Because of these several impediments, as well as other technical difficulties, you will find typos and occasional replication of text. In our humble opinion, typos show that the logs are of *live* chats, not canned interviews, and minimal editing of these logs has taken place.

Alice Bentley's Home Page

[Cybling] Folks Welcome Alice Bentley of The Stars Our Destination Book Store here in Chicago.
[Cybling] Alice has been a longtime fan and convention goer...and we're having her here...
[Cybling] to talk a little about the book business from her end as well as some of her other endeavors.
[Cybling] If you have questions for our guest, please just ask. But please, let the guest answer one before asking another. Thanks!
[Alice] Howdy, folks, it's been a while since I've been on line,
[Alice] except as email.
[Cybling] Alice...how has this convention been so far for you?
[Alice] Really busy. I've sold a bunch of stuff in the Dealers Room
[Alice] but more fun is all the old freinds I've met
[Alice] and new friends I've made.
[Cybling] I've heard that this year's dealer's room is a regular black hole.
[Cybling] People go in and don't reappear for days.
[Alice] It's more that they're hidden behind those piles of things they've bought.
[Cybling] LOLOL
[Alice] The layout works fairly well this time - at least for me,
[Alice] I'm often in the back of the room just by luck.
[Cybling] Alice, did you bring a lot of stock to this convention?
[Alice] Yes and no. I brought mostly odd items that get overlooked.
[Alice] Because of the now-very-soon move I'm highly motivated to sell things out.
[Cybling] Alice, your store is currently located on Belden Avenue here in Chicago, and a real god-send for the hard core SF/Fantasy/Horror fan. But I hear you're moving?
[Alice] Yup : old address 1021 W. Belmont, Chicago.
[Alice] The big moving truck arrives on Thursday, then we'll reopen
[Cybling] Oh I'm sorry. Got my B's messed up there. But I DO not which stop on the El to get out of the train. lol.
[Alice] eventually at 705 Main St. in Evanston.
[Cybling] Okay...you've mentioned that you'll still be accessible from public transport...but what is the main reason for the move?
[Alice] The Purple line station is right around the corner,
[Cybling] That's wonderful.
[Cybling] I don't think I could live without that store of yours.
[Alice] even closer than the current Red line station. The Metra station
[Alice] is right across the street. But the most pivotal change is the
[Alice] availability of PARKING, which there's a lot of on Main St.
[Cybling] aki welcome!
[Cybling] We're here with an independent SF bookseller, Alice Bentley.
[Alice] So, what surrelous topics can we start?
[Alice] Hey, I can usually spell just fine, this on line typing stuff is challenging.
[Cybling] Alice...can you tell me a little bit about the problems that an independent book store is facing these days?
[Cybling] As you know, we SF fans often have trouble finding our favorite authors in the Barn stores.
[Alice] Sure. There's unfair pricing competition from vendors that are financed from outside the industry.
[Alice] There's the sad fact that bookselling is just not tremendously profitable.
[Alice] The bigger more, um, hazardous changes are the changes in publishing itself.
[Cybling] That doesn't sound promising Alice. I mean what fan hasn't dreamed of either becoming a SF author one day or retiring with a little bookstore so they can read the days away?
[Alice] Do people really dream of that?
[Cybling] I have, on occasion, when the pixels get to me.
[Cybling] lol
[Alice] I started the bookstore more because I saw it as a dearly needed
[Alice] community resourse, and I hadn't figured out what I wanted to do with my time (being a particle physicsist wasn't as engaging as I'd hoped).
[Cybling] The other thing about a specialty store like yours, Alice, is folks can be exposed to some of the smaller pro and semipro zines that you just can't find at the drugsrtore.
[Cybling] Particle Physics isn't engaging? LOL
[Alice] Well, yeah, that's the whole point of specializing - you can carry the odd stuff.
[Alice] In physics it seemed that people were either fanatically dedicated or only barely competent.
[Alice] Neither extreme appealed to me.
[Cybling] So you started the bookstore.
[Cybling] Alice you did take one stab at the publishing business yourself.
[Cybling] How did that go?
[Alice] It did seem like something Completely Different.
[Alice] Ah the infamous Barry Highart collection.
[Cybling] Yes that 8^D Can you tell me a little about that and how it went?
[Alice] When considered economically that project was just not feasable.
[Alice] I mean, it was really unlikely that it would even break even, and no real
[Alice] publisher can take that kind of risk/loss without at least a HOPE of profit.
[Alice] But I *really* wanted that book to be available.
[Alice] When my plans for a splendiferous 10th anniversary party was looking like it might run into several K anyway, I thought - Hey let's blow that same money
[Alice] and get a book as well!
[Cybling] Sorry to hear that. Now you have your own server and you've started selling book via mail, and email as well?
[Alice] The second printing will be more economical, but I still agree that the big publishers were
[Alice] wise to pass this one up.
[Alice] Well, we're sort of Geek Central at my apartment building.
[Cybling] LOL!
[Alice] Alomst everyone is involved in computers or telecommunication in one way or another.
[Alice] As commercial web became more available, we decided to buy our own router and set up as a node
[Alice] rather than pay for individual commerical ISP accounts.
[Cybling] Wise idea, they can be pricey.
[Alice] So, yes, every apartment comes complete with Internet access.
[Cybling] Wonderful!
[Cybling] I was wondering about eCommerce and your business.
[Alice] [answering a verbal question here] The new store is going to focus more strongly
[Alice] on specualtive fiction books, especially in regards to
[Alice] small presses, availability of new releases, recommended reading and odd stuff.
[Alice] I also plan to add a customer accessable terminal to access my online searchable database.
[Alice] This will let people know a lot more about the titles that *are* available but might not
[Alice] be on the shelf at the moment.
[Alice] There will be info on the page on how long a reorder might take.
[Cybling] I know your site holds a lot of information, but are your books available over the net as well?
[Alice] Print on demand books and several small presses can easily that 8 weeks to restock,
[Alice] even when they have them in print.
[Alice] Yes, about three years ago I bought Weinberg Books, a 25 yr old
[Alice] mail order specialty store. He wasn't on line at all, but he had an impressive listing
[Alice] of small presses and had well worked out the usually disreguarded problems of order fulfillment
[Alice] and shipping. I can confidently say our books will arrive in better shape than any other store that ships.
[Cybling] Are you still going to have that wonderful 2nd hand section of the store?
[Alice] Yes, as big as even.
[Alice] As before, the used books are not cataloged, so you can't search that part on line. the volume is just too high.
[Alice] As well, the concept with used books is to buy them cheap, sell them cheap
[Alice] and keep the volume high.
[Alice] Anyone who has a particular title they want us to check can send a list,
[Alice] and we'll check our current stock, but we don't hold on to the list to check later.
[Cybling] I have to tell you that I haunt that section. I've found 3 copies of Frederick Pohl's How the Future Was there...something that's impossible to get any other way.
[Alice] Oh, there's LOTS there that you can't get any other way. And the prices
[Alice] are so low that we are regularly visited by the other book dealers.
[Cybling] lolol
[Alice] Books come in so fast that there's still more than enough for everyone.
[Cybling] Who usually brings those books to you. Folks who are moving and can't take them with.
[Cybling] Folks who've run out of space on their shelves?
[Alice] Moving is one reason. Having read them is a more common one. Quite a few people
[Alice] don't keep their books at all.
[Cybling] I guess the days of keeping books were the days of large apartments, and those are days that are gone in the City I'm afraid.
[Alice] It means that we get a lot of just released titles in used as well.
[Alice] Large apartments, sure, but also less moving going on.
[Alice] And more harbering of resources.
[Alice] These days most people feel confident they could just buy another if they really wanted it.
[Alice] I think they're right.
[Cybling] Alice, do you see the world of e-publishing as a new threat to the standard bookseller?
[Cybling] By standard I mean, book sellers who sell hard copy books.
[Alice] Not so much a threat as another round in the dance.
[Alice] There's always been a lot of changes - adapt or die.
[Alice] Right, know, the books on screens.
[Alice] A more insidious challenge is print of Demand which allows
[Cybling] And you're planning on adding an electric section to your store then? Making book readers available over the counter... or are you going to wait for a more standardized format?
[Alice] publishers to list titles that have NO sales potential, but there's no way for a bookseller to know that.
[Alice] Ebooks (and thanks to the online community for naming the thing) are really just another format.
[Alice] I expect they've fill the same nitch as books-0n-tape.
[Alice] Those can sometimes 8help* the sales of the text version (um, the dead tree edition).
[Cybling] lol
[Alice] Mostly ebooks mean some people who wouldn't be reading now will - that should be good for everyone.
[Cybling] Alice...we're coming to the end of the half hour. But can you tell me when your grand opening in your new location will be and if there's going to another of you big parties? Signings?
[Alice] As far as offering them in the shop, I certainly don't see why not.
[Alice] Well, that's a little indeterminate because the city of Evanston, quite reasonably,
[Alice] insists on a safety Building and Fire inspection before allowing any new business to open.
[Alice] But I have to move all the sheves in first, then see if they're happy.
[Alice] So there may be a delay between moving and opening.
[Alice] At this point I'm aiming for Sept 15th or earlier.
[Cybling] You'll notify your email list of this though, won't you?
[Alice] The new phone number will be 847-570-5925, you can call of an update.
[Alice] or check our website (um, which I haven't updated since the con started)
[Alice] at www.sfbooks.com.
[Cybling] I think updates to websites all over the world are in waiting for the con to end, lol.
[Alice] That's sfbooks, as in Science Fiction Books, despite the many fans of SanFransisco.
[Cybling] Alice, thanks so much for coming over here.
[Alice] Thank's for setting this up!
[Cybling] I've been trying to get you online for the longest time, and it took a WorldCon to do it, lol.
[Alice] Who'se next?
[Alice] Yeah, I'm a little over-scheduled pretty much all the time.
[Alice] In the new shop we'll have 24/7 to the store as well as my apartment - maybe things will be better.
[Cybling] Rick Shelley is next up at 9:00. But I know there are parties and publishers and friends to meet.
[Cybling] Thanks again Alice!
[Alice] Too true, let's go!