Out-of-print book
Encyclopedia
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
that is no longer being published. Out-of-print books are often rare, and may be difficult to acquire.
A publisher will usually create a print run of a fixed number of copies of a new book. These books can be ordered in bulk
Bulk purchasing
Bulk purchasing is buying products in large quantities at a lower price per item, or unit price, than is available for smaller quantities. Wholesale is selling or related to selling goods in large quantities for resale to the consumer. Retailing is buying products in bulk at wholesale, and selling...
by booksellers, and when all the bookseller's copies are sold, the bookseller has the option to order additional copies. If the initial print run sells out quickly, the publisher will probably have more copies printed. When the book is no longer selling at a rate fast enough to pay for the inventory
Inventory
Inventory means a list compiled for some formal purpose, such as the details of an estate going to probate, or the contents of a house let furnished. This remains the prime meaning in British English...
costs, the publisher will cease to print additional copies, and may remainder
Remaindered book
Remaindered books are books that are no longer selling well and whose remaining unsold copies are being liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices...
or pulp the remaining unsold copies. When all of the books in a print run are sold to booksellers, the book is said to be "out of print", meaning that a bookseller cannot get any further copies from the publisher. If a book sells surprisingly quickly, a book may be out of print briefly when its initial print run is exhausted, but soon reprinted.
A reader who wishes to purchase an out-of-print book must either find a bookseller that still has a copy, wait for another print run (if another is anticipated), or find someone who will sell their own copy as a used book
Used book
A used book or secondhand book is a book which has been owned before by an owner other than the publisher or retailer, usually by an individual or library....
. The advent of the Internet has made this process much easier, as many websites sell rare used books.
Some publishers intentionally limit the print run of some or all titles to fewer copies than the anticipated demand, in creating limited edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
s marketed to collectors
Book collecting
Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given individual collector. The love of books is bibliophilia, and someone who loves to read, admire, and collect...
. In these cases, there is an implicit or explicit promise to collectors that the book will not be reprinted, at least in the same form as originally published. For instance, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's Sex
Sex (book)
Sex is a coffee table book written by Madonna with photographs by Steven Meisel Studio and film frames taken from film shot by Fabien Baron. The book was edited by Glenn O'Brien. Sex was released on October 21, 1992 by Warner Books...
was sold in a sealed envelope and it is, according to BookFinder.com
BookFinder.com
BookFinder.com is a vertical search website that helps readers buy books online. The site's meta-search engine scans the inventories of over 100,000 booksellers located around the world. Users can find the lowest price for a book of their choice from over 125 million volumes available for sale, and...
, the most sought after out-of-print book in the US.
The longer a book has been out of print, the more difficult it may be to obtain a copy. If there is enough demand for an out-of-print book, and all copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
issues can be resolved, another publisher may republish the book with a new cover and title page
Title page
The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title and author, usually together with information relating to the publication of the book...
. In some cases, an out-of-print book, even one that sold very poorly, may be republished if the author becomes popular.
External links
- AddAll - an on-line utility to search for out-of-print books
- AbebooksAbebooksAbeBooks is an online marketplace for books. Most books listed are used, many are rare or out-of-print, and a growing number are new books. The company is based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, with offices in Düsseldorf, Germany, and in the US. It was incorporated in 1995 and launched its...
- website: AbeBooks - A network of independent bookstores selling online - AlibrisAlibrisAlibris is an online store that sells new books, used books, out-of-print books, rare books, and other media through an online network of independent booksellers....
- website: Alibris - Another online network of independent bookstores with rare and out-of-print books - BiblioBiblio.comBiblio.com is the third largest used book marketplaces in the US. Established in 2003 in Asheville, NC, Biblio.com has grown to become one of the largest global book marketplaces, with over 50 million books for sale from over 5,000 booksellers in countries around the world.-A used book...
- website: Biblio - out-of-print booksearch of independent bookstores - BookFinder.comBookFinder.comBookFinder.com is a vertical search website that helps readers buy books online. The site's meta-search engine scans the inventories of over 100,000 booksellers located around the world. Users can find the lowest price for a book of their choice from over 125 million volumes available for sale, and...
- website: BookFinder.com - an online utility to search for out-of-print books - BookFinder.com Report - A list of the most sought after out-of-print titles in America
- Out-of-print bestsellers - an article in the Christian Science Monitor
- TotallyCheap.com - an online utility to search for out-of-print books