The BookThinker Newsletter ISSN 1547-9501 #122, 2 June 2008

BookThink Update
9 June 2008>>>

Update Announcements

Building Value Into Your Inventory Simple Techniques for Quickly Adding Content to Your Descriptions If you haven't been building enhanced value into your book descriptions on a regular basis, I strongly urge that you start. Today's article, aimed primarily at beginning booksellers, suggests some quick and simple techniques for doing this.

Selling on Amazon Part I: Survival on the River, the Basics I'm pleased to welcome a new writer this week. Former Amazon columnist Steve Weber has decided to focus his activities on a publishing venture and will no longer be contributing to BookThink. A lady many of you will recognize as earthmom22 on the Amazon forums will be taking his place, and what better topic to start with than a guide to not getting kicked off Amazon. Underperforming Amazon sellers, it seems, are getting axed with an alarming frequency of late, but rest assured there are specific things you can do to all but ensure that you won't be one of them.

Gold Edition #50 How to Use Publisher's Back Lists for Arbitrage Not too many years ago the word "arbitrage" had a restrictive essentially technical meaning. In recent years, however, the meaning has expanded to include the buying and re-selling of tangible good - like books. Purchase now.

From the Editor Important announcements for BookThinker readers.

Buying and Selling Ephemera Part II: African-Americana I doubt that a survey has ever been done, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that booksellers who really know their history are the most likely to succeed in this business. It gives you such an advantage when scouting - but, if you're behind in this department, Ephemera Editor Michele Behan will start catching you up today with Part II of her "Buying and Selling Ephemera" series. "African -Americana."

Protecting Your Inventory A Few Suggestions for New Booksellers Also today, something for you new guys on the block - suggestions on how to protect your inventory from damage while you're waiting for it to sell. Topics include, among other things, a tutorial on applying polyester sleeves to softcovers.

How to Start a Clicks-and-Bricks Used Bookstore Store Layout Part II: Fixtures Second, Jill Hendrix returns with her outstanding series on starting a bricks-and-clicks bookstore, this time with Part II to her sub-series on store fixtures. Next month we'll publish Part III of both this series and my own series on storage solutions for booksellers.

From the Editor Important announcements for BookThinker readers.

The Heritage Press Catalog & Checklist A Brief Review of the Second Edition Michael Bussacco's update of The Heritage Press Catalog & Checklist is now available for purchase. The second edition features a significant amount of new material. This is the only game in town for Heritage Press collectors and booksellers who specialize - that is, it's a must have. More details here.

UK Bookselling Philip Caveney BookThink's UK Editor, Claire Main, has awakened from her long winter's nap and returns today with another author for us to consider - Philip Caveney. Caveny has turned his attention, in recent years, to fantasy fiction for young adults, and the results look promising for booksellers willing to take a flutter on first printings and signed/doodled copies - all reasonably priced at this point. Claire also interviews Caveney - and yes, chocolate figures into it once again.

UK Bookselling An Interview with Philip Caveney Contributing Editor Claire Main interviews Philip Caveney.

BookThink's Quarterly Market Report of Common, Profitable Books Issue #4 Issue #4 of BookThink's Quarterly Market Report of Common, Profitable Books is now available for purchase. Purchase or subscribe now.

BookThink Announcement BookThink issues for the past couple of weeks will be online soon. Watch here for a list of newly added articles.

Previous BookThink Update >>>>>>>

BookThink Update
26 May 2008>>>

Update Announcements

Bookselling Research Step-By-Step A Brief Guide to the Guides So - how many hours did you put in last month or so on bookselling research? The last year? If few or none, frankly, I don't like your chances of long-term success. You may enjoy a few scores here and there, but without some serious knowledge to move forward with, it's going to be tougher and tougher for you to find good inventory, not to mention tougher and tougher to sell what you do find. Competition, in case you hadn't noticed, has only intensified recently, but the good news is that only a small percentage of booksellers ever bother themselves with research. This, therefore, is a great opportunity to shine. If you're new to this and would like an idea or two on how to approach market research efficiently and productively, read today's first article.

An Interview with Caitlin Rother After an absence of too many months to suit us, BookThink's Media Editor Catherine Petruccione returns today with an interview with a rising star in both the true crime and crime fiction genres, Pulitzer Prize nominee Caitlin Rother. Interestingly, Rother chose a more traditional path to book publishing: She served an apprenticeship in the newspaper biz. I think you'll find her insights into writing (specifically the interplay of the three types of writing she's mastered) intriguing.

From the Editor Important announcements for BookThinker readers.

Buying and Selling Ephemera Part II: African-Americana I doubt that a survey has ever been done, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that booksellers who really know their history are the most likely to succeed in this business. It gives you such an advantage when scouting - but, if you're behind in this department, Ephemera Editor Michele Behan will start catching you up today with Part II of her "Buying and Selling Ephemera" series. "African -Americana."

Protecting Your Inventory A Few Suggestions for New Booksellers Also today, something for you new guys on the block - suggestions on how to protect your inventory from damage while you're waiting for it to sell. Topics include, among other things, a tutorial on applying polyester sleeves to softcovers.

How to Start a Clicks-and-Bricks Used Bookstore Store Layout Part II: Fixtures Second, Jill Hendrix returns with her outstanding series on starting a bricks-and-clicks bookstore, this time with Part II to her sub-series on store fixtures. Next month we'll publish Part III of both this series and my own series on storage solutions for booksellers.