Booksmith Author Cards – a checklist

Over the years, bibliophiles, collectors, fans and others have asked me to put together a checklist of the Booksmith author trading cards. I got around to doing so during the Covid-19 lock-down, when I was stuck at home and in want of a diverting project. This list is based on my incomplete collection of cards, my now fading memories, as well as a handful of old event calendars from the period in which the cards were being issued (1993 – 2008). To confirm dates and details, I also looked up events in the San Francisco Chronicle. I believe this list to be accurate; it supersedes any other lists floating around the web.

The basic layout of the cards has largely remained the same over time, though certain elements (logo, typeface, etc…) have changed. The cards measure 2-1/2″x3-1/2″ and were printed in black-and-white in numbers usually ranging between 200 and 400. The number in the column on the left of this page corresponds to the number printed on the back of the card, except for cards lacking a number, which are so noted. The author name, or in a few instances book title, is that which is printed on the front of the card. Like sports cards, the front of each Booksmith card depicts the author in a publisher supplied photo or illustration, or in a few instances, the cover art of a book. On the back is a short write-up about the author and their work, plus the date and time (though not the year) of their appearance. The phrase “Author Trading Card” is stated on the back of each card, though the word “card” was inadvertently left off #862 through #925.

There are approximately 1080 numbered cards in the series, approximately. Among them, there are a small number of unnumbered cards, most of which were issued early on and had their number left off. (Unnumbered cards are given an assigned number based on their position in the store’s historical record of events.) There are, as well, a few unnumbered cards which were printed for special events. Most cards were issued with a vertical orientation. A smaller number were published with a horizontal orientation. Here are examples of the latter. A similar set is pictured at the end of this page.

horizontal Booksmith author cards

On a few occasions when an author event was cancelled after the cards were printed, a second card with a new number was issued for the rescheduled event. That was the case with British rocker Ray Davies of The Kinks, who appears on cards #108 and #113. The same circumstances occurred with actor Peter Coyote, who appears on cards #293 and #296. In the instance when an event was cancelled before the cards were printed, a card was not issued, though the series number was sometimes retained. Such was the case with Three Dog Night vocalist Chuck Negron, who would have been card #297. Besides Negron, there are only three other assigned numbers which do not have a corresponding card, #545, #966, and #1071.

Notably, only one card, featuring neighborhood journalist Steve Silberman #62, was ever reprinted; the reissued card is numbered #62.1. Additionally, one card, for musician Neil Young #726, was issued as a “limited edition” (numbering only 50 cards), which is so stated on the back of the card. Other anomalies are noted. Aside from the cards listed below, one additional card exists. It depicts publisher Peter Workman, for whom a very few “out-of-series” cards were printed. At one time, Workman was considering publishing a book about the cards; however, the book never came to be.

I took charge of the events program with card #253, featuring science fiction author Robert Silverberg, and ran things through card #1079, film critic David Thompson. Prior to me, the series was run by Lisa Buchanan, an essayist and short story writer. As events coordinators, Lisa and I wrote the copy found on the back of all the cards. I have added occasional details about individual cards & events which fans and collectors may find of interest. L#I#N#K in the details column indicates still extant online documentation related to the event, i.e. media, calendar listings, blogs, video, flickr pics, author archive, etc…. (The word broadside in the details column indicates that besides a card, a limited edition broadside was also issued to mark the event.)

Over the years, the store had the honor of hosting readings with many prize winning authors. Names in BLACK are Pulitzer Prize winners. Names in GREEN are National Book Award winners. Names in ORANGE are National Book Critics Circle Award winners. Names in BLUE are Booker Prize winners. Names in RED are Nobel Prize winners. Underlined names or titles represent events held outside the store (mostly at the nearby Park Branch Library on Page street, or the hall at All Saints Church on Waller). Whether in-store or off-site, the store also put on a handful of events with McSweeney’s, a local publishing concern begun by Dave Eggers. Numbers with an asterisk * represent events associated with McSweeney’s authors and its publications.

Silberman Young Workman cards

Additional information about the cards can be gleamed in “A Far From Complete History of Booksmith Author Cards,” which I wrote for Non-Sport Update card talk. As well, stories behind a few cards are recounted in my article “Rock Stars and Author Trading Cards: Tales from a Decade of Bookstore Events” – which was published on LitHub. (That piece is an excerpt / early draft from a much longer “memoir” of my days as a bookseller, which ran in 6 parts on MEDIUM. Check it out.) A few additional anecdotes are found in my two-part blog, “Memoirs of a silent film loving bookseller, as told through ‘baseball’ cards.”

Thanks to Becca Pascoe who helped me organize the cards, and to Christy Pascoe and Steve Rhodes who supplied details about particular cards and events. Please contact me with any comments, questions, or corrections. Card list and annotations © 2024 by Thomas Gladysz. (This page last updated 4-13-2023).

1	Shann Nix	4-12-1993
2	Jon Carroll
3	Terence McKenna
4	William Wegman	included a screening of Wegman films
5	Raymond Bonner
6	Linda Grant
7	Susan Dunlap
8	Mary Bowen Hall
9	Elizabeth Berg
10	Julie Smith
	Whole Earth Review	3 different unnumbered cards issued 6-17-1993
11	Jim Lewis
12	Mad Monks
13	Mark Childress
14	Cecile Pineda
15	Cydney Chadwick
16	Kathy Acker	8-26-1993
17	Mickey Dolenz
18	Sophy Burnham
19	William T. Vollmann	L#I#N#K
20	Michael Murphy
21	Susan Gordon Lydon
22	Anne Rice	10-8-1993
23	Roger Kahn
24	Howard Rheingold
25	Paul Krassner	unnumbered
26	Bud E. Luv	unnumbered
27	Susie Bright	unnumbered
28	David Schneider	unnumbered
29	Barry Gifford	unnumbered
30	Richard Avedon	unnumbered & without confirmed date on back of card; event took place on 12-3-1993
31	Mark Salzman	2-3-1994
32	Robert Olen Butler
33	Carolyn Chute
34	John Nichols
35	Nathan McCall
36	William T. Vollmann
37	Jane Hirshfield
38	Mark Coovelis
39	Greil Marcus