The following is part of the excerpt from the authors book SELL BOOKS ON THE INTERNET! so click for the entire excerpt plus ordering information.

This is an excerpt from the book:
SELL BOOKS ON THE INTERNET!
How to Identify, Describe and Market Books on the Internet or Almost Everything I Know About the Business of Selling Books
© 1999 by Tessa Hebert, all rights reserved.
A complete description of the book and ordering information is available at this internet location: http://www.mindspring.com/~bookdealers/tessa-wp.html

The Newly Updated and Revised Edition will be available in January 2002.

This chapter contains the information and terminology that you will need to know to describe a book in a sale listing.  I have also included some of my best advice about describing books.

I think it is always best to remember that the internet shopper cannot see the book and hold it in his hands to examine it, so the seller has the responsibility to provide an accurate and complete description.  Also, the shopper may not know any book-seller terminology, so it may be best to describe the book using only words which are commonly used and understood in the English language.  It is very important to list all defects or damage, but at the same time, because you are trying to sell the book, list the book's good points too (like bright dust jacket, neat and clean pages, etc.).

This is a good technique to use when describing a book:  Pretend that you are having a telephone conversation with a friend and your friend wants to buy the book.  The friend is depending on you to describe the book and tell him what condition the book is in.  The friend cannot see the book or hold it in his hands to examine it, so you are going to do that for your friend and tell your friend all about the book.  Naturally, you are going to tell your friend all the good points about the book, but you are also going to tell your friend all of the bad points, in as objective and honest a manner as you can.  Then write down what you have pretended to tell your friend about the book, for your book description.

Until you get more experience in describing books, it might be best to just follow the guidelines in this book.  You can place all of the essential items in a book description in any order you choose in your listing.  You can also be friendly to your shoppers and express your personality in your listing. Just remember that many of your shoppers will be book sellers, book collectors, and other book experts.  So do be careful to include all of the essential and mandatory items in your listing that professional book people will expect to see.

Also, remember that your purpose in describing the book is to sell it, so use good sales techniques, such as highlighting the points which will appeal to your buying audience.  Include the extra or optional items, that might attract a shopper to buy.  You can list the most-attractive items first, leaving the dry details for last. It is your listing and you can arrange it to be very attractive and yet, informative and representative of your personality all at the same time.

The best rule about describing a book is:

You do not have to be a book expert to describe a book. Just be fair and honest about the description, and explain about the book in ordinary English.  However, it is best to learn and use the proper book-seller terms that are defined in this chapter, when describing a book's condition.

The following categories set out the items that are important to include in any book's description, and information on each of these items will be given in this chapter:

 
 
 

ITEMS TO INCLUDE IN A DESCRIPTION
Essential Items		Include If Present		Optional Items
1.	Author's name.	1.	Editor's name
		2.	Illustrator's name
2.	Title of book.	1.	Subtitle
3.	Publisher's name and place.
4.	Copyright year.	1.	Year published, if different from copyright year, or if copyright year is not shown.
		2.	Filing with Library of Congress.
5.	Edition and printing history.	See Chapter III.
6.	Items that increase a book's value.	1.	Pre-publication format:  uncorrected proof or advance reading copy.	1.	Number of Pages
		2.	Author signed.  Author inscribed.  Author presentation copy.  Author-signed bookplate.	2.	Preliminary pages, supplemental pages, or other pages; such as:  index, photos, illustrations, or bibliography.
		3.	Collectible bookplates.	3.	Size of book.
		4.	Errata sheet.
		5.	Ephemera.
7.	Binding format (hardback, with dust jacket, or paperback).	See Chapter II:  The Parts of a Book.
8.	Condition.	See Chapter IV:  How to Describe a Book's Condition.
9.	Price.	See Chapter V:  How to Appraise a Book's Value.
10.	Shipping fees.
Items To Include If Space Permits: Table of Contents.  Quotes from dust jacket.  Description of book's contents, plot, or topic. Author's biographical information.

This is an excerpt from the book:
SELL BOOKS ON THE INTERNET!
How to Identify, Describe and Market Books on the Internet or Almost Everything I Know About the Business of Selling Books
© 1999 by Tessa Hebert, all rights reserved.
A complete description of the book and ordering information is available at this internet location: http://www.mindspring.com/~bookdealers/tessa-wp.html

The Newly Updated and Revised Edition will be available in January 2002.

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