Used Books: Fiction or Non Fiction?

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If you're just starting out as a seller of used books, one of the many aspects to consider is whether to focus on fiction or non-fiction. My personal preference would tend to lean towards fiction books, but this is only because I am drawn to certain authors. But there is also a strong argument in favor of going after non-fiction books, as outlined below.

Having said that, non-fiction books do really well in certain subjects, even if they do not command the high prices of fiction books. In many cases some non-fiction titles can out-perform many fiction titles (purely on the basis of demand) and if you focus on certain areas you stand to make a pretty good income from it.

On the whole, smaller sized non-fiction books do better than large sized. Also, a lot of printing presses that specialized in a certain subject are quite small compared to the fiction publishers who can afford large print runs, so it goes without saying that the books they produce can be very scarce. Consequently, non-fiction books tend to be much harder to find, which of course increases their desirability.

With fiction books, it is very often the author that is worth targeting, although this is of course not a hard and fast rule (that's what makes buying and selling books so exciting and potentially hugely profitable). But as a start, some authors worth looking out for include: Agatha Christie, David Gemmell, David Eddings, Patrick, O'Brian, Alexander Kent, Bernard Cornwell, and Stephen King.

Fiction hardbacks are much more likely to sell than paperbacks, with only a few exceptions, and as a rule of thumb a first edition, first print is an absolute must. Some later editions or prints runs of certain titles are also valuable, but delving into that subject is not within the scope of this article. Signed books are a bonus.

As with everything else in business, conducting some research can help you enormously, so you should always be prepared to study the market. For books that have been around for a while, find out if you can which books actually sell and you will be leaps and bounds ahead of other new sellers. (Article by Robert Evans).

For related topic check also Used Books Save You Money