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BookThink provides resources for online and open shop
book dealers, book collectors, and serious readers.
Resources already in place or scheduled to be added in
the coming months include first edition designations and
issue points for 1,000’s of publishers; detailed and
illustrated book terminology; a moderated book forum;
an extensive library of active and pertinent
book-related links; reviews of books about books; and
tutorials on practical book repair, grading, buying
for resale, selling books online and off, building a
personal collection, and more.
The BookThinker Newsletter
ISSN 1547-9501
#20, 7 June 2004
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BookThinker Update
14 June 2004>>>
Book Buying for the Blind
The Evidence of Things Not Seen
Arrived at any book sales late lately? Instead of
stomping out empty-handed, it might be instructive
stay a few minutes and, paradoxically, learn something
about the books that have already been sold – that’s
right, the ones you can’t see because they aren’t
there. Can’t be done? Well, a trip to Indostan for
an elephant ride might change your mind.
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From the Editor
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Immortal Encyclopædia?
The Remarkable, Lasting Force of Britannica's 11th
It's no secret that some of the best stuff we come across as booksellers, book collectors or readers isn't always the most timely. Some things last and last, and when we "discover" a vintage title that impacts us in shaking, foundational ways, it's a special joy. Typically, my first thought is, "If this book has been around forever, why the hell didn't anybody ever tell me about it?" The very best fiction can do this. Poetry. Philosophy. However, what isn't widely acknowledged is that sometimes long out-of-print reference works, which we think of as perishable, also rock, and rock on, and on. Today's BookThinker looks at several of these.
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BookThink's Premium Content
What's Hot and What's Not in Encyclopedias
As a frequent reader of book forums, I've noticed that encyclopedias often appear, along with microwave cookbooks, on lists of things to avoid purchasing for resale - unless, perhaps, they are still in shrink wrap and at least warm to the touch off the press. In bookselling, however, it seems that no matter what book or grouping of books is tagged with the loser label, there are inevitably exceptions. I frankly don't know if near-legendary, quirky microwave oven inventor Percy L. Spencer ever signed a microwave cookbook, but if he did, you and I know that it has significant value. To scientists and inventors, that is. Not cooks. Encyclopedias, as a group, are populated with far more exceptions than our treasured m.c.'s, so many, in fact, that they frequently reward savvy booksellers with profits in three figures. Today's Premium Content gets specific on what to look for. NOTE: Gold Edition replaced regular Premium Content on August 2, 2004. Learn
how to subscribe.
Plus a new review on Bookshelf
Previous BookThinker Update -
Previous BookThinker Premium Content -
Slumming It In Bookland
Slumlord Profits on Time-Life Books
Time-Life Books, the bookselling equivalent of Reader's Digest Condensed Books? Not quite.
$100's if not $1,000's of dollars in profits await the bookseller who knows which sets to buy
and which to leave alone. We'll show you what's hot, what's warm, and what's not in
BookThink's Premium Content. NOTE: Gold Edition replaced regular Premium Content on August 2, 2004. Learn
how to subscribe.
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