The largest issue was the lack of advertising for the Con, both for the dealers (no program guide or any mention on the website of who the registered dealers were or where the room was) and the Con itself which saw maybe a little over 100 people attend was largely unpromoted and little details provided on the website until just days before.   There was also very little communication with the dealers prior to the event (no dealers package) which caused some confusion with set-up times and tables.  The room itself was very small and somewhat off to the side with little signage to direct people.   Also, despite the website saying all the dealer tables were sold, there in fact was only 5-6 dealers and two tables were vacant (one of which we quickly expanded onto).  Sales were therefore minimal with the low traffic (sometimes an hour would pass without a single person in the room) and I think that the more fortunate dealers managed to break even.  This facet of the event could have been manage much better in my opinion. 

On the bright side, Hugo award winning TOR editor David Hartwellmade a surprise visit from Northern New York and we ended up having a great chat on old sci-fi pulps and vintage classics the Friday night.   The invited guest authors and illustrators, while all locals for the most part, were also very congenial and pleasant to chat with when they stopped by between talks.  The Guest of Honour, Marie Bilodeau, was exceptionally friendly and encouraging to both budding authors in attendance and to the jewelry makers whose wares she particularly fancied. 

Overall, while I do have my fair share of grumbles from a dealers perspective, I think that the event was at least a solid starting point to get a regular annual sci-fi convention going again in Ottawa.  I do have to tip my hat to those who organized the event, and hope that they do try and make it an annual event once again.  I believe that with a little more forethought, planning and volunteers the Con could truly grow into something great for Ottawa.  I will certainly keep an eye out for it next year and think of taking a table once again.

We also picked up a couple more copies of Thistle Xpress’ previous book, Ottawa: The Golden Years, which is an illustrated history of Ottawa’s Victorian Years through the Second World War, as seen through decades of ephemera found and cherished by a local collector.  Inside you will find 385 pages containing over 2100 reproduced illustrations of stamps, postcards, currency, advertising, music sheets, tobacco cards, books, magazine covers and more.  Again, here are a few samples from this beautiful collection of reproduced Ottawa epherema.

Either book can be purchased directly from us for $80.00 (just send me an e-mail) or can be found at our booth in the Ottawa Antique Market (1187 Bank St.).

While we have personally settled in for the most part and just await a few final pieces of furniture to finish everything off, the basement still remains a mass of shelving and boxes waiting to be assembled into some semblence of order.  Hence, we will not likely have our online stock up for another week or two, but have been able to restock our booth at the Ottawa Antique Market with some fresh finds and stuff tucked away before the move.

Will try to get some pictures of my new office set-up soon and will being posting regularly again shortly.

A very well produced Letterpress Video of a guy making custom coasters.

A nice collection of short clips of books with fore-edge paintings held by the Boston Public Library.

And of course one of my all time favourite video bios, Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man, of George Whitman, eccentric owner of Shakespeare & Co. in Paris.  Gotta tip your hat to a guy that still cuts his hair with a candle.

While it needs a little cleaning up, it is fully functional and will be put to the test in my new print shop at the new house.  What’s even better, while looking up the history of my newly acquired prize I found this company, Repeat-O-Type,  in the U.S. that still sells the stencils and inks for mimeographs.  And here I was expecting to have to scrounge around for some supplies!

Now off to box-up our ABE stock and personal reference collections…

First off, a quick reminder to all that the Arlington location is now closed and we are in full flight at the Ottawa Antique Market which has been an excellent venue for us so far.   Also, don’t forget our phone number has changed and we can now be reached at 613-302-4718.

Second, we have been boxing furiously (hence the lack of posts) to ship off the excess books that we can’t bring to the Antique Market and pack up the good stuff for storage to ensure the shelves in our booth stay packed for years to come. 

Third, just because we’re moving and downsizing doesn’t mean we’ve stopped buying.  Over the past couple of weeks we’ve acquired a great modern Sci-fi/Fantasy collection in sparkling condition that will be hitting the shelves of the booth shortly.  We’ve also picked up a great collection of vintage paperbacks with plenty of Ace doubles, hard crime, racy covers and a few top knotch hard cover early Sci-fi by some great presses like the Fantasy Press, Gnome Press and Greenberg.

Finally, this mornings Wayzbrunch displayed once again how quickly the Ottawa Press Gang has continued to grow and produce wonderful work from invitations and greating cards to booklets and engraving portfolios.  This was clearly evident by the beautiful presswork passed around and shared by the group this morning.   Plenty of printing on the horizon for the group too as a group joint project is in the works, the OPG Letterpress Gazette (below) had its inaugural issue come off the press, and a number of members have personal projects in the wings.  Will be sure to highlight all the great work the group is doing as they come to fruition.

That’s it for now, but plenty more to come over the next few days…….honestly!!!

For all of our friends and patrons over the years, while the time spent at the shop on Arlington will certainly be a big void to fill, we look forward to seeing you at our new location and we’ll be sure to keep you up to date through our website.  Also feel free to e-mail us at info@bytownbookshop.ca or give us a call at our new number 613-302-4718 should you wish to get in touch.

Hopefully the next post you see will be me sharing all the nifty gifts I received (I was a good boy this year)

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to Everyone!