Five Rules for Successful Book Scouting

A professional Book Scout is an individual whose trade is books. Although every Scout dreams of finding the "big score" at a garage sale or in the remainder bin at the local used book store, for the truly serious Book Scout, following five simple rules should be enough to ensure a long, happy, and successful career dealing in books.

Specialize. During the early years of the Renaissance an educated individual could be an expert at everything from medicine to literature. Today, however, that simply is impossible. People who try to be masters of everything typically end up being masters of nothing. Specializing gives you the advantage of learning and knowing intimate facts about your chosen area that most people will not know or will miss. As they say, "knowledge is power."

Know your condition. In the collectible books world, condition is paramount. Just because a book is old or rare doesn't mean that it's worth anything. Trash is trash, no matter how old or rare; however, if you do find that rare volume with an intact, flawless dust jacket, unbent pages and a clean, tight spine, you may have just found yourself a treasure.

Know your margin. Let's face it; in order to live you have to earn a living. Book Scouting is no different. Generally, according to Ian C. Ellis, author of Book Finds, a book that you acquire should be worth three times more than what you paid for it. For example, if you know that a particular book is worth $30, in order to make a profit, you shouldn't pay nay more than $10.

Constantly be on the hunt. In order to maximize your profit potential you should have a regular stable of stores that you frequently visit. In the book business as in most businesses, the luck you have is the luck you make for yourself. Constantly looking for the smaller, more frequent deals will eventually place you in the right place in the right time to make that all important big deal that may significantly increase your bank balance.

Trading isn't just for baseball cards. To be truly successful as a book scout you need to have a trader's mindset. Never pay cash for a book when you can trade for it. And never be so focused on the big deal that you overlook the much more common B-list books. That's where your true earnings come from. While a book may not be collectible, someone somewhere will be willing to pay just for the chance to read it. The margins are smaller and the business not as glamorous, but these are the deals that will ultimately pay your daily bills.

To live the life of a Book Scout you need to love books. But while a love of books may not guarantee your success, following the five rules for successful book scouting will certainly increase your chances of earning a decent living working with something you love.

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