By Bruce McKinney
It is becoming possible to estimate the print runs of perhaps 150,000 antiquarian items, whose printing histories were never recorded, based on formulas that compare detailed printing records provided by Joel Munsell to the number of copies found in the OCLC, appearances at auction and sightings on listing sites and eBay. The goal is a new statistical measure that projects "probability of appearance" for books and ephemera. The internet has made it possible for millions of items to be offered but what is the likelihood what you are looking for will show up? I think w...
By Michael Stillman
On May 8, 2006, online bookseller Alibris announced the company had been sold to venture capital firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. Naturally, such a major acquisition set off a...
by Renée Magriel Roberts
Well, looks like my last article (June AE Monthly) on partnerships and parasites struck a nerve. My mailbox was flooded with emails from booksellers (none from selling w...
By Bruce McKinney
Online searches are in the midst of a tectonic shift. eBay has made an intelligent science of sequential keyword searches by providing a single search field and the ability to...
By Michael Stillman
This past month, Abebooks announced some changes in their bookseller policies regarding print-on-demand books and multiple listings of single titles; Barnes and Noble reporte...
By Michael Stillman
If an actor, or even a professional wrestler, can become a governor, why can't an author? Move over, Arnold. Move over, Jesse. Here comes Kinky Friedman, best-selling mystery...
By Bruce McKinney
Dostoevesky must be rolling over in his grave as the connective tissue between crime and punishment has recently been whittled down to a thread in the guilty pleadings of Edwar...
By Michael Stillman
One of the most important book auctions of the year took place June 27 and 28 at Christie's in New York, and the prices garnered will bring nothing but joy to those who own i...
By Michael Stillman
Phishing has become so widespread these days we generally ignore it. "Phishing" is the process whereby some unscrupulous individual sends you a message, purporting to be from...
Ten new bookseller catalogues are reviewed in section two of July's issue of AE Monthly. There must be something for everyone. English dealer Bernard J. Shapero offers fifty spectacular (but not in...
