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| Author |
Message |
danr
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Help Me Write a Book
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Nov 7 20:12 UTC 1995 |
I'm thinking of writing and publishing a guide to Ann Arbor
bookstores. My initial idea is to put together a 5 x 8" paperback
book, with one or two pages per bookstore and a couple of maps to help
people find the stores. In addition to the usual info (address,
phone, hours, etc.), I want to include some kind of rating for things
like service, selection, periodical selection, etc.
Do you think this is a good idea?
What kind of info would you like to see in this book?
Would you be interested in helping collect information for this book
and reviewing stores? (I don't know how much I could pay, but I'd make
every effort to compensate you somehow).
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| 50 responses total. |
eeyore
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response 1 of 50:
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Nov 8 02:20 UTC 1995 |
if it involves books, i'm ALWAYS interested!!!!!!!! just mail me and let me
know if you want me! :)
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meg
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response 2 of 50:
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Nov 8 12:46 UTC 1995 |
Me too.
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remmers
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response 3 of 50:
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Nov 8 13:29 UTC 1995 |
Neat idea. How about featuring interviews with the owners & managers?
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adbarr
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response 4 of 50:
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Nov 8 14:14 UTC 1995 |
Parking suggestions and directions would be nice.
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danr
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response 5 of 50:
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Nov 8 15:48 UTC 1995 |
Great ideas! Keep 'em coming.
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rcurl
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response 6 of 50:
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Nov 8 16:10 UTC 1995 |
A book like this would have to be "dated", and republished regularly, to
stay current. That suggests it might be possible to include scheduled
book fairs, sales, "Antiquarian Book Fairs". Also, since there are some
rather unique libraries in Ann Arbor (Kelsey, Clements, Chemistry.....)
it would be interesting to include them.
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danr
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response 7 of 50:
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Nov 8 17:00 UTC 1995 |
Another good one! Yes, I planned to have yearly editions.
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freida
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response 8 of 50:
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Nov 8 17:02 UTC 1995 |
Those of us who live far away would be interested in mail order and if they
do special orders...
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ajax
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response 9 of 50:
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Nov 8 22:09 UTC 1995 |
I have an idea for a completely separate Ann Arbor book idea:
The Health Inspector's Guide to AA Dining. Have you ever read
the inspector's reports in the Ann Arbor News? That's my fave
part of the paper. They even give numerical scores for each
restaurant. "Accumulated dust - minus 2 points, uncovered
pasta container - minus 5 points." And it would involve almost
no writing, the reports are all public information.
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tsty
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response 10 of 50:
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Nov 9 04:01 UTC 1995 |
about the book stores - since they would be the ones (presumabley) selling
these..... the "store in question" ought to be the FIRST store in the
book, which means your binding(s) would have to be adjustable, as well
as page numbering adjustable.
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rcurl
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response 11 of 50:
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Nov 9 06:07 UTC 1995 |
Cute. One can obtain flyers in antique stores listing all the other stores
in that area, and one has to be listed first - but they are not *sold*.
There are also guides to restaurants, etc, for many cities, which are sold
(unless they are Chamber of Commerce pieces, heavily laden with
advertising), but those are not normally sold in restaurants, etc, but
rather book stores. It would appear that you (danr) might want to plug
into the bookstore world, to see how they would suggest dealing with this,
so as to serve their objectives (advertising, even if not of their making)
in a manner that will also inspire them to sell the book.
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danr
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response 12 of 50:
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Nov 9 12:53 UTC 1995 |
I'm going to make up a questionnaire with some basic questions and send it
around to the booksellers. I thought about selling advertising, but the more
I think about it, the less I like the idea. I think that such advertising
tends to reduce the credibility of the publication. I just saw a new AA
restaurant guide, for example. Oddly enough, all the "editorial" talked about
current advertisers. This guide doesn't have to fall into that trap, but I
think it would be best to avoid that altogether.
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raven
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response 13 of 50:
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Nov 10 03:29 UTC 1995 |
What format will the book be? Will it be a chapbook, or a perfect
bound book? You might want to do the first one as a chapbook because
production costs are cheaper, then go to a perfect bound book if you have
a lot of success. I might be interested in doing a review of one the used
book stores as those are the ones I tend to haunt.
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lilmo
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response 14 of 50:
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Nov 10 04:46 UTC 1995 |
How about linking this to books?
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jerry
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response 15 of 50:
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Nov 10 04:50 UTC 1995 |
i'm new user, i know nothing, anyway nice to be your member...
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srw
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response 16 of 50:
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Nov 10 07:33 UTC 1995 |
Welcome to Grex, jerry.
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rcurl
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response 17 of 50:
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Nov 10 16:13 UTC 1995 |
Yes - welcome to Grex. You *do* know how to reach Grex, which is something.
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rcurl
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response 18 of 50:
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Nov 10 18:23 UTC 1995 |
Agora item 93 has been linked to books item 45. If you forget the item
in agora and join books, you will get the bonus of other bibliophilic
discussion.
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adbarr
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response 19 of 50:
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Nov 10 21:29 UTC 1995 |
bibliophilic sounds like the first word in the name of a bad disease. :)
Or, maybe it is the second word. Dangerous.
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rcurl
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response 20 of 50:
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Nov 11 06:28 UTC 1995 |
Are you thinking of bibliophallic?
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adbarr
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response 21 of 50:
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Nov 11 11:40 UTC 1995 |
No, but it sounds interesting. Tell me more, Dr. Curl.
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danr
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response 22 of 50:
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Nov 11 13:10 UTC 1995 |
Yesterday, I wrote up a questionnaire for bookseller. Have a look and let
me know what your think.
Bookstore Name:
Address:
Phone number:
Manager/Owner:
Selection (please check appropriate boxes)
===================================================================
o fiction/literature o poetry o mystery
o children's books o science/engineering
o sports/fitness o travel o religion/philosophy
o psychology/self-help o cookbooks
o home and garden o local interest
o magazines o newspapers o foreign newspapers and magazines
o software
o remainders o used books o books on tape
o music o greeting cards o other (t-shirts, mugs)
Do you specialize in a particular topic? If so, which topic?
Special Services
===================================================================
o special orders o cafe
o gift wrapping o public rest room
o shipping o parking validation
Do you offer a special service not listed above? If so, please
tell me about it.
Please use another sheet of paper for other comments you may have.
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adbarr
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response 23 of 50:
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Nov 11 14:12 UTC 1995 |
danr, how about an "other" category in the "Selection" part? They could
fill in something that might not quite fit the listed categories.
I think you should ask about discounts, special sales, videos, reader's
clubs. This is a great idea. Wish someone would do the same for
aquarium stores.
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adbarr
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response 24 of 50:
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Nov 11 14:27 UTC 1995 |
OppI see you have an "other" category. I wonder, however, if you should have
the one like you state "t-shirts, mugs" and then add another line for
somthing we have not thought of?
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