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What is an ISBN? November 13, 2009

Posted by Olivier Hubert in : books, finding books, finding textbooks , add a comment

Anyone who has ever looked at the back cover of a book has probably noticed the numbers above or below the bar code where it is written ISBN. What exactly do those numbers represent? Well, the ISBN, or International Standard Book Number, is a unique number that identifies almost every modern book. The ISBNs are managed by the ISO consortium under the standard ISO-2108. The number is 10 or 13 digits long, depending if the book was published before 2007 or not. Although most books have an ISBN, they are not required by law, except in some countries, to have one. Also, the ISBN was first implemented in 1970 so books published before that time do not have an ISBN.

How can an ISBN be of use to someone searching for books? Well since it uniquely identifies a book (or an edition of a book), it makes searching for one a lot easier. A vast majority of libraries reference books by their ISBN so if you are searching locally for a book, you can, for example, call all used books bookstores of your area and ask if they have that ISBN in stock. Using online search engines, entering the ISBN instead of the title or author really speeds up the search.

For reference:

How not to buy textbooks and still have access to them November 12, 2009

Posted by Eugene Aronsky in : books, bookstores, cheap textbooks, college bookstores, free books, free textbooks, textbooks, vjeap books , 2comments

Every college student hopes to have professors that will choose either free or at least cheap textbooks. Unfortunately those are rare, and many professors simply do not care that the book that they are selecting for the class will cost $200, while in other cases they simply do not have a choice since that may be the only good book on the subject. We already discussed some of the mechanics of textbook pricing and college bookstores. Today I give you a few tricks on how to get cheap textbooks. Some of these tricks are well known, and often used, others are only known to a few, and this fact will enable you to take full advantage of these tricks.

In regards to cheap textbooks many of the tricks have already been covered in previous blog posts, that is: used textbooks, older editions, etc. The trick I want to discuss with you today is how to find ways to avoid buying books altogether, while still having access to the contents of the books. The classic solution to this problem is simple: find a friend in the same class and share the textbook. Unfortunately this is not always possible, and when it is the friend may want you to help pay for part of the book, something completely understandable and a much better deal than having to pay the full price.

Another idea to keep in mind is that school libraries, or department libraries, typically keep copies of every textbook in reserve (this means that you cannot take them out of the building). This means that if you do not mind doing all of your studying at the library, than you do not need to buy the textbook. The downside to this is that you cannot take notes in the book, but you can always make copies of pages, and depending on the subject that may be good enough.

Another much less known trick is that most university libraries in the United States participate in some type of EZ borrow program. This means that they share books with other university libraries and are able to request books from other schools. This is great because you can request your textbooks from another university library, sign them out and bring them home. Depending on your library’s load duration, you will probably have to renew them mid semester, but that is not a problem. You will still not be able to take notes in the book (and out of respect for other students, please abstain from doing so), but at least this way you can read the book in the comfort of your home. This is a little known scheme, but trust me it works great! I had a good friend who went all through graduate school never having to purchase a single textbook.

This last trick applies to all of you out there who took humanities majors, or who are being forced to take litterature, philosophy or history classes. Many of your books, particularly novels are available in the public domain online: all you have to do is search for the name of the book and add “ull text” and if you are lucky it will be right there.

Well I hope that this blog post has given you some ideas as to how to avoid buying books, stay tuned for other postings where I will give you even more ideas on this and other book related issues. If you have tricks or ideas you would like to share, please leave a comment.

The down and dirty on textbook publishers November 11, 2009

Posted by Eugene Aronsky in : book publishing, bookstores, college bookstores, publishing industry, textbook publishers, textbooks, used books , add a comment

The way that the publishing business works has changed much since the early days of the Internet. The way that it used to work was that textbooks were more affordable, and since the used book market was very private, publishers were content with their profit margin. It is important to note here that publishers profit only from the sale of a new book; when a used book is sold and resold the original publisher of the book does not see a cent of the money generated. In the case where a bookstore sells used books, the bookstore gets the profit from the sale of the used book but has to buy it from someone. In the case of college bookstores, they have a constant supply of books since every year students graduate and want to get rid of their textbooks. On the other hand, whenever you purchase a book from certain sites online, the profit from the sale goes to the person selling the book, most likely another student.

As the used textbooks market developed with the rise of the Internet, and students were finally able to take control of the used book market by being able to sell their books online, publishers realized that fewer people were buying new textbooks. The solution that publishers devised was to put out a greater number of new editions or to put out new editions more often. It is important to note that many changing or rapidly evolving subjects such as computer science or biology require a new edition to be released yearly because the field changes constantly, but many other subjects such as literature, philosophy, and even business, in other words subjects that are not in a state of great flux and do not change rapidly do not require frequent edition updates. I can recall an ancient history class I took as a sophomore where the textbook that was available at the bookstore was the latest edition, and cost $80. Since I was fairly confident that ancient Greek history had not seen any major changes in the past few years I purchased an older edition online, saving $60 in the process, and had no problem keeping up the pace with other students of the class.

What many publishers do these days is that they put out a new edition regardless of whether or not any changes were actually made to the content of the book. If no changes were made than what they do is they will move around chapters, or maybe change a few chapter titles. The other strategy that publishers have developed is to include a CD or DVD with the textbook. This is seen as increasing the value of the book; however what they fail to tell you is that most, if not all, of the information on the CD/DVD is available on the publisher’s website for free, plus I have yet to meet a teacher who puts these CDs to good use.

The advice that I would offer students is to buy used and buy old editions whenever possible, and if you want to shop online I recommend you use a book price comparison website, in order to make sure that the price you are getting is the best one. In general, you should not stray further than 2 editions prior to the current one. If you are unsure as to an older edition of a textbook, I would advise that you consult with your professor, many are starting to come to the realization that books are putting a real economic strain on students and are starting to care, so they may be able to help.

latest price war between Amazon and Wal-Mart October 20, 2009

Posted by admin in : cheap best sellers, cheap books, cheaper books, price war , 1 comment so far

Well… it seems as though Wal0mart has found its latest victim for a price war, Amazon books!
recently Wal-Mart has engaged in a direct price war with Amazon to see who can sell best sellers at the lowest prices. (Please look below for an NPR article on this breaking story!)
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that this will help or harm consumers? What about the publishing industry?

Taking a page from its original playbook, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched a full-fledged price war with Amazon.com Inc. and a nation of book retailers, lowering online prices on certain highly anticipated hardback titles to $9.

The volley of discounts, which began Thursday when the retailer listed prices for some upcoming hardcover releases such as Dean Koontz’ “Breathless” and Stephen King’s “Under the Dome” at $10, was answered with a similar price cut by Amazon, the largest online bookseller. Then the two competitors lowered the prices even further to $9.

The book discounts, the latest in a series of aggressive online maneuvers by the world’s largest retailer, could position the company to do to the online marketplace what Walmart stores did to local merchants decades ago.

“While it’s the largest retailer in the United States, it’s not the dominant online retailer in the United States,” said Albert Greco, professor of marketing at New York City’s Fordham University. “And this appears to be an attempt to increase its position in the online space.”

The price war also is foreboding news to the large chain bookstores Borders Group Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc., which have been squeezed by Amazon.com’s discounting and a decline in their music business.

In the past seven weeks, Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart has racheted up the competition in several retail arenas, beginning with an Amazon.com-like announcement in late August that it would allow outside retailers to sell nearly 1 million items — from baby products to sports memorabilia — through its Walmart.com site.

Next came news that the low-price specialist would fill 90-day supplies of some 300 generic prescriptions by mail for as little as $10 and was launching its own cell phone plan.

And just this week, the company said it would begin selling health and beauty products online.

But it was the announcement about books — the base from which Seattle-based Amazon.com built itself into a powerhouse — that created the biggest stir.

The discounts, which also include Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” and John Grisham’s “Ford County,” are a cut of 60 percent or more from cover prices, which means the two competitors are likely selling the titles at a loss.

Hardcover releases, which typically have a suggested retail price of at least $25, are generally sold to merchants with a wholesale price that’s a 47 percent discount.

That means Grisham’s book, priced at $24, costs most retailers about $12.72. It’s not clear whether Wal-Mart, which some experts say sells as many as 1,400 titles in stores, might have negotiated a better price than that.

The company said the $9 prices won’t be available in stores.

Walmart.com spokeswoman Amy Lester said its latest efforts to beef up its online discounts are part of the company’s overall strategy to sell products at the lowest prices.

Wal-Mart has built its strategy on using its size and massive buying power to undercut competitors. But it sells enough products in enough categories to make up any losses on individual items it uses to bring people into its stores.

Wal-Mart is also cutting prices in half for 200 current best-sellers, including Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” and Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help” in the new program called “America’s Reading List.”

Experts said selling certain books for such a low price could entice customers to browse other more profitable titles, or even other merchandise, from the company’s Web site.

“Let’s say you lose money on one item, you’re making money on other items,” said BMO Capital Markets analyst Wayne Hood.

There’s no telling how long this week’s price cuts will last, but experts said the two — which are increasingly competitors with each other in selling everything from batteries and books to dog food and diapers — could continue to duel.

The price cuts come at a time when Amazon.com and other sellers have been charging just $9.99 for e-books, a price that publishers worry is unrealistically low. The reductions also make it increasingly hard for independent sellers, which can’t afford such large discounts, to compete for the most popular books.

So long the biggest threat to independent booksellers, Borders and Barnes & Noble saw their stock prices drop Friday, down as much as 4.7 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively, before recovering somewhat.

“They can’t bring (prices) that low,” said Michael Norris, a senior analyst with Simba Information. “As a whole, it’s very hard for traditional bookstores, large or small, to compete with this kind of nonsense.”

Zen and the art of free/cheap books June 23, 2009

Posted by admin in : how to get dirt cheap books , 2comments

I recently ran accross a very cool blog post that talked about some very neat ways to get free books, trade books and give away your books.  I found the info here to be very interesting and useful, hope you will too.

If you’re looking to declutter your home and simplify your life, if you’re like me, one of the hardest areas to deal with is books: getting rid of old ones and cutting back on the expense of buying new ones.

But there are plenty of ways to get free or cheap books, and for the true fan of simplicity, these are the only ways to go.

First, let’s address the issue of getting rid of books: you gotta let go. I know, it’s difficult. It’s like getting rid of your children. But as the father of six children, I can tell you, sometimes it’s better with fewer of them in the house. (I’m kidding! About the children. Not the books.)

The question to ask yourself is this: “Why do I want to keep this book?” If you’re really going to read it again, keep it. I have a couple dozen books I truly love and really do plan on reading again, once I’ve forgotten the details.

But often books are kept almost like trophies or mounted animal heads — they show how much we’ve read, and the big books we’ve tackled, and how smart we are. Be honest with yourself — you’re never going to read most of those books again. You have too many ahead of you to tackle.

Get rid of them.

What follows are some of the best ways to get rid of your books, and to get more great ones for very little.

Bookswapping
This is one of the best ways to regularly get free books. Of course, you can do it for free with friends, family members, classmates, neighbors — I regularly swap books with people I know. But when you really want to get books you really want, online bookswapping services rock. They’re not free, as you usually have to pay for shipping, but they’re close.

Bookhopping
Similar to book swapping, bookhopping is a way to exchange books over the Internet. Basically, you list the books on your shelf, and agree to ship any of your books when they’re requested. In exchange, you can request any books you like. No points are earned or exchanged.

Really free books

Other options

This post was copied from: http://zenhabits.net/2007/07/20-ways-to-get-free-or-cheap-books-and-give-away-your-old-ones/