BookThink is an industry-leading resource provider for online and open shop book dealers, book collectors, and serious readers. Resources already in place or scheduled to be added in the coming months include the BookThinker, a free twice monthly newsletter covering a wide range of book-related topics; Gold Edition Premium Content, a monthly paid-subscription newsletter supplying profit-generating insider information to booksellers; a moderated book forum; an extensive library of active and pertinent book-related links; book reviews; interviews with authors and other notables; and intensive tutorials on practical book repair, grading, terminology, buying for resale, selling books online and off, building a personal book collection, and more.

The BookThinker Newsletter
ISSN 1547-9501

#24, 2 August 2004

BookThinker Update
9 August 2004>>>

Betting Yesterday on Tomorrow Ann Nolan Clark and the Native American Picture Books of Change One of the riskier things a bookseller or investor can do is speculate in the book market. Buying at market prices today and selling for significant profit tomorrow requires a combination of luck, knowledge, and something I'd call foreknowledge that few of us can bring to the table. Still, when certain factors seem to fit together like a tightly crafted dovetail joint, it's hard to resist taking, as Bertram Wooster would put it, the occasional flutter on the ponies. What I'm doing today is sticking my neck out, predicting significant profits tomorrow for a little known market niche that spans only a handful of years in the mid 20th century.

From the Editor

Beans and Bookcases An Interview with Henry Petroski Henry Petroski has authored an impressive collection of bestselling books, some of them about seemingly insignificant stuff: pencils, paper clips, zippers, and yes, books - more to the point, bookshelves. If you think these are topics that can be adequately dispatched with in brief articles, think again. Petroski has a gift for seeing the universal in the particular, not to mention a gift for making it all very engaging, and this most certainly requires the expanse of a book to do. See our interview with him in today's BookThinker.

The Mystery of The Collectible Nancy Drew If you spent time wanting a roadster or a friend named Bess, you likely know the personal side of Nancy Drew. Her adventures have brought mystery into the lives of young women since 1930. But if discussion of blue tweed, Farah, and Axe rivets your attention, you're acquainted with the financial side of Nancy. It's the timeless combination of intrigue, triumphant youth, and financial value that makes the series a perennial hit with book buyers and sellers. From both perspectives, Nancy is unique. Since the beginning, she's had it - that indefinable element of mystery when the lady is not quite what she seems - and neither is her author.

Book Topics-
All In The Name
Authors' Names and Signatures
Summer is booksellers' quiet time - but that's only an illusion. Despite slower sales, there's plenty you can do now that will pay off later. Take an author's identity and signature for example. Who is he? Is this really her handwriting? Does it affect value? There's more to the topic that meets an uninitiated eye. And BookThinker articles can help you hone the salient skills.

Profiting from the Fabulous 50’s Part I – 50’s TV BookThink’s first issue of Gold Edition Premium Content features an in-depth look at the 50’s – specifically, 50’s TV and how this idyllic interlude in history can produce serious profits for savvy booksellers. If you’re a baby boomer, chances are you already have a wealth of 50’s knowledge available. Put it to the best bookselling use possible with BookThink’s market analysis and 100’s of the best flashpoints we know. Find out what’s red hot now by purchasing this issue or, better yet, an annual subscription. Click here for details.

Previous BookThinker Update -
BookThinker Update
12 July 2004>>>

We've Met the Aliens And They Are Us! Aliens have been the fodder of Science Fiction for decades. In today's BookThinker, Timothy Doyle surveys the best of this sub-genre - and yes, there are potential profits for booksellers.

Previous BookThinker Premium Content -

BookThink's Premium Content
Super Niche
Profiting From the Arts & Crafts Movement
Books, periodicals, catalogs, ephemera, etc. No doubt some or all of the following flashpoints will sound a familiar note: Stickley, bungalow, Roseville, kit houses, Roycroft, Alladin Readi-Cut, mission furniture, Prairie Style, Tiffany, quarter-sawn oak, Louis Sullivan, etc. Arts & Crafts generated - one and all. There are 100's more, many of which appear in today's Premium Content. To subscribe or purchase, click here.