Zeeba Ville

What's new on the web?

2010-03-01T19:20:00.001-08:00

Have doing a lot of writing lately, a bunch or studying as well. Still looking forward to that big day of working from home. So - what's been up the last few weeks. I've been hanging out a lot at The Keyword Academy, great site. We just started a Hubpages challenge, 50 new hubs with proper backlinking in 45 days. I think I'm up to it - had a good start today writing about cool chairs. Tomorrow's will probably be about tub chairs. The idea is to do the Hubs in groups of 5 similar phrases.
Created two new websites in the past few weeks, one about travelling and the other called The Antique Chair Guide. Having fun with both of those.
Busy - busy - busy. I'll pop by soon with another update.

Corrugated Mailers and Flying Time

2010-01-30T12:04:00.000-08:00

Holy cow - time flies.

Two posts ago I had written about exiting the Rat Race by 10-10-10. That dream was more or less put on the backburner though I did continue with my blogs. Funny thing is that I had completely forgotten that I wrote it until a few minutes ago and I had, in fact, returned to the idea of doing just that late this year. I have just started the Shoemoney System and continued to work on my blogs. They are making some money now - just need to beef it up and keep plowing away. So I'll resume the agenda here.

I had just watched Court's build massive traffic 101. One of the best videos on keyword selection that I had seen. So - I picked a new keyword, Corrugated mailing box (there are a lot of these gems hiding in my bookshop blog). Did what Court mentioned and am now tracking the performance. Within an hour or so I made the first page on Google. Just need to get up to number 1 or 2 so that the Adsense cash follows. I hope to make $20.00/ month on this keyword. Not a fortune but it's a rinse and repeat kind of thing.

new blog - little experiment

2009-07-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

I am trying something new, new to me anyways. For the first time I have purchased a ready-made blog. All the blogs I've had in the past I have made from scratch. I was looking for a time saver and thought that it would be fun to try.

It's all about dogs. I've had a few dogs in the past so at least it's not a foreign topic. Supplying the world with free doggie recipes, health tips and some cool dog products seems like fun. If I make a buck or two it will be a nice bonus.

So if you have a dog why not check it out The Family Dog Blog

What's new? 10-10-10 new retirement date

2009-05-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Zeeba Ville has a new raison d’être.
I have made a goal of retiring from the rat race by 10/10/10. I made an attempt at doing just that back in 2005 with the wild idea of opening a used book store in Montreal. This site was first opened as a way to talk with my patrons from that shop. Here we are in 2009, the shop closed last year, I lost a small fortune but learned a lot. One of the main things that I picked up is that passive income is way better than very active income. The shop was very labour intensive and my family suffered from it. So my new goal involves keeping my 9 to 5 job while building passive income through a variety of websites. I’ll use this platform to keep you all abreast of my activities, see if what I’m trying to do is do-able and provide links to my other projects (both for you to follow the progress of and to help a bit with SEO). I haven’t decided if I should include dollar amounts. Perhaps I will if only to use as personal encouragement. 17 months to replace about $3000 a month in Salary – do-able ?

Here is my list of activities – it will surely evolve.

Zeeba Books – books on or about Montreal & Hockey

The Big Desk – personal blog on all that interests me

The Bookshop Blog – news and opinion on the bookselling world

The Hockey Writers

Hub Pages – short articles on just about anything

Yahoo Store – to be determined, perhaps maritime art ?

And this site Zeeba Ville – to follow all the rest.

A recap on where I've been hiding.

2009-05-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a while hasn't it. I won't go on about why I haven't been posting much, I hate when I see this on other blogs. The fact is that I've posted tons, just not much here. In the post 4 months we've posted about 800 articles on The Hockey Writers, one of the best hockey blogs around. Everything from Pittsburgh's Sydney Crosby to Ovechkin's stick. It's a joy running that site and if you love hockey be sure to check it out.

I've also revamped The Bookshop Blog and have tons of info on Opening a Bookstore. In fact we just had about 6 new writers join us.

And there is The Big Desk, my personal think tank, more like a gold fish bowl but fun none the less. I just posted a comparison of top blog's sidebars.

So there you have it. Tons of posts - just not here.

Great Hockey Site

2009-02-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

Here I go again, bouncing from project to project. Well The Big Desk has been on the back burner since January. I may restart it this week. I've spent the past month starting up a new hockey blog called The Hockey Writers. We have 30 writers posting fresh original content every day on the goings on of the NHL. Wether you want to hear about Sydney Crosby or all about the Colorado Avalanche The Hockey Writers are worth a visit. I'm proud of the site we built and I think you'll like it.

The Big Desk

2008-11-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let you know that I've just started up a new blog called The Big Desk. It is a combination personal blog and Men's Magazine. I hope to pack the pages with travel tips, great recipes, great interviews and websites along with a decent dose of opinion. Hope you enjoy it.

New Blog Design at GPK Gazette

2008-07-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last couple of days redesigned (and changing host providers, db and all) the Greenfield Park Gazette blog. It's been a lot of fun and I'm pretty pleased with the results. In fact I enjoyed working with Wordpress so much that I'd like to offer my services to anybody in the Montreal area that needs a blog set up. It can be for business or personal use. I use some very flexible tools so that whatever your needs might be I can find a great solution. If you've been thinking about it now may be the time. Rates are low as I need to build a portfolio. Give me a call at 450-672-2662. If you want to see some other work I've done then check out my blog on running a bookstore.

Changes - Usually fun but sometimes not

2008-07-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened over the past 6 months. None of it mentioned here as I've kind of let this site slide a bit. Zeebabooks is still the best place for books in Montreal but only for the next few months. We will be closing down the shop and moving to mainly online booksales, with some by-appointment visits. I've been working a lot on a few blogs as well as some ebay sites like Antique Ice Cream Scoops. Have a stable of about 100 sites now. There aren't making me rich but I hope they will provide a better income than the shop, well the websites combined with online sales and maybe some Blog Consulting. We'll see how than all pans out this summer.

Break out MMA fight on CBS

2008-05-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

To be honest I'm a bit surprised to see CBS air in Prime Time what is bound to be a pretty violent event. Mixed Martial Arts is the closest thing we have to a no holds barred street fight.
Robbie Lawler will be going against Scott Smith for the middleweight belt. I'm not a huge fan of MMA but I have seen a few fights and enjoyed them. There is definately something intriguing about a strictly mano a mano contest. There are a few other fights on the card. Check out CBS at 9pm eastern.

Busy on my other blogs

2008-03-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to mention why I haven't been doing many updates here. I may start again and use this for some personal rants as I can't go crazy on the other sites. If you're curious about what they are here's the list:

Vintage Golf Books at www.golfbooks.ca

Montreal Used Books Zeeba Books

New and Used Hockey equipment at www.hockey-equipment.info

Selling Books Online - a bookseller's resource at The Bookshop Blog

News about Greenfield Park at The Greenfield Park Gazette

Yup, I've been a busy boy. And did I mention that I still run a used bookstore full time.

A little Treat - The Conchords

2007-08-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

Stumbled upon these guys on one of my web-speditions..

The Conchords

New Bookseller's blog now up and running.

2007-07-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

BookshopBlog

We have just launched a brand new blog. It's meant for booksellers but should be interesting for all book lovers. We are looking for 5 contributors that are willing to provide at least 1 post a week. In return we will offer a link back to their site within the post as well as a permanent spot on our front page. This blog will be rather aggressively marketed. We expect to get a substantial amount of traffic and offering a large audience for your writing. The posts would need to be concerned with book selling tools/tips or book related news/opinions. If you're interested contact Bruce via email- bruce@zeebabooks.com.

Why do Box Stores Succeed, because that's what you chose.

2007-07-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

I regularly hear folks complaining about Big Box Stores. They say how small local shops are so much more elegant and good for the community. Have you heard this recently, "I like to support local/ family owned businesses." I'm guessing you have. I don't know if I've ever heard somebody say, "I like to support Chain Stores/Franchises." It may not be 'in' to say it but people sure do it, you and I included. Try and remember this though if you really do care about your locally owned businesses, you vote with your wallet not your heart. It's your dollars that dictate what type of stores flourish and those that are forced to close.

Imagined at a Mega-Supermarket near you...
In the dairy section a mother of two bumps into an old friend she hasn't seen in a while. After a brief catch up she casually mentions, "Isn't it a shame that cheese shop down the street closed, it was such a pretty little place. Pass me the Brie please."

2007-07-05T07:53:00.002-07:00

* You can now subscribe to this blog and get updates via email, just add yourself to our list on the right.

I've been reading a ton of stuff on Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing and blogging lately. So much so that it has inspired me to increase our web presence quite a bit. I now run two distinct web sites (and participate in a third) and have started 3 more blogs in addition to this one. All the links for these are just to the side. A few times a day I run across posts that make me think a bit - I usually need a catalyst of some sort. Yesterday it came from a very successful blog called ShoeMoney. He posted an article on Freedom vs. Security - not in the national security sense, just personal decisions.

Here's my take on it.

I'm the type of person who Must have freedom, I can't seem to function well without it. Not sure why that is but stability and security always seems to be equated with boredom/must follow rules. Perhaps it comes from arrogance, thinking (often mistakingly) that I can always do something better than the next guy. My search for freedom is so out of control that I left a very stable, moderately well paying job in order to start my own business. The funny thing is that I never could have dreamed of doing this if I had not married a 'security' type. My wife loves the stability of a steady job, knowing a pay cheque is showing up every second week. What type are you? Feel free to comment below.

Every good story should have some setbacks. We've been exceedingly fortunate to have a new son join the family. My wife is on maternity leave with a reduced income so now we have no freedom or security. I'm working hard to make sure that this is a temporary situation. Will we live the dream of the security and freedom of a self-owned business? Stay tuned to see.

2007-07-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

Went to a certain box store that specializes in books here on the South Shore this morning. Yes sir did I ever get a nice warm and fuzzy, boy am I a valued customer, sir you are important to us feeling. ah hem..

We have a customer that is getting on in age and occasionally asks me to pick something up for her. I don't mind doing this as it helps her out and gives me an excuse to see what's new. I drove the 10 km or so, browsed the shop a bit then picked up the book she wanted and headed for the cash. I was armed with a printout from the website so I knew the item was marked down 34%. Of course the cashier rang it up and asked for full fare. I pulled out my printout and said...but, but, what about the rebate. With a look in her eyes about as empty as my gas tank she tells me 'That's the online price, the sale doesn't apply here.' Yes..I am a valued customer, just not as valued as an anonymous web surfer. At Zeeba Books many of our books are slightly less expensive in our shop. I always thought that if somebody goes out of their way to visit our shop and spend some of their valuable time either speaking with me or perusing our stock then I'd be happy to give then a better deal. It seems that Indigo does not share my thoughts on this.

Have you had any similar experiences?

2007-06-29T11:07:00.001-07:00

Welcome to those who have found their way here from our Newsletter. I hadn't been writing much lately but plan on using it daily, hopefully with a touch of humour, a bit of class and a sprinkling of local info.

Should I be using Google ads on my own e-commerce site and potentially lead customers away from my product? I watched an interesting video on this topic last night as I was wrestling with the question. If a visitor wants to check out our database of books I don't think a little add will dissuade him from browsing especially if he or she lives nearby. Here's a quote paraphrased from Joel Comm the Adsense guru, "If a customer of mine doesn't find what he wants what's the problem with recommending a competitor down the street, as long as he leaves a few coins in the tip jar on the way out?"

2007-06-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

Seems I've been mentioning a lot of Internet, IT related stuff here when my goal was to tell stories about the bookshop. About a year before we opened I came across a blog from a fellow running a little bookshop down south, his name escapes me right now; I always looked forward to his brief tales about the goings on in his shop, daydreaming about the day when I would be him. I plan on continuing writing about all things Internet but will do so on another blog. It should be up and running tomorrow. I also plan on being, not only more prolific (actually less lazy may be another way of saying it) but much more interesting as far as local storytelling goes. So take a peek here soon for the addresses of my two new blogs - All thing web and of course The Habs... that should keep me busy enough.

2007-06-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

Ah the world of Internet Marketing. I've spent the last couple of days reading a ton on Internet Marketing. I already have 2 web territories I'm trying to utilize, Zeeba Books of course and our new GolfBooks.ca site. Since I'm always on the net I couldn't help but come across ideas to generate a little revenue and it seems some of them generate a lot of revenue! So here I go into the fray. I'm primarily using Google's all powerful AdSense program and creating a Squidoo page on Montreal (just getting that started - I'll post a link once it's worth seeing) as well as a Facebook account to help direct/create more traffic. I'll keep you posted on the success of this project.

2007-06-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I've been doing a little more work on our new site GolfBooks.ca
Just added a couple videos of Ben Hogan's Swing.
Our little boy is doing great. He's 3 months old already. I guess it's old stuff for folks that have been parents for a while but seeing new expressions, new sounds almost daily is pretty fun! Here's a nice photo
Overheard at the Legion: My girlfriend's kid, he's 14 right, never in six years have I seen him without a baseball hat on. So he gets a new job mowing lawns and after his first day I see him lying on the couch...with No hat on! I had no idea the kid was blond. I ask him what the deal is with the hat. He says that the boss wants him to wear a company shirt and a company ball cap. "No ^$$*^% way I'm wearing a company hat!" I tell ya my dog is brighter than that kid, and the dog's only 1 year old.

2007-05-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Just started using Facebook. What a neat place. It's a vitual gathering place for friends old and new. Great place to find old classmates/co-workers etc. If you decide to check it out make sure to add Zeebabooks as a friend. You can blog, post notes, sell stuff, check out friends pictures...Baharak showed me a comedy clip that was posted on one of her friend's pages, one of the funniest things I have seen in a while.

2007-05-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

30 new cookbooks in today, high quality in English and French. Also have most of the "People of the ...." series by O'Neal and Gear in hardcover. Also have added more books to our new GolfBooks.ca website.

2007-04-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't posted in a bit. Fatherhood got in the way. Baharak and I had our first child last month! Kasm is his name and he is a joy. Happy healthy...The whole family is doing great.

The store news is also about expansion and like our family, the new addition is small. We will be adding a new Fiction nook. A back room approx. 12 by 8 filled with fiction. This should give us a chance to double just about all of our non-fiction sections and our French section as well.

2007-03-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here's yet another useful tool!
Google has a terrific engine for getting images you may want. Of course you have to click two or three times to get the right size.
While this tool may not be as graceful, it certainly gets to the point. Just insert your search criteria, pick a size and presto- instant full sized images.

Google Image Ripper

** Store news

We just acquired about 75 very nice French books, mainly spiritual and esoteric.
We should be adding a secure online shopping cart to our site later this month.
Our Golf Books site is coming along as well, just a few books listed so far but growing each week.

And last but not least our baby is expected to arrive some time next week!!!!!

2007-02-23T14:23:00.000-08:00

This one caught my eye.
100 best literary opening lines..what's your favorite?
Here's the article..

2007-02-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

It's official, we have a crime fighter in the family. I'm proud to say that my father-in-law (Dr. Ali Ghorbani) was featured in an article by Canada East Online.

Shop news:
We are having a big sale this coming Saturday, Feb 24th. Half price off all of in-store stock.
Our online presence continues to expand. Our book will very shortly be available on Bibliophile Bookbase and on AntiqBook. Our inventory of 6 700 books can know be seen (and purchased) on 23 different websites.

Look for:
In the coming weeks we plan on launching two new internet presences. I'll release the names as soon as possible. One of the sites will sell Golf Books exclusively. If you like reading about the game or any of it's colorful characters then keep an eye out here for the launch of our new site.

2007-01-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

This from Chris Anderson Ted curator:

Paradoxically, one of the biggest reasons for being optimistic is that there are systemic flaws in the reported world view. Certain types of news -- for example dramatic disasters and terrorist actions -- are massively over-reported, others -- such as scientific progress and meaningful statistical surveys of the state of the world -- massively under-reported. Although this leads to major problems such as distortion of rational public policy and a perpetual gnawing fear of apocalypse, it is also reason to be optimistic. Once you realize you're being inadvertently brainwashed to believe things are worse than they are, you can... with a little courage... step out into the sunshine. ... So for example, the publication last year of a carefully researched Human Security Report received little attention. Despite the fact that it had concluded that the numbers of armed conflicts in the world had fallen 40% in little over a decade. And that the number of fatalities per conflict had also fallen. Think about that. The entire news agenda for a decade, received as endless tales of wars, massacres and bombings, actually missed the key point. Things are getting better. If you believe Robert Wright and his NonZero hypothesis, this is part of a very long-term and admittedly volatile trend in which cooperation eventually trumps conflict.

YA! I feel better already.

2006-12-03T12:43:00.000-08:00

I can easily imagine a time in the not too distant future where perhaps once a year or so the Parents will take Junior to see what 'real' books look like. Of course they will have to drive an hour to find the Olde Used Shop. I don't find it overly daunting; I plan on being that shop!
2 stores are closing up in Toronto.

2006-11-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

Hi all, I've been introduced to Democracy and I like it.
http://www.getdemocracy.com
This little gizmo will auto download video shows from the channels you select. I've already tried a recipe downloaded from the Angry Chef and it was terrific. They've just released a new version which I hope clears up some of the memory problems.
Of course we're all about books as well. Check out this Fine Books blog

On a personal note, Baharak was just told that Complete Bedrest for the duration of the pregnancy is needed. 3 and a half months yet to go!

2006-10-31T17:10:00.000-08:00

Interested in knowing what some of the better selling books are? Here's a list of the most expensive signed books sold at ABE books.

2006-10-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to shout out..we're having a Boy! Found out earlier today. My wife and I have been through a lot this past year and couldn't be more thrilled with the way it's winding down. Not only does everything look great with what will be our first child but business at Zeeba Books is coming along nicely as well and to top it off we look forward to moving into a beautiful new home in the next few weeks.

2006-10-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting anecdote from the folks at Americana Exchange. A Great Literary Hoax from England! While you're there check out some of their other articles. Lots of good stuff.

2006-08-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

Ahhh..the frustrations of owning a small business in the first few years. The expression Cash Flow presumes that some cash is flowing. It seems that Cash at best waves to us from a distance, on occaision; often the wave doesn't even come. The crunch seemed to just be easing and our cappuccino machine breaks down - again. 3rd time since Feb. Here's a tip for anyone thinking of adding this to their product line- Get a heavy duty machine. Semi-commercial machines won't cut it. We've gone through 2 already. So the new commercial machine is expected to arrive on Friday and the noose tightens once again. Hopefully this one will last us a few years before getting ill. No sick days!

On a more upbeat note, please join us this Sat. - Sept. 2nd for some free coffee (regular only) and half price on all of our murder/mystery books.

2006-08-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

Not sure if all of these facts are true or not but it makes for an interesting read.

History Facts IN THE 1500'S
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because
the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how
things used to be.

Here are some facts about the1500s:
These are interesting...

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly
bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June.
However, they were starting to smell,
so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.
The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water,
then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children.
Last of all the babies.
By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.
Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water..

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath.
It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other
small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof When it rained it became
slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
Hence the saying .It's raining cats and dogs.
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house..
This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings
could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet
hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came
into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.
He the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would
get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh
(straw) on floor to help keep their footing.
As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you
opened the door, it would all start slipping outside.
A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway.
Hence the saying a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle
that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added
things to the pot.
They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would
eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold
overnight and then start over the next day.
Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.
Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in
the pot
nine days old..

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.
When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.
It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon.
They would cut offa little to share with guests and would all sit around
and
chew the fat..

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content
caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning
death.
This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so,
tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt
bottom of loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top,
or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination
would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.
Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them
for
burial.
They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the
family
would
gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.
Hence the custom of holding a wake

England is old and small and the local folks started running
out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and
would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave.
When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have
scratch
marks on
the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they
would
tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and
up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out
in
the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell;
thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.
And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring !

2006-08-11T14:37:00.000-07:00

Nothing to do with books or our shop but Man...this guy is good.
50 years of dance moves!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8919541964498299964

2006-08-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

And then there were 10. Not a bad start. The World Book Market has invited in our tenth member, Nialle Sylvan from The Haunted Bookshop in Iowa. Now for some more Canadian representation...Hello Vancouver??

There seems to have been quite a few news bits on the demise of the book or perhaps I've just become more sensitive to the issue. Here's a nice article that I think covers the topic well. If articles on book collecting/ selling interests you check out the Americana Exchange- always tons of info.

We just received a few old Aislin books, if your a fan come check themout.

If you'd like to sign up for our Newsletter just go to the main website, there is a small box to fill out at the top.

Don't forget Sept. 2nd....free coffee and 50% off murder/mysteries from 12:00 to 5:00 pm.

2006-08-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

Well our biggest news is a revamped website. It's been in the making for a while and there are still one or two links that need updating but we finally launched the new look late last week. http://www.zeebabooks.com is the address and we are quite proud of it. One thing you might notice is the new search features. We've done a lot of work to optimize the searching and we will soon have online a Wants form for you to let us know what you're looking for.

We had a very nice visit from Tom, his wife Mandy and brother Peter this past weekend. Tom owns Pazzo Books from the Boston area and is a colleague in the World Book Market with us. It was quite refreshing to hear from another seller, reassuring in fact, that we seem to be on the right track.

We are having a sale on Sept. 2nd for our walk-in traffic. All of our murder/mysteries will be 50% off- and free coffee all day on top of that. Hope to see you.

2006-06-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

For those of you looking for more book-related info here are some links from Hugh Hollowell of Midtown Books, Memphis

http://bibliophile.blogs.com/whitlock_bookstore/

http://sarahsbooksusedrare.blogspot.com/

http://www.bigbadbookblog.com/

http://www.themillionsblog.com/

http://jdszazdibooks.blogspot.com/

http://biblioarchy.blogspot.com/

http://foggygates.blogspot.com/

http://www.tjbible.blogspot.com/

http://www.writtenroad.com/

http://www.bibliophilebullpen.com/

Drop Hugh a line and mention Zeeba Books told you about his shop.

2006-06-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

A little expansion at Zeeba Books. We heard the sad news that Slipstream books on Queen Mary was closing its doors on July 1. What's bad for some is good for others. I went straight over to speak with Douglas Barnes about his inventory, feeling somewhat like a vulture picking on a carcass. We struck up a favorable deal for both parties. He gets some cabbage in his pockets, his store gets cleared out without having to lift a single book, and books are heavy(I now understand this truely and deeply), and Zeeba gets a large boost to its stock. We took advantage of the situation and added some more shelving to the shop. The weird thing is that although our shop is small in stature the extra bookcases actualy make it feel a touch larger, go figure.

2006-06-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

Rain Rain go away...far away. Nothing but rain in Montreal this spring. Maybe not the worst thing for a book dealer; no gardening, no hiking, no wandering around downtown...

We heard some bad news yesterday. Slipstream books on Queen Mary is closing down. Hate to see any bookshop close its doors. I'll be visiting with Douglas later today to see how bad business had gotten for him. I may put in an offer for his stock. I think the way retail goes, for used bookshops anyways, it's important to diversify. We had a pretty good day yesterday and barely sold 2 or 3 books. Some customers used the internet, many had a nice cappuccino and a few bought some bulk coffee (Kicking Horse Organic). It seems sometimes when we sell books it's a bonus. Internet sales have been abismal this week though. Kind of like my golf game; when the putter's hot the long balls end up in the woods!

2006-05-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

So I hear Chapters online is doing terrific business.
How can a small business like Zeeba Books compete with these huge companies? I love hearing that their business is doing well 'cause guess what? Some of those books they're selling are mine. Although thay don't specify the dealers, they act as intermediary for used book dealers like Zeeba books. We sell a few at Chapters, a few at Barnes and Noble, a few at Amazon.ca etc... Nothing beats seeing someone from down the street find a great book at our place but adding a pile of Internet sales sure helps to pay the bills.

2006-05-21T13:54:00.000-07:00

Had a very enjoyable day at the shop today. My old friend Dean dropped by, always nice. We are taking off on a 4 day golf trip in a few weeks so we had a little planning session that went something like this. 'Ron is thinking of walking some of the courses I want to drive.' I agreed wholeheartedly(the course are a little hilly!). My Dad popped in the shop, my friends Mina and Diane popped in. Oh...and we sold a few books to. We had an older gentleman pop in for the first time and he practically scolded me because he had walked by here a few times and never knew we sold books here - That I should have done more to inform him. Hummm, the sign out front is a picture of a boy holding a book, there are books displayed in the window and the 1 foot high lettering says ' Zeeba Livres (french for books)...I always get a kick out of visitors telling me I'm not spending enough on advertising, that word of mouth isn't really enough. They tell me this while standing inside my shop :)

Here's a little article from the New York Times with its take on some great fiction.

2006-05-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

I just can't seem to get my head around the idea of constant growth, in particular to the corporate craving of growth. I understand the need to satisfy investors but there has to be a limit. Won't any population become ill if it grows too large? Abe Books just purchased Library Thing. Library Thing is a pretty cool website and Abe used to be a pretty cool collection of used book dealers. Abe has chosen to go the evil empire way, looking more and more like a money hungry, investor feeding machine with little regard for the booksellers that were once the core of its business. We still sell some books on Abe and will continue to do so until it is no longer worth the effort.
Perhaps I should be thanking Abe. They constantly remind me why I chose to be a nice little family shop and leave the corporate world behind.

2006-05-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

Is it worth having a blog if you have nothing to say?
Either I have writer's block or perhaps the dumbness first perceived in high school is finally reaching critical mass.

I'm taking off for a well deserved mini-vacation at the end of this month. Playing Golf for 4 days with some old friends. Why is it that whenever I mention to Ron that I probably won't drink too much as I want to play some good golf (very difficult with a hangover) he just chuckles??

2006-04-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

A few quick tid-bits. We have altered our opening hours. Weekends we now open only at 12:00pm. To be honest, this is being done purely for selfish reasons. It will allow me to live a little, perhaps do some hiking on Sat. mornings. Mondays we will be closing a little earlier in order to streamline our hours making it easy to remember. Tuesday - Friday 8:30am - 8:30pm, Saturday - Monday 12:00pm - 5:00pm.

We have a bunch of Ann Rule books that came in this weekend. If your a fan come and get them. Her books never last too long.

2006-04-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

It was a fairly quiet day at the shop today. Quiet is sometimes a good thing for a bookshop, well for my bookshop. It gives me a chance to put more books 'into the system'. We have a fairly constant supply of books lying around just waiting to get noticed. Noticed meaning either getting put into our database and thus onto the dozen or so Internet sites we sell on (the grandest spot for a Zeeba Book), or priced and shelved, or -insert name of diety here- forbid tossed into the box destined for the thrift shop..and of course a few moldy/torn has-been books find the recycling bin.

Zeeba Books has a new employee. John Goodman will be under the microscope for a few weeks. I'm sure he'll do well. Charlotte will be away most of the summer and we'll be needing some extra help.

Our store name appeared in the Canadian Booksellers Association's magazine under the list of new members. Slowly but surely I'm beginning to feel like a real bookman. Feels Good!

2006-03-22T12:18:00.000-08:00

Well we had a terrific time in Fredericton and a heap of good news for my extended family. Baharak's (my wife for those of you that don't know) father was just offered the position of assistant Dean for the computer-science dept at University of New Brunswick and on the same day her sister was accepted into law school.

Zeeba Books just donated 10 boxes of good books to St. Andrews church for their upcoming spring sale. We are very happy to support the good people there. I did a few small updates to the World Book Market site yesterday. We added a little interview with Jane Smiley as well as links to this blog and Hugh's blog (from Midtown Books - Memphis).

Neat New Books:
2 by Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, beautiful hardcover $12.00
Danny the Champion of the World also a nice hardcover $12.00

...and here's a nice little pic I took of Baharak yesterday.

2006-03-17T07:46:00.000-08:00

Baharak and I are off to Fredericton, New Brunswick this weekend. Spending some time with her family. I always look forward to visiting there. Her parents are super, the food - unbeatable persian cuisine, and of course a visit to the Owl's Nest bookshop. Looking to stock up on our Golf collection. We'll be adding a link specifically to our golf book on our website later today. I'll post some photos in a few days.

2006-03-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

Well it has certainly been a while!
Hugh Hollowell from Midtown Books in Memphis has inspired me to get back at this. His blog is just getting off the ground but already has a crisp cool look to it. I'm still not convinced that anyone but my mother will find this interesting but who knows? The big project that I've been involved with lately is the World Book Market. In fact, I gave it it's name and designed the website. The brains behind the group though is Guy Weller of Mr. Pickwick's Fine Old Books in Australia. He had an idea to find book dealers of a certain standard, with a bit of vision on what the Internet can do for us in the future and who aren't afraid to try and create a new dynamic in bookselling, pull them together and create a new co-operative entity. Well that entity has been born. It has barely begun to crawl but surely will one day lead the pack in modern bookselling services.
We've got 8 members so far, perhaps 10 by this weekend. I can see us reaching 40+ members by the end of the year. So far it's been a blast and I am very much looking forward to it's growth and maturity.
Check out the site and feel free to leave some comments or shoot me an email if you have any questions about the group.

2005-08-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

Quick and easy today's post shall be.
I wanted to pass along what I consider to be other cool blogs.
For the curious inclined Marshall Brain's blog is a must see. He's always writing about fascinating new ideas.
The next is food related, coffee in particular as we are a coffee shop. It's Slashfood. The link is to their coffee section but you can easily get to the rest (just click on the title).
For those in the Greenfield Park, Quebec area here is Les' GPK Historical blog.

Thanks again to Mina at TopFX for the links.

2005-07-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

Geek Stuff, a Wizard and a tip..

Well every one knows about the wizard. Yes sir, Harry Potter is back in action. Early reviews look good. On Amazon people are rating it 4.5 stars out of 5 and of course we have them here at Zeeba Books for 25% of the cover price.

The Geek stuff is an ongoing part of this blog. I'll always be trying to pass along the best of the web. Whenever I see something, cool, usefull or at least interesting I'll let you know. Bookmark me now to get the best new web stuff.
Google Maps - tools
Have you ever gone for a walk or a bike ride and then wondered how far you went? No need to wonder anymore. Try out the Google Pedometer. All you need to do is find your spot on the map, double click a few points and there you go. I now know my daily walk to work is 1.4 kilometers...
If you find Google Maps interesting, and who doesn't be sure to check out the Google Maps Blog for the latest developments.
While I'm writing this I'm listening to Suggs over at Virgin Radio. If you have a pair of speakers plugged into your PC and happen to be surfing the net on Friday or Saturday afternoon head over to Virgin Radio and click on 'The Original' to get an earfull of the best DJ around.
One other website I came across this week is Double Agent. A one stop shop for the funniest/strangest video clips around.

Now my Tip..and it comes from some serious news heard this morning. I'm proud to be part of a community of Book Sellers from all corners of the world. At one of the distant corners there was a horrific traffic acident involving one of our peers. Phil from Leura Books in Australia has been badly injured. Apparently the doctors worked on him yesterday and they are now waiting to see if he has been brain damaged or not. The outpouring of affection for him on the Abebooks book sellers forum tremendous. It seems everybody that met him has a ton of love and respect for him. My point is obvious, things, bad things can happen to any of us at any time. You or your spouse may be simply returning home from a typical day at the office when out of the blue your lives become shattered. I just hope that you can take a second or two out of your day and hug your kids or tell someone how happy you are that they participate in your life.

Enjoy and Appreciate!

2005-06-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

Great wines..
One of the nice features of the digital age is that we can modify our selection of TV channels anytime right through the TV. As we are getting a new business of the ground - talking about our bookstore/Internet/Cafe Zeeba Books of course - I needed a little inspirition, a glimpse of the finer things we may someday enjoy in return for the sacrifices we are making now. So I subscribed to a new channel called Fine Living. It is chalk full of shows like the Thirsty Traveler visiting Tequila, Mexico etc. and The Genuine Article showing some of the finest products around. Tonight I watched a great show called Fine Wine with Andrea Immer. If this is on in your area you should check it out.
I'm hoping Andrea won't mind me letting you know two of her picks for great inexpensive(relatively) wines; especialy since I'm strongly suggesting that you watch her show.
I won't try to describe the wines as I'm rather new at this....
Mondavi - Fume Blanc any recent year, this is a nice barrel aged white.
St. Francis Zinfadel 2000

If you try these out or have any comments let me know..

2005-06-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

I suppose everyone thinks that their Blog will inform/educate and entertain the masses..I hold no such hope. I'll be using this as an exercise in writing, giving people an occaisional glimpse of both life behind the counter of a little Bookshop-Internet-Cafe and things that I happen across on the web or elsewhere that are worthy of sharing. We'll start the whole thing off with a nod of the hat to one of Montreal's finest software developpers Mina Naguib. Mina has set us up as a free Hot Spot via a non-profit group called Ile Sans Fil as well as plying us with books, food and friendship. I had created a blog a few months ago but lost interest. Mina sent me a link to Marshall Brain's blog yesterday. I really enjoyed it and found it rekindled my own interest in writing. So here we are...hope you enjoy the snippets of info, humor and more to be found regularly at Zeeba Ville.