From the Editor

by Craig Stark

27 May 2013

We charge for some things at BookThink; other things we give away. The criteria is usually this: The more potential that content has for helping others make money, the more likely we are to charge for it. Today, however, I'm going to make an exception; I'm publishing an excerpt from an Author Report that was recently delivered to subscribers on Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell - specifically, a bibliographic key.

In my experience, no book is more frequently misrepresented than this one, whether it's presenting a book club edition as a trade edition, misstating the edition or printing (1st, 2nd, etc.), passing off a facsimile dust jacket as genuine - or committing any of a number of other missteps that can and often do erode trust with potential buyers. Sometimes, no doubt, such misrepresentation is inadvertent; sometimes it's deliberate fraud. Whatever the case, the more widely accurate bibliographical information about Gone With the Wind can be distributed, the less misrepresentation will occur.

Please feel free (with credit for its original source attached) to distribute part or all of this key, publicly or privately, in any venue. It may be of use in a description, to explain why a book is being returned as "not as described," to answer a forum question, and so on. In any case, if you are not already familiar with the facts, it can improve your own outcomes when handling this book. Time and time again the best prices are realized for copies that are accurately described.

BookThink's Bookseller's Author Reports are available for purchase either by subscription at $49.99 for 12 issues or individually at $9.99 each. Note that new subscribers will receive all 7 issues published to date and 5 additional issues as they become available. Subscribe here here. Purchase the Margaret Mitchell report or any other Author Report here. Note that the Mitchell report also includes additional publishing history content, a marketing analysis with specific bookselling opportunities enumerated, and a complete bibliography of the first 15 printings of Gone With the Wind.

Chapter 13 of BookThink's Guide to Online Bookselling has been delivered to subscribers. This is a comprehensive, in-progress bookselling how-to available by subscription here. It's approximately half completed, and new subscribers will receive current and all remaining chapters as they are issued. Note: If you subscribed to the Gold Edition (now re-titled BookThink's Guide to Online Bookselling) in 2008 or earlier, you will need to purchase the guide to continue receiving chapters.

Chapter 13 is the second in a series of chapters on how to buy inventory, and it presents an inductive, statistical (and perhaps somewhat unusual) method for identifying flashpoints that point to value in the marketplace.

For those of you not familiar with the guide, a list of completed chapters may give you a better sense of what's going on:

4. How to Make Money Selling Books While You're Learning How to Sell Books: First Things First

5. How to Make Money Selling Books While You're Learning How to Sell Books: Closing the Gap on Your Competition

11. How to Identify First Editions: Books That Are, Part IV (The Essential Reference Library)

BookThink's popular First Edition Library Checklist has been reformatted to PDF and now includes thumbnail photos of cover art for all FEL titles. The FEL, for those not familiar with it, is a series of extraordinarily faithful first edition facsimiles of over 100 notable publications, most of them issued with protective slipcases. Many are now out of print and all are enthusiastically collected. As booksellers, it pays for you to know of them and about them. Our checklist package includes a checklist of all 111 FEL titles, thumbnail images of cover art, indications of most and least valuable titles, indications of rarest and most common titles, detailed issue points (where applicable), explanatory notes, and the full text of Stan Shelley's superb, illustrated primer on the First Edition Library.

If you have purchased the earlier version (which was available in DOC and TXT formats), you can upgrade to the new version for $5. The price for first time buyers is $14.99. Either option can be exercised by clicking here.

BookThink's forum is up and running again. You can get to it by clicking this link.

Also, BookThink's complete Gold Edition is now available in PDF format. All 59 Gold Editions have been recently updated (and in some cases expanded) and combined into a PDF format e-book. A table of contents presents clickable report titles, and the entire document is searchable by keywords. The PDF format ensures 100% compatibility with all computers, tablets and smartphones, and it's easier than ever to take the Gold Edition with you on scouting trips. Purchase it here for $59.99.

Click here to see several sample pages. (And yes, we're working on converting and updating 50/50 and QMR as well.)

Important: If you have previously purchased a complete Gold Edition package, this e-book is available to you at no charge. Email me at editor@bookthink.com for your copy. Also, if you have purchased any Gold Edition issues either singly or in groups at any time, we will subtract those purchases from the price of the e-book. Again, email me at editor@bookthink.com and we will research your purchases and forward a discounted invoice reflecting them.

Finally, the entire BookThink output of Gold Editions, 50/50's and QMR's is available to purchase as a complete package here. Again, if you have previously purchased any issues, we will subtract these from the total, and once you purchase them, you will be entitled to any future updates at no additional cost.

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