Amazon's Kindle, and other e-readers. Google iced the cake with free online publication of thousands of many long out of print titles.

Bookselling - It's a Business: Year and Decade in Review

- By Susan Halas

Susan Halas (left) and Chris Volk.

What are Books Now?
In the new scheme of things books are no longer viewed as the primary means for communicating content. Books are still seen as culturally important but more as collectible physical objects. The perceived value of books in the new era is beefed up where feasible with autographed copies, or special, illustrated or limited editions which can help insure future value and scarcity. The emphasis on the object strengthens some aspects of bookselling even as it weakens others.

In short, the decade saw both a growth and consolidation of the market for used, rare and out-of-print books. It began with a heady sense of growth - "I can get rich quick doing this" - and quickly encountered the growing industrialization. Cataloging and description became nothing more than scanning the ISBN on an assembly line in warehouses filled with cheap books and low paid workers.

Optimists and the Future
Independent booksellers reacted to these threats by emphasizing their unique abilities and knowledge. At the same time they adopted many of the computer driven advances to increase their own efficiency. Even some of the sellers who looked down on the use of scanners were seen checking out prices and availability on their iPhones.

One bookseller who reported a dramatic increase in sales (with December 2009 alone almost double December 2008) was using "Fulfillment by Amazon" (FBA) extensively, which enabled this solo bookseller to sell and ship many more books than she would have been able to ship otherwise. FBA is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, there are benefits to customers, including free shipping, and it relieves booksellers of the mundane packing and shipping of books, but on the other hand, it isolates sellers almost completely from their customers. Even this seller who has grasped its potential in terms of increased sales is using it primarily as a supplement to her core specialty bookselling business.

The factor that separates optimistic booksellers from pessimistic ones was not the business model or the volume of sales. Instead the split appeared to be between the people who came into bookselling in the traditional way and learned the trade when actual bookstores were the norm and those who cut their teeth in the internet age. The first group tended to be pessimistic, while those who grew up on-line and were more at ease with the evolving technology seemed a more upbeat group.

No matter how dealers began, there was unanimity that independent real bookstores as a physical entity doing a retail business have mostly vanished as are the jobs, training, ambience and revenues they generated. Sea Ocean Books in Seattle commented that, after more than thirteen years as an open shop, they are once again the newest bookstore in the city. While several stores opened in the years after them, none have survived.

Though the number of closings seemed to slow, it was because so many stores were already gone. Still there are a few sellers, like Paul and Tonja Shelley of Books of Paradise in Paradise, California who have gone full-cycle from open store to internet only and back to a large and well-stocked open store with online sales being an important part of their business.

In the place of these real stores, virtual bookstores now try to recreate a similar personality and ambiance on-line. Many better dealers hope to stand out from the crowd by employing an array of tech innovations including blogs, Skype, Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, pay for clicks via Google ad placement, tie-ins and special deals with larger marketers.

The people with the best numbers consistently mentioned a desire to become their customers' bookseller of choice by keeping in touch using many forms of social media, keeping up face-to-face personal contact, by exhibiting their wares at large shows in major metro areas, with offers that drive traffic directly to their own sites, or simply by knowing more and adding more value to their wares with their specialized knowledge.

Despite their differences, bookselling is still proclaimed a worthwhile and extremely long running profession. While it may be changing, the optimists feel it is not in danger of extinction any time soon. "Survival is success," commented one dealer. Many booksellers share his view: If they ate today, have more books than they had last week, and have a dry place to store them, then life is good.

Susan Netzorg Halas, owner of Prints Pacific, Ltd. in Maui Hawaii, is an antiquarian dealer celebrating her 30th year in the trade. She is a native of Detroit, where her family ran The Cellar Book Shop (ABAA) for over fifty years.

Chris Volk has been a bookseller since 1993; she and her partner Shep Iiams run Bookfever.com in Northern California. Currently she is Vice President of IOBA. She also served on the faculty of the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar and has been active in the on-line bookselling community for many years.