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Collectors of books, also referred to as bibliophiles, do not put much value in a book that was published for a book club. Generally the books for a book club are printed on a lesser quality of paper and bound with covers of a lower grade. Sometimes the story or text for the book is modified in some way, possibly condensed from it's original version. If you are new to book collecting or you plan to become a book dealer, here are some clues to look for in determining whether the book is from a book club.

The very first place that I look is the copyright page. Generally speaking a book club edition will not have printing history listed on this page. A book club edition will give the date of publication and credit to the original publisher. It will not say First Edition or any other edition. It will not have the printing history given with a series of numbers that indicate which printing the edition is in. This should not be the only place you look, because the older books won't have this information either. It was not a practice in the earlier days of printing.

The next place I look is on the dust jacket if it exists. Normally a book club edition will not have the price marked on the inside flap of the dust jacket. The price is usually found in the upper right or left of that flap. Sometimes, an older book club edition will actually state that information on the inside flap down on the lower right of the flap. If those words are printed, you don't have to look any further.

Generally, speaking if the price is marked on the back of the dust jacket, this will also indicate that the book is not from a book club. There may be an ISBN number but no price on a book club edition.

Remove the dust jacket and look at the back cover of the book. Sometimes there will be a slight indentation on the back cover. It may look like a square or rectangle or some other shape. It will be clear that the indentation or impression was purposely placed on the book by the publisher. In most instances the impression will be found near the spine. Not all book club editions will have this impression.

If no impression is found, begin at the back of the book and within the last 10 pages look for a printed code that will consist of numbers and possibly a letter. This will be found very close to the spine where the pages are bound together. Not all publishers use this method, but if found the book is from a book club.

There is no standard used by all book club publishers, so it is a good practice to look for all of these clues when trying to determine if a book is from a book club.

Learn more about this author, Beverly Owens.
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