Special Announcements 14 June 2014

If you've visited BookThink's forum recently, you've no doubt noticed a significant increase in activity, also a new sub-forum - eBay East. This was installed to accommodate refugees from the eBay bookseller's forum, or BSB, who have been exiting in the wake of major consolidations of this and many other eBay forums into more generalized formats. If you take a look at the header on the BSB (if the forum hasn't been taken down by the time you read this), you'll see this announcement:

"We're making it easier for you to find the content you're most interested in. Beginning the week of June 2, content from this board will appear in a new board called Collectibles & Art."

I'm not going to comment on this other than to say that, over the years, the BSB forum has been one of the most valuable bookselling resources anywhere, and it's regrettable that it's being dismantled. For now, eBay's loss is your potential gain. Some of the best and brightest booksellers have started participating here, and this is a golden opportunity for those of you with less experience in the trade to benefit from their knowledge - which, by the way, they share generously. Registration takes only a few moments. Do it here.

As promised, a preview of a bookseller's guide to Grosset & Dunlap appears today. In the final, much lengthier report, along with a bookselling-relevant history of this firm, there will be a market analysis, discussions of dating and First Edition identification, extensive lists of Grosset & Dunlap series books, both juvenile and adult, a list of high spots, a presentation of relevant bibliographies and more. A full version will be delivered to subscribers of BookThink's Bookseller Author Reports soon. Subscribe now and you'll receive this double report and seven previous reports, along with three additional to-be-issued reports to complete a 12-issue subscription. Do it here.

Due to the popularity of the "kitchen sink" sale I've decided to hold it over and give it a spot in BookThink's Store. Here's the deal: You get everything for $179.99, subscriptions to BookThink's Guide to Online Bookselling and BookThink's Author Reports along with all complete report packages - all Gold Editions, all 50/50's and all Quarterly Market Reports - and any revisions/updates to these reports as they are completed. The subscriptions include all current chapters and reports and additional chapters and reports as they are issued. This is a ton of bookselling content that, if applied, will pay for itself quickly and generate income for years to come. Click here to purchase it, and everything will be emailed to you as attachments within 24 hours.

Note to subscribers: Chapter 15 of BookThink's Guide to Online Bookselling has been delivered. If you didn't receive your copy, please check your spam folder first. If it's not there, email me at editor@bookthink.com and I'll send it to you ASAP. 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 here.

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.

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