I'm closing in on twenty-five years working as a bookseller and buyer. In that time, I've seen and interacted with literally thousands of people looking to sell books they no longer want. Hands down, the most difficult part of the job is dealing with people who are mistaken, either through ignorance or lack of proper research, about what they are selling. Because of that, I thought I'd spend some time dispelling some commonly-encountered notions and fallacies about the business of buying and selling books. So if you're wondering whether you're sitting on a pile of treasure or a stack of garbage, if you've wondered what a buyer is looking for when you bring items to them for sale, or just want to read about what makes someone else's day miserable and have a laugh at my expense, then pull up a chair and pour yourself a cup of coffee.
Let's talk about books and the value thereof.
Fallacy #1: "If it's old, it has to be worth money!"
For a lot of people my age, the introduction to the idea of something having value simply because of its age probably came from Indiana Jones. And why not? That which is commonly and inexpensively available now can become priceless if someone forgets about it for a thousand years. (I should point out that Raiders of the Lost Ark takes place in 1936, meaning that $10 watch costs the equivalent of $200 in today's dollars, but Belloq still has a point.)
Age is a factor in determining the value of a given book, but something which is eighty years old isn't worth more only because it's been around since the 1940s. In my store, it isn't uncommon to see material that old, or even older, priced two to three dollars. Its age makes it a curiosity more than anything else -- the fact it survived this long may be interesting, but the mere fact of its existence eight decades later doesn't make it highly sought after.
What makes the most difference in the world of bookselling is not age, but condition. For most hardcovers, 90% of a book's value comes not from the title, the author, or the year it was printed, but rather the presence and condition of the dust jacket.
Fallacy #2: "This is a first edition! That means it's valuable!"
The two words everybody's picked up from television programs like Antiques Roadshow and Pawn Stars are 'first edition'. A collector, after all, always wants a first edition, and that makes a first edition of anything more valuable.
Doesn't it..?
To find out the truth, I asked my good friend Morpheus.
If your reaction to that was, "WHAAAAAAAAT?" then you're exactly the person I'm writing for. Please take this to heart.
Morpheus isn't wrong: if a particular book received only a single print run, then every copy of that book is a first edition. And first editions of some titles can number in the hundreds of thousands of copies. The initial print run of James Patterson and Bill Clinton's book, The President Is Missing was one million hardcovers. If you've got one, congratulations! So do nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine other people.
Most books, in fact, only have one print run, because that's all their sales numbers will support. This might seem counter-intuitive, but for every best-selling author whose books have been reprinted dozens or even hundreds of times, there are one thousand more whose supply of books outweighed demand, and thus never went back for a second edition.
What's more, having something calling itself a "first edition" alone is no guarantee of great value. You can have two seemingly-identical copies of the same book, in perfect condition, both stated as first editions, and yet one could be worth ten times the other.
To a bookseller and to most collectors, "first edition" means something very specific: the very first printing of a manuscript, by the original publisher, in its original state.
ABEBooks has an exceptionally in-depth article explaining in intricacies of information necessary to understand the ins and outs of first edition identification, as well as the differences between printings, states, and how to go about identifying true firsts. If you want to educate yourself about first editions, this is a great place to start.
What makes the game of identifying a real first edition even more fun is that there's no unified way publishers indicate their editions, printings, and states. The result is that you often need a crap-load of detective work and knowledge to know if you've got a true first edition, or one that's just pretending.
For instance, here's what to look for to determine an actual First Edition of Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code. If all you look at is the number line and whether or not you see "First Edition" on the copyright page, but fail to take into account the cover price, the specific shade of white/gold on the dust jacket's interior flyleaves, and the physical size of the book itself, then congratulations: you qualify to play Jon Snow on Game of Thrones, because you know nothing.
And that's just one book, published twenty years ago. There are thousands more like it. Here's everything you need to know about identifying which printing of the original AD&D Monster Manual your dad has on his shelf. Is that really cool hardcover copy of The Great Gatsby you plucked from a yard sale really a true first edition? Now you can find out! Heck, Stephen King offers a downloadable PDF on his own website explaining how to identify the true first editions of his books, because even if, like me, it's your job to know this stuff, half the time you don't even know what you don't know.
How do you quickly communicate your ignorance of the bookselling art to an actual bookseller? Throw around the phrase "first edition" like you expect our eyes to gloss over and angels descend from the heavens. You'll forgive us if we're skeptical.
Fallacy #3: "My book is signed by the author, which automatically makes it more valuable!"
This seems like common sense. There have to be fewer signed copies of a specific book than unsigned ones. Ergo, a signed book is worth more than an unsigned one. That has to be right.
Right?
Oh, you sweet, sweet flower child...depart now or forever have your innocence shattered.
Leaving aside the matters of authenticating signatures and identifying forgeries, and also assuming you really do have a legitimate signature, there are two major factors which determine the monetary value of that signature.
First: is the author someone who is significantly famous (or infamous) enough that their signature merits a bump in value?
If the writer is someone with a far-reaching fame, then that signature may make a book more valuable. There are always exceptions to this rule, but if the writer who signed your book isn't a household name, then I'm sorry to say, that signature will add very little to the value of the book. But even if the writer is a household name, their signature may not be worth all that much. Writers who routinely hold book signings or offer a service where you can pay to have material autographed generally make those signatures lower-value, since virtually anyone who wants one can theoretically acquire one. Some writers, like John Green, sign entire print runs of their books. Which is cool, but again, if everyone else's copy is signed too, that makes it a bit less interesting or valuable on the whole.
Second: is the author still breathing? The sad truth is, a signature on a book usually only increases its value once the author is dead. Corpses can't sign autographs, so at that point an author's signature becomes a limited resource, something which cannot be manufactured any longer.
This can also happen if the writer is still alive. Stephen King, James Patterson, and J.K. Rowling are all with us as of the time of this writing, but you won't find them sitting at a table in the local Barnes & Noble or Powell's shaking hands with fans. They're big enough that they don't have to and, outside of specialty pieces produced for the limited collector's market, they generally don't sign books.
An important distinction in the bookselling business is the difference between something "signed" by an author and something "inscribed".
"Signed" means they wrote their name (or a scribbled approximation thereof) on it somewhere, usually the title page. There may be a message going along with it, but if so, the message is of a general nature, intended for whomever opens the book: "Keep laughing!", "Leave the lights on for this one!", "With love," and so forth.
"Inscribed", on the other hand, means the person signing the book personalized it in some way for the intended recipient, along with a signature: "For Jenny,", "To Chrissy, in friendship,", "Thanks for coming out tonight, Ed!", and so forth. To add to the confusion, an inscription doesn't have to be from the writer. If you bought the book for your younger sister on the occasion of her high school graduation, and wrote, "Congrats, sis! Welcome to the real world!", then that book is now inscribed.
To a bookseller, a book which is signed is more valuable (and usually easier to sell) than one which is inscribed by the author. After all, much of the value of an inscription comes from being the recipient of the personalized message. A book inscribed "To Steve" is only cool if you're the Steve in question (or at least a Steve). On the other hand, what's cooler from an ownership standpoint: having a book signed by a writer you like, or having a book signed to you by your favorite author? Ironically, the thing which makes such a book more valuable to you actually makes it less valuable on the open market, except to someone who coincidentally shares your name.
Sorry, Charlie.
See? Doesn't work so well if you're name's @blewitt, does it?
I have an autographed paperback of Patrick F. McManus' A Fine and Pleasant Misery he signed at an event for me about 20 years ago, and Christopher Paolini's Eldest bought at a book store at cover price with a sticker on it advertising its status as an autographed copy. Make me a HIVE whale and they're yours!
Wish I had the ability to do that for you, @jacobtothe. Maybe in another 10 years...
But there are autographed copies, and I'm pretty sure Eldest is a first edition! You'll need to make me a Bitcoin whale in another decade! I know what I have, Mr. So-Called Expert! XD
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I guess the good news is that the Internet makes it far more easy to figure out what you have than before the Internet existed.
!hivebits
The last Neal Stephenson book I bought was only available signed at my local Barnes and Noble. I'm sure Barnes and Noble's "special" or "exclusive" signed editions number in the buttloads.
I’m going to sign sone Razor comics just to ruffle some feathers.