People thinking of going into the used book business often seek out Ken for his advice. One of these requests promoted this episode of reflections on the ways bookselling has changed since the advent of the internet, and the ways it’s always stayed the same. We’ll look back at a largely vanished world of small, brick and mortar bookshops, stocked with finds from rough-and-tumble library book sales and cross country book buying road trips. We’ll close out the episode with some words of advice that are applicable to any field: bring enthusiasm to whatever you do, establish good relationships with your colleagues and customers, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Bonus Brattlecast - Covid Collectables
Like it or not, we’re living through a fairly dramatic historic event. What kinds of documents and ephemera being generated today will be of interest to future collectors and historians as they try to parse the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the lives of everyday people? In a time when so many of us get our news from twitter, what physical artifacts might remain to remind us of these troubling and unprecedented weeks? Also, we remind you to please feel free to email or call the shop—Ken is there looking after things, and staying connected is important to us while the shop is closed to the public.
Brattlecast #54 - How to Start a Book Shop
So you want to start a book shop. Good! Ken’s not afraid of the competition; he’ll even encourage you. He wishes every building on his street would house a different independent book shop. He’s a proponent of idiosyncratic small businesses as an antidote to the bland, big-box sameness that plagues most American cities. So what advice would Kenneth Gloss, with his years of experience, impart to the neophyte bookseller? It’s simple: just be in great physical shape, and know everything.