This is a detailed valuation report for http://adtellisense.com,  Self Help e-Learning Internet Training System « Register for FREE Internet Marketing Tips & Free Membership !
The Valuation / Sales Summary Report
Domain Name:  http://adtellisense.com
Date this valuation report was created:  2010-07-31 01:41:59
Valuation (Product Sale):
Estimated Price if sold at auction:	USD 97680.00
Confidence Level: Chance that the sale price will be plus or minus 10% of the above valuation:	80%
Any valuation figure provided here is to be read in the context of the rest of the report – upon request , Any valuation figure provided here is to be read in the context of the rest of the report on this page. If there is valuable software, database or other asset that is not currently contributing to the income – or will influence the earnings trend upwards – this could increase the price the site reaches at auction. Similarly, if there is an asset that will cease to exist after sale or a license that will revert or end post-sale this could adversely affect the price. If you haven’t provided any of those figures then there may not be relevant notes to put this valuation in better context. Dropship arrangements are preferred by buyers and such sites can expect a higher price than those requiring hands-on offline management. If packing/shipping/customer-service in a particular country are required that depresses the value as it reduces the number of available buyers. Value of stock on hand can often be negotiated with the buyer but don’t expect to recover even cost price or fair market value for stock/equipment.
Background Report
Age:
This site was first registered on:	2009-08-09
Age of site in days:	356
Accounts: *
Gross earnings per month in USD:	10000.00
Total expenses on advertising hosting etc per month (excluding management time) in USD:	1000.00
Total time to run the site per month:	12
Total time to run the site per month:	100**
Level of skill to run the site: (where 1 is no skill and 10 is very specific skill set/interest set)	1
Level of skill to run the site: (where 1 is no skill and 10 is very specific skill set/interest set)	5**
Total estimated cost of management time per month:	120.00
Net profit per month:	8880.00
How long at this level of earnings (in months):	12
Alexa:
This is the site’s Alexa rank:	2585364
This is the Alexa graph showing the site’s performance over the last six months (what?):
Compete:
Compete discloses this information about the site:
Unavailable
Backlinks:
Yahoo shows this number of links to this site, inclulding links to internal pages: All Results	16
Of those, this many are links to the home page: All Results	0
And this many are links to the internal pages:	16
This is the number of links from .edu and .gov sites: All Results	0
Traffic
Number of unique monthly visitors:	20*
Number of unique monthly visitors:	1000**
Number of members/forum members (if applicable):	20*
Number of members/forum members (if applicable):	1000**
Number of subscribers to email (if applicable):	50*
Number of subscribers to email (if applicable):	1000**
Page Rank:
The Page Rank of the home page is: For PR 5 & 6 sites earning less than $100 the value is a multiple of earnings that is usually considerably higher than indicated here. It can exceed USD 900000 for your site. The rules are a lot different for high PR sites as there is an element of SEO benefit that users believe they can drive to their other online properties via linking from a high PR site. This tool may not provide an accurate indicator of achievable price.	1 / 10
Other pages on the site with PR include this list:
Unavailable
Number of indexed pages in Google: Get Other Information From Google- Adtellisense Web Front Digital Products Business Incl. in this offer	20
Technorati:
The site’s blog reactions in technorati is:	0
DMOZ:
It has this many listings in DMOZ:	5
Wikipedia:
This site has this many entries in Wikipedia:	5

* Figures based on data provided, they may not be from the owner of the site
** Default values used because of absence of user input

Contact details: (Our Privacy Policy)  
I want to sell this site, please contact me: Email: louislukechen@live.com
Phone number: 6598804570



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Why spend hours search for something when we have already done the hard work for you! Authors Library The Authors Library is a place where you can find all the software, training and eBooks you could want in one convenient place. Simply use the navigation bar to the left or our convenient Google search bar above. Product of the Month: Professional Video Lighting Making videos just a few years ago was a very expensive and specialist trade. Today you can set up a home video studio for under two thousand dollars and output videos of very high quality. Not only that you can then burn them to a DVD, print directly onto the DVD and create your own multimedia production house for next to nothing using the new Canon Pixma printers. The key to good productions is lighting. In this special and exclusive report we cover how to make your own professional video lighting for around $200.00. Sure you can go get some spotlights from the local lighting shop however the heat they generate will have you melting in front of the camera in a few short minutes. This lighting system will allow you to film all day in the cool and if you also follow our design to make the whole system portable then you can use them for all sorts of other projects. Included in the Report: We also discuss blue and green screens, how to plan your productions and also edit them. There is an extensive section on streaming video and we test the top ten public video sites. Professional Lighting  Report Contents. Introduction to video. (Page 3) Step by Step instructions (Page 4) Getting all the pieces (Page 5) Assembly (Page Hard Mounting (Page 11) Making it portable (Page 12) Summary (Page 15) Green and Blue Screens (Page 16) 7 Tips for Making a Successful Video Production (Page 17)Beginner’s Guide to Video Editing (Page 21) Streaming Video (Page 23) Resources (Page 42) About the author (Page 43) Bonus feature: Making Your Own Low Cost Backdrops, Bluescreens and Greenscreens Do you want to know what it will cost you to get this incredible money making information, information that will blast your traffic through the roof? $7.00 Yes, for the price of a fast food dinner you will have all of the information you need to jump full force into PROFESSIONAL VIDEO PRODUCTION. Why $7.00? I’m only charging $7.00 for this report, and not giving this report away, for 3 reasons. $7.00 puts the report within reach of the vast majority of people. It’s not too expensive for even the humblest beginning online businessperson. Anyone who’s not serious enough about video production to invest $7.00 into this report isn’t going to take the time to use the methods laid out in the report anyway. Anyone who is serious enough to put down the price of a fast food dinner and buy this report has the opportunity to sell the report to others and get the FULL PRICE of every copy they sell directly in their own PayPal account immediately. More details on how to do that are in the report. So if you’re serious about video production, click the “Buy Now” button below. If you need to justify the expense, skip going to McDonald’s for dinner once this week and it’s paid for. Get Your Copy Now For Only $7.00 Secure Payments Made Through PayPal P.S. Seriously, for just $7.00 I’ll teach you how to make your own professional video lighting system and also provide some great information on editing and streaming your new videos. How can you pass on that? P.P.S. If the report isn’t enough, remember, after buying you can turn around and resell the report to your list (or with a link on your website). In 20 minutes you can make that $7.00 back times 10, 100, or even 1000! You get the FULL $7.00 directly to your PayPal account for every sale, the instant it’s made.



Tips For Choosing Automated Forex Trading Systems

Automated Forex trading system software is on the rise.  Those who are interested in investing in the foreign currency exchange, but are relatively newcomers in the industry, are thinking of getting some help through the automated trading system.  This kind of technology would enable you to earn profits with more flexibility and diversified trading.

You just have to type in any search engine over the internet the word automated Forex trading and you would get a lot of results.  There are companies promoting their system software to get more profits than the others.  But, how sure are we of these claims?

There are several things that you could do to make sure that the automated Forex trading program that you have would be the one suitable for your needs.

• When choosing your trading system, make sure that you are software would cover your trading needs.  There are systems that could cover multiple currencies and other brokerage and trading activities.

• Make sure that the software has the capability of analyzing the market. You can check customer comments about the software.  When checking the software, look for the facts and not for the opinions.  You would need to know what you can and cannot do.  Remember that the a product which has not done any good in the past would take time to improve.

• Reliability is important.  When looking for an automated Forex trading system, make sure that they have backup systems.  Aside from that, Forex trade is a 24 hours a day and a 7 days a week job, so you would need a system that works throughout those hours.

• Your automated Forex trading system should also be safe.  Your trading and personal data should be guarded by Internet- based system that could encrypt your data for protection.  This would also make sure that your software and computer are free from any viruses that could attack the computer’s memory.

• You should be able to customize your automated Forex trading system.  You would like to have a software and system that would be able to fit your trading strategy.

• You can also check the other features offered with the automated Forex trading system.  Some would include multilingual support, integration with existing Web applications and sub-administration.  Sub-admiistration allows more than one brokers to be on one server.

• Choose a system that is easy for you to understand.  It should be user-friendly, easy-to-install and have tutorials that can assist you whenever you would encounter software difficulties.

• Avoid automated Forex trading system that have longer losing periods or bigger drawdowns.

• When picking out a Forex trading system, make sure that they have money-back guarantees.  There are some programs that are easy to operate and works with demo accounts but once used in an actual or real account , it experiences a lot of problems and issues.

• Do not overspend.  Do not buy an automated account that’s very expensive or something that you cannot afford.  If you use an expensive system but do not have enough money to pay for it, then your account may lose its future profit.

However, even if you are using an automated Forex trading system that fits or meets all the requirement this still does not assure you of your magical success.  Of course, it would still need money management skills and other trading skills as well.  But with a great deal of patience and learning from experiences, you would eventually be a successful Forex trader.

YOU CAN FIND MORE SECRETS TO FOREX TRADING AND LEARN HOW THE EXPERTS ARE MAKING TONS OF PROFIT FROM OUR EBOOKS:

Not only am I going to show you step-by-step how to make $100,000 each year with your own business on the Internet I’m going to share with you exactly how I do it!

Secrets of Making $100,000 / Year With Used Books

Now, you can copy exactly what I’m doing- dealing in out-of-print and rare books- or you can use my system to start selling almost any ‘collectible’ item over the Internet.

You see the Internet is made up of thousands of tiny niche markets. Each of these niche’s have specific ways of communicating with each other.

One of the most dynamic markets on the Internet right now is for books and music.

The “New” Book Market

To say that there are dynamic changes taking place in the rare and collectible book market is an understatement.

At one time the ‘market’ for rare and collectible books consisted of a few hundred well known and highly respected rare book dealers and collectors who slowly and laboriously collected books in their specialty. It wasn’t too long ago that collectors wanted ‘depth’- collecting every book and piece of ephemera by a particular author or within a particular genre. A collector searching for a particular book gathered dealers catalogs, visited shops in remote corners of the world hoping to come across the book they wanted.

Collecting was a “gentleman’s” game. Dealers carefully cultivated their customers over years, helping them select books that added depth to their collections. Dealers relied on word-of-mouth and reputation to build their business. Dealers, for the most part, ‘specialized’. Book collecting was more than a hobby, it was an obsession to some.

They never envisioned that with a single click of a computer they could access the catalogs of thousands of rare and collectible book dealers and choose among hundreds of thousands of books in every edition.

Where once it may have taken years to find a book wanted by a collector, now takes minutes. Yes, the market is changing because of the Internet.

The Internet has added liquidity to the rare and collectible book market. And liquidity is very important for any market. All it means is that, when you’re ready to sell there is a buyer, ready willing and able to buy your offering.

The Internet has also added the element of transactional speed. People are buying and selling books at a rate of speed that seems incredible by standards just a few years ago. Thousands of books are being traded daily.

On just one Internet site there are over 2,500 transactions taking place every day. And there are dozen’s of sites that buy and sell rare and collectible books.

Why books?

Why deal in books rather than other collectible items such as figurines or art or pottery?

Books have a special place in the history of the human race. They record the history, thoughts, feelings, views, philosophy, theology and dreams and imaginings of men and women who lived before us and who live with us.

Books have shaped the way we think, live our lives and have formed the backbone of governments and world religions.

The fact that books have a special place in our lives make them, I think, more than ‘collectible items’. They are an investment in the past and the future of the entire human race. Man has separated himself from animals in his ability to reason, to think and to record those thoughts in books for each generation to read.

Have you ever read the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury? Or maybe you saw the movie? If you haven’t read the book or watched the movie you should. The highest function of which a person is capable is “Thinking”- and if you take that away, there isn’t much left is what that movie was all about. Books jump start our thinking, challenge us and help us.

So what makes books valuable? Why should someone pay $100,000 or more for just a book? These are the questions I asked my self before I got involved in this wonderful business.

Did you know that, of all the collecting fields, only one has a disease named after it? “Bibliomania” is a disease. Literally, a bibliomaniac is someone who is “mad for books”.

By the way, for the purpose of this Tool Kit, when I’m speaking of “books” I am talking exclusively about “hard cover” books and NOT paperbacks (certain paperbacks are collectible as well, but very few of them have reached the value of their hard cover cousins).

And, I was as astounded, as you might be right now, to learn that used and out-of-print books are valuable and some are even super-valuable.

Take for example a first printing of “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland”- today worth about $725,000. Why should a simple child’s book be worth so much money? Because it’s “collectible”? Because it’s old? Because it’s a children’s book? The answer is simple. And it took me sometime to accept the simplicity of it, but here it is:

“Certain books are valuable because someone wants it and is willing and able to pay the price to own it“.

That’s it.

Collectors come in all shapes, sizes and interests and they are all over the world. Demand is huge and you’ll be surprised at the rate at which used books will sell. That doesn’t mean there aren’t slow times but books move very fast into the hands that want them.

The key is they want them. Someone told me once that you can never make any money selling something that people need- you only can make money selling things that people want. And it’s 100% true. I talk about this in the section on marketing, but the point here is that the market for used, OP and rare books is voracious and I don’t see it letting up. In fact, I believe it will get larger as baby boomers have more leisure time (and money) and begin thinking about and accumulating books written in the ‘good ‘ol days’- before the year 2000.

The Internet has completely changed the way used, OP and collectible books are bought and sold.  Some of the electronic lists I’ve posted books to I’ve gotten responses of 80%- so for every 10 books listed I have sold 8. That’s a pretty good response. The more remarkable thing about that is that I have made substantial profits on the books sold- profits sometimes in excess of 724 times what I paid for the book! Tell me any other business where the profit margins are that high? In on-line auctions (like those held on Ebay) I’ve sold closer to 95% of all the listings I’ve put up. In fact, if you’re so inclined you could work the auctions almost exclusively and make a very good living.

This system reveals all the secrets I use, I hold nothing back. At one time I thought that I would never tell anyone about what I was doing because I didn’t want to ruin the opportunity for myself. But now that I have been doing this for many, many years I realize the market is much bigger than I am and that helping you in no way hurts me. The market is just too big, and it’s global and it really doesn’t care what I think- it just keeps moving forward. And I’m glad it does because that means there is almost always a market for my books.

I’ve received orders from nearly every state in the US as well as orders from Japan and Malaysia and Singapore and England and Norway and Australia and more. I’ve posted books on a Internet newsgroup and received inquiries from all over the world.

Everyone is interested in buying, selling and collecting used, OP and rare books. Here’s a very valuable suggestion: If you can translate your book descriptions or have them translated into German or French or Japanese you will make a lot more sales.

Foreign collectors of American literature are plentiful and lurk (watch without participating by posting responses) newsgroups and electronic mailing lists looking for books. You will certainly increase your sales if you can provide this service to overseas collectors and dealers.

Let’s dissect the statement I made earlier: “Certain books are valuable because someone wants it and is willing and able to pay the price to own it“. We will be able to see why certain books are valuable and others are not and then how we can profit from this information.

“CERTAIN BOOKS”

It should be obvious that not all used books are valuable. If all used books were valuable there would be no need for this manual, it would be common knowledge and the secrets you’re learning here would be unnecessary. But the fact is these are, in fact, “secrets”.

Very few people know how to identify valuable books at a first glance. In fact 98% of the general population walk by books that could easily put $100 to $1,000 in their pocket with no work at all!

I bet that I have walked past books that were worth $1,000′s of dollars prior to getting into this business. And you have done the same. But not anymore.

All you need to know is how to spot the secret differences that makes certain books valuable.  So what are these “Certain books”- what makes them different than other used books?

As a general rule the “first edition” or the very “first printing” of a book is more valuable than later editions. And the “first issue” or printing of a first edition is more valuable yet.

A “first issue” is the same as the first printing of the book in that edition. Many times a book that is a first issue contains errors: Mistakes in pagination or typesetting. These are actually more valuable to a collector.

In most cases, the “second printing” of a book is nearly worthless- BUT… there are always exceptions!

For example, the “second edition” of the Book of Mormon is more valuable than the first edition. Why? Because the revisions to the first edition were so extensive that the second edition is considered THE definitive and authoritative edition- and more collectible.

There are many other examples. But as a general rule, the “first edition”, “first issue” or “first printing” of a book is more valuable than the second edition, second issue or second printing.

How do you know if a book is a ‘first’ or ‘second’ printing or later? Will discuss it all in detail but for now let’s say that in most cases there is a statement made by the publisher on the copyright page of a book that tells which printing or which edition it is.

There is another “factor” affecting a book’s value that is just as important as the edition of a book. That factor is the book’s “condition”.

How Condition Makes A Book Valuable

The condition of a book is critical to its value. A book that has been recently published and has poorly treated and has tears to its dustjacket or stains on the boards or pages is warped or sunned so badly that the printing of the book has faded all reduce value.

But condition is relative. A book printed over 100 years ago can have some “spots” and even a  little ‘warp’ to its boards and still retain 99% of it’s value. A book with these same faults that was printed 3 years ago will not be so easily forgiven by the majority of collectors.  Collectors want pristine copies. They will pay a premium for better copies and deduct value from copies that are less than perfect.

A factor of ‘condition’ is whether or not the “dustjacket” or paper cover of a hard cover book is present or not. If the book is a “first edition” and it was originally sold to the public with a dustjacket on it, but the dustjacket is missing then the book is not as “valuable” as it would be with the original dustjacket present. And sometimes the difference in value is dramatic.

To give you an example, some years ago I purchased a first edition of Issac Asimov’s first book, “I Robot” for 50 cents at a local yard sale. The book did not have a dustjacket but was in mint condition. I was only able to sell it for about $110 but… if it had the original dustjacket on it and it was in similar condition as the rest of the book I could have easily sold it for $1,300 or more.

Used books printed after 1900 without a dust jacket are not generally collectable unless they were issued and presented to the public for sale without one in their original state. And that does happen. Publishers will sometimes print and sell books without a dustjacket, but it does not happen very often.

And used books printed with dustjackets before 1900 are usually valuable as well because it is rare that the dustjacket of a book would survive after all these years!

THE IMPORTANCE OF BOOK CONDITION

To say that condition is important to collectors is probably an understatement as mentioned earlier. When considering the addition of a book to your inventory- you must consider the condition of the book.

What constitutes a very good copy or a fine copy?

Defining categories of condition is somewhat subjective- it all depends! Applying the categories to rate a specific book is even more subjective. When defining book condition you should begin to think in terms  such as “fair”, “binding copy”, “reading copy”, “good”, “very good” and “fine”.

Traditionally, book condition relates to the age of the book. Something like being on a sliding scale.

Some types of books are much more difficult to find in “Fine” condition. But it’s a relative term. A book printed in 1970 should be free from small tears, rips, stains, etc. to be considered to have any value.

A first edition printed in 1900 could be in “Fine” condition even with some signs of wear. Again, it’s all relative. But the better the condition the more valuable it is and the more desirable it is to a collector.

If you decide to specialize in 19th and 18th century children’s books, for example, you may have difficulty finding fine copies and may have to settle for very good copies of the more common titles and good copies of the scarcer titles.

An older book, say a 19th century or earlier edition, slightly more signs of usage are tolerated. Still, a well-cared-for, fresh looking book with very minor rubbing, very minor fading of cloth or color of boards, but no cracked hinges, a few specks of foxing, nothing missing – no missing endpaper, half-title or spine labels is the most desirable.

A very good copy can be ex-library with library markings, but with few exceptions the ex-library copy would not be a desirable book to add to your inventory except for the value of the dustjacket if its in tact.

HOW TO DESCRIBE BOOKS ACCURATELY SO THEY SELL INSTANTLY

When you’re offering a book to me or any collector or dealer be sure to be accurate in your description of a book.

If the dealer or collector receives the book and it not what you have described as far as condition, that dealer or collector will probably never buy anything from you again. So, be as accurate a possible and if you’re in doubt as to how to describe the condition seek help from an experienced dealer in your area until you are able to do it on your own. Most dealers are more than willing to share their knowledge with those just beginning to learn the business, if you are sincere and don’t take too much of their time.

You want to be able to quickly and accurately provide a description about any book in your inventory to a potential collector on the Internet or to another dealer. This is the heart of the offer. In many cases the decision of the dealer or collector is based solely on the description you provide. Below are my interpretations of what constitutes the various conditions of used, OP and rare books:

Fair — a book with a lot of use and wear. It generally has multiple problems and defects. Unless the book is scarce or rare it probably should not be added to your inventory.

A fair copy will have one or more of the following problems:

1. Moderate to heavy water stains,
2. Excessive staining or foxing (little brown rust stains) in the text or endpapers,
3. A tattered cloth or very scuffed and rubbed leather binding with additional problems such as underlining or scribbling in the text,
4. Missing endpapers,
5. Both hinges cracked and starting to separate from the boards,
6. Heavy dog-earring of page corners or wrinkled pages due to excessive moisture,
7. In general only a step above a reading copy and not a desirable copy unless you value the content (which few collectors do) more than condition.

Binding copy — the characteristics of a binding copy is a copy in need of a replacement backstrip or spine.

The book should be in very good condition otherwise – the covers in very good condition in the case of need for new backstrip. The text portion of the book should be in clean, very good condition in both cases.

Incidentally, the rule of thumb on getting a book rebound is that it should be worth three times the cost of binding.

Reading copy — a copy in poor condition and very similar in value to a binding copy. The covers are usually excessively worn and/or abuse has occurred but it does not warrant rebinding and is simply useful for the content it contains. Sometimes referred to as a “working copy”.

For many who handle fine books, however, this level of description touches on the physical characteristics of a book. Understanding the more detailed nature of a book’s make-up allows any two people holding copies of what looks like the very same book to distinguish their copies from one another – if such differences exist. Bibliographic description gives collectors and dealers an additional tool to see how a book is arranged and to identify variant editions or states.

Good (G) — either a 20th century or an earlier book showing average use and wear, but not in need of a replacement binding, not all tattered & torn, not with moderate to heavy damp staining, basically still intact but worn. The spine and extremities can show minor chipping, corners can all be bumped.

In the case of an earlier book a free endpaper, or other blank page such as a flyleaf, could be missing, a hinge can be cracked (the book should not be in need of recasing – with the covers barely attached). There can be moderate to heavy foxing in earlier books, a good copy should be a book that has seen average/considerable use.

Most dealers will rarely inventory books in good condition.

Very Good (VG)– a book published after 1900 should show only minor rubbing at book extremities such as corners or spine, possibly very minor soil or very minor spots on covers. Other exceptions are possibly a bumped corner but no fraying of spine extremities, no cracked hinges, no foxing – nothing missing – no missing endpapers – essentially just a little more evidence of use than a fine copy.

If 1900 or earlier, minor rubbing of extremities is expected, no chipping (missing material) at top or bottom of spine, no signs of major fraying of cloth, no cracked hinges or cracked joints, possibly minor spots of soil or stain and occasional foxing is expected – nothing should be missing, no missing endpaper or half-title. Generally books in very good condition are collectable and sell well. Your description should be accurate, revealing all the flaws of the copy and the price should reflect the severity of the flaws.

Fine (F)– If a book published after 1900, the condition should be almost “like new” with only very, very minor signs of use, no noticeable wear or rubbing, no fading of the spine, no dog-eared pages, possibly lacking the fresh or crisp look of a brand new book and intact, with nothing missing – no missing endpapers and if issued with a dust jacket, the jacket must be separately described with any flaws noted.

If an older book, published before 1900 slightly more signs of usage are tolerated, but the books should be still a well-cared-for, fresh looking book: very minor rubbing; very minor fading of cloth or color of boards; but no cracked hinges, a few specks of foxing, nothing missing – no missing endpaper, half-title or spine labels.

In both the 20th century and the earlier book, there should not be any library markings (public or institutional), however there may be a bookplate from a private collector.

Fine books are clean, bright with no or very little spots, stains, noticeable wear, cuts, foxing (rust stains) or missing part or whole pages. When a book is better than very good but not quite fine (in the case of a 19th century book perhaps a little too much rubbing on the cloth) use the “VG to Fine” designation.

In most cases books are returnable for a refund, if purchased from a dealer, when they are not as described, and you should use that policy as well if you expect to stay in business in the long term. Most refund not only the purchase price but postage as well.

As a beginning book dealer you should strive to deal in books of very good to fine condition. There may be some bargains to be had among the very worn books, but you should probably avoid them unless you know the book is very scarce or rare as mentioned earlier. The reason should be obvious by now: they just won’t sell.

Most dealers grade books with two abbreviations as in F/VG. The first half of the designation would indicate the condition of the boards and the second half of the designation would indicate the condition of the dustjacket. In this case the book would be in Fine condition while the dust jacket would be Very Good.

My expectations for this book is to not have any missing pages, owner inscriptions, book plates, library markings, or open tears. This book must be structurally sound and pleasing to the eye. The jacket and book should be bright and clean.

“VG” differs from a “Fine” in that tears in the jacket or pages are larger and the book shows more wear. The binding could be slightly loose but this book would still be free of missing pages and major defects.

A book in “VG-“ (very good minus) condition: this book is free of major defects such as missing pages but has evidence of substantial wear. There could be small tears in the fabric of the book. These books may have evidence of slight foxing or be lightly browned on the edges.

Books that have obviously been in a public library should additionally be described as “ex-library” or “X-LIB” or “ex-lib”.  But as I have already mentioned these books have little collectable value and should not be purchased for inventory unless its content is valuable to a specific market you’ve identified. The only exception to this rule is if the dustjacket was VG or better condition and is easily removed from the book and could be sold as a “clean dustjacket”.

On Dust Jackets

Take care of that dust jacket! In the case of modern books, which is to say virtually anything in the late 19th or 20^th century, the value of the dust jacket to a collector may actually be many times the value of the same book without a jacket. While three times the price is not unusual, for many books the ratio can go as high as ten times or more. As with the first editions themselves, condition is the major factor.

To give you an example, I searched the current (November, 1998) records at Bibliofind for first editions of Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. On that list, a first edition, represented as “good” could be bought for as little as $7.95, though the going price was more like $25 – $30 for nice copies… without dust jackets. For copies with 2nd state dust jackets, that is, not the very first issue, the prices jumped to closer to $100 for copies described as “good” with an overall range of $35 – $350. But for copies with the first state dust jacket, with the exception of one “in tatters,” the range was $100 – $350, with the majority of the better looking ones at over $200, and many at over $300.

More on Book Descriptions

AB Bookman is a highly respected periodical in the used, OP and rare book business. They have been operating since 1948. The Internet caused a decline in magazine sales and they have gone out of business. The issues of the magazine, if you could ever find them for sale (they are a closely guarded resource of genuine rare book dealers) would be worth every penny you could spare to buy them

Below is AB Bookman’s guide to describing collectible books:

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AB Bookman’s Guide To Describing Condition :

A thriving antiquarian book trade is largely dependent on the effectiveness of catalogue and mail-order bookselling. Transactions by mail are possible as long as buyer and seller recognize the importance of accuracy in describing the condition of the books offered for sale.

Terms used to describe condition of books are as varied and numerous as the creativity and imagination of bookmen can produce. When confusion reigns over descriptions by advertisers or ‘quoters’, dissatisfaction is the inevitable result. In an effort to promote agreement between buyer and seller in the descriptions used for the condition of books, AB first proposed in 1949 a set of terms that could serve as a standard in catalogue and mail-order transactions.

A revised list of terms used in describing books follows as a suggested guide and reference for all book people:

1. ”As New” is to be used only when the book is in the same immaculate condition in which it was published. There can be no defects, no missing pages, no library stamps, etc., and the dustjacket  (if it was issued with one) must be perfect, without any tears. (The term As New is preferred over the alternative term Mint to describe a copy that is perfect in every respect, including  jacket.)

2. “Fine” approaches the condition of As New, but without being crisp. For the use of the term Fine  there must also be no defects, etc., and if the jacket has a small tear, or other defect, or looks worn, this should be noted.

3. “Very Good” can describe a used book that does show some small signs of wear – but no tears  on either binding or paper. Any defects must be noted.

4. “Good” describes the average used and worn book that has all pages or leaves present. Any defects must be noted.

5. “Fair” is a worn book that has complete text pages (including those with maps or plates) but may lack endpapers, half-title, etc. (which must be noted). Binding, jacket (if any), etc. may also be worn. All defects must be noted.

6. “Poor” describes a book that is sufficiently worn that its only merit is as a Reading Copy because it does have the complete text, which must be legible. Any missing maps or plates should still be noted. This copy may be soiled, scuffed, stained or spotted and may have loose joints, hinges, pages, etc.

7. “Ex-library” copies must always be designated as such no matter what the condition of the book.

8. “Book Club” editions must always be noted as such no matter what the condition of the book.

9. “Binding Copy” describes a book in which the pages or leaves are perfect but the binding is very bad, loose, off, or nonexistent.

In all cases, the lack of a dustjacket should be noted if the book was issued with one. These terms may be arbitrary, but whatever terms are employed, they may be useless or misleading unless both buyer and seller agree on what they mean in actually describing the book.

When in doubt, describe the book exactly as it is, as to physical condition, textual reading, and edition.  Always bear in mind that a bookseller’s reputation and credibility are his most valuable assets, and accurate description preserves that credibility.

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FREQUENTLY QUESTIONS REGARDING RARE AND IMPORTANT BOOKS

What makes a book rare and valuable?

Over the past 500 years, millions and millions of books, pamphlets, magazines and newspapers have come off printing presses in the US and Europe. In the final analysis, the most essential factor is the book’s intrinsic importance, for only books with some acknowledged importance, printed in limited quantities will have a demand that creates market value.

What makes a book important?
The topics books cover are infinite in variety. The books that are most sought after are the significant editions of major works in the arts and sciences.

Books may have added interest if the text was originally suppressed or little acknowledged in its own day, with the result that few copies survive today. A book also can have physical characteristics that lend importance – a decorative binding, an unusual dust jacket design, first use of a new printing process, an autograph or inscription.

Where are rare books found?
We touched on this previously but in general because books are portable they turn up everywhere, from well-ordered private libraries to attics, basements, and barns.

Books found in out-of- the-way places, however, often show signs of neglect- so be careful.

Are all old books rare?

The age of a book has very little to do with its value. A book written and published just a few years ago may have greater value than one published a 100 years ago.

Dealers, collectors and librarians, however, do use some broad time spans to establish dates of likely importance. For example: All books printed before 1501; English books printed before 1641; Books printed in North America before 1801; And books printed west of the Mississippi before 1850 are all considered important and rare.

What kinds of books are usually not rare?

-Almost all editions of the Bible.
- Sermons and Religious Instruction.
- The principles set down above for printed Bibles generally apply to other religious books as well except deeply theological books.

- Collected Editions of an Author’s Work. After authors have become firmly established, publishers often take advantage of their success by putting out collected editions of their works. Depending on their condition, American primers before 1800 may have interest to dealers and libraries. Illustrated textbooks printed before 1850 also are sought. Except for extremely high-quality reproductions of medieval and renaissance manuscripts and early printed books, facsimile reprints seldom have much value in the rare book market.

- Newspapers, Magazines.  While certain titles, years, and individual issues within these categories are eagerly sought by collectors and dealers, a great deal of material has little or no interest. The value of manuscripts, documents, and photographs, like that of printed books, depends on the interest and condition of the individual pieces.

- Paperback Books. Generally paperback books have no value. Lately though first printings of science fiction and fantasy books are gaining momentum and have caught the interest of collectors. Not so much for content are they collected as for the cover art. SF/Fantasy cover artists are a small group.  The most collectible artists include: Jill Bauman (who did some work on Stephen King’s novels), Vincent Difate, Ed Mesh (Ace Books and Lancer Books), Frank Frazetta and Michael Whelan (one of the best in SF illustration).

Is a signed book by the author or inscriptions of a previous owner valuable?

The association of a book with a previous owner can add to its value, depending on how well known the previous owner is and how important the book was in relation to this person.

Finding a twentieth-century book signed by its author is quite common. Authors routinely made publicity tours across the country signing copies of their books, and their signatures alone do not have much importance.

Autographed copies still carry more value for dealers than unsigned copies, however. When trying to determine the worth of an author’s autograph, remember that books are signed for different reasons. By level of interest these are:

q  books signed as part of a publicity event, (good)

q  copies inscribed by request of the owner, (better)

q  copies of a book inscribed and presented by the author. (best)

First Indications That A Book Is  Collectible and Maybe Even Valuable

Many publisher’s state a lot of information on the copyright page.

The copyright page will have information about when the book was published, who’s name the copyright is in and other details.

Sometimes the copyright page will have a statement that the book is a “First Edition”. But, even then you cannot be certain that it is a first edition! Sometimes it’s a second printing of a first edition (tricky, huh?) which in not a “true” first.

Some publisher’s use a “number line” to denote the edition of the book. The number line would look something like this if it was a second printing:

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

Or like this if it was a ‘true’ first printing:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

Or sometimes they arrange the number sequence between odd and even like this:

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Or you might find a number line that includes the years the edition was published like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 85 84 83 82 81

In the above cases the “1” being present on the number line would indicate that it is a first edition, usually.

Beware of the fact that some publishers will identify a “true” first edition with a “2” starting on the number line and the statement “First Edition” taking the place of the “1” on the number line.

Other publishers, such as Putnam & Grosset (Children’s) will use letters instead of numbers such as:

a b c d e f g h i j k

The “a” being present indicated the book is a first edition or a first printing.

You should also be aware that many books have been published by book clubs, and as such are not collectible. Book club editions are made of inferior materials and are usually lighter weight than books produced by the original publisher and lack a price on the dustjacket.

ADDITIONAL RANDOM THOUGHTS ON IDENTIFYING FIRST EDITIONS AND BOOK VALUES

How do you determine whether a book is a First Edition? Of course, my first answer is, “It depends on the publisher.”

My next answer is, “It depends on when the book was published.”

And the third answer is, “When in doubt, look it up.”

Now, I know everyone knows all about this subject-everyone, that is, except those that don’t. So if you’re one of those that don’t, the following guidelines are for you.

Unique Identifying Methods

Some major publishers have developed methods that make it very easy to recognize a first edition- it’s a cinch to remember them:

Scribner used an “A” on the copyright page for books published after 1929, (unless you happen to have a copy of Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings which must also have the Scribner’s seal on the copyright page to be a true first.)

Doubleday always states First Edition. (Except when they were Doubleday, McClure or Doubleday Page.)

Macmillan books before 1936 should have the same date on the title and copyright pages. After that the month and year printed should be the same as the published date on the copyright page. Books after 1979 use a number line.

Random House’s early books can be considered a First Edition unless otherwise stated. In 1968 they changed “First Printing” with “First Edition”. In the 1970’s they implemented a numbering system that confused a lot of people- their First Editions were stated and present on the copyright page but the number “1” was left off the number line and their true firsts started with a number “2”.

Viking always lists “First Published,” or words to that effect.

Putnam states “No Additional Printings,” which means that if there are more printings, they will list them as such.

In recent years, many publishers have gone to the “number string,” which is a line of numbers on the lower part of the copyright page. The lowest number denotes the printing, so if the book has the number 1, it’s a first. (Except for Random House, which states “First Edition.” The lowest number is a 2, which is then a first edition as mentioned above. If the words are not there and the number is a 2 (or later) you have a later printing.)

Recently someone I know ordered books from a wholesaler as “Firsts,” but when they arrived, they discovered that they were all thirds. The books state “First Edition,” but the number string begins with a “3”, so they are a third printing.

Now, third printing does not mean anything was changed, other than the number string. It simply means that the publisher printed some more books. In the old days a new printing would require resetting all of the type, which left all sorts of opportunities for new errors.

Nowadays, with computers, it simply means running more sheets from the original stored document. Unless someone deleted everything, figuring “that book will never sell.”

So what’s wrong with “Thirds?” Just that collectors won’t want them because they aren’t “Firsts.” What difference does it make? Collector’s want the closest thing to the author’s original manuscript possible, and a first printing of a first edition is abut as close as most collector’s will ever get. Now if you can get the actual handwritten or typewritten manuscript for a book by Hemingway or Steinbeck then you are talking about some really big money!

Some publishers now use a “letter string” instead of the “number string” and although I can’t figure out why they can’t all get together and use the same system, as in the “number string,” the lowest denotes edition.

Harcourt Brace will state “First Edition” with a letter string underneath but I’m still not clear on their system. If First Edition is stated and the letter string begins with “b” does this mean it’s a first? Or does it mean they forgot to delete the words “first edition” and it’s actually a second? I have several of their books that state “first edition,” but the letter string begins later in the alphabet so I know these are not firsts. . . maybe.

IDENTIFYING FIRST EDITIONS USING REFERENCE BOOKS

The most accurate way to determine whether a book is a first edition is to use reference books. First, I must mention everyone’s favorite because it fits in a pocket and can go to all of the book sales/stores/private sales with you: “A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions,” revised edition compiled by Bill McBride as mentioned earlier.

For more comprehensive listings, you need “First Editions: A Guide to Identification,” edited by Edward N. Zempel & Linda A. Verkler. This is a full-length hardback. Order from Spoon River Press, 2319-C West Rohmann Ave., Peoria IL 61604, or call 309-672-2665. I use this extensively at my home office and it’s invaluable.

I also use “How to Identify and Collect American First Editions,” by Jack Tannen, but it’s out of print which will mean searching for a used copy.

Firsts Magazine (4493 N. Camino Gacela, Tuscon, AR 85718. About $40 a year. Ph: 520-529-1355) has also done in-depth features on this topic.

Even with reference books, you will come across publishers not listed and be unable to find out anything about them unless you are lucky enough to have an old-time dealer friend whose brain you can pick.

There are many obscure little publishing houses long gone and just no way to find out their methods. Not to mention all of the reprint houses who never printed first editions. Except when they did. Such as “Burt” and “Grosset & Dunlap”, for instance who occasional would print first editions of a work even though they were primarily re-print houses. Obviously, this is not an exact science.

There are also the “points” one has to watch for. For instance, the true first of Beverly Sill’s autobiography has an error on the first page.  The letter “I” was omitted from the word “public”. The book was recalled as soon as the error was discovered so a “true” first is a bit hard to find.

This point is not in “A Compendium of Points of Issue of Books by the 19th and 20th Century Authors,” (also published by McBride,) but hundreds of other useful points are, and most dealers and collectors consider it an indispensable reference book. It is pocket-sized like the First Editions book, making it really handy. It can also be ordered from McBride Publishing.

One has only to understand that every book has a first edition and only popular or successful titles have more than one printing to see that not every first edition is desirable. One could assemble an interesting and fascinating collection of esoteric, undesirable “rare” books for which there is little or no demand.

The concept of a “rare book” is easy to comprehend – it is a book which is seldom encountered and presumably exists in very small numbers that has demand in the marketplace.

A book, you as a dealer, have the opportunity to purchase ten times per year obviously is not rare nor is it scarce. When an antiquarian bookseller has five copies of a specific title for sale during any one year, it is not a rare book nor is it scarce.

When you are just starting as a book dealer, you do not have the luxury of one or two decades of experience as a dealer and you must rely on antiquarian book catalogues, bibliographies or annual compilations of auction records.

If you find a listing only once every eight to ten years, the book should probably be considered rare. If multiple copies of a book are listed every year, the book can still be considered scarce and desirable and is probably very much in demand or it wouldn’t be consigned to auction so frequently.

Two “Golden Secrets” That Make Certain Books 500 Times More Valuable Than Their Cover Price

So we can see that our first indication that a book is valuable is based on two things:

?            The edition or printing of a book, and;

?            The condition and presence of a dustjacket.

I call these the “Golden Secrets” because if the book is valuable due to it’s rarity or desirability, NOT having these characteristics present will almost certainly make the book worthless.

Let’s take for example a First Edition of Jack Kerouac’s first book, THE TOWN AND THE CITY. A Fine first edition in a Fine dustjacket would be worth $1,200 to $2,000 maybe even more.

What’s a second edition without a dustjacket worth?

Zippo, nada, nothing.

These two factors are what we mean when we say that “certain books” are considered valuable.

But, before we go out and start buying books that are first editions with dustjackets, you need to understand that this information alone is not enough to make a book super-valuable! And that’s what we want- we want to be able to identify the valuable and super-valuable books that can make huge profits for us!

We are getting very close to determining what makes a book valuable but…let’s take a look at the next part of our revelation!

“Books are valuable because someone wants it…”

Here’s where the book you have found meets with the ‘market’ for the book. If you’ve found a book, identified it as a ‘First Edition” or “First Printing”, with a beautiful dustjacket on it you may have a valuable book…

…if someone ‘wants’ it.

So the question is, after you have acquired those ‘certain’ books that have met the above criteria-”What determines the ‘market’ value of a book?”

This is where “Supply” and “Demand” come in. If you’ve studied economics you’ll be familiar with the concept of supply and demand. If not, that’s OK. For our purposes all we really need to know is this:

IF the book’s supply in the marketplace is low and there is a history of high prices paid for this book, generally demand will create higher prices.

IF the book’s supply in the marketplace is high, generally lack of demand will create lower prices. If a book’s original printing, 50 years ago, was only a few hundred copies chance are there just aren’t that many copies out in the marketplace and the price will be high. Of course, it all depends on who the author is!

Short runs of a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald will be a lot more valuable than short run first editions by Thomas Harkensack.

If a book is by a popular author who has won awards or is read widely and is often quoted from, chances are that the demand for the first editions of that persons books will be very valuable. There is one additional ‘factor that needs to be considered:

To make a book valuable, someone must be “willing and able to pay the price to own it.”

Finding that collector who is willing and has the financial means to own the book you have fortuitously found is sometimes like finding a needle in a hay stack.

But find that person you must, in order to realize the full value of the book. The Internet is makes it easier for collector’s to find the books they want. Auction houses widely publicize their sales and attract the attention of a lot of collectors. It is the job and the duty of the bookseller to find that collector and find them as soon as possible.

It’s also becoming “fashionable” in the entertainment business to give rare and collectible books as gifts. The articles reprinted here form the New York Times and USA Today demonstrates that book collecting cuts across all demographics and incomes and is becoming widespread.

Special Edition:

New York Times
December 7, 1997

A Hollywood Gift Says ‘I Love Literature’

By ALEX KUCZYNSKI

Brad Pitt gave one to Alan J. Pakula to celebrate the completion of “The Devil’s Own.” Johnny Depp and the director Paul Thomas Anderson (“Boogie Nights”) are collectors, and the high-flying agents of Creative Artists Agency are such repeat buyers that they telephone daily to an emporium on Melrose Avenue that supplies Hollywood’s latest status accessory.

Mercedes-Benzes? Prada suits? No. Rare books.

Expensive, first-edition volumes of classic works of literature are hot properties in Hollywood, where reading has traditionally been limited to the single-page “coverage” of scripts, and books are often bought according to an interior decorator’s color scheme.

The trend has spread to the film community in New York as well. “There’s no doubt about it, it’s become sort of the thing to do,” said Andreas Brown, the owner of Gotham Book Mart in Manhattan, where Frank Langella bought a volume for Whoopi Goldberg, and Peter Bogdanovich and Woody Allen poke through the rare-book offerings with some regularity.

According to rare-book dealers on both coasts, most books bought by the film community, for prices ranging from $500 to $45,000, are gifts — from actor to director, or from agent to client.

Michael Ovitz, the former chief of Creative Artists Agency, kept a list of clients at the Heritage Book Shop, a store on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood that is the industry’s favorite rare-book source. Lee Biondi, the store’s manager, says Creative Artists agents order when they are looking to appease a disgruntled star or welcome a director or screenwriter to a project.

Another Los Angeles shop, William Dailey Rare Books, also on Melrose Avenue, keeps lists of agents and their clients’ birthdays on file. “They’ll call up and say, ‘In April, it’s so-and-so’s birthday, and he’s interested in first editions,’ or ‘So-and-so is interested in nature books,”‘ William Dailey, the owner, said.

The trend might be traced to Hollywood’s current fad of adapting classic authors like Jane Austen and Henry James — the latest such film, “Great Expectations,” based on the Dickens novel, with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow, is scheduled to open Dec. 31. But the craze probably owes even more to Hollywood’s age-old insecurity over the enduring cultural value of its output.

In an industry where writers are perennially stuck at the bottom of the totem pole, the punchline to the rare-book fad is that many old editions are not meant to be read. To read them risks damaging their musty pages and frail vellum bindings. The new class of Hollywood literati can take credit for being passionate about literature without having to do the homework.

“It looks like you’ve put some thought into the gift,” said Biondi of the Heritage shop, which also does business regularly with Walt Disney Co. and the production management company Brillstein-Grey. “It looks complimentary because it assumes that the recipient is capable of appreciating good literature.”

Lou and Ben Weinstein, who have owned the Heritage shop for 34 years, often know what books are being made into movies before the trade papers like Daily Variety do, because they get calls for rare copies of the book to be sent as a gift to lure a potential writer.

“First, there’s the development-deal courtship gift,” explained Biondi, who speaks in the intricate, insider lingo of the film community, not the muted, professorial tones one might expect from an antiquarian book dealer. “When they take the first meeting, they’ll often enclose a first edition of the book. Then there’s the start gift, when development is over and there’s a start date. You know, when the production has been green-lighted. Those seem to come mostly from management and agents.”

The last phase: the “wrap gift,” which often comes from the members of the cast to other people involved in the production. For example, Mitch Glazer, the screenwriter who adapted “Great Expectations,” received a rare first edition of the book from the cast.

Pitt’s wrap gift in late 1996 to Pakula, his director, was a first edition of James Joyce’s “Finnegans Wake,” worth from $2,000 to $5,000. Winona Ryder bought a manuscript in longhand by a 19th-century author for Martin Scorsese from Heritage. “I can’t tell you what it was,” Lou Weinstein said. “Maybe it’s a Christmas present. We don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

It was probably inevitable that the latest Hollywood fad would show up in — what else? — a movie. The writer-director Neil LaBute, whose “In the Company of Men” was a surprise independent hit last year, has set several scenes of his new film, “Your Friends and Neighbors,” in Arundel Books, an antiquarian shop in Hollywood.
“In L.A. it seems to be a common theme that people are exchanging rare books or first-edition books,” Stephen Pevner, a producer of the film, said. “So on a chance meeting all the characters end up passing through this bookstore. It signifies how hip first-edition books are.” UNDATED: books are.”

LaBute, who recently considered buying a set of antique books that once belonged to the producer Michael Todd, said: “Californians love to have material in their life that is pre-approved. You know, ‘I have walked where Valentino walked. I have slept where Flynn slept. I have read what Michael Todd read.’ There’s something about a rare book, a book that belonged to someone else, that stands the test of time. That’s as comfortable as it gets out here.”

Some dealers speculate that the trend started when Jeffrey Katzenberg and the journalist Kim Masters squabbled over an article Ms. Masters wrote for Vanity Fair in 1994.

As a peace offering, Katzenberg, who that year had resigned as the chief of Disney’s film studio, sent Ms. Masters an expensive early edition of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” The volume was all “green leather, gilt, gold-edged, the works,” recalled Ms. Masters, who returned the gift three times on ethical grounds before Katzenberg stopped sending it back to her.

Last year, Cynthia Parsons McDaniel, a public-relations representative for Gramercy Pictures, gave Daniel Day-Lewis, for whom she once worked as a press agent, a limited, illustrated first edition of Arthur Miller’s “Homely Girl, A Life: And Other Stories” on the occasion of his wedding to Miller’s
daughter, Rebecca.

David Watkin, a cinematographer who is in New York shooting Sidney Lumet’s remake of “Gloria” with Sharon Stone, wandered into Argosy Books on East 59th Street recently to buy a rare book as a gift to a major figure on the set, said Judith Lowry, the store’s antiquarian specialist. She declined to name the intended recipient.

Finding nothing suitable, Watkin summoned James Cummins, an independent rare-book dealer, to the set.

Cummins, whose clients include the actor James Spader, brought several rare-book catalogs and wound up spending hours on the set. But the day’s biggest thrill was when his son, 14, had his picture taken with Ms. Stone.

“David is a very serious book collector,” Cummins said. “And he does give them to people in the industry.”

A few dealers bemoan the antiquarian arrivistes, who in the eyes of some tend to be less well-educated in the subtleties of rare-book collecting and more ambitious about proving that they’ve got the best, rarest, most expensive edition of “Moby-Dick.”

“The phenomenon is really about surface money,” said Larry McMurtry, the author, who is a part-owner of several bookstores around the United States and a rare-book collector himself. “People who buy books like that have a lot of money, and it’s fresh, new, Hollywood money. Hollywood is a town where to spend $15,000 or $20,000 on a present is common, whether it’s a jewel or a watch or a car or a rare first edition.”

For some Hollywood figures, however, the preference for books over other costly baubles is a welcome development.

Lynda Obst, the producer of “Contact” and “One Fine Day,” said: “I would say this is a great leap forward for a group of people who have been known to order books by the yard. In the past, books have been decorating issues in Hollywood. The fact that they’re being ordered individually, by title and author, is a great leap forward.” And what rare books does Ms. Obst receive from the stars she knows?

“None,” she sighed. “I guess I’m not in the right gift bracket.”

(c) Copyright 1997
by The New York Times Company

Special Edition:

Limited editions, unlimited possibilities:

Book collecting grows in volume

By Cathy Hainer

Fri., Sept. 25, 1998

FINAL EDITION

Section: LIFE

Page 6D

In the heyday of British maritime might, a merchant ship bearing

treasure was called an argosy. So it’s only fitting that one of this city’s

best-known stores for buying rare books took that name. Collectors

have been coming here for nearly seven decades to search the stacks

for antiquarian book treasures.

Argosy’s six floors are crammed floor-to-ceiling with books, maps and

prints. Looking for a six-volume edition of the works of Voltaire?

Argosy has it for $750. A leather-bound copy of Kipling’s Just So

Stories can be yours for $500. A signed copy of Somerset Maugham’s

The Razor’s Edge will set you back $300. There are sections devoted

to gardening, art, history, Shakespeare. In one cabinet, a leather-bound

copy of Pride and Prejudice shares space with The Mickey Mouse

Annual.

”And there’s great interest in both,” says Argosy’s Judith Lowry.

”There’s so much variety in what people collect.”

Obsessive bookworms aren’t the only people drawn to book collecting,

she says. ”The hobby is growing. It used to be just for old men, who

would sip sherry and talk books. Now more young people and women

are collecting. The appeal is a connection to the past. There’s an almost

existential feeling of closeness to the author.”

A scientific type might crave Argosy’s rare first edition of a 1698 book

by Christian Huygens, the mathematician credited with discovering

Saturn’s rings. It’s available for $7,500. But don’t think you have to be

Donald Trump to collect books.

”You can put together a significant and interesting collection for small

sums,” says Tom Joyce, owner of Chicago’s Joyce and Company, who

teaches classes on book collecting. He instructs his students in the three

P’s of collecting, and the first is price.

”If you want to collect Darwin, for example, you can find a first edition

On the Origin of Species for about $25,000. That’s a hard thing to

start with unless your stock portfolio is doing well. But there are

wonderful Darwin late editions that you can find for a fraction of that

Book collecting grows in volume (con’t)

price. Or you can buy books about Darwin at a reasonable amount.

You can start a collection at whatever price range works for you.”

Joyce’s second P is preference. ”When you start collecting, ask

yourself, ‘What do I like?’ Why collect something somebody else likes?

Make your book collection personal.”

And the third P: possibility. ”Expect to limit yourself. Face the fact that

the books you want may not be available. That’s a possibility, so you

have to be reasonable when you start collecting. A first edition

Shakespeare folio just doesn’t become available that often.”

When talking rare books, it’s important not to confuse scarce with

expensive. They’re not the same, says Ken Gloss of the Brattle Book

Shop in Boston. ”Rare means hard to get, but that doesn’t mean it’s

valuable. An elderly man came in looking for a book that he had

enjoyed as a child. It was very rare and hard to find but not worth

anything monetarily.”

However, availability is one factor that can drive up the price. ”Supply

and demand sets the price,” says Gloss. ”Hemingway and Dickens are

popular authors, but there’s a finite number of those books available.”

Condition and edition also affect the price, says Joyce. ”Is there a dust

jacket? Is it in good shape? That will make a difference.”

And most collectors prefer first editions (books from the first printing).

”Collectors prefer first editions because the author was most involved

with the book’s first appearance,” says Joyce.

Take, for example, a first edition of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the

Rye, he says. ”Salinger is a notoriously private man. The first edition

dust jacket had his photo on it. He made them take it off later editions,

so a first edition with dust jacket would be the most valuable.”

Again, that doesn’t mean you have to mortgage your house for a first

edition. Argosy has more than 6,000 first editions. Many of them are by

20th century authors and can be had for under $100. For example, a

first edition of Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream goes for $50.

Stores specializing in rare and antiquarian books aren’t the only place to

fill out your collection. ”Check out yard sales, flea markets, library

sales,” says Gloss. ”Once you develop an area of interest, you may find

dealers who specialize in that field.”

There are also several organizations such as Antiquarian Booksellers of

America and magazines such as Biblio where collectors can home in on

books in their field.

Book collecting grows in volume (con’t)

And the proliferation of book superstores has given rare book

businesses a boost, says Lowry. ”Stores like Borders and Barnes &

Noble have not affected us adversely. In fact, we refer people to them

and they refer people to us. If you find an author you like, but can’t find

the title there, you can come here.”

What do collectors actually do with their books? ”Some tuck them

away,” says Lowry. ”Some like to exhibit their collections. Some

people buy rare books as gifts. The kind of collectors we like actually

read them and get pleasure from having them.”

Any book collector will tell you that part of that pleasure comes from

the search. ”Whether you’re looking for a $2 paperback or a first

edition of Poe worth thousands,” says Gloss, ”it’s still about the hunt.”

©COPYRIGHT 1997 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

SPECIFIC AREAS TO DEAL IN

Another interesting area of dealing and inventory could be developed by searching for books published by a specific publishing house.  If you decide to collect in a relatively popular collecting field such sporting or hunting & fishing books, you could narrow your focus to dealing in only pheasant hunting or only books related to fishing on a certain trout stream or lake or region. Almost all the books published by Derrydale Press are collectable in this area.

Another relatively popular collecting area includes children’s books – Oz titles by L. Frank Baum are especially popular.

If you like spy fiction start looking for first editions of Eric Ambler, Len Deighton, Geoffrey Household, John LeCarre, Compton Mackenzie, HRF Keating and Sax Rohmer (author of the Dr. Fu Manchu stories).

If you like crime, mystery and detective fiction watch for first editions of authors such as SS Van Dine, Dorothy Sayers, A. Conan Doyle, G.K. Chesterton, Edgar Wallace, Rex Stout, Ngaio Marsh, Patricia Highsmith, Peter Dickinson and Tony Hillerman. For a comprehensive  list of the best in crime and mystery get HRF Keating’s book, Crime & Mystery: The 100 Best Books.

The next few pages include bibliography’s of some popular collecting areas and a general bibliography for all book dealers. If you decide to specialize these list could be worth many thousands of dollars to you. Even if you decide to be a generalist being unaware of these bibliographies will hurt your business. So either way make good use of them and refer to them often.

Americana Bibiography

• American Imprints: 1801-1845 [so far]. This series is also known as: Shaw & Shoemaker, American Bibliography A Preliminary Checklist for 1801- [1819]; Shoemaker, A Checklist of American Imprints for 1820-[1833].

• Bristol, Roger: Supplement to Charles Evans’ American Bibliography. University Press of Virginia. Bibliographical Society of America. 1970.

• Evans, Charles: American Bibliography. Available in fourteen volumes, or a small-print single volume issued by Mini-Print Corporation, Metuchen NJ in 1967. The authoritative source of 17th and 18th century American Imprints.

• Howes, Wright: U.S.IANA. A Selective Bibliography in Which are Described 11,620 Uncommon and Significant Books Relating to the Continental Portion of the United States. Revised and Enlarged Edition. New York: Bowker. 1962. This is the bible of Americana bibliographies. You may wish to supplement it with Hartley’s 1994 ‘New Howes.’

• Shipton, Clifford and James Mooney: National Index of American Imprints through 1800. The Short-Title Evans. Two volumes. American Antiquarian Society: 1969. I find this an essential supplement to Evans and Bristol.

• Streeter, Thomas: The Celebrated Collection of Americana Formed by the Late Thomas Winthrop Streeter. New York: Parke-Bernet. 1966-1970. Seven volumes plus index.

• Molnar, John: Author-Title Index to Joseph Sabin’s Dictionary of Books Relating to America. Scarecrow Press: 1974. 3 vols. Essential because you’ll bump into Sabin’s stone walls without it.

• Dictionary of American Biography. 20 vols. plus index. This and the next entry are included so that you’ll have sources to figure out the historical context of the book or pamphlet that you’re researching.

• Adams, James: Dictionary of American History. 1940. 5 vols + index.

• Kress Library of Business and Economics Catalogue. Boston: Harvard Grad. School of Business: 1940-’67. 5 vols. + 2 supplements.

• Sabin, Joseph: A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, from its Discovery to the Present Time. New York: Joseph Sabin. 29 volumes, also printed by Mini-Print Corp. in two-volume small print edition.

• Wagner, Henry and Charles Camp: The Plains and the Rockies A Critical Bibliography of Exploration, Adventure and Travel in the American West 1800-

Americana Bibiography (Con’t)

1865. Fourth Edition, revised by Richard Becker. San Francisco: John Howell. 1982.

• Eberstadt, Edward & Sons: The Annotated Eberstadt Catalogs of Americana. 4 vols, Argosy: 1965.

• Drake, Milton: Almanacs of the U.S. NY: Scarecrow: 1962.

• Cole, George: Library of E.D. Church. 5 vols. NY: 1907, or Maurizio Martino reprint.

• Larned, J.N.: The Literature of American History. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin. 1902.

• Austin, Robert: Early American Medical Imprints. 1668-1820. U.S. Dept of HEW. 1961.

• Gaines, Pierce: Political Works of Concealed Authorship Relating to the United States 1789-1810 With Attributions. 3d Ed. Shoe String Press. Hamden CT: 1972.

• Rink, Evald: Technical Americana A Checklist of Technical Publications Printed before 1831. Kraus: 1981.

• Adams, Thomas R. The American Controversy. A Bibliographical Study of the British Pamphlets About the American Disputes, 1764-1783. Brown U. Press: Bibliog. Soc. of America. 1980. 2 vols.

• Adams, Thomas R. American Independence. The Growth of an Idea. Brown U. Press: 1965.

• Miles, William: The Image Makers. A Bibliography of American Presidential Campaign Biographies. Scarecrow: 1979.

• Work, Monroe: A Bibliography of the Negro in Africa and America. Octagon Books. NY: 1965.

• Monaghan, Jay: Lincoln Bibliography 1839-1939. IL State Hist. Library: 1943. 2 vols.

• Storm, Colton: A Catalogue of the Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana. Chicago: Newberry Library. 1968.

• Phillips, P. Lee: A List of Maps of America in the Library of Congress… Washington. GPO: 1901.

• Adams, Ramon: Six-Guns and Saddle Leather. Cleveland. Zubal Reprint. 1982.

Americana Bibiography (Con’t)

• Adams, Ramon: The Rampaging Herd. A Bibliography of Books and Pamphlets on Men and Events in the Cattle Industry. U of OK Press: 1959; Cleveland. Zubal Reprint. 1982.

• Toronto Public Library: A Bibliography of Canadiana. 1934. One vol. + supplements.

• Spear, Dorothea: Bibliography of American Directories through 1860. Worcester: AAS. 1961.

• Parrish, T. Michael & Robt. Willingham Jr.: Confederate Imprints. Austin: Jenkins. 1987.

• Wheat, Carl: Mapping the Transmississippi West. 6 vols. Original edition is San Francisco: 1957-63. Also available as Martino reprint.

Science Fiction Bibliography

• Clute & Nichols, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION, 1993 St. Martins, 1370 pages. Hard back $75. Paperback 1995 edition. ($29.95). Illustrated. CD ROM available from Grolier for Mac and Win95. A terrific reference that contains over 4,300 entries. This is the first and most important reference available for SciFi fans, collectors and dealers.

SF FIRST EDITION IDENTIFICATION:

• Currey Lloyd, SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY AUTHORS: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THEIR FIRST EDITIONS, 1979, G. K. Hall. Covers roughly 215 important authors thru December 1977, reference citations thru June 1979. Although  the most important, thorough and accurate guide to identification of first editions, it is not complete. There are almost no cover/dust jacket prices or page counts mentioned except for paperbacks. ($75 from author at 518/873-6477)

• Tuck, Donald, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY, 1974 Advent. Out of print. A three volume encyclopedia current thru 1968. The bulk of vol. 1 & 2 consist of short author biographies with extensive book bibliographies which include many authors and descriptive items not found in the Currey bibliography such as cover prices, page counts, later and foreign editions.

• Reginald, R. SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY LITERATURE: A CHECK LIST 1700 – 1974, Gale Research. vol. 1 is 786 pages. Attempts to identify all first and first thus editions thru 1974, but only contains date, publisher, page count, hardback/paperback information. No cover price or other identifying point information included. Includes by title, series, award, ace and Belmont doubles indexes. Vol. 2 Short biographies including original author comments and 32 page B&W “Pictorial History of Science Fiction Publishing”. Now out of print.

• Stephens, Christopher P. THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY PAPERBACK FIRST EDITION: A COMPLETE LIST OF THEM ALL (1939 – 1973) , Ultramarine 1991, 8 1/2 x 11 wraps, 144 pages. ($22.95) (914)-478-2522 By author listings with a title index. Includes publisher ID numbers, cover price, page count, and illustrators.

SCIENCE FICTION PRICE GUIDES:

• Howlett-West, Stephanie. INTER-GALACTIC PRICE GUIDE, Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror. The ONLY current price guide to books by modern and classic Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror authors. This 8 1/2 by 11, 408 page book has 20,000+ entries. A compilation of 89 catalogs over the year from 29 different dealers, spiral bound with laminated covers and includes a detailed introduction. There are multiple listings for many titles. Entries are coded for condition, signed, inscribed, limited, ARC, Proof, association, etc. ($35).

• Lovisi, Gary. COLLECTING SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY. Alliance Publishing, Instant Expert Series. 1997 Pb. 136 pp.  Identifies prices for paperback SF/Fantasy/Horror titles only. Contains a brief history of collecting SF/Fantasy paperbacks, the 15 top collectable SF/F/H cover artists and the 15 top collectible authors. How to grade paperbacks and the top 50 most valuable books sold at auction in 1996. ($14)

Reference Bibliography for Rare and Collectible Books

• Ahearn, Allen and Patricia. 2002. Book Collecting; A Comprehensive Guide, 2002 Edition. 800 pp, hardcover. 6 x 9-1/4. New York. Putnam. ($75.00). Price handbook with list of first editions of authors’ first books and market prices for 1978, 1986, and 1995 to 2002. Has a great bibliography of author bibliographies at the back of the book, plus table of author pseudonyms, booksellers, and auction houses. Covering first books and values for over 5,000 authors, this expanded edition introduces and discusses book collecting, author collectability, and pricing variances. Also includes a glossary, instructive essays, prize winners, collecting lists.

• Blanck, Jacob. 1955. BAL (Bibliography of American Literature). 26 cm, 9 vols. New Haven. Yale University Press (Bibliographical Society of America). I find BAL an essential reference. If you ever bid on books at Pacific BOok or Swann’s or Christie’s you’ll see the refernce BAL when writing descriptions. Most of its nine volumes are out of print. Most are listed at $1000 if they come on the market maybe more. The Winship and Eppard Selective Index… although not part of the original BAL, is in print at $70. Some libraries have complete sets of BAL so owning it might not be necessary. Check around before considering buying a set for yourself.

• Basbanes, Nicholas A. 1995. A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books. 584 pp, hardcover. 6 x 9-1/4. New York. Henry Holt & Co. ($35.00). Obsessive book collecting is apparently the only hobby to have a disease named after it. Bibliophiles all along this delightful continuum will enjoy Basbanes’s anecdotal and journalistic approach to book collecting, buying, and selling throughout world history.

• Booth, Richard. 1976. Book Collecting. 192 pp, 27 cm, [4] leaves of plates. ill. (some col.) bibliography p. 182-185. includes index. Florence, Alabama. House of Collectibles. ISBN: 0876373368. chapters by S. Peter Dance, Trevor Mills, Harold Landry, Booth… “well illustrated, excellent glossary, very useful bibliography.” (Gene Freeman).

• Connolly, Joseph. 1987. Modern First Editions: Their Value to Collectors. 2nd, Trans-Atlantic Publications. Author is a London bookseller; book has British orientation. de Hamel, Christopher and Richard A. Linenthal, eds. 1981. Fine books and book collecting: books and manuscripts acquired from Alan G. Thomas and described by his customers on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. x, 72 pp, 31 cm, ill. Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. J.Hall.

• Ellis, Ian C. 1996. Book Finds. 271 pp, Softcover. 5-1/2 x 8-1/2. New York. Berkeley Publishing Group: A Perigree Book. ($13.00). An insider’s guide to the used and rare book market and how to learn to find hidden treasures on the bookshelves. Includes an index of the 1,001 “most collectible” books and authors.

• Feather, John. 1986. A Dictionary of Book History. 278 pp, Oxford Univ. Press. 650 articles on bibliophile subjects. Iacone, Salvatore J. 1976. The Pleasures of Book

• Collecting. 303 pp, index. bibliography. glossary. abbreviations. Harper & Row. Chapters include first editions, impressions/issue/state, association copies, list of desirable author signed copies, plan for collecting (several lists), first editions, points (list of notable books and their points), care and protection, bookseller psychology.

• Matthews, Jack. 1977. Collecting Rare Books for Pleasure and Profit. 317 pp, index. bibliography. glossary. New York. Putnam. Rare books as investments, points (notable books and their points), modern firsts, private presses, association copies, Grolier & Connolly lists of high spots, condition and care, buying/selling strategies.

• Peters, Jean, ed. 1977. Book Collecting: a Modern Guide. 288 pp, index. New York. R.R. Bowker. Twelve essays: bookseller relations, auctions, antiquarian market, manuscripts., descriptive bibliography, forgeries, care and condition, appraisal, collection organization, literature of book collecting.

• Matthews, Jack. 1979. Collectible Books: Some New Paths. 294 pp, index. bibliography, pp.275-279. New York. R.R. Bowker. Nine essays: non-firsts, books in series, book catalogs, “American Fiction Since 1960″.

• Rostenberg, Leona and Madeleine B. Stern. 1996. Old Books in the Old World. 168 pp, hardcover. 6 x 9-1/2. New Castle, Del. Oak Knoll Press. ($22.95). During the decade following the end of World War II, these two grand dames of the antiquarian bookselling world ventured across the Atlantic to buy old books. Among the ruins and cobblestone streets of postwar Europe they discovered bibliographic treasures and returned with rarities and bookish tales.

• Storm, Colton and Howard Peckham. 1947. Invitation to Book Collecting, Its Pleasures and Practices. New York. R.R. Bowker. A great book on collecting modern first editions.

• Wilson, Robert A. 1992. Modern Book Collecting. Pb. 276 pp, index. glossary. Lyons & Burford. Author collections, bookseller relations, auctions, collector’s condition, first edition identification, bibliographies, (includes list of 20th century author bibliographies.), book production, care and condition, forgeries, investment issues, selling a collection. Appendixes: list of book auction firms, bookseller list (modern first editions), clubs for collectors, 50 most important American literary books published since WWII. Emphasis on the how, not the why, of book collecting. Author was proprietor of the Phoenix Book Shop, New York.

• Johnson, Merle. 1942. American First Editions. revised by Jacob Blanck. 553 pp, (4th) revised edition, maroon cloth. 8vo. New York. R.R. Bowker. “For materials published before about 1942 it gives lots of information on identifying the first editions of works whose status is not easily ascertained and points out individual exceptions to the normal identification rules.

• McBride, Bill. 1987. Points of Issue; A Compendium of Points of Issue of Books by 19th – 20th Century Authors. 100 pp, 2nd ed., Hartford, CT. Bill McBride. Pocket size, easy-to-use field guide.

• _____. 1990. Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions. 76 pp, 4th ed., Hartford, CT. Bill McBride. Pocket size, easy-to-use companion field guide to the above.

• Zempel, Edward N. & Linda A. Verkler, eds. 1995 or later edition. First Editions, A Guide to Identification. 307 pp, 2nd ed., Peoria, IL. Spoon River Press. Statements of North American and British publishers on their methods of designating first editions. The most detailed source available.

• Carter, John. 1995 . ABC for Book Collectors. 219 pp, 6th ed. rev., includes abbreviations. New Castle, DE. Oak Knoll Books. A classic. Over 450 alphabetical entries covering technical terms of book collecting and bibliography, as well as informative comments on many other subjects

• Haller, Margaret. 1976. The Book Collector’s Fact Book. 271 pp, ARCO Pub. Co. Handbook for collectors, arranged as a glossary.

• Peters, Jean, ed. 1983. The Bookman’s Glossary. 223 pp, 6th ed., bibliography. New York. R.R. Bowker.

• Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. 1996. Encyclopedia of the Book. 576 pp, softcover. 7 x 10. Cleveland. World Pub. Co. The standard reference guide to the book, this classic on all aspects of the book trade includes over 3,000 definitions of terms used in bookbinding, printing, and papermaking, as well as biographical details and notes.

• Prytherch, Ray, ed. 1987. Harrod’s Librarians’ Glossary and Reference Book. 880 pp, 6th rev. ed., Gower Pub. Co. [Grafton Book]. Comprehensive glossary for bibliophiles.

PERIODICALS:

• FIRSTS: Collecting Modern First Editions. monthly which began publication January 1991. [eleven issues per year, beginning 1993.]. Feature articles, checklists with market prices, how-to articles. The best single periodical source for collectors of modern first editions. Write for info to: FIRSTS Magazine, P.O. Box 65166 Tucson, AZ 85728-5166 USA.

PRICE GUIDES:

• Ahearn, Allen & Patricia. Author Price Guides. Rockville, MD. Quill & Brush Books. Individual guides to first edition prices of over 100 authors. Supplements their Collected Books: The Guide to Values. (See the RESOURCE SECTION OF YOUR TOOL KIT FOR AUTHOR GUIDES AVAILABLE)

• George, Mark A. 1997. Price Guide of World War I and World War II Books and Manuals. 301 pp, 8 1/2 by 11, 19,000+ entries, comb bound with laminated covers. ISBN 0-9656011-0-2. ($32.50+$2.50 s/h.) Mark A. George, P.O. Box 36372, Denver CO 80236. (303) 781-8482.

• Howlett-West, Stephanie. 1997. Inter-Galactic Price Guide to Science Fiction / Fantasy / Horror, 2nd Edition. 386 pp, 8 1/2 by 11, 20,000+ entries, spiral bound with laminated covers. A compilation of 65 catalogs over the year from 28 different dealers. All data from 1996 thru Feburary 1997. ($35.00. contact Shep Iiams [vibooks@ns.net] for info.).

• Howlett-West, Stephanie. 1997. Behind the Lens, a price guide to books about photography, photographers & related material. 352 pp, 8 1/2 by 11, 6,500+ entries, spiral bound with laminated covers. A compilation of 32 catalogs over the year from 20 different dealers. Data for 1996 thru May 1997. ($35.00. contact Shep Iiams [vibooks@ns.net] for info.).

• Snow, Marshall. 1997. Comprehensive Price List of Crime, Mystery, Thriller & Detective Fiction, 1997 Edition, A. 800+ pp, 55,000+ entries of different books in 2 comb bound volumes. Derived from over 350 different dealers catalogs,

• Zempel, Edward N. and Linda A. Verkler. 1996. Book Prices: Used & Rare. 798 pp, hardcover. 8-3/4 x 11-1/4. Peoria, Ill. Spoon River Press. Containing prices on over 30,000 mainstay books in all of the major subject areas, this is often the first guide book collectors and dealers reach for.

DEALER GUIDES:

• Ethridge, James M. and Karen, editors. 1997. Antiquarian, Specialty, and Used Book Sellers, 1997-98: A Subject Guide and Directory. (ASUBS). 863 Pages; 6 x 9 format in flexible cover. Omnigraphics, Inc. PO Box 31-1601, Detroit, MI 48231. 5,261 Dealer Listings / Specialty Index of 2,000 Topics / Personal Name and Store Name Indexes. The largest, most informative guide to the U.S. OP book trade ever published for dealers, librarians, collectors, researchers.

• Siegel, David S. & Susan. The Used Book Lover’s Guide Series. home page. P.O. Box 193, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598. Book Hunter Press. Six regional guides to 6,500 used book dealers in the USA, including open shops, by appointment and mail order only dealers. “All the information you need to find the books you’re looking for, from a detailed description of the dealer’s stock to travel directions and city, regional and state maps that highlight clusters of dealers located near each other.”

CARE AND PRESERVATION OF BOOKS:

• Greenfield, Jane. 1988. The Care of Fine Books. 160 pp, softcover. 7 x 9-1/4. Over 200 line illustrations. New York. NY. Lyons Books. ($19.95). A highly readable handbook on the construction, care, repair, storage, display, and handling of fine books.

What To Include In Your Inventory

Here are a few “suggestions” for profitable book dealing:

q  Start to build an inventory with an author or a subject that you enjoy;

q  Build inventory with an author or a subject which is challenging, i.e. not easily found;

q  Build inventory within your means – do not try to buy very expensive books, at first, if you are on a limited budget;

q  Spend time early on learning which references/bibliographies are particular to your area;

q  Pay close attention to the condition of books before you buy them;

q  Experience various methods of purchasing books available including everything we have already discussed plus on-line catalogues, local bookshops, flea markets, private sales, settlement of estates, etc…

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Which Authors Bring The Most Money

Certain authors are very collectable. Others, even though they might be famous are not. The market ultimately decides who’s collectable and who’s not.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the Tarzan series of books is very popular right now. A first edition of Tarzan in Fine condition recently sold at auction for $43,678.

The market is constantly changing. Faulkner first editions were bid up in an auction in New York City recently.  Pre-bid estimates put its value at $350, and an unidentified bidder paid a hammer price of $10,000.  Hemingway is always a good choice as is Steinbeck. “Beat” literature (Jack Kerouac and others) is always in demand.

Many collectors will decide that they want a particular author and prices start rising rapidly. Keeping in touch with the market and its wants is the only way of knowing if what you’re buying has any value. Watching e-mailing list postings and newsgroups is a good way to stay in touch with the market. Read Publisher’s Weekly and read The New York Times Book Review to keep in touch with the market.

Some of the ways you can keep up-to-date with market prices and market information is by subscribing to auction results from the major auction houses, checking the values of books through on-line sources, speaking with dealers in various specialties on a regular basis and by reading collectable book periodicals such as Firsts and Biblio. My OP Book Market Letter is a good source of current market information.

Some dealers like to have a relatively finite goal and an established list of books for which to search based on their specialty. This helps narrow down the rather large universe of possibilities in dealing in books and you can become an expert in that are in a relatively short time in a narrow specialty.

Books To Stay Away From

The following books you want to stay away from for a number of reasons. The biggest is that they just aren’t worth anything- there is little or no demand for them. I would not take these kinds of books even if someone offered them to me at any price, even free.

Book of the Month Club editions — these and many other book club editions are printed in large quantities, usually on cheap, lesser quality paper and are cheaply bound – for these reasons  you should avoid the BOMC editions, as they’re known.

BOMC editions are characteristically recognized by a small indentation on the lower right corner on the back of the boards of a book near the hinge. Sometimes the indentation is round and sometimes it’s square. Other tell-tale signs are the lack of a price on the dustjacket and the weight of the book- its considerably lighter than the regular edition from the publisher.

Bibles — the Bible is probably the most common book in America – it certainly was during the 19th century, virtually every Christian family household had a bible, even if there were no other books in the house. There is a very small market for old bibles, encyclopedias or dictionaries and then prices paid are either low or very nominal. If you want to make money in this business stay aware from Bibles unless they are 400 years old and were previously owned by royalty.

Book Categories To Avoid:

• Music
• Art
• Gardening
• Cookbooks (except very, very old ones)
• Poetry
• Religion and Theology (unless you really know the field)
• Medicine
• Law
• Sewing and Needlework
• Magazines

Non-Fiction Areas That Sell Well

Americana: Alaska; American Revolution; Antiques; Arctic; Califonia; Klondike and Gold Rushes; Cowboys; Early Aviation and Auto; Hawaiiana; Lost Mines; Military Costumes; Old Maps and Atlases; Postal History and Pony Express; Range Life; Steamboats; Texiana; Treasure Hunting; West and Southwest.

Book About Books: Bibliography; Book Collecting; Bookplates; History of Printing; Publishing.

Book Illustrators: Aubrey Beardsley; Thomas Hart Benton; William Blake; R. Caldecott; Harry Clarke; W.W. Denslow; Edmund Dulac; Gourzri; Kate Greenaway; James Wiol; Rockwell Kent; John R. Neil; Roase O’Neill; Maxwell Parrish; Beatriz Potter; Tony Sarg; Jesse Wilcox Smith; Milo Winter; N.C. Wyeth.

Collecting and Hobbies: Antiques; Armour; Buttons; Cards; Coins; Dolls; Falconry; Firearms; Flags; Jewelry; Medals.

Fine Press or Bindings: Limited Editions; Leather or Unusual Bindings; Derrydale Press; Fore-edge paintings; Golden Cockerell Press; Groli; Heritage Club; Limited Editions Club; Nonesuch Press.

Games and Gambling: Blackjack/21; Casino Card Games; Dice; Golf (especially pre 1900); Harness Racing; Magic; Playing Cards; Roulette.

Ships and Sailing: Marine Life; Naval-Maritime History; Navagation and Sea Voyages; Paracy and Privaterring; Sailing; Sea Lore; Ship Building; Warships; Whaling; Yachting.

Understanding Book Values and Pricing

How do you know whether you are paying a fair price for a book, buying the book at a bargain, or paying five times as much as you should?

The quick answer is that you should be buying any book for more than $5.00 unless you really know what the fair market value is. And how do you know what the fair market value is? Well, you can check Bookfinder at http://www.bookfinder.com for other copies. You can try to find it in American Book Prices Current or Ahearn’s guide.

Just remember that the condition and scarcity of a book or item of ephemera is a major element in determining the value that item. The economic rule of supply and demand plays the major role in determining the value of books and ephemera.

The price of a book at auction is often a “wholesale” price- the actual value of the book could be considerably more- when a bookseller has bought the book with the intent of reselling it. The dealer knows that there is a certain amount of demand for certain author’s works. And they know what they can buy at auction and resell for a good profit. Most of the time though dealers will buy books at auction on behalf of a client. The client is paying the bill plus an agreed upon commission for the dealer.

Although, in general, the value of collectable books increases with time, book values do not always increase – sometimes they retreat.

One of the pleasures of this business is doing a little collecting for yourself. In fact one of my goals is to collect books now that I can sell during my retirement. This is a long-term investment and I watch it closely, checking the values of books I placed in my portfolio to make sure they are performing according to expectations. If they don’t perform I sell them and accumulate other properties that I expect to perform better.

As I mentioned previously values are tricky, but if you stick with known authors, well written works by those authors printed in small quantities you are practically guaranteed to have a valuable property some day.

Condition, Supply & Demand Relative to Value

A common book in fair condition usually has little or no value – one can easily find a very good or fine copy of a common book. Even a common book in considerable demand will still have a low monetary value. When one considers the lesser supply of an uncommon or a scarce book, it is easy to understand that there might be a market for a good copy, maybe even a fair copy and even in these lesser conditions the book now has some value.

In the case of an uncommon book, the value of a good copy would probably be only 20 to 50% of the value of a fine copy of the same book when there is demand for the book.

A very good copy of the same book might bring 50 to 90% of the fine copy. In the field of modern first literary books, if a desirable title lacks a dust jacket the value fall off a precipice.

If such a volume in fine condition with a fine dust jacket is selling for $500, the same volume lacking the dust jacket is probably available in the $50 to $100 price range.

In the field of Americana, the lack of a dust jacket on a $500 book in fine condition might mean a price of $400 to $450 (the dust jacket is worth less in the case of a truly important and historical book). If the book is in very good condition instead of fine, it might sell for $400.

In the end, supply, demand and condition are the most important factors in determining the value of a book.

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PLACES TO BUY USED, OP AND RARE BOOKS

2. YARD SALES, ESTATE SALES AND YES, EVEN THE SALVATION ARMY!

3. Booking space on the Net:

Used-booksellers take a page from other

on-line vendors

4. Booking space on the Net (con’t):

5. HOW TO SELL YOUR BOOKS

ON THE INTERNET

6. DATABASE/Search Engines

7. SELLING BOOKS BY INTERNET AUCTION

8. Buyers, sellers connect on line

9. WAYS OF SELLING YOUR INVENTORY BESIDES THE INTERNET

10. GENERAL RULES FOR OPERATING AS A DEALER OF USED AND OP BOOKS

11. MARKETING IN THE REAL WORLD

12. WHY PEOPLE BUY A PRODUCT OR SERVICE -

“98% of all human beings buy products or services emotionally and then justify those purchases logically!”

13.  HOW TO GET GOOD RESULTS IN YOUR NEW BUSINESS

14. SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS STRATEGIES IN THE REAL WORLD -

RULE #1: Do not use your cash to buy anything that does not help you produce more cash!

RULE # 2: Get Good BOOK BUYING Results With Advertisements

“You Can Get Cash Money Now For

Your Used Books”.

RULE #3: Treat Your Business Like A Business And Get Serious About It!

15. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:

HOW TO MAKE $100,000 EACH AND EVERY YEAR OR MORE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!

`16. WHAT SPECIALIZATION CAN DO FOR YOU

17.  Here’s How To Make $100,000 A Year :

Make it your personal goal to:

Sell 3 books a day with a $100 mark-up, net, on each book

(3 X 100 X 334 days/year= $100,200)

18. HOW TO SAFELY SHIP YOUR BOOKS TO DEALERS, COLLECTORS

Packaging and Insuring Books For Shipment:

19. BOOK SIZE DESCRIPTION TERMS:

You may run into these terms from time-to-time in the used book market. It good to be aware of them.

20. Book Size Descriptions Commonly Used By Book Dealers On The Internet:

21. YET MORE BOOK CONDITION DESCRIPTION TERMS (obviously this is very, very important and not an exact science):

22. Glossary OF BOOK TERMS:

BUT IF YOU ARE MORE INTERESTED IN EBOOKS AND DIGITAL PRODUCTS THAT CAN BUILD AN INTERNET INCOME- YOU ARE ENCOURAGE TO VISIT THE GLOBAL FRANCHISE INTERNET DIGITAL STORE AT :

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR ENQUIRY, YOU CAN EMAIL OUR INTERNET MARKETING GURU AT: chricchen@adtellisense.com

To all Valued Friends & Associates of Adtellisense…

My Dear Friend,

It is not necessary to recreate the wheel every time you want to start a campaign to market your products or services.  Instead, you can look to the best practices of what other online businesses have done in the past for proven online product marketing tips.  You can learn both from the mistakes and successes of other businesses, so long as you effectively incorporate those ideas into your own marketing strategy.

Know Your Customers

How well do you know your potential clients?  You first need to understand that no matter how valuable the products and services that you offer, they will not appeal to everyone.  Instead of trying to market your products to entities who will never be interested, you should instead set your sights on those individuals who will actually be interested in what you have to offer.

Forget about segments of the marketplace that are yet untapped.  You may be able to go back later and find ways to reach out that will be effective to your overall marketing strategy.  But until you’ve achieved success with your target customer groups, you cannot spend time looking at clients that are a long shot.

Know Your Competition

What do your competitors do well?  What do they do not so well?  You should constantly be observing how your competitors deal with their businesses.  You can rely heavily upon your own observations.  In addition, you can ask trusted friends or current clients to look at the offerings and practices of your competition to find ways to emulate their successes or change practices to avoid the ways in which they have not been as successful.  Proven online product marketing tips, can come from nearly any observation you make about the businesses of your competition.

Be an Expert

Finally, you must be an absolute expert in the field in which you do business.  How else can you expect your customers and clients to trust you, if you do not know more about what you have to offer than any of your competitors?  Learn about your products and services inside out.

If they are products and services that you have developed on your own, you should carefully document every piece of knowledge possible about them.

If they are third party products or services, you should read all documentation that is provided, test out the products and services so that you know how to use them inside and out, and find the appropriate experts of whom to ask questions whenever they may arise.

Let’s face it! In today’s competitive marketplace, you the small business person need every advantage you can come up with; in order to make a fair profit. By using proven online product marketing tips, you can be well on your way to achieving success for your business.

Come visit us again for more tips, All new tips will be updated and included every beginning of the Week.

Find more useful tools for internet marketing business at:  http://www.internet-digitalproducts.tk

Or EMAIL us at : sales@adtellisense.com for more information on HOW TO BUY eBOOKS RELATED TOPICS … JUST SIMPLY QUOTE OUR SITE < INSERT – “MEMORY” INTO SUBJECT HEADER OF YOUR EMAIL> TO GET 30% DISCOUNT !