Special Announcements by Craig Stark 27 February 2012

I'm sure all of you who have been in the bookselling biz for a year or more have compiled a mental list of what I call bread-and-butter books - those books that you not only encounter often but also sell quickly for worthwhile profits. Most of these books won't climb into three figures but many sell in the $30 to $50 range and provide a consistent source of income over time. And many of them also hold their value year after year after year. Today's newsletter features an unusually common bread-and-butter book that I rarely see other booksellers buying. Find out more in our feature article.

Of course, the original premise of BookThink's 50/50 was to provide lists of these bread-and-butter books along with explanatory commentary to booksellers. Though I wrote the reports several years ago, most of the information is surprisingly still viable. In cases where featured books have lost some of their mojo, very often a grouping strategy will bring values right back. Some of you will recall, for example, that some Reader's Digest songbooks (featured in an early 50/50) sold for $40, $50 and more each years ago. Values indeed have come down since, but assembling a lot of four or six or so different songbooks, which can often be had for a buck to two at sales, can easily net you the same amount if not more today.

All 26 50/50 reports are still available, each with 25 different titles, for $5 each here (scroll down), any five reports for $15 here - or buy the entire run of 50/50 and the Gold Edition for $99.99 here.