Update Announcements, #115, 3 March 2008

Michele Behan writes about ephemera, but, if you don't buy and sell letters, photographs, brochures, postcards - or any of the innumerable items that comprise this market sector - this doesn't mean you should give her articles a pass. The thing is, if you're good at selling books, you'll almost certainly be good at selling ephemera - and vice-versa - and gaining knowledge in one will be essentially equivalent to gaining knowledge in the other. What makes the study of ephemera especially productive is that it almost always leads you to what is collectible and why. See how this plays out with Civil War ephemera in today's article.

Chris Lowenstein, our Accidental Antiquarian is back today as well. Those of you who are looking to establish a career in bookselling would do well to follow her series closely. Though somewhat new to bookselling, Chris isn't taking a conventional approach - she's not spending most of her days pointing laser beams at bar codes, etc. Instead, she's deliberately seeking knowledge about books and how they can most effectively be bought and sold. Today's article focuses on acquiring inventory - and there's not a word about scanners.

Finally, by now I'm sure you've noticed our Editor's Hot Picks Lists from eBay Stores, Amazon and Abebooks on BookThink, perhaps even purchased some of the featured items, but you've probably also noticed that things aren't terribly organized yet - i.e., to date there are only three categories: Books, Supplies and Tools. Starting today, this is changing. In the coming weeks, the books category will be systematically organized into intuitive sub-categories. This will help you more readily find what you're looking for. Example: A sub-category of general first edition guides is already in place.

We've attempted to make this list as near definitive as possible, and I think most of you will see some resources that you weren't previously aware of. As time permits, we'll also be appending short reviews to these books to help you decide what to purchase now, what to purchase later, and what not to purchase at all. The idea, ultimately, is to assist you in putting together a working bookselling reference library. Feedback is always welcome: editor@bookthink.com.

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Questions or comments?
Contact the editor, Craig Stark
editor@bookthink.com