The BookThinker Newsletter ISSN 1547-9501 141, 25 January 2010

#141 Special Report #1, 8 February 2010

Special Announcements

Selling on eBay Changes, Ver. 2010, Update Some of you may have seen Karin Bergsagel's NewsBlog post on Tuesday referring to remarks made by Todd Lutwak, eBay's Senior Director of Selling Experience, in an interview with AuctionByte's Ina Steiner, specifically referring to a test conducted sometime in October and November of 2009 in which Store items were placed in Core - an announced change that will become permanent this Spring. If not, the complete interview may be accessed here, and I recommend listening to it.

 
Recent BookThink Issues

#141, 1 February 2010

Update Announcements

Selling on eBay Changes, Ver. 2010 Some things never change. Take eBay. What never changes at eBay, of course, are changes. Year after year we get them, sometimes twice a year. The reason for this is that eBay is essentially a re-active venue, one that reacts to changes in the marketplace, and as often as the marketplace changes (and shareholders apply pressure), that ol' wheel keeps right on turnin'.

 
#141, 25 January 2010

From the Editor

Bookselling in the 21st Century Part X: Boo! Now that I've reached Part X of this series, I think this might be a good time to pause and perhaps throw a sort of a scare into those of you who are doing the same thing you were doing two or five or more years ago.

Top 10 on eBay November 2009 Twilight, Rand, Tolkien, and King are no surprise in the fiction top 10. But what about Robert Frost and Chaucer? Both made the list in November 2009. The non-fiction list features the familiar (Sumo, Ruscha, and a signed Easton Press title) and the unusual (a Japanese photo book from the Vietnam War, gold mine maps from 1896, and an association copy of Game of Chess: A Poem published in 1736). On the Antiquarian & Collectible side, #1 is a Picasso book containing both the artist's signature and a drawing; it sold for $30,000. The 1960 book was listed by a Peruvian seller and is followed on the list by two Bibles, A Farewell to Arms signed by Hemingway, and Alcoholics Anonymous.

#140, Special Report 2, 18 January 2010

Special Announcements

Bookselling in the 21st Century Part IX: Insulated Niches Sacred Books Question: Does the content of a book change if its format changes? At first glance, the question might seem ridiculous. How could the content of a book possibly change if you read it first, say, in print format and then on a Kindle? It's still comprised of exactly the same words, right?

#140, Update Announcements, 4 January 2010

Special Announcements

Bookselling in the 21st Century Part VIII: Insulated Niches Books Purchased for Decoration Think about this for a moment: What is the likelihood that the antiques market will go away during our lifetimes? Or even suffer a major decline? Slim to none, in my opinion, especially since "new" antiques are born every day. Easy. But ask the same question about the book market, and we might hesitate, qualify our answer, or even predict that it will head south in a big way. Maybe not so easy.

#140, Update Announcements, 4 January 2010

Update Announcements

Bookselling in the 21st Century Part VII: Insulated Niches Signed Hypermoderns Forging ahead today with identifying what I've termed "insulated niches" - specific print book areas that in my opinion will likely not be adversely impacted by the digital revolution.

The BookThinker, 140, 21 December 2009

From the Editor

Bookselling in the 21st Century Part VI: Insulated Niches An Introduction August through November has been one of my best bookselling stretches ever - a nice surprise, frankly, given that events seem to be conspiring to send many businesses south. I don't have a ready explanation for this surge in sales, but what I can do is look back at exactly what those sales were and perhaps make some guesses on trends. And wouldn't it be nice if I discovered that there are a few bookselling niches that appear to be nicely insulated against the forces that have been eroding our marketplace in recent years?

Condition Guidelines at Half.com Update I'm still getting reports of suspensions. If there's good news, in most cases reinstatements (when justified) are happening as well, though this doesn't mean it won't be a pain in the ass to get everything up and running again.