I've spent most of this afternoon patiently listing items on to eBay. I've been selling books sporadically this way for three or four years. I concentrate on selling modern fiction, first editions and ideally signed by the author. Never going to be my main income stream, but as someone said to me only a few days ago: you have to speculate to accumulate.

There's been a pile of books laying around my flat for months which I've been stepping over daily, promising myself that, yes, tonight, I'll dutifully get them all on the eBay auction block. Words speak louder than actions for me, so nothings happened, other than the dust laying on the books has got thicker.

Could be it's connected to today being day one of a brand spanking new year and the chirp of people everywhere vowing to change, but I plugged my laptop in early and got to work. So, it's been a steady sequence of scan the book dust jacket, author's signature if there is one; background research on the web for those interesting authorial quotes that I like to drop into my sales blurb; cobble together a punchy description of the plot: "...a subtle exploration of the challenges and it has to be said, the sometimes contradictions inherent in friendship. All life's, be they ordinary or extraordinary, are complex..." (got to hook the punters anyhow you can), then faithfully describe the book's condition, warts and all. If I've only learnt one thing from decades in industry, it's that a wart is no more than an ugly duckling, it has a good side, it can be spun: this is an excellent opportunity for either the serious collector or those readers who relish great modern literature".

After all this, it's upload and trust to the market; are they going walk by and stop, or go elsewhere ? Are my blurbs the sticky honey-pots I hope ? I feel more and more like an online marriage broker: come over here, over here, I have the perfect partner for you, faithful, loyal, interesting...