The BookThinker Newsletter ISSN 1547-9501 #98, 2 July 2007

BookThink Update
9 July 2007>>>

Update Announcements

UK Bookselling A Modern Day Agatha Christie? BookThink's Claire Main presents another potential money-maker for BookThinkers today, also a new contest. This time it's crime fiction in the manner of Dame Agatha Christie - Dolores Gordon-Smith's recently published novel, A Fete Worse than Death. Answer the 6 questions in her article correctly, and you'll be entered into a competition for a framed, signed publicity postcard and a Royal Flying Corps cap badge, which protagonist Jack Haldean might have worn. Should you or shouldn't you invest in first editions? You be the judge.

UK Bookselling An Interview with Dolores Gordon-Smith Also up is Claire's interview with author Gordon-Smith. Needless to say, chocolate is involved once again.

Top 10 on eBay April 2007 You may have noticed that we've fallen behind some on our monthly eBay Top 10s. We'll do our best to catch up this summer, starting with April's list today. Here's Associate Editor Pamela Palmer's take on the April finalists: "The Fiction Top 10 started out in typical fashion with heavy weighting toward Stephen King and son Joe Hill. Then at #9, it split into a 3-way tie, making it the Top 11 list. If you are wearing a hat, though, settle it firmly before checking out the Non-fiction list. This month saw strange behavior crop up, making it a wild international ride, especially for a certain buyer from China."

From the Editor Important announcements for BookThinker readers.

The Dead Guy Buy A Personal Essay Most of the content we publish at BookThink is selected for its potential usefulness to booksellers. However, there are times when it's helpful, maybe even high time, to put some of this in perspective, to showcase things that are so aptly expressed, so moving, that making your next bookselling buck has to take a back seat to something that we should pause to be reminded of. Today, we're pleased to publish a personal essay penned by a life-long antiquarian bookseller. Enough said; please do read this, "The Dead-Guy Buy," and recognize the heartbreak that many of us have surely experienced.

Patriotic Paper The Firecracker Hot Market for Real Photo Postcards BookThink's new Ephemera Editor Michele Behan gets her "ephemeral" feet wet this week with a detailed look at real photo postcards - their history, who collects them and why, valuation, etc. - and closes with an emphasis on a timely topic: RPPCs with a patriotic theme, often with a Fourth of July focus. By the way, look for Part II of Michele's series on anthologies in a few weeks.

Gold Edition #40 How To Specialize in Bookselling Part II: Types of Specialties, Hypermoderns (1) Issue #40 of the Gold Edition - Part II of the new series, How to Specialize in Bookselling, is now available for purchase. Purchase now.

Special Subscription Package BookThink's Gold Edition Plus BookThink's Quarterly Market Report of Common, Profitable Books $59.99 Now available - Special Subscription Package includes a year of Gold Edition plus a year of Quarterly Market Report .... This can be used to start a new subscription or to extend current subscription(s). Click here.

BookThink's Quarterly Market Report of Common, Profitable Books Issue #1 Issue #1 of BookThink's Quarterly Market Report of Common, Profitable Books is now available for purchase. Purchase or subscribe now.

Previous BookThinker update-

BookThink Update
25 June 2007>>>

Update Announcements

Richard Powell Redux An Interview with Dorothy Powell Quigley Author Richard P. Powell died on December 8, 1999. There was no national day of mourning - on the contrary, most newspapers failed to announce his death in their obituaries. And yet here was a writer who left behind a substantial body of work, produced primarily in the 1940s to 1960s, some of it the fodder of bestseller lists and movies. What's interesting about Powell is that, after decades of reader neglect, he's making a comeback on the heels of the considerable efforts of his daughter, Dorothy Powell Quigley, to republish his better books and, in some cases, seek movie deals. Read Catherine Petruccione's interview with Dorothy here.

How to Start a Clicks-And-Bricks Used Bookstore: An A to Z Guide Part IV: Writing a Used Bookstore Business Plan (Section 7 and Financial Glossary) Contributing Editor Jill Hendrix is back at work today, presenting Part IV of her 4-part series on how to prepare a business plan for a clicks-and-bricks bookstore. Online sellers take note: "Clicks" points to online bookselling businesses, bricks to open shops. There is much valuable information in her series for both. Look for the next article in her A-Z Guide in about a month. The topic will be naming your store.