ENDPAPER
Buy books on the Net
BY PRADEEP SEBASTIAN
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Several fabulous book search engines help you get hold of used, out-of-print, rare and first editions.
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I’ve completely changed my mind about browsing for and buying books on the Internet. My lament many columns ago that book browsing and buying on the World Wide Web was fast replacing the actual physical act of being in a bookstore was a typical Luddite response.
I had thought then that it could only benefit the book seller/dealer and not the buyer/browser. I could not have been more wrong. I’ve spent the best part of this year browsing for books on the Net and have come away astonished and excited at the riches in store for a book lover there.
Giant bookstore
It’s like a giant bookstore where you can track down and find any book you are looking for — used, hard to find, backlists of an author’s work, out of print, rare and first editions. You are accessing the stocks of thousands of book dealers across the world.
Some of them have up to 20 million books listed on just one booksite alone. Two hundred and fifty new dealers and 600,000 new books are added every month on the Net. Thousands of fresh books appear daily — the equivalent of a massive “New Arrivals” shelf.
I have always supported local, independent bookstores. I first check to see if my favourite bookstore is carrying the book I want, and only then turn to online book search engines.
In India we are familiar with “Amazon” and “eBay” but I’d like to turn your attention to several really fabulous book search engines (some corporate, some independent) for used, out of print, rare and first editions that you may not be familiar with.
The first booksite that I stumbled on is “Alibris” (pronounced “uh-LEE-briss”), which offers “over 60 million used, new, and out of print books.” “Biblio” brings together “over 5000 professional, independent booksellers from around the world” and lists their stock on their search engine. They offer over 45 million used books to choose from.
“Abebooks” lets you browse and buy 100 million books from 13,500 booksellers. They also host online community forums to connect readers; their aim is to “build the world’s largest online community of book lovers.” “Bibliopoly”, “Bibliophile”, “Biblion” and “Tomfolio” (an international co-op of independent dealers) are also excellent booksites.
Which brings me to “Bookfinder”: one master search engine that combines ALL the search sites where you can compare price, shipping, condition and variants. It lets you browse every major catalog online, letting you know which of these booksellers are offering the best prices and selections. When you find a book you want, you can buy it directly from the original seller. There are no mark-up fees involved.
“Addall” is another good booksite (40 + sites and 20,000 dealers) for the same thing: browsing and comparing prices. What particularly interests me about “Bookfinder.com” (which just turned 10) is that it was launched (in 1997) by Anirvan Chatterjee, then a 19-year-old UC Berkeley undergraduate. Chatterjee notes that “both Newsweek and Money called it one of the two best book sites online.”
All the booksites I’ve described are marvellous for the book collector: here you can find the exact edition of a book you are looking for. The advanced search options on these sites allow you to browse by binding (hardcover, softcover) dust jacket, first edition, signed, limited edition, publisher, year, ISBN, keyword, new, used, out of print, and price range. You don’t have to be a wealthy book collector to buy from these booksites (though it helps: thousands of first/rare editions are commonly priced at anywhere between $500 to $25,000; letters, manuscripts and signed editions for $35,000-$50,000) because there are thousands of hard to find books at low used prices ($2 to $5) and even decent (if not collectible) first editions for $10-$25.
For Rs.200 I found a paperback of Booked to Die signed by John Dunning! I had to pay an additional three hundred as international shipping charges but Rs.500 is a steal for a signed copy of this title. (A fine copy of a signed hardc
over first edition, first printing of this title is usually estimated at $800).
Pleasant surprises
A pleasant (and welcome) surprise was discovering these sites list several used and out of print books by Indian writers, in both their Indian and foreign editions.
For many years I’ve wanted to own U.K. and U.S. editions of R.K Narayan but never did find them in our bookstores. Then, recently, I came across several of these editions (some even signed!) on these booksites. I bought a nice used copy of The Bachelor of Arts (University of Chicago Press) for Rs.80, plus international shipping.
Midway through searching these booksites I paused on the computer to realise that I’ve spent hours lost in browsing — exactly what happens when I’m physically in a bookstore. These book dealers are knowledgeable and take care to describe a listed book exactly right — not the content but what the book looks (condition) like, and several fascinating accompanying details.
Thus the act of reading about a particular (virtual) book is for me like hearing a knowledgeable booklover talk about her books.
Am I saying skip bookshops and buy books online? No. Drawing from my experience this past year, I’m saying: why not experience browsing and buying from bookshops as well as booksites?
For me the booksite is like a book scout who roams far and wide to find you not just the exact book but the exact copy of that book.
Booksites give you the kind of browsing buzz you’re looking for in a bookshop. The thrill of the hunt is there, too. The Internet book site is your ultimate bookshop
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