How I Got Started, Where I Want to Go

First of all, a well earned plug - if you haven't read Chris Lowenstein's blog, the Book Hunter's Holiday, you have no idea what you have been missing!! Fortunately, due to the wonders of technology, you can read that blog's archives and get up to speed!! The Book Hunter's Holiday is one of my three or four favorite bookseller blogs. Chris writes in a clear and entertaining way about her adventures (the best of times, the worst of times, and everything in between!) as a bookseller. Check it out!

Now, how I got started into the world of books. I have always been a voracious reader. From grade school until now, my favorite subjects have always been English and Literature. When I was about 11 or 12, I was bitten by the collecting bug. I collected baseball cards, I collected postage stamps, I collected rocks, I collected newspaper clippings of my beloved Boston Celtics....I just loved collecting (Today, they refer to this as my pack-rat tendencies, but I have been much better in recent years.). One day, my father presented me with a gift of "some old books" that were left over from an estate he helped settle (he was a bank Trust Officer). The prize of these books was a three volume set of the Works of Shakespeare (more on those in a future post). To my young eyes, they were beautiful! I was hooked - that's all it took. Without any proper knowledge of the book trade, and having no idea what an antiquarian book was, I started to collect any book that "looked" beautiful.
Over the years I have sold and donated and acquired books informally, and gave a lot away when I moved out of my parent's home. But all of those original books from Dad remain with me today. More recently in my life, I was bitten by another bug - the entrepreneurial bug. Wanting to self employed, and still having a love of books, I have taken a new path in my life. Together with my VERY-soon-to-be-wife Andrea (March 14!!!), and our children, our family business has begun. For now, Literary Musings is operating without a specific focus, just trying to sell whatever we can acquire (new, old, children's books, non-fiction, fiction....) but as we gain more experience and perspective our business plan will evolve as well. I would like to see more antiquarian books in our inventory, but this will take time and patience. Once we have moved out West, I would like to attend the Rare Book School that is offerred in Colorado every year. I would like to eventually have a brick-and-mortar store as well.
I would love to hear from other readers how they got started in their love of books - whether you are a bookdealer, a book collector, or a reader.

Introduction

Idyll (n) - a short prose piece depicting a rural or pastoral scene in idealized terms; a carefree episode or experience; a romantic interlude; a scene or event of a simple and tranquil nature.

Hello. We are an online bookselling family living in Salem, MA (home of Hawthorne and witches), but preparing for a cross-country move in the near future. Our business, Literary Idylls, will soon have a website where readers can peruse the shelves of our eclectic inventory. Our name is a nod to Tennyson's Idyll's of the King, and in a sense is a nod toward one of our sons, who, at age 11, is a huge fan of the stories of King Arthur. He is also a very talented writer!

Since this is a family enterprise, let me introduce you to the rest of mine: My name is Mark. My wife, Andrea, and I have three sons and one daughter. Our sons are ages 17, 11 and 8; our daughter is 13. We all love to read, though our interests vary. I have been interested in collecting and selling books for as long as I can remember. I am a tax accountant by day, which means you'll get tax advice from time to time on this blog (if you need a good tax accountant, I'm available for hire!).

What else will you see on this blog? Posts about books, posts about the business in general, about our business in particular, posts of idyll musings and idyll reflections on our life and family, posts about our upcoming move...

Welcome aboard, we're glad you're here, and we hope you enjoy the ride!