23rd December 2007: Two international bookseller sites combine forces
It was announced today by David Gower-Spence of the UK bookseller site www.BookLovers.co.uk and Guy Weller of the international Bookseller Co-operative The World Book Market that the two Internet bookseller sites Booklovers (UK) and The World Book Market are to merge their business and on-line interests and assets, forming a single bookseller group.
As the manager of, and also a seller listing with, BookLovers this means I will now have access to and the back up of another programmer and further support and infrastructure which will allow us to move forward many plans that I have in mind, such as multiple book ordering. You will able to access, as an associate, the lively independent bookseller forum at WBM where there will be a discussion area specific to BookLovers which I hope will be a much used and useful resource to us all.
Booklovers will continue to operate across the joint file-servers of both groups as the "commission-only" alternative offered by the World Book Market for booksellers who do not wish to pay a monthly fee in order to access the software tool-kit of the WBM, but who wish to gain access to the sites operated by the group on a "risk-free" basis. Commission on sales at Booklovers will remain at the present level of 10%. Some of the existing software benefits and group-membership toolkits currently available to WBM members will be opened up to Booklovers members without costs or fees above the present structure. These will be announced shortly.
The WBM will continue to operate primarily as a bookseller software-services site, delivering its members (for a monthly fee) a wide range of software utilities. These include a sophisticated bookseller database package available free to members; the automated onloading of books and book-pictures to multiple sites where booksellers list; automated uploads into Amazon, eBay and the like; and a range of other software tools and utilities which will make listing online at multiple sites considerably easier for most booksellers. Many of these utilities are completed and functioning, some are still under development for realease shortly.
Importantly, any Booklovers member who "moves across" to the World Book Market monthly fee system (which will be entirely optional) will continue to have all his or her listings carried at Booklovers as before, but there will be no commission fees on sales payable thereafter for sales made at Booklovers or World Book market sites.
This is an exciting move for both Booklovers and the World Book Market, and for me personally as the architect of the Booklovers site. The extra and combined technical resource obtained from the merger of our sites will enable us to achieve a platform that gives further advantage of the bookseller members of both.
14th October 2007: World Book Market in major expansion of its bookseller base
The World Book Market (WBM) bookseller co-operative is opening its doors to quality booksellers world-wide by way of an expanded Membership plan launched today.
Hitherto confined to life-memberships and bookstore(B&M)-only booksellers, the WBM will now be offering a month-to-month membership option to booksellers with or without physical stores.
The WBM is primarily a software-pooling, bookseller-owned enterprise. It also operates its own multi-lister bookselling site, viewable at www.worldbookmarket.com Its Members share access to a number of important on-line software bookselling tools, including auto-uploads of data and book pics to other bookselling sites, automated "send catalogue" routines for responding to customers, and a range of other utilities and tools which are free to members.
A powerful multi-search powered bookselling database is also available free to Members, as an additional option.
The WBM bookselling site also carries a number of highly useful features, over and above the sales which might be generated there.
Members uploading their books to that site are given detailed reports of likely errors in their listings, including a full ISBN verification and logic test.
The site also has a simple but powerful Variable Weight Shipping Matrix, so that a member coding their books with actual weights (or a 1-2-3-4-5-6 code system) will have the full and actual shipping costs for each book uploaded to each of up to 6 international destination zones (and domestic costs as well, split into regions for larger countries). Both zones and variable weight prices are member-definable and editable.
The primary purpose of the WBM listing site is, however, to drive business from buyers directly to each Member's own website or private business domain, and re-direction by sellers from the site to their own private websites is actively encouraged by the site operator.
For booksellers without a private website, becoming a member of the WBM will automatically create a private website at no extra cost. This automated website will be hosted at the WBM, and will reference the member's book data at the main site as its driving database engine.
The WBM charges its members a fixed monthly fee for the combined use of the software toolkit and listing rights at the sales site. There is no commission or fee charged upon any sales made at the site, and there is no central card processing facility or fee-charge - each member handles his/her own sales privately.
A group of 20 booksellers in 4 countries has been invited by the existing WBM members to help test the new software engines relevant to the expanded membership.
This process will unfold over October-November, and general membership applications will be accepted from December 1st forwards.
The WBM has a set of minimum quality standards for its members, which will shortly be published. These have been set fairly broadly, but will exclude penny-sellers, data-scrapers, and all odious and even illegal descriptions such as "Binding unknown" and the like.
Further details and commentary, and the ability to record expressions of interest and other comments or questions by and from interested booksellers, may be found at the Open Forum at the WBM at www.worldbookmarket.com/forum
13th September 2007: And I'm off again...
I'm going back to la belle France for a week with my father doing a tour of the WWI sites on the Somme later this month. So, firing up the old VTR is always a pleasure...
It looks better than it is in this photo, now a tad battle-scarred like it's owner!
Further expansion...
Dudleigh joins the team -
Dudleigh will be heading up our ratting division of course, along with cat-flap testing, ensuring that the visitors to the Post Office remain quiet and that cats are organised to his personal liking. Nice!
Following on from "travels with an idiot"
Let's call this one "At home with an idiot". I locked an internal door to the garage and went to the unit in the van, leaving via the front door of course. Returned. Came in through the front door and proceeded to the garage door to go and get the van in. Of course, one should really look at the key you're using before trying to unlock the door.
Result? Got the front door key jammed in the garage door. Now, tools are all in garage so scurry around for pliers and found a pair that I'd casually left lying around for this very occasion. Proceeded to force the key... and broke it off in the lock of my garage. Finally managed to get the bits out of the lock and retrieved van.
Far too relaxed later on I strolled to the front door and used the broken key, without thinking, to try and lock the front door. It locked.
Of course, it won't unlock... that would be too easy.
So, with my wife away with the spare key for several days I can only leave the house via the shop when it's open as I can't lock that from the outside. The very model of convenience for a book seller.
AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Site Developments.
I've been mulling this move for some time. In the near future a new site will open that carries my stock only. The new one will be www.secondhand-book.com and will feature only my 35,000 second hand books. BookLovers.co.uk will become a portmanteau in it's own right - I will simply be a listing dealer here whilst looking after the running etc. etc. No change from your perspective, dear customer, but just a word to the wise that I'm not standing still.
The mighty Tesco are here.
Tesco are developing an Express shop within the village (removing an eyesore of some long standing in my opinion as one small benefit) and we are all looking to the future of the independents in the village. I fear that a number of closures are in prospect. Our Post Office should survive their onslaught even if we make it only to be closed in the Post Office's round of closures currently under way.
Site Outage.
Of course, if I had not chosen to go help celebrate (and get very, very drunk with the owner of www.wheathills.com - my brother-in-law.) this weekend my server would have performed perfectly. As t'was, I can only apology for the 24 hour downtime to one and all.
Books for a penny!
I am rationalising a small area of my warehouse (having elected to remain there rather than expand further) and have a small selection of books available for just £0.01 + P&P. Click here to see 'em.
Contact now includes Skype.
I have now installed Skype and you can contact me to discuss a book, request a call-back or give your payment details.
Please note that I'm no expert and whilst I am at my desk I sometimes don't have the headset on and may miss your call. I will call you back though if you leave a message... ah, technology... I'm not getting too old for it at all!
Hah, the new server...
The new server is installed and running, hopefully the search
facility will be much quicker. There are some quirks but I
couldn't delay the move any longer due to the decreptitude
of the old machine which had simply run out of steam! I shall
be working hard over the coming week to tidy things up but
if you spot anything then please let me know!
Secure Server.
The secure server is now up and running again - sorry
for the inconvenience, now crack on and order some books from
me so that I can pay the bills...
BookLovers.co.uk announces a new C.E.O.
Our new Chief Eating Officer, Lucy, has joined the board and will
be handling all the usual stuff... chewing, attempting to
eat peoples letters before they reach the Post Bag, making
mad dashes for freedom every time a door is left open, climbing
legs and, eating. Lots.
Archived Pages...
Mid-life
crisis...
Travels
with an idiot...
BookLovers.co.uk
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12 Bath Road
Peasedown St. John
Bath, BA2 8DH
ENGLAND
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