Bookseller Thomas Wenck turned a hobby into a profitable business. (Photo: Steve Dinnen) By Steve Dinnen As Thomas Wenck browsed through old books at a flea market, he came across a history of Iowa, written not long after it became a state, and bought it for $15. He soon sold it for $50. Then he bou ght another book that he sold for a profit, and before he knew it, he’d morphed from IT manager to entrepreneurial antiquarian as he set up The Insomniac Book Shop to buy, sell, trade and refurbish old, hard-to-find books. Just in time for Christmas, you could wrap up a vintage copy of “The Catcher in The Rye.” Or “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. Or maybe a hardbound copy of Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road,” the 1957 book that defined the Beat Generation. (Kerouac was staying at a cheap hotel here in town when he wrote that “the prettiest girls in the world live in Des Moines.” Wenck’s wife speculates the hotel was near a beauty college.) Wenck doesn’t deal in ancient books. A copy of the Gutenberg Bible, for example, would fetch tens of millions of dollars at auction today. Mostly he trades in titles from the mid-1800s, including many from Iowa, and specializes in titles from the mid-20th century. The inventory includes hardbounds and paperbacks alike. Mostly fiction. Some great writers, like Bradbury, James Baldwin and Raymond Chandler. Wenck’s biggest sale to date was a first printing of Chandler’s 1939 hard-boiled crime story “The Big Sleep,” complete with the original dust jacket. He dug that out of the closeout bin at a used bookstore and sold it for $2,500. Most of Wenck’s books are far less expensive. He looks for rarity, obviously, as well as first printings, famous authors and even covers by his favorite designer, Roy Kuhlman. Weck sells his wares online and said he has had his best success with Instagram. He also attends book fairs and occasionally shows up at Slow Down Coffee Co. in Highland Park. “I love it there because I get to talk to people,” he said of in-person sales events. He can talk to them about the book, the writer, the cover — the whole backstory. He can trace that love of the written world to his grandmother, who gifted him a set of the World Book Encyclopedia when he was 3 years old. “My grandmother started my collection,” he said. And now he’s willing to share. Look local first: Old Iowa stories can be profitable Wenck was born and raised in Iowa, went to school here, and now buys and sells books here. So it makes sense that he handles books that connect to Iowa. That includes titles by Henry Gregor Felsen, who taught at Drake University in the 1960s and wrote a stack of bestsellers for teenagers before “young adult” novels became its own booming industry. “I keep a stock of the ‘Hot Rod’ books as they sell easily, and I’m proud he lived in Des Moines,” Wenck said of the author whose stories sold more than 8 million copies. Wenck has multiple signed copies of Des Moines native Bill Bryson’s “The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid” and “A Walk in the Woods.” He has also sold a first edition, first printing of “Shoeless Joe,” the book that inspired “The Field of Dreams.” Canadian W.P. Kinsella wrote it after he attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Wenck’s catalog also includes some early editions of “The Bridges of Madison County,” and he sold a first printing vintage paperback of Phil Stong’s “State Fair.” ...read more read less