Special Announcements by Craig Stark 25 August 2025

By Craig Stark

I've made it a sort of a personal assignment this year to take a look at what other booksellers are doing these days. After all, if I have anything of value to say about the state of today's bookselling, especially in a critical sense, it stands a better chance of having some value if I do it in the context of what's going on around me, not how things were years ago. So, with a brief look at the history of our trade in its online iteration beginning in the latter half of the 20th century, I'll dive in. Today's feature article follows.

Also, I want to thank those who have expressed their thoughts about BookThink following the publication of the second 2025 newsletter, also those who have made purchases and helped the ongoing and rising costs of keeping a site like this going. One of those items purchased has been the below booklet.

This is a brilliant distillation of bookselling how-to written by a bookseller who once rocked the trade consistently with breathtaking acquisitions and sales, some of which, believe it or not, occurred on eBay, where deep-pocketed buyers once gathered in measureable numbers but have since mostly departed. What hasn't departed is the durable - trust building - knowledge expressed by Joseph Maraglino. Snag it here. Additionally, if you spend $50 or more in our Store on other items, you'll receive this booklet free of charge.

Click here to putchase: Basic Cataloguing and Collation Primer