Here is an interesting discussion from Book Square on whether or not classifying books into genres helps or hurts sales.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

“When I think of book shopping as I think of website shopping, sure, it’s a lousy analogy. You can argue that readers are free to wander the aisles of bookstores with wild abandon. The serendipity factor is alive and well when it comes to human behavior. Of course, it only works if the customer wanders to the specific aisle, specific shelf that houses a book of interest (it also only works if the book is in stock and whatnot). ”

Read the full article here

I do not feel that a book exchange poses a serious risk to online bookselling. While some customers will use a book exchange over a store, they are generally the customers that are interested in the lowest price possible - not ones interested in collecting a book of beauty.

For book scouts, I believe these exchanges offer a good opportunity to discover previously uncirculated books. While I don’t know the quality of book you’d receive through an exchange, it might be worth looking into.

To take a look at BookMooch.com, click here

Hudson, Massachusetts - Baysys Publishing, which runs the web site www.BookSaleFinder.com announced its acquisition of the website and business of Book Sale Scout.

Helen Oram, owner of Book Sale Finder, commented, “We are very pleased to have acquired Book Sale Scout. We have many plans to expand the features offered by Book Sale Finder, and the addition of Book Sale Scout will help with our strategy.”

“Book Sale Finder has proved to be an essential tool for used book dealers, book collectors, homeschoolers, avid readers, and other book lovers. We’re proud that we have been able to serve both book buyers and booksellers, and we are excited about some of the new concepts we will introduce in the next several months,” said Ms Oram.

Book Sale Finder will continue to offer its unique features, notably: Sale Mail - a free service which tells subscribers the dates of upcoming book sales in their area, and Sale Maps - showing the locations of book sales and used book stores, using Google Maps.

At this time, www.BookSaleScout.com  will direct visitors to the Book Sale Finder website for book sale information.

ABOUT BOOK SALE FINDER - Since 1994, www.BookSaleFinder.com (formerly called Book Sales in America) has been telling people where to find non-profit and other used book sales, as well as used book auctions, fairs, and various book events. Currently Book Sale Finder publishes details about more than 6,000 sales held annually in the USA and Canada.