Internet Book Search by Author to Locate First EditionsI usually do an internet book search by author to locate first editions. This is one of the reasons I took up book collecting. I'm able to look at the inventory of thousands of online book sellers to see who has the best prices. I started using Advanced Book Exchange (ABEbooks.com) in 1998. At that time, I didn't have a broadband connection ... I had dial-up. It was slow but not too bad since the book site is text based. Even today there are not normally many pictures of the actual book you are buying listed. With a cable broadband it is much quicker to do a book search by author. I like to look for a particular title from an author by looking at the highest priced books and then the lowest priced books. Sometimes I will find a fine/fine title priced at $35-45 ... and the rest priced much higher at $75-120. This happens for several reasons: - the book seller has priced it too low - she/he hasn't researched carefully - the book seller has multiple copies to sell - the book seller isn't an expert in this particular genre However, other book collectors may notice the book as well and order it before you. This just recently happened when I attempted to order an inexpensive copy of Louise Penny's first book, A Still Life. Advanced Book Exchange (ABEbooks.com) Advanced Book Exchange reportedly sells about 40% of the used books that are sold on the internet. Jim sells his books on ABE. He has about 2,000 books listed now. He has been selling his books there for about two years. It's fairly simple to use. It has software that can be downloaded to your computer for book listing ... or you can enter book data directly online. Many of the book sellers also have book stores ... more than a few have closed down their book stores and have switched to selling only online. ABE books claims to have 100 million used, rare and out-of-print books online. And 13,500 book sellers. Alibris I have not used Alibris that much for an internet book search by author. But I have ordered a book recently using the service. The search options are very similar to ABE's. I believe they have changed and improved the book site as it looks different than I recall. I plan to start using it in addition to ABE. I did notice some book sellers are selling their books on both ABE and Alibris. Alibris claims to have 60 million used, rare and out-of-print books online. Biblio The other large book search site is Biblo.com. It has a nice simple home page and the search options are similar to the other two sites. I've used it occasionally and will test it out more. Biblio claims to have 50 million used, rare and out-of-print books online.
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