The BookThinker Newsletter ISSN 1547-9501 #113, 28 January 2008

BookThink Update
4 February 2008>>>

Update Announcements

The Kind of Bookseller EBay Now Wants Forces You to Be Is It Such a Terrible Thing? The buzz this week, of course, swirls around the announced changes at eBay. Never before have I seen so many changes in one shot - changes to fees, feedback and more. Predictably, the response has been largely negative, but there's a curious difference this time: Most of these changes play right into the hands of the bookseller BookThink has been urging you to be and in some cases may even result in a net reduction of fees. Can you spell "PowerSeller"? The term will actually mean something now.

The Accidental Antiquarian Becoming an Antiquarian Bookseller Part I: Knowledge Adds Value Surely your success as a bookseller depends to a large extent on your ability to locate and purchase high quality inventory, but to truly advance in this profession, sooner or later you'll need to develop the ability to add value to books. As Accidental Antiquarian Chris Lowenstein explained last month, this ability is what distinguishes antiquarian booksellers from other booksellers. Today she discusses various approaches to learning how to master it.

Gold Edition #46 How To Establish a Trusted Internet Bookselling Presence What makes for success in the current bookselling environment? This Gold Edition issue focuses on one of the most important - establishing trust with buyers and includes Tools for Establishing Trust with Buyers. Purchase now.

From the Editor Important announcements for BookThinker readers.

How To Start A Clicks-and-Bricks Used Bookstore Store Location and Lease Negotiation Part I: Location, Location, Location If you haven't noticed, BookThink has its own bookstore guru in the form of Jill Hendrix, who's been quietly authoring an extraordinarily detailed and useful guide to starting a clicks-and-bricks used bookstore for some months now, "clicks-and-bricks," of course, referring to a bookselling business that operates both on the ground and online. If my count is correct, today's article, which discusses store location and lease negotiation, represents the tenth installment in her series. I highly recommend these articles for online booksellers too.

BookThink's Top 10 on eBay October 2007 Also, Pamela Palmer presents October's Top 10 on eBay. Her introduction: "Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous titles dominated the October non-fiction list, filling half the slots, while Harry Potter took 3 places on the fiction list. The big news, though, came from the Antiquarian & Collectible Top 5 where a 3' 50 lb. heavyweight came in at #1 after garnering 41 bids and $25,655."

BookThink's Quarterly Market Report of Common, Profitable Books Issue #3 Issue #3 of BookThink's Quarterly Market Report of Common, Profitable Books is now available for purchase. Purchase or subscribe now.

Previous BookThinker update-

BookThink Update
21 January 2008>>>

Update Announcements

The Paper Chase for Literary Ephemera Part III: Bookmarks Ephemera Editor Michele Behan returns today with Part III of her series on literary ephemera. The topic today is bookmarks, and if you don't yet know that many of them are collectible, this is as good a time as any to learn - and learn why. Knowledge is power, and power produces profits.

Professor Booknoodle's Scrapbook A Princely Sum: Part I Also, resident curmudgeon, Professor Booknoodle, returns as well - or, rather, returns us to another century to share in a tale of an intriguing book. Look for plenty of twists, turns and harrumphs along the way!