“I want to collect books but I am not sure where to start!” is a question that gets brought up quite often.

The art of book collecting is an exhaustive study in itself. There have been numerous books written about the subject and I’m sure there will be many more written in the years ahead.

I have seen personal collections range from twenty books to well over ten thousand. Sometimes on a single subject or covering many, each collection is different and unique in its own way.

A favorite author is a great place to start collecting. For example, we will use the famous author Stephen King as an example.

Your collection may start with every first edition of every book Stephen King has published.

Perhaps you can broaden it and collect the titles printed under the name Richard Bachman as well.

From there you can expand into ephemera such as magazine publications he was in, small press limited editions and so forth.

And some collectors go for the obscure, Fire starter printed in the Swedish language or Salem’s lot in Mongolian. The possibilities are endless.

A few good reference books on your favorite author will come in handy. I advise collectors I work with to be very cautious of the “free information” that is online concerning reference to first edition points etc as we have witnessed countless errors in this area.

Contact and consult with a knowledgeable book dealer in your area.

As always we are here to answer any questions.