We've had a number of questions about how our 16th Anniversary Sale this Monday is going to work. Since we've never done an event like this, I didn't consider some of the questions that would come up, but several of them are good ones, hence this secondary note to clarify.
Location and Entry
The sale will be taking place in the Cafe at 870 Valencia St. It will start at 8:30 pm (or close to then). Before the sale, the cafe and bookstore will both close and any remaining customers will be asked to leave, even if they are planning on attending the sale. We need this time to set up without the place full of people.
If you want to arrive early, there will be a space to line up outside the bookstore (please don't line up in front of the cafe). Bring a jacket 'cause it's likely to be cool that evening. People will be admitted based on their place in line. If there are more people in line than can be safely accommodated in the cafe, we may have to stop letting people in until some people leave.
Tickets are not available in advance and payment will be at the door.
Payment and Benefits
Admission to the sale will cost $20 per person (cash only, credit cards and checks will not be accepted). In exchange for that payment, each person attending will be able to fill, to the top, one of our large shopping bags with books and take them home. The bags are 17 inches high, 13 inches wide, and 7 inches front to back. The books cannot extend above the top edge of the bag. After paying for admission, attendees may purchase additional bags to fill for $10 each. There will be no refunds.
The books on offer will not be the usual stock of the bookstore. In fact, the bookstore proper will be closed during the sale. The majority of the books will be used, not new, although there will be a fair number of new hardcovers and large size paperbacks. Almost all the small size paperbacks will be used.
There will also be a separate VIP area at the sale. Admission to that area will be $100 in addition to the $20 general admission. The books in the VIP area will be mostly rarer hardcovers and a number of limited edition small press titles from publishers like Cemetery Dance, Subterranean Press, and PS publishing. Additional bags may also be purchased in this area, but the cost will be $80 per extra bag.
There will be complimentary snacks, wine and iced tea and the cafe will be serving our usual selection of teas and coffee drinks at our usual prices. The cafe will not be selling any food during the event.
Conduct
Our customers are, as a group, a polite, considerate and well-behaved crowd. However, sales of this sort that have a first-come, first-served element sometimes bring out peoples' less civilized qualities. So, to be on the safe side, I want to be perfectly clear - no rude, inconsiderate, or uncivilized conduct will be tolerated. That includes (but is in no way limited to), pushing, running, and shoving. It also includes shouldering other people out of the way, snatching books from other people's hands, and engaging in tug-o-war over books. Anyone engaging in rude or uncivilized conduct, as determined by any Borderlands staff member, will be evicted from the event, without a refund.
This event is meant to be a fun and pleasant evening as well as being a present to you, our customers. I hope that people will be excited and that everyone attending will find a surprise treasure on the tables. However, I have seen distasteful scenes at library sales in the past and I've heard of even uglier ones. I intend to make sure that doesn't happen at this sale. In the hugely unlikely event that Jeremy, Jude and myself cannot maintain an acceptable level of decorum, I will stop the event and clear the building.
Summation
The sort version is this -- we've got a bunch of books (literally thousands!) that, for one reason or another, it doesn't make sense to put on the shelves (or back on the shelves). We've also got a great set of customers and our 16th anniversary. Rather than sell the books off somewhere else (like Half-Price Books in the East Bay) or donate them, we're having a sale wherein you pay 20 bucks and get to fill a big bag with books to take home. You're guaranteed to get more than your money's worth and, hopefully you'll have a good time. But everyone better play nice or Jeremy and Alan will heave them into the street. We've had some questions about what kinds of books you can expect. To give you a sample, we've selected some books more or less at random to represent what we'll have on offer. Here are 10 books that will be available for the taking in the "regular" area:
Daemonomania by John Crowley, 1st US ed. hc
Vellum by Hal Duncan 1st US ed. hc
Glimmering by Elizabeth Hand, remainder US hc 1st Signed by author
Hard Freeze by Dan Simmons 1st ed. hc
Dragon Rider by Jeffrey Carver, used mm
Glorious Treason by C.J. Ryan, used mm
The Wild Blue and the Gray by William Sanders., used mm
Shades of Gray by Lisanne Norman, used mm
Traitor to the Blood by Barb and J.C. Hendee, used mm
And here are 5 titles that will be available in the VIP area:
The Passage by Justin Cronin, 1st US ed. hc singed by author
Byline: Mickey Spillane, ed. by Max Allan Collins and Lynn F. Myers, Jr. numbered ed. signed by the author and editors
Spares Special Edition by Michael Marshall Smith, signed by the author, artist Alan Clark, and Neil Gaiman (who did the introduction)
I Am the Bird by T.M. Wright, signed by Ramsey Campbell and the author
The Monster Maker and Other Stories by W.C. Morrow
We'll look forward to seeing you at the sale.
