Bookseller Profile

Abebooks' uniqueness is our network of independent booksellers who work with us to provide the most diverse selection of rare, used and out-of-print books on the Internet. Take a moment and meet our member booksellers from around the globe. It is these sellers, with their experience, commitment and love of the used and out-of-print book business who help all our buyers find that treasure they've been looking for.

Blue Heron Books

Blue Heron Books is a used bookstore owned and operated by the mother/daughter team of Janette Dean and Sherri Dean. We threatened to open a bookstore for about three years before we took the plunge. Sherri always loved books and was tired of working in the fast-paced Denver area. Janette was living in a small mountain town looking for something meaningful on which to focus her time. So we gathered our money and books together and opened our store on October 12, 1998.

We are located in Woodland Park, Colorado, about a half-hour outside of Colorado Springs. We have a wonderful view of tree-covered hills (golden Aspen trees in the fall). We also can see Pikes Peak from our shopping center. At close to 9,000 feet, we get snow throughout the winter, but most of the accumulation is in the spring. We seem to be a drive-through town, lots of tourists driving through on their way to camping, skiing, sightseeing. Our busiest time is Memorial Day through Labor Day. But the longer we are here, the more business we do with locals from surrounding areas.

We have 1200 square feet of floor space lined with oak-stained pine bookshelves. Sherri and Janette spent weeks sanding and staining 8-foot boards. Then we spent a long weekend with my husband and Sherri’s friend building and installing all our shelves. We get lots of compliments on them and they make for an attractive store. The other standout of our store is its organization. We decided early on not to have boxes of books lying around. We can find any book we have very easily which makes our customers very happy.

The day we were choosing a name for our store Janette was walking with the dogs and they flushed a Great Blue Heron from a near by creek. We found that the Blue Heron has lots of symbolism attached to it - one being "Jack of all trades." We felt that fit us, as well as the type of store we wanted to create - so we settled on the name of Blue Heron Books.

As "Jack of all trades" indicates, we don’t have any specialty areas in our store. Out of 18,000 books, 2/3 are fiction of all types including a children’s section. The rest are non-fiction of all types. Mystery and Science Fiction are our biggest sellers with Romance a close second. We started selling over ABE last June and have found the experience very satisfying. The hardest part is entering all the data required. But it is great to have orders come in on books we find out of the ordinary.

We have tried selling things in our store besides books and the reception has not been great. So we decided to stick to used books and used books on tape. We do have lots of knick-knacks around, mostly rabbits, which get our customers' attention. We also have lots of pictures of Blue Herons and other nature scenes.

Oscar is our store cat. He is 15 pounds of gray fur, probably part Persian. Oscar greets our customers and follows them around the store. He likes kids and seems to bring out the best in everyone.

We do trade credit, but do not pay cash for books in the store. We visit a lot of flea markets, library sales and garage sales whenever we find them. At a garage sale last summer we found a signed Linda McCartney cook book for $1.00.

About six weeks ago the legendary Texas 7 were arrested here in Woodland Park. The person who turned them in saw their pictures on America’s Most Wanted. They were holding up in a trailer park about 1/4 mile away from our store. After the fact, people remembered seeing the escapees around town and in the supermarket next door to us. The day of the arrest, many stores were closed because two of the men were still on the run. Sherri spent the long day behind the locked store door. It was a relief when all 7 were caught.

Sherri has found that her taste in books has changed over time. For years she loved romance novels but now only reads a few romance authors. But her back ground in both romance and science fiction assist many customers in finding the perfect book. Sherri’s favorite books include Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey, anything by Lois McMaster Bujold, and The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Janette tends to lean more towards mystery and suspense. She especially likes women as the main character, and enjoys J.A. Jance, Sue Grafton, and Nevada Barr.

Two years ago we started a Book Discussion Group. We have around 12 people who faithfully come once a month to discuss the latest selection. In February we read White Oleander by Janet Fitch and our March selection is Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys. One of the reasons our group is so popular is it makes us all read different types of books than we would normally choose.

We are finding our business is improving month by month from walk-ins as well as on the Internet. We enjoy working with books and the different people we meet.

- Sherri & Janette, Blue Heron Books

The views of the author, expressed above, are not necessarily those of the Advanced Book Exchange