by Brandon Sharp

Created on: December 22, 2009

Before you can begin to assess the possible values of books, you need to first understand the difference between the common reader and a book collector. Readers appreciate books for their literary value and usually do not care about the condition or monetary value of the books they own and read. Condition and monetary value for collectors, though, are of paramount importance. While they may indeed enjoy reading their books just as much as any regular reader, collectors pay special attention to the care of their books. Often, they may own two copies of a book - a valuable presentation copy and a regular reading copy.

So, in order to judge which books will become more valuable, you must begin to look at books through the eyes of a collector, not a reader. A collector assesses a book in several areas to see if it will become more valuable in the future. Of special importance to a book's value is the author's status, or how well-known he or she is, as a literary figure. Though this may sound harsh, a book by an unknown author will probably never be worth more than the paper it was printed on. On the other hand, don't think every book that says "Bestselling Author" on its dust jacket is going to be worth something. Once they have that blurb stamped on them, it usually means that they have been printed in an excessive quantity. Books with a vast number of copies printed of them have the problem of their supply far exceeding their demand, which makes them essentially worthless from a collector's viewpoint. It is best to find a middle ground between the unknown and celebrity authors. You should look for books that are excellently written and have a little bit of buzz being generated by them. The New York Times Book Review is an excellent source for up-and-coming authors and can give you an idea about which author will be the "next big thing". This is an almost sure sign that their value is going to increase in the future, even if it is only by a small amount.

As I previously mentioned, in order for a book to have value, it must have a demand that outstrips its supply - or in your case, if there will be a demand for it in the future. In order to judge whether or not a book is likely to increase in value, keep an eye on websites such as AbeBooks or Alibris. These are both giants in the online book industry and give excellent indicators of what prices

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>