Alibris: Uncorrected Proofs

A Batch of Tuneful Tomes: Books on Music

Jim — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:37:21 +0000

As comedian Martin Mull once famously said, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” But hell, haven’t you ever come across a particularly inspired structure that moved you to shake a tailfeather or two? For the most part, Mull was quite correct – capturing the essence of music with the written word can be [...]

Fun with Antique Books

stevec — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:55:39 +0000

I recently found a really fun, antique book that I wanted to share with the Alibris Community. This was found at a fun blog called If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger There’d Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats. The original caption is as follows, “A member of staff at Lyon & Turnbull auction house [...]

Cooking from the book: Hunger Games lamb stew with dried plums

naomi — Tue, 10 May 2011 19:08:04 +0000

One of the best parts of a well written book is a scene involving food. A talented author can turn words into a imaginary feast so vivid, you can almost taste the crusty, fresh baked bread or the juicy, wild strawberries picked from a nearby patch. More often than not, this leads to putting down [...]

Haikus from our fans on why they love books

Stephen, Steve, whatever — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:52:04 +0000

We had a haiku contest on our Facebook page for $50 off on books. The winner was the haiku who received the most votes from our Facebook fans. And out of 50+ entrants, that honor went to…. Winner! Caitlin Gerdes (15 votes) The smell of the pages The tales I get lost within The shelter [...]

Tips on shipping books for new booksellers

Richard Weatherford — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:51:19 +0000

It is one of the most discouraging things that can happen. You have ordered a book for yourself or for a customer, but when it arrives it looks like it has spent some time under road grading machinery. Or, worse yet, the packaging has arrived, but the book has been lost on the way. Before [...]

Best-selling children’s books – February 2011

Stephen, Steve, whatever — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 07:03:49 +0000

With so many folks asking for long-lost children’s book on our Alibris Facebook page, I thought I’d take a look at what’s selling today for children’s books, particularly children’s fairy tales. What might be the long-lost children’s stories of 40 years from now that people will remember fondly (albeit vaguely.) “Anybody remember that book with [...]

Which Facebook fan lives the farthest from Alibris?

Stephen, Steve, whatever — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 21:32:52 +0000

One of our Facebook posts asked where our most far-flung Facebook fans are. And we’ve had 42 replies so far. So, we started entering in everybody’s locales the best we could on Google Maps so you can get an idea of where our fans are. Thanks, FB fans! View How far away from Alibris are [...]

Collecting modern first edition books

Alibris — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 18:34:39 +0000

(written for Alibris by Ken Lopez. Browse his store at Ken Lopez Books!) As a bookseller, I get calls almost every day asking me about the value of some “old books” that the caller has, usually in Grandma’s house or a trunk in the caller’s attic. The presumption is that “old” equals “valuable” and books [...]

Identifying First Edition Books for Beginners

Alibris — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:16:02 +0000

One of the most confusing issues facing beginning collectors (and even experienced ones sometimes) is how to identify a first edition. Keep in mind that for every guideline I’m about to discuss, there is an exception. I will try to note those exceptions when possible. First of all, many people ask me why the first [...]

Are international edition textbooks legal to buy?

Stephen, Steve, whatever — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:59:11 +0000

We get this question every now and then, and the answer is yes, yes, and yes. It is legal to buy international edition textbooks. The textbook publishers aren’t thrilled about students spending a lot less on textbooks by paying prices that other countries pay for the same textbook. They would rather you get get gouged [...]