Graham Holroyd talks Vintage and Collectible Paperbacks

Collectible paperbacks, a category that includes science fiction, mysteries, westerns, adventure, horror, romance, pulp fiction and much more is still alive and well. There are few people as knowledgeable about this niche of the booktrade as Graham Holroyd. The 74-year-old dealer based in Webster, NY has hundreds of thousands of titles offered for sale in this genre. He’s been at it for more than 50 years. He estimates he ships 5,000 to 7,000 packages a year via his own website and parallel listings on ABE and Biblio. “I do no advertising and I’m busy seven days a week. I have customers all over the world.”

At the end of December 2023 Holroyd spoke with RBH by phone and answered questions by email about his distinctive specialty.

Asked how he got into the business he replied: “I read a lot of science fiction in the 60’s. I ran out of material so I decided to buy a huge old science fiction collection in the early 70’s. I offered what I did not want in mail-order style. Paperbacks were selling very fast. As I sold, I got other offers to buy other collections that kept me in stock for decades.

“My collectible paperback selection kept growing until I was offered some major paperback collections from dealers trying to retire. I combined 4-5 large collections to arrive at the selection I have today. I was not looking to be in the rare paperback business, but it was a natural expansion.

“As my business increased and my stock expanded into other genres,” he recalled. “My customer base became more varied. Originally I sold only science fiction. Now I sell everything. I still sell a lot of science fiction, but mysteries, detectives, westerns, horror, romance are keeping me busy. It appears that these other lines are increasing in interest but maybe it is only because I’m offering a larger variety of books and acquiring more of those customers.

“There seems to be a slow down on old dime novels, Big Little Books, common pulp magazines, old boys books like Winstons. It seems like collectors are specializing in their favorite authors, favorite artist covers, favorite subject material. Fewer customers are collecting complete sets of publishers like Bantam, Ballantine or Dell.”

Condition is always a major factor in value, and vintage paperbacks are no exception. Holroyd thinks, “Grading should be similar in the entire out-of-print, book industry. Hardcovers and paperbacks should be similar,” but he readily acknowledges that's not usually the case. “Getting book dealers to use a uniform grading system is a bigger problem. A huge number of beginners with a learning curve on the net seem to be calling a book ‘fine’ and then listing defects,” an approach he thinks “just doesn’t work.”

“Covid also changed the market," he observed. "Store owners closed. Every collector got on the net to buy, doubling the business of book dealers already on the net. When the stores re-opened they had to get their books on the net to survive. Customers did not go back to the stores in the previous numbers. The convenience of internet shopping kept them away.”

Asked about prices, he estimated the average vintage paperback sale in collectible condition is $20 to $50 plus shipping. Average reading copies are lower. He noted he sold Junkie, the Ace double by William S. Burroughs for $900, but did not give any other examples of high end sales.

"Since I deal in older books, I don't always know who the current hot writers are. Authors like Charles Willeford, Harry Whittington, and Jim Thompson, always seem to sell. Old crossword puzzle books published by Dell and Avon seem to have a premium if not written in.

He said he was more likely to remember the publishers that sold, and named Gold Medal, Beacon, Lion, Holloway House and Midwood. "In general the digest size paperbacks go for more than regular paperback size. Publishers like Carnival, Diversey, Ecstasy, Falcon, Phantom, Uni, Venus and Original, for example, go for high prices.

As for ‘high spots,” he said, “Everybody’s high spot is different. Some collect covers, some collect juvenile delinquents, some Agatha Christie, John D. MacDonald, Stephen King,” adding, “sometimes we’re talking about books that most people will never see in their lifetime … There are at least 400-500 older rare paperbacks that have stood the test of time, that are terribly expensive and impossible to find.

“It appears most of the older, more expensive books have leveled off,” Holroyd commented. “Surprisingly, some of the books published in the last few decades have risen faster than the older ones, possibly due to smaller print runs or poor distribution. I specialize in older books, so I don’t have a list of newer rare books, but I do have some in stock.”

He was cautious in characterizing the comparative appeal of the various sub-categories: “This is difficult since I only sell what I have in stock. I don’t talk too much with other dealers to see what their market is like. Before the days of the internet a hot book in one state was a loser in another. Distribution was a factor. Some states did not receive a large enough quantity to satisfy the demand. Others received too many. The internet has rounded out distribution.

“Theoretically if books are priced correctly, they should all sell at the same rate, but that never happens. … I used to think that westerns and romances were slow sellers, but they sell here every week, but for a lower price sometimes. I can’t keep mysteries, detectives, and horror books in stock easily. Some books have a constant demand and sell every time they are offered, but that does not mean they are valuable. They could be a nice $10 book for reading and that is all the many customers will pay."

According to Holroyd, “There seems to be an increase in the value of the middle price paperbacks. The higher end has leveled off somewhat and the lower priced items stay lower priced. The $20 - $100 paperbacks seem to be going up at a slightly higher rate. Probably because they are affordable and the top priced items burn out budgets too quickly.

“I try not to stock many books published in the last couple decades. ... Unless some of them were small runs by first time authors that turned out to be a good book I avoid them. I have no experience in anime and manga. Some graphic novels are collectible, but again they are recent and I rarely stock them. At my age I’m not looking at long term appreciation.”

In 2003 Holroyd published Paperback Prices and Checklist, a soft cover book with 40,000 entries running nearly 800 pages. Though he feels the prices in the guide are out of date, he still thinks the bibliographical information is accurate and useful. He estimated he has about 100 copies left priced at $30+ $6 for shipping. This reference work can be ordered directly from him or via his ABE or Biblio listings. A number of other listings for this work are also shown on line.

“All price guides are out of date before they are published,” he said. “It takes years to update guides and the items that were updated 1-2 years ago are no longer current. My guide is useful for its data: What publishers actually printed, what cover artists did which books, what was actually the first printing, what authors did which books for which publisher.”

His future plans “are simply to reduce inventory over the next five years. Then I’ll consider turning over the business. All good things must eventually end. Physically after 60 years in the business I might not be able to haul tons of books.”

1980 Dissertation on vintage paperbacks as a pdf

Contact info for Graham Holroyd

Graham Holroyd,

31 Lancer place,

Webster, NY, 14580

(585) 670-9846 This is a landline, no cell

His own website is www.booksareeverything.com. He also lists his inventory on ABE and Biblio.

Email: gholroyd@rochester.rr.com

Reach RBH Monthly writer Susan Halas at wailukusue@gmail.co