12th October 2009 from Guy Weller (WBM Member)

New WBM software tool released: Picture Proofing & Correcting

The World Book Market (WBM) has now released its new automated picture Proofing/Checking tool to its members, which has generated great enthusiasm amongst many of the latter.

This extremely useful tool permits a user to call for his or her pics stored at the WBM (and hence at many other listing sites like Abebooks etc) to be placed on-screen in blocks of 50 for a scroll-through proofing procedure.

Pics are displayed in a long scroll as thumbnails with a "larger pic" click option. Alongside each picture is placed brief biographic details - Author, Title, Serial Number and Date of Picture Upload.

There is also a "Display Full Listing Details" button alongside each Proof listing which will flash the entire text listing for any single book, where required.

The user can then quickly scroll through all these books+pictures, 50 at a time, and mark the pictures as proofed/ok, after which they will not again re-appear in the proofing process. Pics can be marked ok individually, or globally per page-full of 50.

Pics which are found on this scan NOT to be ok (wrong pic, uncropped pic, upside down or otherwise flawed scan etc) can be checked "Delete" in a box alongside.

At the sign-off for each page any pic so marked "Delete" will have a "dummy .jpg" whited-out rectangle "picture" immediately sent off to ALL that user's listing sites which take pics (Abebooks, Biblio, Alibris, own website etc), using the original serial number/picture filename, with the message displayed inside that dummy .jpg "Picture Temporarily Offline".

This will immediately remove the wrong or faulty pic from all one's sites, and permit the user to upload the correct (or corrected) pic at his or her leisure.

Pics to be proofed can be selected by ALL pics stored, or by those uploaded in the last week, month, 3 months, 6 months, one year etc etc.

Some WBM Members (including me!!) who have used this tool have been surprised at just how many of their all-sites pics such a scroll through and scan have shown to be either completely wrong, or else faulty to the point of minor embarrassment.

In my scroll though and proofing of all my 7000 odd pics (which took me just a couple of hours) I found over 50 at complete fault, and another couple of hundred I decided would benefit (upon inspection) from a re-scan or re-do of the original pic.

1st July 2009 from Guy Weller (WBM Member)

The World Book Market

The World Book Market is a bookseller-owned co-operative of four years' lifespan which offers bookseller-members a wide range of software tools and utilities to assist them in listing and organizing their stock on multiple bookselling sites around the world.

Whilst it began as a "physical bookshop only" group, it has now expanded its membership into a blend of booksellers from both physical bookstore locations and those who sell books purely on-line.

The WBM will continue to operate primarily as a bookseller software-services site, delivering its members (for a monthly fee) a wide range of free-access software utilities.

These include a sophisticated bookseller database package available free to members; the automated onloading of books and book-pictures to multiple sites where booksellers list; automated uploads into Amazon and like sites; and a range of other software tools and utilities which will make listing online at multiple sites considerably easier for most booksellers.

The WBM's public selling site (which comes as part of the membership package) will be a monthly-fee only site, and it will not charge commissions on sales.

Further details and commentary, and the ability to record expressions of interest and other comments or questions by and from interested booksellers, may be found at the Open Forum at the WBM at www.worldbookmarket.com/forum