RARE BOOK CAFE: Madlyn Blom, Old Bag Lady Books

Madlyn at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.

The next edition of the Rare Book Cafe will feature Madlyn Blom, owner of Old Bag Lady Books in Sun City Center, Florida, across Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg. This will be Madlyn's second appearance on Rare Book Cafe, but her first as our Special Guest. Early on in the development of Rare Book Cafe, Madlyn visited the show and spoke to us upside down for a brief time. In this appearance, Madlyn will be right side up. More about all that in another article.

Madlyn is on the board of directors of the Florida Antiquarian Booksellers Association and is an exhibitor at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair each year. Madlyn will gladly tell book dealers considering doing a show for the first time the benefits of such a decision. For one thing, dealers who only sell online lose touch with real people – their customers. The book fair is an opportunity to reconnect with old customers and meet new customers and learn what they are reading and why.

Of course, the other great reason Madlyn will tell a book dealer to exhibit at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair is to meet other dealers face-to-face, and buy books from them or sell books to them. You could end up with a collection of signed first editions to sell to other customers, a stash of cash from all the books you sell, and a notebook full of contact information from new customers.

When she's not selling books or buying books, you might find Madlyn out with her camera shooting award-winning shots. Madlyn took up photography only a short time ago and already has surprised herself and others by winning top honors in local contests. We'll have more about Madlyn's photography exploits in another entry.

In the meantime, you can watch Madlyn on Rare Book Cafe by logging in to blab.im using your Twitter account, then searching for Rare Book Cafe. The live streaming program will be on the air on Wednesday, November 18 at 3:30 p.m. ET. You don't even have to log in to Blab to watch. You can see it right here on this page above. What's more, if you miss the live stream or just can't get enough of watching Madlyn, you can see the replay of the program right here, too. It'll happen automatically and you can tune in any time to watch. We hope you will.

RARE BOOK CAFE: Josh Niesse of Underground Books

We're delighted to have Josh Niesse, owner of Underground Books in Carrollton, Georgia, on Rare Book Cafe this evening at 8 p.m. ET  Josh and his wife Megan are exhibitors every year at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.

Josh and Megan run "a charming vintage bookshop just off historic Adamson Square," as their web site says. And, yes, it's really underground. Down the road a little way is the University of West Georgia, so Josh and Megan have a cool little bookstore in a college town. Nice. These two innovative booksellers keep up a very interesting blog, and in it not long ago, Josh revealed a behind-the-bookcases look at their business model, which includes not only the charming bricks-and-mortar store but also an extensive, and growing, online retail presence as well as their appearance, of course, at book events like the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.

Tonight's presentation is something of an experiment. It marks the first time we've presented the Rare Book Cafe in the evening. We think it will make the live show more accessible to people who otherwise might not be able to see it live because of it's traditional afternoon broadcast time. You can watch it right here on the book fair blog or you can follow this link to watch it on the Blab.im platform. Either way, we hope book lovers will embrace this new approach to celebrating antiquarian books.

Mystery writer Michael Lister to be rescheduled

 

 UPDATE: Well, we're sorry Michael Lister wasn't able to appear on Rare Book Cafe on Wednesday afternoon. We'll schedule him for another time. Meanwhile, Wednesday's program turned out quite interesting. Steven Eisenstein, the host, discussed antique book-related advertising items and as surprise paperback copy The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris and his encounter with him, as well as other interesting topics. Edie Eisenstein discussed her passion, miniature books and how she and Steven met. Plus, visitors had questions. You can watch it right here on replay. Enjoy!


NOTICE: Michael Lister will be unable to appear on today's program. His visit will be rescheuled. Please watch for an alert.  Join us today for an entertaining show on antiquarian books.

Our next special guest on Rare Book Cafe will be mystery writer Michael Lister, winner of two Florida Book Awards and author of the prison chaplain John Jordan "blood" series and the hard-boiled, 1940s noir Jimmy "Soldier" Riley series.

It might seem strange for a contemporary writer to be on a show about antiquarian books but not in the case of Michael Lister. He has an extensive collection of antiquarian books, including a 1911 copy of G.K Chesterton's The Innocence of Father Brown, the first clergyman who went about solving murder mysteries. No doubt, Lister will discuss Chesterton's influence on his own work.

Rare Book Cafe is the world's first live streaming Blab TV program devoted to antiquarian books. You can watch it on Blab.im by signing in with your Twitter account, then searching for Rare Book Cafe. You can ask questions and participate in the ongoing conversation during the program. This episode of Rare Book Cafe will be broadcast live at 3:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday,  November 11. You also can watch the program on this page where it is embedded above. Afterward, the program will be available to watch on replay right here.

Rare Book Cafe is sponsored by the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair, celebrating 35 year in March 2016. Watch for interesting information about the book fair on upcoming episodes of Rare Book Cafe. Subscribe to the broadcast so you won't miss anything.

RARE BOOK CAFE LIVE: Watch the replay right here!

You can watch the latest edition of Rare Book Cafe live streaming at 3:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 4 right here on the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair blog. Michael Slicker, owner of Lighthouse Books, ABAA, and chairman of the book fair, will be a guest on the show. If you are unable to see the show live, don't worry. It'll be recorded and you can watch it right here.

This is a relatively new development for Blab, the live streaming platform where Rare Book Cafe occurs. The feature was added last week and our first embedded session was on Saturday. This makes it really convenient to see these programs.

The Rare Book Cafe is sponsored by the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. It features antiquarian book dealers from around the world who share stories, information, and a look at some of the books, maps, prints, and ephemera in their collections. It's a wonderful opportunity for book lovers everywhere. For anyone who would like to embed Rare Book Cafe on your own blog or web site, just send us an email to floridabookfair2@gmail.com.