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Edith,
What is a "book scout" and how do you get to be one?
Cheryl
Book Scouts are people who find and buy books at tag sales, library sales, and places like flea markets. They, in turn, resell these books to shop owners or dealers who do not have the time to travel the countryside looking for bargains. When scouts are in shops, they can turn up "mistakes," books that are undervalued.
In the past the scout served a useful service. Some dealers looked upon them with disdain, and I've heard terms like "bottom-feeder" and the like. Well-mannered dealers, however, know that good scouts will bring in box loads of good books that are necessary for maintaining a well-stocked store.
The Internet has disrupted this service in many cases. Scouts can now resell their own books without the overhead of a shop, thus earning higher sums for their labors.
If you love the hunt and nothing more and really want to be a scout, develop a good relationship with the dealers you like or live near. Find out what they need and how much they will pay. Being well armed with knowledge will make your search easier and more worthwhile.
Edith
Dear Bookologist,
Well, the nuns taught me excellent English and perfect spelling, however, they were terribly lacking in math skills. The English and spelling has paid off and unfortunately I am very nitpicky about the spelling in particular!
It's spelled camaraderie. Not commraderie. With a smile and a good day to you,
Dana D
Mea Culpa but don't expect me to wear a hair shirt or kneel on peas.
Edith
Hi Edith,
I love the Bookologist site and all your newsletters. You give me lots of inspiration and motivation when times are tough. I recently opened a used bookshop on ebay here in Germany but I feel I don't know what to do or where to go next. I am having constant problems finding stock, prices on ebay are rock-bottom (many novels either don't sell at all, or they go for 1 Euro each which is nearly what I paid for the book originally, so I am either breaking even or losing money). Plus I don't have the expertise to know which books are valuable, which ones are in demand, where to advertise....plus I don't want to do ebay all my life.....I guess I am a little scared from leaping from ebay into an industry that is already over-saturated.
Any advice you can give me on any of these issues would be greatly appreciated. Is there anyone here in Germany that can help me out with stock and/or advice?
Keep up the good work! Your newsletter is the email highlight of my week!
Mark O'Neill
Your letter is the highlight of my week!
In the next two issues I'll be writing about other book-selling venues. Your best bet will be http://www.abebooks.de. This is identical to abe's North American version.
Please, visit and use our forum. We pride ourselves on having the best and most knowledgeable group of booksellers on the Internet today.
Edith
Regarding the letter from Fred, who was interested in learning how to enter the book business:
Edith,
I would like Fred to hear my suggestion that he consider contacting recently FAILED bookstores around the country to find how what they did that he might do differently in his own shop. For example, there is a one-year old shop just going out of business in my town in West Virginia called "Explorer Books." Elkins is near the ski areas and has lots and lots of tourists, as well as a small college.
The "for sale" ad in the newspaper indicated that the woman who owns the shop is selling her stock AND her online business/contacts as well. This shop is at the best intersection of downtown Elkins with adequate parking available, and a thriving quilting shop across the street and a great restaurant next door, so location was not a problem. This is the second time a bookstore has failed in this same location in five years, and it's a shame.
Anyhow, I don't know how to contact Fred directly and hope you will pass on my suggestion to him. I'm sure there are lessons to be learned from each failed enterprise and I wish him well in his new start up. (Note: I have absolutely nothing to do with this shop nor do I know the owner. I just shopped there, but obviously not enough.)
Sara Long
Thanks Sara for your thoughtful response. I am certain Fred will appreciate your interest and good wishes. Sometimes it is not the shop that fails. Shops and online businesses demand a lot of time and resources. If family circumstances change, the shop must go.
Then again, sometimes a failed shop isn't any surprise.
Edith
Hello Edith, enjoy the Bookologist, I sell a few books on ebay in a very small way, and there is one topic which would be very helpful, probably for a lot of actual or would-be sellers, that is, what should we buy when, for example, we go into a house having an estate sale and are confronted with bookshelves with all kinds of stuff, what to go for, and what to avoid, the stuff that is hard to sell. Craig went into this some, such as, fiction should generally be avoided, and old books on explosives or polo are highly saleable, but any other information on what sells and what doesn't would be very useful. Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Dan Chiriboga
East Granby CT
Hello Neighbor. It's nice to hear from a fellow Nutmegger, or Swamp Yankee as the Northern New Englanders like to call us.
There is no fool-proof list of do's and don't when it comes to buying books because there's always the exception to the rule. Some of that fiction you may be ignoring might be an author's first book, a limited run that's worth a pretty penny. But on the whole, non-fiction is your best bet. Stay away from the How-To's, the pop psychology, anything that everybody and his/her brother might have already bought and regretted. Technical subjects are a good investment for the most part, the more esoteric, the better.
You must also pay attention to the previous owner when buying at an estate sale. Was it someone whose signature is important? Did the owner have a relationship with an author? I wish there was an easy list I could compile for you. My own experience is that good science books, theological books (very subject specific topics), and handsome books in slipcases are worth considering.
Edith
Dear Edith;
Thank you for taking over a wonderful publication that has been a big help to me while I learn the art of bookselling. I've just recently run into a problem I hoped I would never have to deal with - a torn book.
I recently bought a 1000+ page reference book from 1904 called Medicology or Home Guide to Health at a Mennonite sale. The binding was in poor condition but the pages, inlay, etc. were great. However, at one point in my recent move I unpacked it and found it was in two pieces. Is there a common, worthwhile way to get the book repaired? I live in a rural area so running in to my local bookstore is about a 50-mile drive. I'd like to have an idea if its worth the trip. Can you help me? I'd appreciate it.
Yours,
Phil
Your heart must have sunk when you saw the book in pieces. You have my condolences. There are ways to rebind books but the method depends on what happened to split your book. Was the cover disengaged from the text block? Was the spine gone to begin with and the text block split in half?
There is one copy of this book on the Internet with a detached cover that's being offered at about $17 but the prices do rise from there to a significant amount. Just remember that a rebound or repaired edition will not fetch top dollar.
If you are so far away from a bookstore or binder, you should probably keep a good guide on hand and practice on old books you were going to toss. Book Repair: A How-To-Do-It Manual (How-to-Do-It Manuals for Libraries, No. 107) is one you might obtain.
Bookbinding.net also offers some help. If you do a search for what you need to do to fix a book, you can use this form .
You bring up a good article topic and I will begin putting one together. I will draw upon binders for advice and find good supply houses where you can buy repair materials.
Edith
Hi,
I've been reading your publication now almost since the beginning, however, I would like someone to write an article about the Copyright page of every book - I have no clue what the printing numbers at the bottom of the book are or other wordings on that page. I have even gone to the book store and asked about these items and they don't know as they just punch words in a computer and come up with a book title. Keep doing your great job of informing us.
Thanks.
Anne
Some publishers will run a string of numbers across the bottom of the copyright page that indicates the printing for this particular book. A printing is the number of books produced at any one time. A first printing means that a publisher will commission, say, 100,000 copies of a book. This is the first printing. If they sell out and another batch is produced, this is the second printing.
If the number one is present, it is a first edition, unless the publisher is Random House. They indicate a first printing by having the one absent. Other publishers will use a letter such as A for first printing; B would be the second. I like it best when they simply state it outright.
Edith
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