Here's something I discovered the other day: select Barnes & Noble brick and mortar stores are selling used books. According to the clerk I spoke to at their Easton branch, this is a pilot program in a few places which isn't doing too well.
But from my point of view, the program is great! By way of background, I'm a bit of an amateur book scout, which is probably why I wrote a story about people who love to hunt for used first editions. Well, at this Barnes & Noble I recently found a number of hardback first edition books in great condition, including:
- Strange Horizons by Sam Moskowitz, a 1970s collection of his SF essays
- City of Glass by Paul Auster, volume 1 of his famed New York Trilogy as originally published by Sun and Moon Press
- The Best Laid Schemes by Larry Eisenberg, a SF collection from a tragically forgotten author which includes his well-known story from Dangerous Visions "What Happened to Auguste Clarot?"
- and Anthony Burgess' groundbreaking translation of Cyrano de Bergerac.
I also picked up some first editions by David Brin and Hal Duncan. Because B&N wanted to get rid of these used books, they were only a dollar each. Unfortunately, they each have a small remainder ink mark on the bottom pages, but that's minor and who cares. The Paul Auster book is almost impossible to find in a first edition and sells for hundreds of dollars in most used bookstores (at least, the bookstores which know anything about used books).
My suggestion: Get to a B&N and see if they are taking part in this used book program.
