Update Announcements, #87, 5 February 2007

If you've ever wondered why some products get reviewed in the BookThinker and others don't, I can explain it in one sentence: Products must meet three criteria for us to feature them - significant usefulness to booksellers, exceptional support, and a great price. If any one of these isn't on the table, we pass. I've lost track of the number of ScoutPal articles we've done, maybe 4 or 5 or more? The reason is simple - Dave Anderson. Dave pioneered the cell-phone lookup for booksellers way back when, and ever since he's worked assiduously to improve it and introduce new companion products and services. I'm hard put to think of a single tool that's had a more positive impact on my profits, is better supported or - being careful now to compare apples to apples, features to features, etc. - more reasonably priced. Well, Dave has come up with something new again, and if you've been reluctant to use ScoutPal in the past because of poor cell phone service coverage in your scouting area, there's now a perfect solution.

December's Top 10 on eBay is here today as well, and I think Pamela Palmer has summed up what to expect better than I ever could: "Action-packed may not be how you describe most Top 10 on eBay columns, but this one merits the description. December brought drama, intrigue, pathos, and a seasoned bookseller who smelled a rat." Interested? I was. As always, we'll be sending out item numbers for the featured books by email only (to protect the innocent), and you'll need to subscribe separately to this free service to receive them. Write me at editor@bookthink.com to get on board.

This was an extraordinarily busy week for me, fourth quarter taxes being only a small part of the fun I had, and one of the things that got pushed aside, inevitably, was my monthly BookHunt report. The important news is that I was able to purchase dozens of books online in December that will have substantial profit potential. The more I use BookHunt, refine my search parameters, utilize its features, and so on, the more it delivers. If you haven't tried it, you have absolutely nothing to lose. Purchase it for $19.99 (or bundled with our Gold Edition series on buying inventory online for $29.99), test drive it for 30 days, and, if it doesn't work for you for whatever reason, we'll shoot your money right back, no questions asked. Try it here.

Speaking of BookHunt, some of you who have approached me about this may be interested to know that we're now working on some companion software that will interface with ScoutPal, a database of 50/50 featured books, and BookHunt itself. If this doesn't make much sense to you yet, it will. Look for more details soon.

Finally, look for a special Sue Grafton issue this month. The elusive, blockbuster mystery writer has at long last succumbed to a BookThink interview with Media Editor Catherine Petruccione, and, to hammer things home, I'll be doing a market analysis of Grafton books, complete with issue points for first printings of all alphabetized titles - and Pamela Palmer will be contributing yet another flawless bibliography for her many collectors.

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Contact the editor, Craig Stark
editor@bookthink.com