RARE BOOK CAFE: Mike Cotter, Back in Time Rare Books, on collecting Star Wars books and other Eighties nostalgia

WATCH LIVE: With Star Wars: The Force Awakens opening on Friday, we have a special treat on the next edition of Rare Book Cafe. We’ll be talking collectible Star Wars books and other items with Mike Cotter, who recently opened Back in Time Rare Books, specializing in 1980s popular literature.

You can watch Rare Book Cafe live at 8 p.m. Thursday right here on the book fair blog or on blab.im (search for Rare Book Cafe). The first Star Wars movie, Episode 4 - A New Hope, came out in 1977, and the other two films of the first trilogy in 1980 and 1983, so Star Wars dominated pop culture throughout the Eighties. A prequel trilogy was released in 1999, 2002, and 2005.

 In a test session, Mike Cotter, bottom, shows a Star Wars book from his collection.

Patrons of the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair may remember Mike Cotter from his days at the popular Yeoman’s in the Fork Rare Book and Document Gallery in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. Mike represented Yeoman’s for years at the book fair.

Now he has begun a new endeavor, embracing his early love of the Star Wars franchise, the Indiana Jones franchise, and the Back to the Future franchise, among others. Mike and his family moved to St. Augustine, Florida, where he opened Back in Time Rare Books to market his extensive and growing collection of literature, board games, toys, and other items related to those immensely popular films.

Hollywood turned out Monday evening at the Dolby Theatre for a red-carpet premiere of the seventh film in the series, the first Star Wars film released in a decade. The revival of the franchise will likely lead to increased demand for the books, computer and video gams, comic books, 8-track cassettes and more spawned by the original first two trilogies. Mike Cotter has been hard at work gathering many special related items and is ready to show some of them on Rare Book Cafe. Expect to see some rare signed pieces and to hear some of the great stories Mike has collected.

Rare Book Cafe will now be seen live on Thursdays at 8 p.m., having been moved from Wednesday afternoons. Our first couple of evening episodes were well received so we're continuing with the schedule that many find more convenient. The program will continue to be broadcast on Saturday afternoons at 2:30 p.m. Steven Eisenstein, owner of A-Book-A-Brac Shop in Miami Beach, Florida, is the host of Rare Book Cafe. His co-host is Thorne Donnelley, owner of Liberty Books in West Palm Beach, Florida. Edie Eisenstein, Steven’s wife, is often featured in a segment on miniature books.

Not only will you be able to watch the live broadcast here on the book fair blog but you also can watch the replay after the program is over. Please share this program with your friends.

COMING SATURDAY: Bookseller Boe Rushing, owner of Back in the Day Books, on setting up a bookstore and why you should support local businesses in your community. Join the conversation on Rare Book Cafe.

Book dealers go high tech to tout their passion

Modern technology is changing the landscape for many endeavors, including the antiquarian book business. Some decry the advent of iPads and iPhones and Nooks and Kindles, with gloomy predications of the demise of the traditional book. More optimistic souls note that the more books are digitized and put on electronic devices, the more valuable traditional paper books become, scarcity and demand being the operative factors.

And though some antiquarian book dealers certainly eschew anything that smacks of modernity (including email), a new breed of booksellers is wholeheartedly embracing modern technology that helps them spread the word about their passion – antiquarian books. Podcasts have been around for years, of course, but this marks the first time we know of that they've been used to talk about the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.

This year, before and during the book fair, dealer Steven Eisenstein of A-Book-A-Brac Shop in Miami Beach, recorded an Internet radio show. We'll have more about that soon but we also wanted to tell you about another podcast recently published.

Mike Cotter and Keith Wallace of Yeoman's in the Fork in Franklin, Tennessee, teamed up with their colleague, Greg Snider (who is responsible for the Internet presence at Yeoman's), to produce an interesting podcast of their recollections of this year's Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. We thought you'd enjoy listening to their program.

Among booksellers, the more the merrier

Bookseller Mike Cotter, left, with author Robert Olen Butler at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg.

One of our great exhibitors at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair every March raises interesting questions about whether dealers should let their fellow dealers know where they'll be exhibiting.

Mike Cotter of Yeoman's in the Fork in Franklin, Tennessee, suggests that some dealers may not want their competitors to know where they're finding their great treasures.

In his blog, Mike lists the pros and cons about using an events page to let customers (as well as other dealers) know where they'll be at any given time.  But we think Mike comes down on the right side of that question, with an inclination to put the events out there on the calendar and let everyone know where to find him.

Dealers who are showing at various book fair around the country, as Mike and his colleagues do, have access to far greater selections than dealers who simply stay at home. Clearly, they also are likely to have a broader customer base. Booksellers who come to the annual Florida Antiquarian Book Fair have built up a cadre of followers who always make sure they come to the book fair to see their favorite dealers.

Booksellers make great book buyers. Dealers always buy from each other. Mike note that he loves to go to shows to buy inventory for his great customers back home. He notes, though, that some dealers may be concerned that competitors will scoop up the treasures if they find out where to get them. We like that Mike comes down on the side of those who believe that what's good for the industry is good of everyone involved.

We, too, believe that booksellers as well as book collectors should become as knowledgeable as possible, and they do so by being in contact with as many like-minded book lovers as possible. We share the belief that the more book lovers are exposed to great books and friendly, informed dealers, the better it is for everyone.

When the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair rolls around in March, we hope you'll come by for a visit. Stop by and say hi to Mike Cotter. You'll be glad you did.