Book Collecting

There are a lot of ways to collect books, involving lots of money or very little money. But there are some things to keep in mind so you don’t make yourself crazy.

One good rule of thumb is to not collect something that you wouldn’t read normally. By this, I mean don’t buy romance books if you read mystery, if you don’t like books with lawyers, don’t buy Grisham. This also makes your collecting a lot more personal, and isn’t that what a collection should be? And by collecting in this way, even if the collection has no value, it means something to you, and that’s the most important part.

It’s also important to know ahead of time what you would be willing to spend. Prices vary a lot, so  don’t get over anxious and spend more than you need to. An example of this would be an experience Ruth and I had last fall at Bouchercon. We both love the John Connolly books. We decided that it would be really cool to have all the British firsts, and American firsts. The only one we were missing was the British first of Every Dead Thing. We talked about it and decided that we would not pay more than fifty dollars for it. We saw a lot of copies, but they were all higher. We even talked about going higher. But our diligence paid off. Sunday afternoon we found a copy for $45. So I guess what I’m saying here is, remember that there are a pretty fair amount of copies of most books. Wait for your price, you will find it.

If you want to collect books, but do it cheaply, it can be done. For instance, Ed McBain has a whole lot of paperback editions. Just tracking down all the variations of the 87th precinct novels is a major task. But with some time spent hunting in the right places, it can be done. Thrift stores are obviously a good place to start. Cheap books, and a ever changing selection.

You can also collect books just to build your own reading library. If you aren’t worried about what edition you have, and the shape of the books, you can find a lot of books for good prices. And collecting simply for the love of reading what’s in the book is great. This is very satisfying and can be done quicker usually. My collection started this way. It was really cool when I got that last Robert B Parker I needed, and then set it on the shelf with the rest. All of his work together on my shelf.

Obviously the most collected books are first editions. But even these can be done reasonably. A lot of books can be found used or remaindered not too long after the initial publication. And I’ll admit that there are some authors that I love, but it just doesn’t make sense to drop twenty five bucks on a book, when I know that with in a month I can pick up a copy that’s been read once for only ten. Of course a lot of books I buy as soon as they come out simply because I don’t want to wait to read it.

There are also special editions and variations. McMillan Press does limited editions of authors like Michael Connelly and George Pelecanos. ( http://www.dennismcmillan.com/ ). They are signed, numbered and beautiful. You can collect advance reading copies or uncorrected proofs. And if the book is already out, they aren’t all that expensive usually. Or you could collect just British firsts, or Trade Paper backs.

The real die hard collectors have a few rules they follow with their first editions. Some won’t even read them, they get a reading copy for that. Also, when getting it signed, they only want a signature (and if it’s the current book, a date).

Personally, I read all my books with just a few exceptions, but that’s more personal preference. And, as I really don’t want to sell any of my collection, I’m not worried about an inscription taking down the value a little. Of course, I’m not nuts either, I wouldn't have a British First of Ice House by Minnette Walters personalized to me.

So basically I guess what it comes down to is if you are going to collect books, yes, it is really cool to have books that are worth a bunch of money. But the really cool thing is to have a lot of books that are great reading. I know for me that it’s really a great feeling to look at my walls and see how many great books are in my house.

Jon Jordan - march 2002

PS: a note from the webspinner that Jon forgot: Make sure your shelves are properly anchored to the walls and that the floor can take the weight of all those books!