I received an email from my sales rep at Diamond Comics today that made me very happy.

It appears they found most of my books that were lost after the Montreal Worldcon. They received a box which bore their name and which contained a mysterious batch of books and my labels and business cards. They contacted me to see if I knew anything about it and listed the books. Most of what I was missing was there and they're forwarding it on to me.

The boxes did not all have labels on the outside; some on top of the shrinkwrapped pallet did have labels. I'm guessing somewhere along the way the pallet was pulled apart and some boxes were misplaced and eventually they decided to send them to whoever was mentioned on the boxes. The pallet was supposed to be delivered intact to my door but what I got was just a bunch of boxes in pieces. Possibly they opened some to check to see who they belonged to but a few things never made it back into the boxes. But still, it looks like I'll get most of my books back. Huzzah.

It was a good day.

Greg

I'm back from WindyCon and that was the last convention of the year until February. It will be good to be close to home for a while.

WindyCon is always a good convention for me - I see old friends, eat a few good meals and usually make some money. This year was the best WindyCon I've ever had in terms of sales. It started slow but by Sunday, people had spent quite a lot of money. I heard less glowing results from some other dealers but I guess my mix of weird gift ideas and whatnot appealed to folks this year. Last year was just a bit less in sales and is now my second best WindyCon for sales. A nice finish to a very mixed year.

I just had a call from my good friend Bob Garcia in Chicago. He received a package today from a printer he deals with containing a bunch of unknown books in it. After looking through it he found my name amongst the dross and then figured out it was likely some of my missing books from Montreal. The books were likely shipped to him since the box had once held some books that he had published. He called to tell me and I realized these are more books that I hadn't even missed. So, I'm still in a zero-sum game; I'm still out the books I knew I was missing. But I have a few hundred dollars worth of books coming back to me I didn't even know were missing. That's something. Maybe the rest will surface some day.

Be well.

Greg

Well, yesterday was a day. Comics came in and are up and on the shelves.

Neil Gaiman also came in and signed a load of books (thanks again my friend). Now comes the fun part of sorting through the pre-sales and dealing with the new sales from the mention Neil made on his blog about stopping in. If you would like to buy some of the signed books I have in stock, please check the neilgaiman.net website after Sunday. Some of the books will be up by then; others will be listed next week. Supplies are limited and I will only accept orders through the website and in the order they are received.

I leave tonight for WindyCon 36, a convention in Chicago I've only missed twice before - the first one and the one that coincided with the local Fiddler's Green convention a few years back. Lisa went to WindyCon that year, so as a bookseller I've been represented at all but #1. Quite a string.

I'll try to blog from the convention.

Be well.

greg

Comics are in and on the shelves. Light week again.

With all of the big retailers pushing Christmas sales to pre-Halloween, I figured I'd better get started on having a losing holiday season too. Starting today, all Manga is Buy One Get One (equal or lesser value) FREE. Come on in and help me clear some space for more new stuff.

I'll announce more sales in the upcoming days....

Take care,

Greg

I'm still here in San jose killing some time before I go to the airport to fly home. World Fantasy is over for another year and I'm a bit sad about that. I always have a good time at WFC and this one was no exception. I didn't make any money this year - I have a better time when that happens - but I still talked till I was hoarse, ate some fine meals, bought a (very) few books and enjoyed myself. I visited with many of my old friends (Justin Ackroyd from Melbourne, Spike & Tom from the Bay area, all the former WFC chairman as we plotted to overtake the world), talked with Robert Silverberg about his early writing days, talked about books and the lack of sales with the other dealers, hosted a signing with Peter Beagle on Sunday morning. It was all good.

When I hosted Peter Beagle on Sunday, I skipped the Board meeting because I thought it would be just a re-hash of things we do every year. There were no bids to discuss and/or approve (we need competent bids for anyone out there wanting to hold a WFC in their backyard - contact me). I guess I missed one of the more animated and somewhat contentious meetings in some time. I was even volunteered in my absence to be on a special committee to oversee and advise programming at future conventions. That's what I get for not being there.

It was announced at the awards banquet that I'll be a judge for next year's award. That means I have to read everything published in 2009. Well, maybe not everything but I have to read a lot more current fantasy than I'm used to doing. When I got the all from an awards administrator about a week before the convention and agreed to serve as a judge, I thought I'd get a jump on the process and start reading a few things. I'm reading though a few YA fantasies, read most of Songs of the Dying Earth the tribute book to Jack Vance, and a few short stories in some of the magazines. I'm very excited about it right now but check with me in six months and see how I feel.

I also finished Paolo Bacigalupi's The Wind-Up Girl. A great speculative novel of the politics of food. It takes place in Thailand after most other countries lose the ability to grow most foods except genetically engineered things controlled by the agri-companies. Lots of intrigue, plot twists and provocative thought. This is a writer to watch (I have read his short stories collected in Pump Six and Other Stories but someday, after the judging stint I probably will).

Well, time to go fly away.

Be well.

Greg

Reporting to you live from San Jose California. I'm here for the World Fantasy Convention which I never miss. I've been to the last 30-something and generally have a great time. So many people who actually read books....

Anyway, EV watched the store most of yesterday. I hope everyone got the new comics they wanted - I know we had a couple of small hiccoughs but I'm sure she handled everyone as well as possible. Steve should be around the next few days. I'll be back next Tuesday.

I went into San Francisco yesterday with a tour group but I split off from the group to go to a distributor warehouse. Last Gasp has been around for about 40 years offering the best underground comix, lowbrow culture, and just plain weirdness, and I've been buying from them for nearly 35 years. I love going to the warehouses of the people I deal with but Last Gasp was one of the few I've never been to so it was a great opportunity. I spent lots of money.

Later I walked over to Borderlands Books in the Mission District where a mass-signing was going on. Borderlands is a great store; I had to see there place since I've known Alan and Jude for years and see what I can be doing better. They are just too neat and organized, two things you can never accuse me of being. But seeing the store, taking a few notes, talking to old friends, it all was a wonderful evening.

Now, I have to go and set up my single dealers table and hopefully, sell some books.

More later.

Greg

New comics are in and on the shelf. Quite a small week.

SALE NOTICE : All Doctor Who books, magazines and comics will be 25% OFF for an indefinite period of time. I also have large radio-controlled Daleks on sale at $40.00, originally at $100.00. Very limited supply.

And there are still the small talking Daleks at $19.95. EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!

Greg

I have to be careful about how I approach this blogging thing. I've been reporting many bad things that have happened without remembering to mention the many, many good things. I don't want to become the stereotypical unfriendly-to-all curmudgeon of a bookseller. I probably will, but I don't have to like it.

After reading my tales of woe, local author Christopher Lincoln brought me copies of histwo books, the very charming and appropriately gruesome young adult novels, Billy Bones and the Road to Nevermore and Billy Bones and Tales from the Secrets Closet. They have some wonderful illustrations and they appeal to the weird gene I seem to have been born with. He brought me several of each for me to sell and said it might help in some way. It really did. It brightened my day to know that there are such generous people out there (and that complete strangers read this blog).

Today, a very nice woman brought me warm muffins! I'm eating one right now and they are very good. She read of the troubles and wanted to do something nice. She's shopping in the store as I type this so I hope she sees this post and knows how much I do appreciate the good customers and friends that I have.

Many people have sent emails, made phone calls or stopped by to lend support. Neil Gaiman mentioned the the thefts in one of his posts and I had a lot of supportive messages and a good number of orders as well. So, I must remember to periodically thank those many people who have supported me and DreamHaven for so many years.

THANKS.

Greg

A last minute update on our signing with Kim Harrison tomorrow, Thursday October 15th at 6:30. Kim will read from her works and sign her books for anyone interested in attending. Come on by and meet this exciting writer.

Greg
DreamHaven Books 2301 E. 38th St. Minneapolis, MN 55406 612-823-6161

I just attended our local comic book convention and a number of things brought to mind the "how's" and "why's" and "wherefores" of pricing items for sale. I wanted to share some thoughts on the subject.

I've been buying and selling books, comics and movie material for going on 40 years now. I'm somewhat confident in my abilities to recognize the value of these things and to price them accordingly. There are several philosophies and many variables to consider when it comes to putting a price on something. Even though I've been doing it a long time, there's always something I can learn on pricing.

When it comes to pricing new items, there isn't a lot of choice; most books and comics have "suggested retail" prices printed right on them. A retailer is free to ask whatever he or she wants to for it, but asking more than the printed price is a difficult sell. It can be done; sometimes it is necessary to make any profit, but it may not be very popular with buyers and can be detrimental to future business.

You can also sell it for less than the printed price. This is known as "discounting". Discounting can be a good way to move slow or stale stock, turning older material into cash and making space for new material. Increasingly discounting is used as a way to get customers in the store regardless of whether there's a profit to be made, sometimes even selling below cost, which is known as a "loss leader'.

Comic books are generally discounted between 40 and 55% off the suggested retail. The more you buy, the larger the discount level you can achieve. Most graphic novels and books offered by the comic distributor (Diamond) are offered at a slightly lower discount with perhaps a 50% maximum discount. So my question to the retailers at the convention who were selling new comics and books at a 50% discount after paying $250 per display space and spending three days of your time working away from your store, why do you do it? Selling old and stale material makes sense; selling items that had just been released two days earlier does not. This doesn't benefit you in any way and it creates the illusion that everything should be half price.

I bring lots of new books to conventions. I get an average 40% discount off the retail price. Many times I also pay shipping charges as well. I pay for the booth space. I pay for gas. I pay for hotel rooms if it's out of town. I pay someone to watch my store while gone. Meals, tolls, convention memberships. So if my expenses are, say, $500 (a cheap convention), the first $1500 just pays for the expenses. If I make another $1500 I might make a $500 gross profit. Then after 3 or four days away, I go home and pay the person who watched the store (around $100 a day) and I might have 2 or three hundred dollars net profit. For about 5 days work (1 day packing up, 3 days convention, one day unpacking). Big pay indeed.

If I'm selling used books, I may have a larger profit margin to work with. I generally mark up used material 1 to ten times my cost. Sometimes I buy a book for $1 and ask $10 for it. More often I buy a book for $5 to $10 and sell it for $25. This still allows me a larger gross profit if I sell it for my asking price. It also allows me to possibly discount the item if the situation calls for it.

Now what situations calls for discounting?

Older, stale stock. ("I can't stand looking at this any more")

Large, bulk purchases. (Buying a number of items for a significant amount of money might entice me to discount 10% or so. Buying a $7.99 paperback and asking if I'll take $5.00 for it is an insult - See below).

Dealer purchases. (courtesy discounts to actual book dealers are usually 10-20%).

I had many people looking through my books and asking "what are you selling your books for?". I would reply that it was the cover price. Most walked away. Some even made rude comments. More than one said they'd buy it on Amazon. I did have to point out that even Amazon doesn't carry many of the books I have (I've got thousands of books Amazon does not carry). Doesn't help. People have become so used to discounting that they won't buy anything unless they "get a deal". The only reason I've managed to stay in business as along as I have is that I've managed to keep some integrity with my pricing. If I always discount, then people expect me to. Amazon and the major chains have made this much more difficult. But as I point out, Crown books is gone, Borders is in trouble, and Barnes and Noble may not be far behind. (Amazon doesn't really count - They've never made money on books and never will, nor do they have to; they make money selling data.)

To Be Continued....

Greg

I'm reporting to you live from Cleveland Ohio here at Cinema Wasteland at nearly 1:00 in the morning.

I'm at a convention. It's a strange movie convention (in all the ways that can be read). I enjoy it. It started off so well that if sales had continued on as well as they had in the first hour, I could have quit and gone home today. They didn't.

So I'll have to stay tomorrow and through Sunday and hope people keep spending.

I'll be back in the store on Tuesday.

Greg

Today I'm doing a bit of babysitting at the store. I have 3-month old Rebecca with me since some friends ran into a scheduling problem and needed someone to watch her on short notice. It's fun having a baby in your arms, making funny faces and goofy voices to get them to smile at you, even though the smiles are probably just gas anyway. Still, it is a good feeling and I'm having fun. It sort of reminds me of taking care of William about 13 years ago when he was just a baby. He's just passed Lisa in height and will likely pass me sometime in the next couple of years. He's still a skinny rail of a kid though, not a fatty like me.

I had planned to do some reflective comments but my mood is altered a bit with the presence of a baby. So I'll save them for tomorrow.

(Whoops - baby calls! She's hungry again...)

William and I have been watching Middle Man on DVD. I'd never heard of either the TV series or it's original graphic novel. I've ordered the GN but I've heard they may be out of print. That's a shame. The ABC-Family TV series is amusing. Some nice characterizations with snappy noir-ish dialogue. The stories are silly but adequate. Kevin Sorbo was on the show we watched last night.

Be well.

Greg

Not surprisingly, my recent post generated a ton of comments. It's nice to know so many people do care about what I do and the service I offer. It does make me feel better and that's part of the reason I did say what I said. I guess I need some positive reinforcement now and again.

I placed a claim with the broker (who contracted the shipping agent) the day I received the return shipment. It just doesn't look too hopeful and the amount of time I could possibly expect to put in on this probably wouldn't be worth the results, even should I get everything back. I've learned from many painful experiences, that sometimes you just have to lick your wounds and carry on. I've done that more times than I care to admit.

The smaller, in-store theft bothered me even more since it was someone I thought I could trust. When I'm at my most cynical, there are days when I realize I can't fully trust anyone other than myself. But generally I do trust most people without question. I'd be a paranoid wreck if I acted any other way.

Thanks for the comments; I've read all of them and answered some directly.

Read Patrick Rothfuss's book, The Name of the Wind. It's a truly awesome debut novel.

All for now.

Greg

Many people have been asking me why I haven't done a posting in a while. I could say I've been busy which is true but not the reason for silence. The real answer is I've been unhappy recently over a couple of other major thefts and my general inability to stop these things.

The first was another regular customer, whose name I don't know, who came in frequently to buy 25¢ comics from the bins. After a while I quit counting what he had and just asked him what he had counted up and took him at this word. He continued coming in, bringing his own bag and filling it up with cheap reads. We had talked about which comics were not part of the deal and he seemed fine with that.

One day he did his usual thing picking up 200 - 25¢ comics and I rang up his total. When he left was looking for some recent comics when I realized several boxes of new comics were nearly gone. They had been there the night before (I just filled them) and he had been the first and only person in the store. He did seem more in a hurry than usual and now I haven't seen him since. If they were nearly all new comics with a few cheap ones sprinkled on top, then I probably lost between four and five hundred dollars on that deal, just because I trust people too much. And this is the small theft....

I shipped books to Montreal for WorldCon at the beginning of August. Since Neil Gaiman was guest of honor I decided to just bring his books with me. I couldn't get firm prices from the broker which should have stopped me right there. I know it's expensive to get books into Canada but I wasn't sure how much it would be. It turned out to be a LOT. Between exorbitant shipping charges, broker fees, extra taxes that even the Canadian government can't explain and several other extras, it ate up more than any profit I might have made at the convention. But the real insult to injury was the return shipment.

Someone along the way stole books out of the shrinkwrapped pallet of sealed boxes (of course it arrived unshrinkwrapped and boxes re-taped) . About $2500 worth. They knew which ones to pick - first editions of Neil's Graveyard Book as well as the special Subterranean edition of the same title. They took 'em all. What can I do about it? Not much. Sue the shippers/broker? The expense and time wasted pursuing the case even should I win could not justify any compensation I might see. I've been stewing over it for a month but I think just writing about it should help me clear my mind and (ever-so-slightly) forget about it.

It just bothers me how much I've lost to shop-lifting, employee-theft, vandalism, robbery, carelessness with my stuff, etc. I can trace over $300,000.00 in losses and that's just the stuff I know about. It could easily be double that or more. Since whoever keeps track of such things has suggested that as much as 7% of retail items are stolen, It could exceed a million dollars in my 33 years in business. I've never made a profit of 7% of sales in any year yet.

So if anyone reading this has ever stolen anything from me, bring it back. I'm broke.

Greg

The comics are in and on the shelves.

It's raining buckets.

Not much more to say.

Greg

Back from Montreal. It's nice to sleep in your own bed even when it's not as comfortable as the hotel bed you just left. I won't be leaving town for nearly two whole months. Wow.

Many things to catch up with. Lots of paper to go through and lots of orders to fulfill. Same old, same old.

Some of the highlights from Montreal include accepting the Hugos for Phil and Kaja, seeing Neil Gaiman win a Hugo for Graveyard Book (way to go Neil!) and just visit with old and new friends. The lowlights were having vertigo, spending too much on food and watching some drug-addled idiot throw a bottle through a store window while we were in the store. It was cool watching the police take him down a few blocks away after I pointed him out to them.

Australia again next year, then Reno. I'm there.

Be well.

Greg

Today I've been married for 20 years. It is Lisa & my 20th wedding anniversary. Go Us!

She won't remember but I'll remind her later.

We' still in Montreal but we're leaving later today. I'm at the stage when I really want to be home and I don't ever want to go back. Some day one of those urges will take over and then where will I be?

Lisa and I were accepters at the Hugo ceremony. On the way to the airport I said to Lisa "I forgot to tell you but Phil and Kaja Foglio asked us to be their accepters in case their long-shot comes in. They won. Lisa was terrified and excited. But she was annoyed I hadn't told her before we left so she could pack her new dress (I forgot to pack any dress clothes so I looked like quite a schlub collecting the Hugos). Phil was so convinced he wouldn't win he never sent me a speech. I tried emailing him a couple of times just before the ceremony but missed him. Lisa and I wrote something at the pre-Hugo reception and mostly winged it. People said we did just fine. I was very excited for Phil and Kaja.

I had several attacks of vertigo during the con. Most were minor but one sent me wobbling back three blocks to my hotel on Sunday afternoon, just getting to my room and the bathroom retching into the toilet. I took some Motrin and an hour nap and felt better. It was Hugos night and "people" were alerted I might be ill enough to need help up and down stairs should Phil and Kaja win so they had various escorts in place to help me in my feeble state. I felt like I was 100 years old. Getting old suck ("but it beats the alternative").

More to come when I'm home and able to gather my thoughts.

Be well.

Greg

Bonjour from Montreal. In my mind, I am speaking like Pepe LePew as I write...


I'm at Anticipation, the whatever-number World Science Fiction Convention. It's my 32nd. I'm getting old.

I'm in the dealers' room, attempting to sell many Neil Gaiman items. He is the guest of honor. It's odd to see the skinny Brit who dressed all in black, the one I knew 25 years ago who had barely written anything but some fine little stories, some articles and interviews, is now the GoH at World SF, internationally famous, writing screenplays, hanging out with the hoi polloi, just being "Neil". It's just amazing. Congratulations Neil.

Battery is getting low and the room is filling up now. Gotta go and sell, sell sell.

Cheers.

Greg

A couple of things I found recently that made me laugh:

First, if you haven't seen "Where in the Hell is Matt" on Youtube, go there now and watch. It is a remarkable video and when I'm feeling blue I just cue up the video and smile. It's so unassuming and silly I just can't resist. The ancillary story about the video "hoax" and a parody video "Where is Matt's Girlfriend" are just icing on the cake.

Next, I've been hearing for some time about a supposed best-selling (self-published) SF/Fantasy writer named Robert Stanek. Apparently he has been writing many fake reviews, glowingly comparing himself to Tolkien, Rowling and anyone else who actually sells. I decided to check him out via Google and there's some interesting stuff on the net about him.

There a great photo of Brian Jacques and Stanek but Stanek has obviously photoshopped himself in since he's seated at a table and there are NO LEGS underneath. He's taken to attacking people who question the fine reviews posted all over the place (you should read some of the rave reviews - they all sound the same and they ALL name Stanek as their favorite writer of all time and they can't wait for his next book). The guy is maybe 40 and has written some 70 books. And I thought the Million-Word-Men of the pulp era were dead.

It's a compelling story in the train-wreck sort of way.

Remember, DreamHaven is closed on Thursday, August 6 and Friday August 7.

Be Good.

Greg

New comics are in and on the shelf. Notable items include Al Williamson's collection of Flash Gordon strips and a new collection of Larry Marder's Beanworld. One from last week that I'd like to mention is Citizen Rex by Mario and Gilbert Hernandez. I'm a sucker for anything the Hernandez Bros. produce.

Now for those IMPORTANT DATES - I will be CLOSED on Thursday, August 6 and Friday August 7 since I will be in Montreal for the World Science Fiction Convention. DreamHaven will be open all other regular days but I won't be here. There will be subs on those days so please be kind to them. I'll be back on Wednesday August 12 but not until late in the day. If you have any questions please contact me on Thursday the 13th or later.

Greg