ANNOUNCING: New Rare-Books E-Mail List

["R.Smith" <greyhave@ix.netcom.com>]

The following is a Prospectus for a new E-Mail Mailing List, tentatively
to be launched next month, exclusively for the sale of rare and collectible
books.

"CHARTER" DEALER SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOW BEING SOLICITED.  
Please see the end of this message for further information.

Instructions for general subscriptions will be forthcoming as soon as
the List is ready to go on-line.

Shoshana Edwards,  Books From Bree
Richard Smith, Greyhavens Books
Joint List-Owners

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PROSPECTUS FOR THE RARE-BOOKS E-MAIL MAILING LIST 

ADMINISTRIVIA

The tentative Internet address of the List shall be: Rare-Books@smartlink.net

Shoshana Edwards of Books from Bree, Oregon, and Richard Smith of Greyhavens
Books, California, are joint List-Owners of the Rare-Books Mailing List.

UNDERLYING PURPOSE:

The primary purpose of the Rare-Books Mailing List is the sale of
high-quality antiquarian and collectible books, manuscripts, graphics and
ephemera through what will be, in effect, an ongoing - 24-hours-a-day, 7
days-a-week - quality book catalogue. All postings to the List will be
"moderated" - scanned by the List-Owners before dissemination to subscribers
- in order to insure that high standards are maintained, and that postings
will appear in an easily-readable and uniform format.  

This effort is, in turn, designed to attract serious book-collectors on the
Internet who might otherwise be put off by free-for-all postings of long
quantities of common material, with constant "interruptions" for esoteric
discussion and dry-as-dust Want Lists.  The Rare-Books Mailing List will
feature For Sale Lists by subscribing dealers of truly rare material. There
will be no "chat", and Want Lists will be strictly limited.

LIST-OWNERS PREROGATIVES:

The following rules of the Rare-Books List are subject to change, additions
or deletions, at any time, at the sole discretion of the List Owners.  

Any subscribing-dealer who consistently refuses to abide by the rules may be
asked to leave the List, without refund,  at the discretion of the List Owners.

GENERAL SUBSCRIPTIONS:

There will be no charge for anyone, collector or dealer, who subscribes only
to READ the List.  The List Owners will do their best to encourage
subscriptions by serious collectors and Special Collections Librarians.
All subscribers may be asked, when subscribing, to answer a few survey
questions about their interests, geographic location, etc.  This information
will be held in privacy by the List Owners to assist them in furthering the
general interests of the List.

SUBSCRIBING DEALERS:

For Sale postings will be open only to subscribing dealers.

All subscribing dealers must either: 
a. Be members of the ABAA, of US regional antiquarian-booksellers
associations, or of non-US antiquarian-booksellers  associations  affiliated
with ILAB; or
b. provide two references who are members of the ABAA or ILAB-affiliated
associations; or
c. be personally and professionally known to the List Owners.

The first 100 "charter" subscribing dealers will pay in advance $100 for the
calendar year 1997.  

Dealers who subscribe after the "charter" period will pay $200 for the
calendar year, payable in advance in two six-month installments

As soon as the first 50 "charter" subscribing dealers have made their
payments - hopefully by the middle of November - the List will be up and
running, 

FOR SALE POSTINGS:

This will be, primarily, a For Sale List. There will be no discussion or
chat. Want Lists are described below.

Each book or  other item posted For Sale must have a minimum sale price of
$50, and a minimum average price, per posting, of $100.  (So, for example, a
three-book post could have items priced at $50, $100, and $150).

Every subscribing dealer will be allowed one posting per day, with a maximum
of 10 books per posting. 

In any posting with more than one item, all items must be on a related
subject (i.e., Modern Firsts, Travel and Exploration,  Performing Arts,
California and the West, etc.)

Every For Sale posting will be "moderated" - meaning that it will go to the
List Owners for approval before it is forwarded to all subscribers to the
Mailing List - to insure that a standard appearance, cataloguing format, and
the minimum price average is maintained. 

Uniform appearance will be important, not only for easy readability - but
because of our anticipated linkage of posted items to a searchable Web Page
listing (see below).

All postings must have items listed in some kind of alphabetical order - by
author's last name, title, or subject-matter.

The List Owners will supply subscribing dealers with a detailed "Condition
Statement" to insure uniform description.  All listed books will be
"graded", according to this uniform description, by the customary general
tags such as "Good", "Very Good", "Fine", etc. Each of the general tags must
be followed by a full description of faults.

Each dealer's posting must have a Terms of Sale statement which includes the
following information:
1. Means available to customers for ordering: Phone, FAX, and/or e-mail.
2. A mailing address.
3. Ordering terms (Check With Order, Libraries billed, etc.), and acceptable
means of payment (Checks, Credit Cards, etc.)
4. Charges, if any, for domestic and/or international shipment.
5. Statement of applicable sales tax.
5. Returns policy.

All subscribing dealers must offer a 10% trade discount to all other
subscribing dealers on any For Sale item posted to the List.

Any subscribing dealer without e-mail capability may send an ASCII diskette
of For Sale or Wanted items to the List-Owners for posting to the List at a
nominal handling charge.

WANTS:

Want Postings will be limited to one day a week, and will have the same
kinds of restrictions as the Sale Ads - no more than 10 items per posting,
all items on related subjects, and all in some kind of alphabetical order.

Want Postings will be open to any Subscriber - including
subscribing-dealers, collectors, or librarians, but all must abide by the
above format.

WEB PAGE:

A Rare-Books Web Page will supplement the Mailing List.

All subscribing dealers will have their Business Name, address, phone/FAX
number, e-mail address, web page URL, and terms of sale listed on the Web
Page. Professionals references, such as membership in antiquarian
booksellers' organization, will be included, so that prospective buyers may
make inquiries before completing a large transaction.

Eventually, all items posted for Sale on the List will be entered on the Web
Page, together with a sophisticated search-engine and an automatic form to
allow browsers to easily place an order by e-mail with the posting dealer.

It will be the responsibility of subscribing-dealers to notify the List
Owners on a weekly basis of posted items which are no longer available so
they can be deleted from the Web Page listing.
advertising, etc.

ADVERTISING AND PUBLICITY:

A major portion of the funds raised by subscriptions will go into print
advertisements in AB, Biblio Magazine, ALA Journal, etc.  The balance will
compensate the List Owners for the intensive labor of technical maintenance
of the List, "moderation" of postings, and advertising the List throughout
the Internet - on other Mailing Lists and in Usenet groups, as well as
eventual listing of the Web Page on Web index services such as Yahoo and
Webcrawler.

Subscribing-Dealers will also be supplied, at their request, with brochures
publicizing the List for distribution at Antiquarian book Fairs.

All subscribing dealers will be requested to post, on their individual Web
Pages, instructions for subscription to the Mailing List.

The List Owners will invite suggestions for any subscribing-dealer as to
promotion of the Mailing List for the general welfare of all.

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"Charter" Dealer subscriptions, at the introductory rate of $100 for
calendar year 1997, 
are now being solicited. 
For further information about payment by check or credit card, please contact:

Shoshana Edwards
Bree@auldbooks.com

7795 SW Hall Blvd. Beaverton, OR 97008

503-644-7218

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