Update Announcements by Craig Stark #49, 15 August 2005

Two announcements.

First, Contributing Editor Pamela Palmer launches a new BookThink column today - Top 10 on eBay. In Pam's words, here's the skinny: "Which fiction and non-fiction books are winners on eBay? This series answers that question and, along the way, looks at the listing strategies sellers use to bring in big bucks. Each month, we'll list the highest final value fiction and non-fiction titles and examine the auctions that showcase them. In By the Numbers, you get a math-eye view of directions and anomalies. Then in early January, we'll look back at the year and consider bookselling trends and highlights."

Second, BookThink is pleased to welcome a new sponsor - Alibris. Alibris, as many of you know, has evolved into one of the top fixed-price venues for booksellers, and BookThink has given them a thumbs up in several past BookThinker articles. Why? One word: sales. Sales actually happen at Alibris, and I speak from longstanding personal experience. Venues can promise you the moon (and often do), but unless you're cashing their checks every month, it's wasted breath.

You may have heard Amazon's recent announcement about accommodating pre-ISBN books in the Marketplace venue. This was good news for many sellers, especially those who weren't selling outside of Amazon. Soon it'll be good news for Alibris sellers as well. Alibris is currently working on a process that will match your pre-ISBN books with BASINSs in the Amazon catalog. This increased exposure of your inventory can mean only one thing - increased sales.

If you aren't yet an Alibris seller, click one of their banners on the BookThink website and have a look. Registration is painless, there are numerous options for uploading your inventory, and fees are competitive.