by Pamela Palmer #34, January 3, 2005

As the bookselling market changes, BookThink editor Craig Stark looks at how to adapt and take control of your business. In a series of articles, he covers takes a practical look at what sellers can do now. Feeling intimidated by all the change? This series gives you a method to get back on track.

Why Bookselling Isn't Working for You Part I - Are You Hungry? Today's BookThinker Update introduces a new series of articles that takes a fresh look at bookselling fundamentals, but please note that this series isn't addressed exclusively at beginners. Or even primarily. If you've been around the block once or twice and are struggling now, you might want to drop in, look at some of the changes in the marketplace that have taken place recently - and what you might do about them to get your business back in its best bookselling shape.

Why Bookselling Isn't Working for You Part II: Are You Getting Mixed Up with the Wrong Crowd? Winning at bookselling is like winning at anything else: there's a method. Steps to follow. If you follow them, you'll win no matter what seems to be working against you. End of story, right? Well, not exactly. Not everybody believes this. Some, maybe most of us, think that there's just too much going on that we don't have control over, that no matter what we do or don't do, there's no escaping the reality of the used book market as it is today - too damn many sellers, too few buyers. Winning, that is, is problematic. And yet, if this is true, how is it that some sellers are making serious money anyway? The answer is here - and so is another baseball story!

Why Bookselling Isn't Working for You Part III - Who Said This Was Supposed to Be Fun? Our series, "Why Bookselling Isn't Working for You," continues today with what may be the key to your slumping sales. Once again, we pay a visit to the baseball diamond and kick through the clay for answers.

Why Bookselling Isn't Working For You Part IV - Tortoises, Hares and the Southern Sandbur As the end of 2004 draws near, have you stopped to reflect on what kind of year it's been? For some of us, it's been a very good one indeed. We're doing something we love doing and making money doing it. Who could ask for more? For the rest of us, it's been so-so. Or bad. In any case, if things aren't going well for you yet, you've come to the right place. Our four-part series, "Why Bookselling Isn't Working for You," concludes today with a tale retold for the struggling bookseller - "The Tortoise and the Hare."